Kitchener Rangers 2023-24 Season Thread (Part 2)

[Rangers True Blue]

For me, I love our top six.

Swick. Rehkopf. Mesar.
Martin. Sop. Miseljevic.

If we bring in an Owen Beck, he will 100% bump Sop out of the #2 C spot. Where will he go? 3rd line? Sop is on a 40 goal pace. I don’t want to screw that up. Or as a left shot, would he bump Martin out of the top six? Who’s Martin playing with on the third line? Martin was also at a 40 goal pace playing top six. I doubt MM moved out Schmidt so Martin could play 3rd line minutes. Would Sop bump Miseljevic out of the top six? Misel is having a career year playing there. Another 40ish goal pace player. I contend to bump either of the three out of the top six could affect their production negatively. As much as in half.

For me, I do not upset the apple cart. I leave the top six as is. We’re the top scoring team in the league. I don’t think we need to bring in someone because we lack scoring or lack top six players. It’s depth we have to address.

Acquire at least one pretty good veteran forward (I prefer two) on the cheap to play 3rd line with Lam. If Romano is moved, (I don’t see Reid going anywhere), it could be for quantity instead of quality.

A Beck / Smith acquisition will exhaust most of our assets along with Romano. We’d still have holes. Again, I don’t want a scenario where we run with two of Reid, Campbell, Dirracolo in the lineup at the same time on a deep playoff run. We’d be asking too much I think and they’d be exposed. Especially if they are together on the 3rd pairing.

We need three strong lines to go deep. I like Ellinas and I see a bright future for him here. But I’m sceptical both he and Lam together on the third line. Both would be pretty good 3rds on a 3rd line but not at the same time.

If we run into Saginaw in a deep playoff round, their 3rd line will chew those guys up and that could be the difference in the series. Saginaw will add big time and what they’ll ice as a 3rd line will be a line of vets. Watch and see.

AND included with don't upset the apple cart, do NOT bring anyone in that screws up the chemistry and culture of the club. One bad apple and.....

 

[EvenSteven]

One would think if Beck is the big fish Saginaw would be in on him first. I think MM has to proceed with caution leading up to the deadline. I think the elephant in the room is the defense mostly on this squad. They give up far too many odd man rushes every game and struggle to play a solid 60 minutes. Second half they need to correct this issue. Do this in a play off series and a team would be lucky to last one round ala Spits last season.

I think the only way Beck comes here is if we’re his choice and he calls his shot to Kitchener. That’s a huge reach though.

Bottom line is, we can’t afford him and fill other holes. Saginaw, Sudbury and Guelph would all outbid us easily.

 

[Rangers True Blue]

In that Brown article, MM still talks about the door being open for Pobezal to join the club. IF that ship had sailed, he wouldn't bother mentioning it at all. The pitch is even better than it was with Mesar: top team, elite head coach, solid coaching staff, more minutes than he's getting now, PP2 action, 200-foot game emphasis, tough league to play in (ask Mesar), constant NA scouting, top notch facilities, amazing fan base, and yes, Mesar to help him adapt.

Love to see the kid here playing with his own age group and shining with the Rangers.

 

[EvenSteven]

AND included with don't upset the apple cart, do NOT bring anyone in that screws up the chemistry and culture of the club. One bad apple and.....

If Beck comes here and bumps a top six player down the lineup, what we’d gain by having Beck, we’d lose by having the bumped player’s reduced offensive contribution.

What do we do? Have Beck bump Sop down to 3rd line C and have his offence considerably reduced, reducing him to PK duties primarily? Sounds like sort of a sideways move. And at the cost of Romano +++?

I don’t like it. If we had a deep war chest of picks, it might make sense as we’d be able to further add quality to the 3rd line and address our D depth as well. But if it’s either Beck or address overall depth, I’m addressing depth.

