Kitchener Rangers 2023-24 Season Thread (Part 2)

[RangerNation]

Every time I look at this team's stats, I see something new. As of tonight, we have played 2 more games than the next nearest team. It make our win percentage even that much more impressive.

By the end of the weekend, Rangers will have played 5 more games than Saginaw. Winning these games puts pressure on everyone else. I'd rather be in this position than Saginaws.

 

[Krangers08]

on the trade front will MM add before the break like last year or follow years past when they usually make a trade during the break. ( I think he follows his trend this year and gets a project player)

Players seem happy this year so I think Scott is the only one that will asked to be moved.

*Bottineau has been getting some attention as of late for the draft. saw STL taking notes on Tuesday.

 

[Jives]

Maybe we get the Lablanc brothers back. Top 4D and what would be a very good 3rd line center.

 

[Rangers True Blue]

Looking at the forwards at Team Canada camp and the fact that an OHL coach is heading up the coaching staff, Rehkopf should have an excellent chance to make the team. I know. As for his 200 foot game, Razor doesn't stand up by the opposition's blue line and wait for a pass...

 

[EvenSteven]

This thing doesn’t look to be slowing down. We’re not 10-15 games in and overachieving. This is almost halfway through the season and it isn’t slowing down. There hasn’t been any indication that the wheels are ready to fall off this thing anytime soon, if at all. If anything, we may be getting better. Our depth (4th line) is starting to put up points. Where is the funk we expected? The one we “knew” was coming? The turning tides? It hasn’t come. There has been no downturn. We’re passing all the tests.

This is real.

We can’t wait til January to see who we are before we decide to buy. The decision has to come now. We’ll be missing guys to the WJC. MM should have his mind made up by the 10th but likely already does.

I was a massive sell guy going into the season. But, at this point, I don’t think there’s any way MM can sell. How can he look at the fan base, the players, the coaching staff, his superiors and say he won’t go all in?

If and when MM goes all in, I’m all about moving some youth. A 1st rounder, likely Romano, along with distant picks, maybe an Ellinas or Campbell whose values have gone way up this year, and whatever return we get for our 4th OA, to improve the team in the areas I suggested in previous posts.

Don’t want to move a 1st rounder? Hey, look at it this way:
We received the extra 1st via the Hage no report. Had Hage been here today, that’s a hole that wouldn’t need to be filled, assuming that his current PPG pace in Chicago would translate somewhat to the Rangers. If he was here, he’d be more of a post season contributor than Romano would be this year.

So, take the asset received via the no report and turn it into an asset or assets to help the team today. Makes a ton of sense to me. We still have what looks like a pretty deep 07 group going forward, even minus Romano, and should his being traded leave a void next year, fill it with the probable sell off.

We don’t have any choice but to move youth really. Thanks to last year’s ill advised “all in”, we have one of the thinnest draft cupboards in the league. We have nothing else of value to move.

I don’t believe a soft buy will cut it. Bringing in one inexpensive piece isn’t going to do it once Saginaw and other west contenders go all in, in a big way.

 

[bobber]

Rangers had what looks to be one of the best drafts in decades in 2023. MM has to get credit for being creative for pulling a rabbit out of a hat. He managed to pick some gems out of that draft that should make huge impacts going forward. We are all surprised at how things turned out so far this season. Rehkopf , Sop ,Brzustewicz etc. are some of the top players in the CHL. Parsons has to be considered as one of the top junior goalies in the CHL. I wouldn't want to be in MMs position trying to figure out that best way to deal with the hand he has been dealt. With two OHL squads in the Mem Cup some teams will over pay. Doesn't always work in your favour. Rangers and Spits last year. Rangers really have to proceed with caution to avoid having to swallow a bushel of sour grape IMO.

 

[Gondrex]

Little question in my mind now that this team is not selling. I can't help but think though of how much impact the import position (i.e. Tomas Pobezal - will he or won't he be here?) is going to have on the overall decision-making on what moves will ultimately be made. A Pobezal on this team, would come free. Spending could then be done at other position(s).

