Confirmed with Link: Kravtsov requests trade

[Paulie Walnutz]

IIRC, our current GM was among those that pushed to draft him the hardest, as he took trips to Russia himself to scout him and was the main driving force to draft him.

Then Drury should take the heat too. You can’t waste top 10 picks like that. If his character is so good why does he run away when things don’t go his way every time? I’m not disagreeing with you either btw.

 

[Machinehead]

I agree on most points you've made here, definitely like the grit we've got now. From the coach on down.

I differ on Trouba. Pretty baffling that he's a Howden comp for you, even if included as such for rhetorical flourish.

Well Trouba is good player and Howden isn't. That's significant.

But Trouba does have that "do nothing really hard" bug that Howden does.

 

[Mandar]

i can see us sending him to boston and him just exploding lol
Send him west unless the return is too good.

I was thinking that too....but he's not a Boston-type of player...they rarely have pure finesse guys. I think Debrusk would benefit from a change of scenery and under GG's watch.

 

[Draft Guru]

This whole situation is so infuriating. Terrible asset management by the NYR.

 

[Blais to Win]

I'm going to throw out a controversial opinion here - the issue here might not really be "character" related at all. If an agent told me that by refusing assignment to the minors I might be able to force a trade somewhere like Buffalo or SJ where I'd be guaranteed a top-6 role and PP time, and that's not what the Rangers are offering.. in that situation what do I owe the team that drafted me? Loyalty? If his first thought is securing the bag over loyalty, I can't blame him for that.

It's a very American concept in sports that you should be loyal to the team that drafted you. In European sports it's common to request a transfer if you're not being used in the role that you believe you're ready for. And most of the time those requests are granted, and everyone moves on.

That's interesting.

Contrary to those thinking that his value has tanked thanks to this, I see little to no effect. He's still the guy he always was - just needs a chance to score goals. So I get this pov.

 

[Thirty One]

If I am a team that is close to the cap and has a roster lacking depth scoring where I could maybe slot him in the top-6 with other skilled players? Yep. Edmonton should be ALL OVER THIS

If you're Edmonton, who are you playing him ahead of? Yamamoto? Puljujarvi? I'm not seeing it.

 

[EdJovanovski]

If I am a team that is close to the cap and has a roster lacking depth scoring where I could maybe slot him in the top-6 with other skilled players? Yep. Edmonton should be ALL OVER THIS

If Kravtsov ends up playing on a line with McDavid this fiasco will be up there with Watergate

 

[Machinehead]

I'm not gonna harp on the pick itself. I try to do that less these days. It's mostly luck.

Farabee would be nice but the obvious pick there was Wahlstrom, so Farabee kinda feels like "let's just pick out a name to sit on the pity potty." Like when we revisit McIlrath and go to Tarasenko six picks later.

And as for Wahlstrom, he's a good prospect. Is he life-changing right now considering what we already have at wing? Not really.

 

[Chytilmania]

His value is still solid....he didn't trip on Opening Night.

 

[bl02]

If Kravtsov ends up playing on a line with McDavid this fiasco will be up there with Watergate

I doubt it would ever happen. Edmonton shoulld conserve whatever assets they have to get a legit goalie.

 

[Pawnee Rangers]

The NHL is not a developmental league. They don't owe a player anything other than what they agree to pay him when the contract is signed. Playing in the NHL is a privilege not a right. Everyone lauded the hiring of Gallant knowing he doesn't play kids in the bottom 6. Well, here you go. Kravstov wasn't ready for a role he was practically gifted in the preseason. It didn't work out, move on. Lias didn't work out, move on. Everyone knew not every kid was going to make it when the rebuild started. They'll have Laff, Kakko, Chytil, Fox, Lindgren, Miller, Lundkvist playing big, important minutes this season to go with a bunch of prospects in the pipeline. Not all of them are going to make it either. Barron and Jones deserved to make the opening night roster, they didn't. They also didn't take their ball and go home. They accepted the demotion, will work hard, and get their shot sometime this season. Same would have happened with Kravtsov. Stop the bitching, this is still a very talented team with stars at every position. Some of you sound as spoiled and as entitled as Kravtsov.

 

[I Eat Crow]

Then Drury should take the heat too. You can’t waste top 10 picks like that. If his character is so good why does he run away when things don’t go his way every time? I’m not disagreeing with you either btw.

100%. As much as the player sounds immature, it's on Drury too for not excising the cancer when he had the chance.

After what happened at the exit interview, Kravtsov should have been dealt. Period. After preaching culture change with completely overhauling the front office and bringing in Goodrow, Reaves, and Blais, not trading a malcontent seems like an oversight at best, negligence at worst.

 

[Machinehead]

I'm no insider but Kravtsov getting dealt for another change-of-scenery player seems to make the most sense.

We've hit on these in the past: Strome, Brassard, and Hayes come to mind.

Hell, Adam damn Fox was a holdout.

 

[NYR Viper]

If you're Edmonton, who are you playing him ahead of? Yamamoto? Puljujarvi? I'm not seeing it.

Yamamoto, in a heartbeat.