 

[rangersblues]

One would think if Beck is the big fish Saginaw would be in on him first. I think MM has to proceed with caution leading up to the deadline. I think the elephant in the room is the defense mostly on this squad. They give up far too many odd man rushes every game and struggle to play a solid 60 minutes. Second half they need to correct this issue. Do this in a play off series and a team would be lucky to last one round ala Spits last season.

The most complete complete hockey the Rangers played this season was immediately after Schmidt returned. They were tough to score on. I believe they almost had back to back shutouts.

Shortly thereafter Hamara requested a trade. Now Schmidt is gone. Those are two huge holes that need to be addressed if this is going to be a serious contender. You have to be able to shut it down when the time comes to be successful in the playoffs,

 

[Gondrex]

With the potential for so many teams being buyers at the trade deadline this season, I wouldn't be surprised to see prices to acquire those highly desired pieces inflate pretty quickly. Unfortunately, the Rangers obviously have limited assets compared to other teams. IMO, I think MM is therefore limited in what he acquires - perhaps the cheap adds that ES had alluded to. With what he has to work with, I would be absolutely floored if MM managed to bring in anyone close to Beck's talent level, and would shudder at the cost if he did manage to do it. In fact, who knows ?........ it may end up even costing an '07 for just a "2nd tier" player.

I still think that Tomas Pobezal's decision on whether or not to come over will still have a lot of impact on MM's decision-making at the deadline.

 

[EvenSteven]

In that Brown article, MM still talks about the door being open for Pobezal to join the club. IF that ship had sailed, he wouldn't bother mentioning it at all. The pitch is even better than it was with Mesar: top team, elite head coach, solid coaching staff, more minutes than he's getting now, PP2 action, 200-foot game emphasis, tough league to play in (ask Mesar), constant NA scouting, top notch facilities, amazing fan base, and yes, Mesar to help him adapt.

Love to see the kid here playing with his own age group and shining with the Rangers.

We were “gifted” Mesar and Schmidt this year. It would be cool if Pobezal showed up too. Don’t good things happen in threes?

To get that calibre a player for free? Sign me up!

 

[rangersblues]

If Beck comes here and bumps a top six player down the lineup, what we’d gain by having Beck, we’d lose by having the bumped player’s reduced offensive contribution.

What do we do? Have Beck bump Sop down to 3rd line C and have his offence considerably reduced, reducing him to PK duties primarily? Sounds like sort of a sideways move. And at the cost of Romano +++?

I don’t like it. If we had a deep war chest of picks, it might make sense as we’d be able to further add quality to the 3rd line and address our D depth as well. But if it’s either Beck or address overall depth, I’m addressing depth.

Getting Beck makes zero sense after deciding to keep Martin. I also believe we need to do more than address depth on defense. We need a number 1 shutdown guy if possible.

 

[bobber]

The most complete complete hockey the Rangers played this season was immediately after Schmidt returned. They were tough to score on. I believe they almost had back to back shutouts.

Shortly thereafter Hamara requested a trade. Now Schmidt is gone. Those are two huge holes that need to be addressed if this is going to be a serious contender. You have to be able to shut it down when the time comes to be successful in the playoffs,

Rangers really need two stay at home defensemen that can shut down some of the top opposing forwards. Also need some grit. Punnet ran the Rangers ragged in Barrie and there was no answer to his physicality.

 

[EvenSteven]

Rangers really need two stay at home defensemen that can shut down some of the top opposing forwards. Also need some grit. Punnet ran the Rangers ragged in Barrie and there was no answer to his physicality.

Wish list. Do I have three wishes? Lol!!

1. Two shut down D.

2. Pobezal.

3. Inexpensive veteran 3rd line addition.

 

[GeoBlue]

One would think if Beck is the big fish Saginaw would be in on him first. I think MM has to proceed with caution leading up to the deadline. I think the elephant in the room is the defense mostly on this squad. They give up far too many odd man rushes every game and struggle to play a solid 60 minutes. Second half they need to correct this issue. Do this in a play off series and a team would be lucky to last one round ala Spits last season.