As mentioned here many times though, other teams have the upper hand with moves. So now MM needs to decide how much he wants to gamble on the future. Does he want to part with some of the youth on the current roster, and still likely fall short (at least on paper) on what a Saginaw is able to do? How does he restock a completely empty cupboard in that scenario going forward? There is a lot at stake here.

At some point the piper needs to be paid. Some apparently think Brzustewicz has a good chance of coming back next season. To me, that's a lot to gamble on. Rehkopf could very well return, but even the chances of that are less than 100%. If neither were to come back, and you also lose an 06 and/or 07 in hopes of going all the way.......I don't even want to think about that scenario.

As much as this question will be hated, I ask any way....looking down the 401, what would Mr. Hunter do in this situation? I realize he would have never gone on the spending spree that MM did last year, but now this team is where it is. How much tweaking would he do under the current circumstances the Rangers face? Somebody a heck of a lot smarter than me likely has the real answer, but I would think he tweaks a bit. Yeah, it would then become an even tougher battle with London, Guelph, Soo, and definitely Saginaw, but still give them a chance to win without totally destroying the future.

Doesn't matter what I think though. MM has the contract, I don't.

 

[Jives]

I think we all agree the top 2 lines are fine (Lam being in it). We add Martin to line 3. Imo we are still 2 players short on line 3. I use Ellinas improved trade value since we acquired him to get a vet 3rd line player. We have to hope we can land Pobezal (or cheap import…hello Sarnia). We use whatever assets we get trading Schmidt away (I think Motew is a better OHL player - Schmidt has more pro upside) to get a top 4D to fill his void. We may have to add some picks but our 2007 draft core is untouched and we don’t use our 2024 draft picks to have a strong 2008 core to go with the 2007. We add another 1 or 2 2007 or 2008 in Ando and Carson trade next year. Future is still solid

Martin, Ellinas trade and import make a strong 3rd line. Top 4D added when Schmidt is moved. We have a very strong top 9F, 4D and 1 of the best goalies in OHL. This isn’t a hard buy but I think makes the team competitive with anyone.

 

[EvenSteven]

Little question in my mind now that this team is not selling. I can't help but think though of how much impact the import position (i.e. Tomas Pobezal - will he or won't he be here?) is going to have on the overall decision-making on what moves will ultimately be made. A Pobezal on this team, would come free. Spending could then be done at other position(s).

As mentioned here many times though, other teams have the upper hand with moves. So now MM needs to decide how much he wants to gamble on the future. Does he want to part with some of the youth on the current roster, and still likely fall short (at least on paper) on what a Saginaw is able to do? How does he restock a completely empty cupboard in that scenario going forward? There is a lot at stake here.

At some point the piper needs to be paid. Some apparently think Brzustewicz has a good chance of coming back next season. To me, that's a lot to gamble on. Rehkopf could very well return, but even the chances of that are less than 100%. If neither were to come back, and you also lose an 06 and/or 07 in hopes of going all the way.......I don't even want to think about that scenario.

As much as this question will be hated, I ask any way....looking down the 401, what would Mr. Hunter do in this situation? I realize he would have never gone on the spending spree that MM did last year, but now this team is where it is. How much tweaking would he do under the current circumstances the Rangers face? Somebody a heck of a lot smarter than me likely has the real answer, but I would think he tweaks a bit. Yeah, it would then become an even tougher battle with London, Guelph, Soo, and definitely Saginaw, but still give them a chance to win without totally destroying the future.

Doesn't matter what I think though. MM has the contract, I don't.

I don’t want to stand pat or make only a minor addition to a team at the top of the league, in the interest of preserving our youth, in order to maybe get back to where we are now in two or three years.

The competition will get much closer or pass us if we stand pat or make one minor addition. The odds of a second round exit goes up if that’s all we do.

What would Mark Hunter do? He may do what he did last year in London. Make strategic moves to the roster, not big time splashes, using picks and his 1st round pick Testa, which was easy to do because he had another 1st rounder on the roster.

Similar situation no?

 

[Gondrex]

I don’t want to stand pat or make only a minor addition to a team at the top of the league, in the interest of preserving our youth, in order to maybe get back to where we are now in two or three years.

The competition will get much closer or pass us if we stand pat or make one minor addition. The odds of a second round exit goes up if that’s all we do.

