GDT: Let the Free Agency Madness begin

[The Faulker 27]

Reminder if you fix cap friendly broken cap listing for us and remove Pono, Rees, and Suzuki from our projected roster we have :

$5.3m+ with Drury and Svech counting against the cap to make 12 forwards
$13m with Svech on LTIR and only listing 11 forwards including Drury

that includes Orlov and Bunting and Skjei/Pesce. It doesn’t include TDA at half price because it isn’t JULY 9th and we haven’t officially traded for him yet…

it all comes down to what the AAV is and term on any Tank deal.

we can still sign Tank and trade for Karlsson retained and be summer cap compliant while Svech on LTiR and not have to trade Skjei/Pesce to do it.

we can still get EK and Tank and be cap compliant with Svech not on LTIR depending on the AAV of Tank and how much salary is retained on a Karlsson deal with a trade of one of the Skjei/Pesce pairing…. We can own rental Skjei and run him on the 3rd pairing with Chatfield and still be compliant depending on the money. We don’t have to trade a bunch of players to make it work, don’t get distracted by cap friendly mistakenly showing Suzuki, Rees, and Pono on our roster counting against the cap…

Have you considered running this through ChatGPT and allowing it to "wrap it up"?

 

[ElmCityGuy]

If the Canes would sign Tarasenko they would get back some of their money because I would buy a #91 Tarasenko jersey.

Apparently they are currently trying to work out what percent of the profit on my pending jersey purchase will go to Tarasenko before the deal is signed.

 

[Sigurd]

Even after presumably signing Tank, we can still trade enough players to cap dump (particularly the defensemen being replaced) and have enough cap space to get Karlsson; especially if Friedman is right about San Jose having to retain closer to 40% on Karlsson.



Pray hands we sign Tank and get Karlsson. On top of previous moves so far, best freaking off-season in franchise history if that happens. Maybe best off-season in several years across the NHL.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

A C needs to be our target before Karlsson. Please and thank you

 

[spockBokk]

A C needs to be our target before Karlsson. Please and thank you

Agree, too many wingers.

You want Fast and Martinook with Staal, not guys like Necas or Jarvis, etc.

Bunting and Jarvis with Aho I’m guessing…

Svechnikov and Necas with Kotkaniemi?

Tarasenko and Teravainen with Staal???(ew)

Might have to sacrifice Teravainen for a C though.

I suppose Ponomarev or Suzuki could blow the doors off in camp, but highly doubtful.

Drury could be trade bait…

 

[Francis10]

Agree, too many wingers.

You want Fast and Martinook with Staal, not guys like Necas or Jarvis, etc.

Bunting and Jarvis with Aho I’m guessing…

Svechnikov and Necas with Kotkaniemi?

Tarasenko and Teravainen with Staal???(ew)

Might have to sacrifice Teravainen for a C though.

I suppose Ponomarev or Suzuki could blow the doors off in camp, but highly doubtful.

Drury could be trade bait…

Only half kidding, but…….

Jonathan Toews. 1 year. 1 Million.

Bunting/Aho/Jarvis
Svech/KK/Necas
Tank/Toews/TT
Martinook/Staal/Fast
Drury

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Bunting and Teravainen makes sense with Staal, I think. Teravainen is defensively sound enough to work with Staal and to be effective. Sure, Bunting's offense would drop off playing with Staal vs. playing with Matthews, but Bunting has enough offensive skill of his own to be sort of like a Niederreiter for that line.

 

[Stickpucker]

Have you considered running this through ChatGPT and allowing it to "wrap it up"?

Sometimes I ask my wife to "land the plane" that usually doesn't end well.

 

[Svechhammer]

Worth keeping in mind when people want to bad mouth KK

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

Worth keeping in mind when people want to bad mouth KK

I believe even higher in 5v5 too, but may be wrong. He’s a 2C already, low end as a scorer but overall a decent 2C with his physicality and plus defense. I’m comfortable with him there if we have enough scoring at wing which we would for sure with Tank and healthy Svech. Sure a Lindholm, RNH, etc. upgrade would be nice but in my view wholly unnecessary at this point. Any upgrade at C that makes sense to me would be to have another 1C to have with Aho and run 2 elite lines — someone like a Pettersson wanting out or a situation like Eichel, very unlikely to happen but for anything less it makes more sense to me to roll with Koko at 2C

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I believe even higher in 5v5 too, but may be wrong. He’s a 2C already, low end as a scorer but overall a decent 2C with his physicality and plus defense. I’m comfortable with him there if we have enough scoring at wing which we would for sure with Tank and healthy Svech. Sure a Lindholm, RNH, etc. upgrade would be nice but in my view wholly unnecessary at this point. Any upgrade at C that makes sense to me would be to have another 1C to have with Aho and run 2 elite lines — someone like a Pettersson wanting out or a situation like Eichel, very unlikely to happen but for anything less it makes more sense to me to roll with Koko at 2C

His 5v5 points (29) among centers ranked tied for 72nd. His 5v5 points / 60 among centers ranked 77th best.
Comparatively, Staal's 5v5 ranking was 65th and 71st; and he did this with lesser line mates, with more defensive zone draws and much tougher match-ups.

KK's overall scoring among all forwards was tied for 140th in the NHL.

There's reason for optimism though as he steadily improved through last season.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

His 5v5 points (29) among centers was tied for 72nd. His 5v5 points / 60 were 77th best.
Comparatively, Staal's 5v5 ranking was 65th and 71st; and he did this with lesser line mates, with more defensive zone draws and much tougher match-ups.

KK's overall scoring among all forwards was tied for 140th in the NHL.