Yes, I think the general vibe on these boards is.....

1. Add solid defence.
2. Shore up 3rd line.
3. Hope everyone comes back healthy and stays healthy.

 

[Ranger77]

We were “gifted” Mesar and Schmidt this year. It would be cool if Pobezal showed up too. Don’t good things happen in threes?

To get that calibre a player for free? Sign me up!

Would Hamara have requested a trade if Schmidt hadn't been sent back? And now Schmidt has been traded and all of a sudden, we are looking for a couple of D.

 

[Ward Cornell]

Fortunately the cheapest and easiest to add to a team is defensively oriented dmen and reinforcing defensive systems.
It always seemed to me in the PD days that the last quarter of the season that the entire team/staff made a conscious effort to tighten up the defence.

Will we see the same here??... I suspect so.

 

[Jives]

Would Hamara have requested a trade if Schmidt hadn't been sent back? And now Schmidt has been traded and all of a sudden, we are looking for a couple of D.

Hamara requested a trade before Schmidt came back.

 

[bobber]

Fortunately the cheapest and easiest to add to a team is defensively oriented dmen and reinforcing defensive systems.
It always seemed to me in the PD days that the last quarter of the season that the entire team/staff made a conscious effort to tighten up the defence.

Will we see the same here??... I suspect so.

True Ward. Rangers biggest issues the Rangers have is their team defense has slackened off in the last 10 games or so. Also not playing 60 minutes. They seem to put up a stinker either in the 2nd or 3rd period every game. I wonder if this is why there has been no one nominated for captain. Are they waiting to see if someone can put the team on his back when they falter? Not sure there is a Mike Richards amongst them. I think Reid could be down the road. He did have a fight with a vet sticking up for a team mate.

 

[Jives]

True Ward. Rangers biggest issues the Rangers have is their team defense has slackened off in the last 10 games or so. Also not playing 60 minutes. They seem to put up a stinker either in the 2nd or 3rd period every game. I wonder if this is why there has been no one nominated for captain. Are they waiting to see if someone can put the team on his back when they falter? Not sure there is a Mike Richards amongst them. I think Reid could be down the road. He did have a fight with a vet sticking up for a team mate.

Waiting for Pinelli to come back….lol. I did find out some info on him (about 3 weeks ago). He is a not a free agent (3 weeks ago anyway). He has not cleared through a waiver process the OHL has in place (he is in the same spot as Arcuri). When does he become a FA…didn’t get that far into it. He has been a heathy scratch for 5 of 25 games. Has the worst ppg for F on the team. Has the team worst plus/minus.

 

[SFC]

+ Dwight Foster & an honourable mention for Red Laurence who was on pace for 84 the same year (76-77) when he broke his leg in early December.

Yes, good adds, looks like the website I was pulling the stats from doesn't include the old OHA numbers, my bad. Foster is an icon, it's a shame the team won't retire his number.

 

[Offside by a mile]

I apologize if this has been mentioned already but i was unaware as of yesterday so i figured i would share.



Pugs is out with a Groin. ( not sure the severity, but hopeful he's back after the break)
Stark is out with a Concussion- Was hit/ran into Scott at practice a little while back- Team is unsure of his return- which makes sense as concussion vary in recovery time.
I spoke to a player and the team believes they will be seeing Tomas Pobezal's in a Rangers uniform this year. ( whether that happens or not is another thing)

For the record as i have been in the soft sell camp all year, after reading JB's article it's pretty clear we will be buyers at the deadline. I would caution MM with dealing either Romano or Reid. I firmly don't believe even if we put all the chips on the table and I mean all of the chips, we can't win an arms race with Saginaw. To go all in, in a year where the best teams in this league are in the West ( Saginaw/Soo and I’m not counting the Knights out with their D-Core and fall short would be catastrophic IMO. If we were in the EAST it's a no brainer throw it all in and go for it but i can't be the only person that thinks a 2nd round exit isn't a possibility given the competition.