What would Mark Hunter do? He may do what he did last year in London. Make strategic moves to the roster, not big time splashes, using picks and his 1st round pick Testa, which was easy to do because he had another 1st rounder on the roster.

Similar situation no?

True. Though, what was the status of their draft assets last year at the point compared to the Rangers today ? I don't know and I'm too lazy to check myself.

I probably could have avoided bringing up that "what would London do" question here. After all, I had the opportunity to ask Mark Hunter myself late Friday afternoon last week. Was stuck in crawling traffic by the Grand River bridge when the green Knights bus crept up beside me. I could have rolled down the window and yelled out the question myself, but I'm thinking he was too busy blaming Kitchener for making them late for their game vs Mississauga

 

[EvenSteven]

I think we all agree the top 2 lines are fine (Lam being in it). We add Martin to line 3. Imo we are still 2 players short on line 3. I use Ellinas improved trade value since we acquired him to get a vet 3rd line player. We have to hope we can land Pobezal (or cheap import…hello Sarnia). We use whatever assets we get trading Schmidt away (I think Motew is a better OHL player - Schmidt has more pro upside) to get a top 4D to fill his void. We may have to add some picks but our 2007 draft core is untouched and we don’t use our 2024 draft picks to have a strong 2008 core to go with the 2007. We add another 1 or 2 2007 or 2008 in Ando and Carson trade next year. Future is still solid

Martin, Ellinas trade and import make a strong 3rd line. Top 4D added when Schmidt is moved. We have a very strong top 9F, 4D and 1 of the best goalies in OHL. This isn’t a hard buy but I think makes the team competitive with anyone.

On a top contender, I don’t like Lam on our top six or Reid on our top four.

I don’t like Miseljevic out of position on line two. So, I’d put Martin back at LW on the 2nd line. Move Miseljevic back to RW on that line. Drop Lam to 3rd line RW. Bring in a couple of inexpensive vets (possibly a Vilmanis and Abraham as I suggested previously or the equivalent). I think Lam would flourish in a third line role facing lesser competition.

Same with Reid on D. On a deep playoff run, I don’t want to see him facing the competition he’d face playing on the 2nd pairing. Ditto Campbell.

True. Though, what was the status of their draft assets last year at the point compared to the Rangers today ? I don't know and I'm too lazy to check myself.

I probably could have avoided bringing up that "what would London do" question here. After all, I had the opportunity to ask Mark Hunter myself late Friday afternoon last week. Was stuck in crawling traffic by the Grand River bridge when the green Knights bus crept up beside me. I could have rolled down the window and yelled out the question myself, but I'm thinking he was too busy blaming Kitchener for making them late for their game vs Mississauga

London had a decent draft pick base last year and chose to move Testa instead of emptying the cupboard.

 

[Jives]

On a top contender, I don’t like Lam on our top six or Reid on our top four.

I don’t like Miseljevic out of position on line two. So, I’d put Martin back at LW on the 2nd line. Move Miseljevic back to RW on that line. Drop Lam to 3rd line RW. Bring in a couple of inexpensive vets (possibly a Vilmanis and Abraham as I suggested previously or the equivalent). I think Lam would flourish in a third line role facing lesser competition.

Same with Reid on D. On a deep playoff run, I don’t want to see him facing the competition he’d face playing on the 2nd pairing. Ditto Campbell.


London had a decent draft pick base last year and chose to move Testa instead of emptying the cupboard.

I like Lam playing with talent and he shines playing with Sop. Plus that puts a veteran presence of Martin on the 3rd line who could really take advantage of weaker D pairings more so than Lam by himself. You have to be 3 lines deep in the playoffs. Unless we really improve the 3rd line I don’t like Lam playing with less talented players. I don’t like Misa playing 3rd line either as he is a very good complimentary player on a 2nd line. He again couldn’t control the game by himself on the 3rd line. Martin out of the 3 can be the guy on a 3rd line that puts that line over the top. You shut down the top 2 lines and Martin is going to have some fun.

