Speculation: Offseason Roster Moves

[VivaLasVegas]

What a depressing offseason so far lol.

This is more about getting rid of older and injury-prone players (except Mark Stone) while building a team that better fits Cassidy's system. So, it was always bound to be a weird FA season, but the VGK have had past success with weird.

Not sure what is going on with Mark Stone. He is still fantastic when he plays, but we never know when that will be. He has missed a lot of time the past three years for one of the bigger cap hits. I sort of wonder if this is the summer where he cashes in his disability policy and retires, which would free up a lot of cap to chase something big.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Do you guys think Brisson will be in Vegas next season?.. start bringing in some youth into the lineup perhaps?

 

[hangman005]

This is more about getting rid of older and injury-prone players (except Mark Stone) while building a team that better fits Cassidy's system. So, it was always bound to be a weird FA season, but the VGK have had past success with weird.

Not sure what is going on with Mark Stone. He is still fantastic when he plays, but we never know when that will be. He has missed a lot of time the past three years for one of the bigger cap hits. I sort of wonder if this is the summer where he cashes in his disability policy and retires, which would free up a lot of cap to chase something big.

I'll say it again, if HFBoards is anything to go by (it's not) we should have trade Stone for a haul his extremely valuable always being injured at the trade deadline, contenders would be giving up multiple firsts for him

 

[theslatcher]

Do you guys think Brisson will be in Vegas next season?.. start bringing in some youth into the lineup perhaps?

However, the addition of Holtz+Olofsson hurts his chances.

 

[azvgk]

I'm gonna guess McGroarty as well (Whitecloud + Brisson going the other way) with their eyes on Buchnevich as a TDL target.

If Theodore can be re-signed at 9M or less they need to jump on it. They need to find new top 4 pairings that lessen Petro's minutes though.

Hope if they sign Olofsson it means they won't trade Theo for Marner. As I said, not that Marner isn't good (he is) but I don't think he fits what they need, he's around 11 million now and UFA next year doesn't have the connection to VGK to consider a hometown discount so he'll want 13+ and term.

 

[azvgk]

I'll say it again, if HFBoards is anything to go by (it's not) we should have trade Stone for a haul his extremely valuable always being injured at the trade deadline, contenders would be giving up multiple firsts for him

Stone is playing at a middle six $4,000,000 level at best while making 9+. Obviously if he were healthy this wouldn't be the case, but if we could clear up his cap space and get a haul, I'd do it in as heartbeat. He's a great leader, one of the best, but this is a tough business and sentimentality will get you out of the playoffs. No one is ever, ever going to forget he led up to the Cup I waited many decades to see awarded (yes I was there).

 

[Vegan Knight]

There shouldn't be any way we keep all the defensemen. If Korczak is ready and Hutton is a good bottom pairing that we have as our extra then we shouldn't be holding onto all of Hague, Whitecloud and Theodore.

Cormier would need some games this season and maybe even one or two of our other AHL defense could get a few games. Bottom pairing veterans also tend to cost like a fourth round pick only in season.

It doesn't make sense to keep all three when we could try to use one to get a young power forward with potential.

 

[The Duck Knight]

There shouldn't be any way we keep all the defensemen. If Korczak is ready and Hutton is a good bottom pairing that we have as our extra then we shouldn't be holding onto all of Hague, Whitecloud and Theodore.

Cormier would need some games this season and maybe even one or two of our other AHL defense could get a few games. Bottom pairing veterans also tend to cost like a fourth round pick only in season.

It doesn't make sense to keep all three when we could try to use one to get a young power forward with potential.

It has to be Theo. He has the most value and I just don't see how they can afford the next contract especially now with how bad the wings look.

 

[theslatcher]

There shouldn't be any way we keep all the defensemen. If Korczak is ready and Hutton is a good bottom pairing that we have as our extra then we shouldn't be holding onto all of Hague, Whitecloud and Theodore.

Cormier would need some games this season and maybe even one or two of our other AHL defense could get a few games. Bottom pairing veterans also tend to cost like a fourth round pick only in season.

It doesn't make sense to keep all three when we could try to use one to get a young power forward with potential.

Well, KMGM says Korczak will be a regular this season, so a defenseman is being traded away. Who that is we'll see.

 

[CupInSIX]

Hope if they sign Olofsson it means they won't trade Theo for Marner. As I said, not that Marner isn't good (he is) but I don't think he fits what they need, he's around 11 million now and UFA next year doesn't have the connection to VGK to consider a hometown discount so he'll want 13+ and term.

One would think they see Olosfsson & Brisson as 13 & 14F going into camp, with an opportunity for Dorofeyev on Eichel's wing but then again they could sign Clutterbuck & Tarasenko tomorrow after moving out a Dman.

The odds of Marner to VGK just got a lot slimmer with Toronto adding a bunch of D IMO. One place that jumps out as a suitor is Chicago with all his ex-Leaf buddies.

This would be a good time to start a new trend of not trading core players and instead lessening their minutes...crazier things have happened.