I personally would like some small tweaks. Soft buy. Hopefully get Pobezal and add 1 more FWD and a Def D man.

Lineup could look like



1-Mesar/Rehkoprf/Swick

2nd-Missle/Sop/Martin

3rd Trade /Pobezal/Lam/

4th Ellinas /Mercer/Pug

Extra’s-Morey Bottineau/Stark/Romano- Romano being the first man up. With this lineup maybe it makes sense to deal Romano but I’m not sold.

Another factor with Pobezal is, would he come over here to play anything outside of Top 6 ? (Opportunities/ linemates/ minutes)



Def-

Bru/Ando

Motew/ Trade

Campbell/Reid

Ex: Dirracolo/Scott


The core of Reid/Romano/Lam/Stark/Macneil/Arquette would set this team up for 4-5 years of exciting hockey. Not to mention the additions of Ellinas/Campbell and now Dirracolo to support them.

Anyways this season has been a lot of fun to watch and an exciting brand of hockey. I love thinking of all these scenario’s and now we sit and wait to see what MM does.

Go Rangers!

 

[OHL4Life]

Waiting for Pinelli to come back….lol. I did find out some info on him (about 3 weeks ago). He is a not a free agent (3 weeks ago anyway). He has not cleared through a waiver process the OHL has in place (he is in the same spot as Arcuri). When does he become a FA…didn’t get that far into it. He has been a heathy scratch for 5 of 25 games. Has the worst ppg for F on the team. Has the team worst plus/minus.

pinelli was waived november 15th to get the rangers overage situation down to 4, thats a mandatory date. generally it takes 24 hours for the waiver process to play out unless its on a friday. his current status on the ohl/chl's central database is 'free agent', but kitchener cannot resign him. its a moot point, hes not coming back, he'll go to the echl before that happens.

acuri was waived on november 15th as well, same situation. i think i posted all this a month ago, its a lost cause.

rangers do not have their rights nor the right to sign them. 12 month rule after waiving no different then the trade rule

 

[sbpointer]

pinelli was waived november 15th to get the rangers overage situation down to 4, thats a mandatory date. generally it takes 24 hours for the waiver process to play out unless its on a friday. his current status on the ohl/chl's central database is 'free agent', but kitchener cannot resign him. its a moot point, hes not coming back, he'll go to the echl before that happens.

acuri was waived on november 15th as well, same situation. i think i posted all this a month ago, its a lost cause.

rangers do not have their rights nor the right to sign them. 12 month rule after waiving no different then the trade rule

The Knights are going to sign him for a playoff run

 

[OHL4Life]

The Knights are going ot sign him for a playoff run

no one will to be honest with you. if he was coming back the kings would have told the rangers and it would have happened by now, but i get your kidding

 

[bobber]

Not sure why Pinelli was mentions here anyway.

 

[OHL4Life]

Not sure why Pinelli was mentions here anyway.

the one guy keeps bringing his name up.

 

[Jives]

the one guy keeps bringing his name up.

That’s me!! I just don’t see the point in the Kings keeping him in the AHL as the 12th or 13th forward. The kid needs ice time.

 

[OHL4Life]

That’s me!! I just don’t see the point in the Kings keeping him in the AHL as the 12th or 13th forward. The kid needs ice time.

how do you know what his ice time is?

i looked it up, he's averaging about 15 minutes a night. he had 22 shifts last week against bakersfield.

what else do you want for 20 year old? hes playing alot, just not scoring (no 20 year olds do unless they are high end).

the chl door closed on him when he cleared overage waivers nov 16th, hes not coming back to the chl, im not sure he even could at this point,

edit: looking deeper it looks like his ice time is increasing, he stared against san diego with about 8 minutes being the normal for the first bit, his last 6 games have all been around 15, this is in line with most forwards on the team. his ice time has actually been a bit more then alex turcotte over that time period. i think you can let this one go.