Speculation: Roster Building Frenzy Part XX

[pld459666]

I see a lot of folks mis-characterizing both Laf and Kakko as skilled players when in fact they are both Skilled AND STIFF to play against and I expect to see that emerge to a significant degree this year..

 

[Blais to Win]

Don’t we have “good centers”?

 

[duhmetreE]

Trading a 1st rounder for a good 25 year old, 2 way center that can skate, score and take faceoffs is worth it imo. Even more so when it's 4 year @ $4.45M

This is not advocating in trading our 1st for rentals for a cup run

Other 1sts can be acquired when we have to move our abundance of assets

 

[Tawnos]

Maybe my issue is with the CBA or the anti-trust exemption itself. But it seems to me that a one year hit in revenue shouldn’t have a five year knock-on effect. Even if it’s just digesting the one-year hit, as you say. Something isn’t right.

Players and owners split revenue 50/50. The players got paid their full salaries last year (minus 20% escrow) and the cap stayed the same, despite the huge loss in revenues. It takes time to pay back that money. Could they do it faster? Sure, they could have increased escrow to 30 or 40%, but the lower amount is what was agreed to by both parties. There's nothing shady going on here.

So, to further clarify what GAGLine is saying there, the new CBA also included a cap on escrow. This could be paid back faster very easily, but the players didn't want to lose so much money all at once. It's better for them (and their budgeting, which even NHL players have and we can all relate to) to spread it out. Frankly, the players had the owners up against the wall a bit with this, because the owners knew that if they didn't come to an agreement, they were in danger of losing the season and that would've had a significant negative impact on the pending new TV contracts. The players had just a little bit of power (for a chance) and leveraged it to dictate the way they wanted this to go.

 

[EpicDing]

Our old friend Aleksi Saarela just signed in Switzerland.

Just our yearly reminder that not every prospect makes it and it's ok to trade them sometimes.

 

[NYR Viper]

For me, here is what appeals to me about Dvorak:
1) his age is PERFECT to grow with this team (25 years old)
2) His contract is well within reason if he stops progressing now, which is unlikely. If he takes even a small step forward to a 45-50 point center his contract is a steal in today's NHL.
3) He's versatile enough and his contract is reasonable enough that should Chytil surpass him on the depth chart just by developing into a high end 2C or more, Dvorak can easily drop in to a 3C role and perform well there.
4) The cost to acquire shouldn't be THAT high considering the market this off-season for forwards
5) His underlying metrics, for the most part of his young career, have been pretty good.
6) his face-off percentage has been good for 4 straight years which is important when playing with skilled players (see Panarin)

 

[InTheShift]

Rather bring back Radek....

I still remember a game a long time ago against I think Nashville on New Years Eve where the on ice mics picked up Dvorak during a scrum. His “FOOK YOU” became a staple catchphrase in my house growing up.

 

[FIRE DRURY]

Trading a 1st rounder for a good 25 year old, 2 way center that can skate, score and take faceoffs is worth it imo. Even more so when it's 4 year @ $4.45M

This is not advocating in trading our 1st for rentals for a cup run

Other 1sts can be acquired when we have to move our abundance of assets

I like Dvorak more than a lot of posters here. I believe there’s another gear in his game that’ll elevate his production as well.

But like others have said, I’m not risking a 1st round pick in next years draft for him.

 

[rangers1314]

Our old friend Aleksi Saarela just signed in Switzerland.

Just our yearly reminder that not every prospect makes it and it's ok to trade them sometimes.

speak for yourself, some of us are still holding out hope.

 

[Peltz]

People just love to pile on the guy, he's been awesome for us since he got here no matter who he has played with

I agree.

 

[Peltz]

Wow someone who gets it. How inflated are Strome's stats playing with Panarin? So if people are saying its a wash with Dvorak right now based on his play on his current team, isn't it a fair assumption that he would do much better playing with Panarin?

Strome was excellent when Panarin was out on his extended leave this season.

 

[Fitzy]

Our old friend Aleksi Saarela just signed in Switzerland.

Just our yearly reminder that not every prospect makes it and it's ok to trade them sometimes.

Saarela could have turned out to be a serial killer and that's still a bad trade.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

They need to figure out something else to help teams along. For years I have been saying there should be a modified cap where teams can sign a player that they either drafted or who played 2+ years on an ELC with them to a higher money amount and a lower cap hit. This is the only league where teams are punished for drafting well and developing good young players.