Barbashev Eichel Olofsson (jack works with just about anybody)
Dorofeyev Hertl Tarasenko? (ditto for Hertl)
Holtz Karlsson Stone (always wanted Karlsson & Stone together but Stepho clicked better)
Howden Roy ___ (don't think of this as a 4th line)
Kolesar
Brisson

everyone plays similar minutes. I'm predicting a big camp for Sapovaliv and it wouldn't surprise me if he forced his way onto the roster sooner than later.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Well, KMGM says Korczak will be a regular this season, so a defenseman is being traded away. Who that is we'll see.

I'd wager that if you asked Cassidy, a former defenseman himself and who runs a defense-first system, he would reply to the effect that "you can't have too many defensemen".

Cassidy's next priority is controlled zone entry, i.e., he wants players who can move the puck through the neutral zone without too much difficulty.

IMHO, scoring is no higher than third on Cassidy's priority list and this will be reflected in any trade.

Also, FWIW, I never thought that Marner was a serious target for the VGK because he really doesn't fit Cassidy's system at all.

What we will likely end up with is a team much like those of the last two years, i.e., a team that wins a lot of games 2-1 and never really blows anybody out through awe-inspiring scoring unless the other team is just awful or having a particularly bad night, and even then we'd probably just continue to keep turtling the second we get up by a couple of goals -- defense first, last and always!

 

[hangman005]

I'd wager that if you asked Cassidy, a former defenseman himself and who runs a defense-first system, he would reply to the effect that "you can't have too many defensemen".

Cassidy's next priority is controlled zone entry, i.e., he wants players who can move the puck through the neutral zone without too much difficulty.

IMHO, scoring is no higher than third on Cassidy's priority list and this will be reflected in any trade.

Also, FWIW, I never thought that Marner was a serious target for the VGK because he really doesn't fit Cassidy's system at all.

What we will likely end up with is a team much like those of the last two years, i.e., a team that wins a lot of games 2-1 and never really blows anybody out through awe-inspiring scoring unless the other team is just awful or having a particularly bad night, and even then we'd probably just continue to keep turtling the second we get up by a couple of goals -- defense first, last and always!

Seems optimistic to think we'll wait for a lead before we turtle

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Seems optimistic to think we'll wait for a lead before we turtle

Tru dat!

 

[Super Cake]

I would feel so much better about this roster if they still had a 1st. No 1st 2 years in a row is brutal.

Not saying they will finish bottom 10, but if they start the season like how they played in the second half of last seaosn and all the injuries come back, it is not out of the realm of possibilities that the team falls into the bottom 10 of the standings next season.

 

[theslatcher]

It was simply the structure of the contract offered that Marchy didn't like. Can't blame Kelly on that one.

 

[Vegan Knight]

I'd wager that if you asked Cassidy, a former defenseman himself and who runs a defense-first system, he would reply to the effect that "you can't have too many defensemen".

Cassidy's next priority is controlled zone entry, i.e., he wants players who can move the puck through the neutral zone without too much difficulty.

IMHO, scoring is no higher than third on Cassidy's priority list and this will be reflected in any trade.

Also, FWIW, I never thought that Marner was a serious target for the VGK because he really doesn't fit Cassidy's system at all.

What we will likely end up with is a team much like those of the last two years, i.e., a team that wins a lot of games 2-1 and never really blows anybody out through awe-inspiring scoring unless the other team is just awful or having a particularly bad night, and even then we'd probably just continue to keep turtling the second we get up by a couple of goals -- defense first, last and always!

It's about having a 2.75 million defenseman and a 950k defenseman sitting most nights.

You're squandering your cap if you do that, and Cassidy can see what the wingers look like now and probably realizes that moving out a defenseman to shore it up, especially if you can get a young winger who has potential to outperform a contract, helps him more.

We have five defensemen capable of being in the bottom two pairs without Theodore, and we have Hanafin and Pietrangelo for the top pair. And we still have Cormier who needs games this season and other AHL defensemen who have played NHL games before, like Mayo. And veteran bottom pairing D costs relatively little around the deadline.

There is no reason they don't trade a defenseman, and Theodore is the prime candidate because he has very good value and is due a bigger contract next year.

 

[LadyStanley]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1808639362361668031

 

[Vegan Knight]

It's been discussed how little cap room we have but the thing is, we still have some. And we can't have any if Lehner gets put on LTIR or we're wasting it for the year.

With Rondbjerg up we have about 1.3 million in room with a full 23 man roster. If we sent him down to bring in a better forward we would have around 2.076 million to bring in a roster forward. And again, we want to use it all or we lose what we don't use. It seems certain some other move is coming.

If Theodore did get traded you would have to add 5.2 million to that number (6.5 total) which would need to be spent by opening night. Maybe they hold onto Theodore until the season starts and make a mid-season trade for a young, cheaper forward and then have that extra room for the deadline?

But we would still need to be at the cap at the start of the year, who is left that makes sense at 1.3-2 million for a year?

(If we start a player on 7 day IR to open the season we could seemingly sign someone for the 1.3 and then send down someone to bank the 766k for later. Otherwise we'd need to spend all 2.076 on the new 23rd player.)

Clutterbuck? Barabonov? Pearson?