 

[EvenSteven]

I like Lam playing with talent and he shines playing with Sop. Plus that puts a veteran presence of Martin on the 3rd line who could really take advantage of weaker D pairings more so than Lam by himself. You have to be 3 lines deep in the playoffs. Unless we really improve the 3rd line I don’t like Lam playing with less talented players. I don’t like Misa playing 3rd line either as he is a very good complimentary player on a 2nd line. He again couldn’t control the game by himself on the 3rd line. Martin out of the 3 can be the guy on a 3rd line that puts that line over the top. You shut down the top 2 lines and Martin is going to have some fun.

I like Lam playing with talent too. But if we were to make the moves I suggest, he’d play with talent in my hypothetical Vilmanis and Abraham additions and flourish doing so.

And, he wouldn’t see time vs the opposition’s top six players, which would be tough sledding for a 16 year old in the postseason.

 

[Krangers08]

Some Target’s that wouldn’t cost much and haven’t been mentioned. these are just guys I could see wanting a change of scenery

06
Nathan Aspinall 6,5 -Flint 2nd rounder

Tyler Graham Oshawa 3rd rounder (Cambridge native)

Masen Wray Hamilton 3rd rounder

Carter Lowe 6,2 Barrie second rounder

05

Barlas- Ottawa first rounder

Grisola-Barrie 2nd rounder

Thibodeau- Kingston 5,9 forward late Birthday (most unlikely to be available )

• a underrated Benefit is Kyrzakos would have seen a lot of these guys in the east and during their draft year.

 

[Krangers08]

There are reports that Niagara is trading a goalie after tonight’s game. There’s rumblings Vandenberg it’s getting moved.

 

[zaluty]

There are reports that Niagara is trading a goalie after tonight’s game. There’s rumblings Vandenberg it’s getting moved.

If it is true it will be who ever is the back up tonight. You would not risk starting a goalie you are about to trade.

 

[Krangers08]

If it is true it will be who ever is the back up tonight. You would not risk starting a goalie you are about to trade.

Yea you’re probably right although it is Niagara we’re taking about. I just don’t see Flores having more value than Vandenberg (playing tn)

 

[Krangers08]

Conflicting reports now. Matt has broke pretty much all the teams recent trades

 

[bobber]

View attachment 779339
Conflicting reports now. Matt has broke pretty much all the teams recent trades

Kranger , just curious to why this guy would be breaking trade news ahead of a GM or team spokes person? Is he employed by Niagara? Always find this stuff strange and a little suspicious. These are young players and to have unsubstantiated rumours tossed around can be a more than a little unnerving one would think.

 

[Krangers08]

Kranger , just curious to why this guy would be breaking trade news ahead of a GM or team spokes person? Is he employed by Niagara? Always find this stuff strange and a little suspicious. These are young players and to have unsubstantiated rumours tossed around can be a more than a little unnerving one would think.

He’s basically Niagara Josh brown. JB could do the same if he wanted but doesn’t as they give him a heads up before announcements. He’s the only one that I recall does this. Up until a couple years ago there was a guy on Twitter that had every trade before it was announced

 

[Krangers08]

Both Guelph and Brantford as playing 3 in 3s with Brantford’s starting tonight and ending against kitch Saturday. Sunday might be sloppy for both teams

 

[RangerNation]

Both Guelph and Brantford as playing 3 in 3s with Brantford’s starting tonight and ending against kitch Saturday. Sunday might be sloppy for both teams

Guelph in Erie Saturday night too. Rangers really got lucky on their 3in3 travel. Really no reason they can't win all 3 this time.

 

[EvenSteven]

Guelph in Erie Saturday night too. Rangers really got lucky on their 3in3 travel. Really no reason they can't win all 3 this time.

We’ll see. Let’s hope they don’t go into the weekend with too much optimism.

Nose to the grindstone.

 

[RangerNation]

We’ll see. Let’s hope they don’t go into the weekend with too much optimism.

Nose to the grindstone.

Brantford took care of Petes tonight. They are no slouch these days.

Do we know when Mesar is leaving? I assume Rehkopf still plays Saturday, misses Sunday (and onward)

 

[three dog night]

There are reports that Niagara is trading a goalie after tonight’s game. There’s rumblings Vandenberg it’s getting moved.

Nope probably Flores