I disagree, why even bother having a cap to begin with? I don't like luxury taxes or franchise player crap, it basically makes the playing field uneven again. Like Toronto for example, they gave out dumb contracts, they should have to deal with them, letting them off the hook for paying players too much which increased salaries league wide would hurt teams that cant afford to spend like that. For example, team A pays a a guy 15 mill in his contract, comparables now say thats what a player like him is worth, they franchise him and its like it never happened, team b has a similar player who wasnt drafted by them, what do they have to pay him? It just screws teams that cant use that mechanism

 

[Fitzy]

Wow someone who gets it. How inflated are Strome's stats playing with Panarin? So if people are saying its a wash with Dvorak right now based on his play on his current team, isn't it a fair assumption that he would do much better playing with Panarin?

"Scott Gomez will score 100 points playing with Jagr"- 2007

 

[duhmetreE]

Don’t we have “good centers”?

that are UFAs and looking for a big bump in pay

 

[Peltz]

I think, in time, other options at center will present themselves. I think that trying to force something before we actually know what we have in some of these kids will bite us in the ass.

This is where I'm at too. Let's see where this team with an improved bottom six, a better bottom 2 defensive pairing, another year of development for our young forwards, and (most importantly) a far more experienced coach is at the end of the season before making some trades we'll end up regretting.

Chytil showed some flashes of excellence last year. Let's see if this can be his breakout time.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

I can get behind a dvorak trade depending on the return, i mean his contract is unreal. Could you get him for Jones and a 2nd? I know what Arizona is rumored to be asking for but thats the starting point.

 

[EdJovanovski]

I see a lot of folks mis-characterizing both Laf and Kakko as skilled players when in fact they are both Skilled AND STIFF to play against and I expect to see that emerge to a significant degree this year..

Lafreniere for sure but I don't think Kakko is. Kakko's puck control & play along the boards is great but he doesn't have any edge to him. He's a gentle giant. Lafreniere on the other hand is a total prick, he got suspended 3 games in junior & even got fined for abuse of refs lol. I think we'll see a lot more of that come out now that the additions of all this grit to our lineup will have him play a bit more bold

 

[fm]

how much more is strome gonna get paid than dvorak? i like dvo i guess, but i feel like if we had him we'd be salivating for strome and vice versa. grass always greener

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

I know Pelech is a really good defender but I see people in the replies acting like that contract is a steal. Idk, it starts when he's 27, so it will take him to 35 and while he's a great shutdown defender, he doesn't contribute any offense at all. I don't think it's a bad contract, but a steal? I would've though the AAV would be a bit lower at that term.

It’s fair. High probability that contract goes the way of Girardi/Staal by year 3 but Lou give zero f***s about anything beyond the next 2 years.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

how much more is strome gonna get paid than dvorak? i like dvo i guess, but i feel like if we had him we'd be salivating for strome and vice versa. grass always greener

I agree...id love to keep strome if he takes what would be perceived as a discount.

 

[effen]

Dvorak is much much better than people are giving him credit for. He's a goal scorer as well which fits perfectly with our wingers.

A potential 2C / guaranteed middle6C is worth a 1st imo. Jones and a couple of 2nds/3rds may get it done but I'd be willing to pay up on the 1st.

He paces 19g/82 and doesn't seem to like shooting much. I suspect he'd have people yelling SHOOOOT within 30 games. Not what I'd call a goal scorer.

He looks like a worse Brock Nelson who we already know doesn't move the needle.

 

[Blais to Win]

that are UFAs and looking for a big bump in pay

If they resign Zib, trade Strome and promote Chytil and Barron, Dvorak actually turns out to be more expensive as either 2nd or 3rd line center. I think they wait and see what they get from their guys before they jump into a move.

 

[pld459666]

Lafreniere for sure but I don't think Kakko is. Kakko's puck control & play along the boards is great but he doesn't have any edge to him. He's a gentle giant. Lafreniere on the other hand is a total prick, he got suspended 3 games in junior & even got fined for abuse of refs lol. I think we'll see a lot more of that come out now that the additions of all this grit to our lineup will have him play a bit more bold

Re Kakko

I think he focused on being a better player last year than the year before.

I think he's going to continue adding to his game as becomes more comfortable in his own size and skin.

Part of being a tougher player is also strong board play and work down low which we both know he has.

Toughness is not always Reaves, Goodrow and Nemeth

I really expect to see a different more complete Kakko this year.

I also expect him to be a lil bigger as well which is going to help him

 

[JohnC]

Saarela could have turned out to be a serial killer and that's still a bad trade.

Eh. Day of the trade? Bad on paper since Saarela looked promising and we were hemorrhaging draft picks at that point.

In hindsight? 3 nothing players/prospects for a guy that was badly misused by our brain dead coach.

If we traded that package and got Minnesota Eric Staal it looks a lot better.