There's reason for optimism though as he steadily improved through last season.

Yeah he started out really really slow, I think I was thinking of his stats since the turn of the calendar or something. His 2nd half of the season was great scoring-wise

 

[bleedgreen]

I’m not that pumped about Tank to be honest but we wanted scoring and he adds some scoring. Wouldn’t surprise me if we don’t add much more than that, other than what moving a second pair guy gets us.

I don’t think we’re getting a 2C, I think that was over when Staal signed. Staal won’t be the 4C, and they didn’t invest in Koko just to bury him there. The second half of last season gives them the excuse to think he’s good enough and avoid dealing with it for another year. This is why I wasn’t all that excited about the longer Staal deal, it gives them the chance to not deal with this particular issue.

Orlov, Bunting, Tank….with a healthy Svech you’d think we’d be a better team. That second pair is still a huge issue. I’m fine with them taking futures for Skjei and not spending them on someone unless it’s the right someone.

 

[MinJaBen]

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

There’s too much of a focus on position, to me. Flip flop Necas and Kotkaniemi, and no one says anything about the structure of the team, despite the net talent being the same.

Their 5v5 retrieve/point shot/repeat style is very fluid. Necas is going to swoop and attack the line with speed on breakouts anyway, regardless of where he’s slotted.

Core players need to elevate others in a cap system. Vegas has just had Brett Howden stapled to Stone. Colorado plugged a pre-breakout Lehkonen in its Top 6. St. Louis had Zach Sanford of all players lineup next to O’Reilly for a Stanley Cup Finals Game 7. And so on.

Kotkaniemi is a third wheel in the Top 6. If Necas and/or Svechnikov can’t make that work, the team has bigger problems.

 

[bleedgreen]

There’s too much of a focus on position, to me. Flip flop Necas and Kotkaniemi, and no one says anything about the structure of the team, despite the net talent being the same.

Their 5v5 retrieve/point shot/repeat style is very fluid. Necas is going to swoop and attack the line with speed on breakouts anyway, regardless of where he’s slotted.

Core players need to elevate others in a cap system. Vegas has just had Brett Howden stapled to Stone. Colorado plugged a pre-breakout Lehkonen in its Top 6. St. Louis had Zach Sanford of all players lineup next to O’Reilly for a Stanley Cup Finals Game 7. And so on.

Kotkaniemi is a third wheel in the Top 6. If Necas and/or Svechnikov can’t make that work, the team has bigger problems.

I don’t disagree with some of your concepts but I do believe Rod is very traditional in how he slots things and our overall approach. Dump and chase, get the puck to the point and outwork everyone for the rebound is as old school as it gets.

I agree with your point about Koko being a third wheel, if the other two guys on Koko’s line can’t create we have bigger issues but that’s the core of the “we may need a better 2C” debate. This is where I would diverge any concept of “position doesn’t matter” in our system. Rod wants centers who do center things and prioritizes them to play that position. Win draws, hold onto the puck with strength, never make bad choices in the middle of the ice. He would choose a lesser offensive player who does these things well, and it’s perfectly plausible that the two linemates can’t create enough without a third. Not enough for the second line anyways, which is important to take the pressure off the first line and make it tough to defend us. Mix in a third line that can grind you to dust and we’re really a handful. A cup winning handful.

In short, I would disagree that positions don’t matter with us (which has been said here before) and that the position of 2C does matter to some extent. The two wingers would have to be really something to carry a passenger. Our guys are good, but I don’t know about that good.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

I do get the value the league places on the position, from a roster building perspective. Centers are scarce. Thus, it's easier to acquire and retain a 70 point wing than a 70 point center. It's in theory simpler to stack talent that way.

This team isn't naturally structured with a strong 1-2 punch. You can fight it or just live with it. Adding a Dubois type cap makes retaining Necas difficult moving forward. That's a lot to spend on 4 non-superstar forwards (at least at this time). Chasing Lindholm just to have a truer 2nd line center is where the divergence occurs.

In a perfect world, a true top offensive center becomes available to replace Necas' offensive impact. Elias Pettersson would give them the, dare I say, a dynastic mix up at the very top with Aho and Svechnikov.

 

[SvechneJerk]

Question - has Nylander ever played Center?

 

[MinJaBen]

Question - has Nylander ever played Center?

At the world championships for Sweden.

 

[SvechneJerk]

At the world championships for Sweden.

How well did he do?

 

[Unsustainable]

How well did he do?

He was in the world championships

 

[MinJaBen]

How well did he do?

He got the MVP of the tournament in 2017 when Sweden won the whole thing.

 

[SvechneJerk]

He was in the world championships

He got the MVP of the tournament in 2017 when Sweden won the whole thing.

Any chance he could be an effective 2C moving forward?

 

[MinJaBen]

Any chance he could be an effective 2C moving forward?

Sure. There is also a chance Necas could be a good 2C as well. But so far their coaches have options they like better.

 

[htdoc]

Necas from a puck carrying perspective could be viewed as being someone with center like tendancies... but anyone that awful on faceoffs isn't playing center on a regular basis for this team...

We tried the experiment. As long as KK plays here, he will be a center. It was a complete failure trying to get him to play wing for us... maybe when he has more years in the league and in our system. He seemed to be growing into his body and into our system as the season went along last season. It was a noticeable change in his assertiveness and puck handling and many other aspects of his play... if his skating keeps improving with more work with power skating coaches each summer he really could turn into something... now we just need to work on him being able to get his shot off in less than 47 seconds.... he really needs to practice the Bedard draw back and snap shot for speed and being able to get the shot off in tight spaces..