Hyman-McDavid-Puljujaarvi
Foegele-Draisatl-Kravtsov
______-RNH-Yamamoto

It spreads their scoring out much better

 

[Greg02]

Like when we revisit McIlrath and go to Tarasenko six picks later.

In fairness to this board, everyone really wanted two players in the run-up to the draft: Johansen (back when he was projected as a late first) or Tarasenko. In that case, it legitimately wasn't just hindsight.

 

[Edge]

It certainly is a team effort. However the majority of the team that made those calls is gone. Drury was a part of that team as AGM but I can't find any reporting linking him to these decisions as anything more than a part of the larger org. As a matter of fact all his moves since the purge have indicated that he sees and is proactive at fixing the problems we're seeing here. That's progress.

I think fans kind of argue it both ways with Drury.

When he does something that elicits some concern, the argument is that the old regime would've done the same thing and so if you don't like Drury's moves then you don't like what Gorton would've done.

When he does something they like, it's something that the old regime wasn't prepared to do.

The truth is he's probably closer to the thinking of the old regime than anything else, and he was very involved in the work. So some of the approach (both good and bad) is probably closer to Gorton and company than not.

 

[Paulie Walnutz]

100%. As much as the player sounds immature, it's on Drury too for not excising the cancer when he had the chance.

After what happened at the exit interview, Kravtsov should have been dealt. Period. After preaching culture change with completely overhauling the front office and bringing in Goodrow, Reaves, and Blais, not trading a malcontent seems like an oversight at best, negligence at worst.

Refresh my memory, did Krapsoft have a bad exit interview?

 

[JimmyG89]

Exactly.

I get what people are saying when they argue "well just cut Hajek" because f*** that dude anyhow, but when you get to the point of having to appease a player so he cooperates with team decisions, the issue has become bigger than roster logistics.

It's not really appeasing the player when they legit can carry 14 forwards and 7 defenders instead of 13 forwards, 7 defenders, and a traffic cone. The attitude is shitty, but he has a legit point of being on the roster, in the NHL instead of in Hartford because they kept a vastly inferior player on the roster over the guys that are in the AHL.

Jones went down without issue, even with him saying he believes he is NHL ready. That's committing to the team and organization. It'll help him moving forward, whether that is in a trade or on this roster since teams do value that. He did probably think playing big AHL minutes is better than being in and out of the NHL lineup with limited minutes.

Kravtsov is done with that and probably was never down with that to begin. It happened really early on too, so they knew the red flags from that moment on.

My biggest issue is not having him in the NHL at all. We lost Buch and are moving Kreider to the right side. If a RW goes down, who is the replacement for that player? Are they calling up Barron for a top 9 role and shuffling the deck? Is it Pajuniemi? There was/is a spot on the roster for him. It just seems very strange to do this for Hajek.

 

[RangerBoy]

Did you sleep through the summer?

I took a sabbatical.

 

[mike14]

Kravtsov is the kind of young, high-end talent that Seattle really needs, but not sure they have the right type of assets for him currently.

 

[Hockey Gamer]

Exactly.

I get what people are saying when they argue "well just cut Hajek" because f*** that dude anyhow, but when you get to the point of having to appease a player so he cooperates with team decisions, the issue has become bigger than roster logistics.

I hate to say it but this is one of the best posts in this entire thread. Honestly, f*** that guy.

 

[I Eat Crow]

Refresh my memory, did Krapsoft have a bad exit interview?

According to Larry's Post article today, it sounds like it was a total clusterf***.

 

[Machinehead]

It's not really appeasing the player when they legit can carry 14 forwards and 7 defenders instead of 13 forwards, 7 defenders, and a traffic cone. The attitude is shitty, but he has a legit point of being on the roster, in the NHL instead of in Hartford because they kept a vastly inferior player on the roster over the guys that are in the AHL.

Jones went down without issue, even with him saying he believes he is NHL ready. That's committing to the team and organization. It'll help him moving forward, whether that is in a trade or on this roster since teams do value that. He did probably think playing big AHL minutes is better than being in and out of the NHL lineup with limited minutes.

Kravtsov is done with that and probably was never down with that to begin. It happened really early on too, so they knew the red flags from that moment on.

My biggest issue is not having him in the NHL at all. We lost Buch and are moving Kreider to the right side. If a RW goes down, who is the replacement for that player? Are they calling up Barron for a top 9 role and shuffling the deck? Is it Pajuniemi? There was/is a spot on the roster for him. It just seems very strange to do this for Hajek.

The replacement would have been Kravtsov. Kravtsov went and spaffed that up the wall.

He wasn't going to be in the lineup right away. Although I would have penciled him in, personally, I don't think that's particularly egregious.

Would he have been happy as a healthy scratch as opposed to in the minors? I don't think so just based on how catty he's been about this and other issues.

 

[I Eat Crow]

Kravtsov is the kind of young, high-end talent that Seattle really needs, but not sure they have the right type of assets for him currently.

I'd take their unprotected 2022 or 2023 1st.

 

[Machinehead]

I hate to say it but this is one of the best posts in this entire thread. Honestly, f*** that guy.

Somebody said it best the day we traded for him: "Libor Hajek just sounds like a bust from the Dark Ages."