Speculation: Roster Building Thread DCLXXXIV: We have Cap space! Hoorraayy!!!

[ManUtdTobbe]

Kane and Voynov are the garbage of the sport and i want them nowhere near my hockey team.

Add Ribeiro there too.

 

[RGY]

I'd agree with this. Smith is going to try and drive his price up as much as possible. I wouldn't go beyond $4.5M for him.

I'd give him the 5th year if he takes an AAV of $3.75 per. When his contract runs out in 4 years, at 32 i dont see him getting a new contract for more than $3.25 million per year and for any extensive term.

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

I'd be OK with a 5th year on Smith but i wouldn't be thrilled, i wouldn't go over $4.5m AAV for 4 years and not over $4.25 AAV for 5 years...

Obviously would prefer less either way but yeah, that's my limits on Smith i think.

 

[NYR Viper]

Honestly anything north of $4M and I'm having serious doubts about it. He played well in the post season for us, but he's been so incredibly inconsistent in Detroit that I worry about committing to him. Especially with his style of play. He hasn't exactly been an iron man the last couple years.

I would agree with this. I wouldn't lose him over a couple hundred thousand over that number, but $4.5 would be a difficult number for me to reach.

 

[Kovalev27]

Smith is not a great skater. He's good now but he's the type that will break down and lose that foot speed sooner rather than later. I'd give him 4 years but definitely not 5

 

[silverfish]

4 x $4m AAV absolute max for Smith, otherwise, let another team take him on.

 

[Kovalev27]

4 x $4m AAV absolute max for Smith, otherwise, let another team take him on.

Yup that's where I'm at.

I'm also deciding not to bring a center in. I want to see if zibanejad is that guy in the 1 spot. If not we have another year like this one. Save our first rounder and have another 10 mil come off our cap in Nash and grabner who we maybe both ship out at the deadline.

But if we grab Shattenkirk and smith we're playoff bound believe that.

 

[Ghost of jas]

If the plan is to move Miller back to center, then the need becomes a top 9 winger, which should be a lot less costly than a center. I'd do the following:

Kreider/Zib/Buch
Vesey/Hayes/Nash
???/Miller/Zucc
Grabner/???/Fast

That 2nd line showed chemistry last year, as did Miller and Zucc.

Gorton's 'rebuild on the fly' comment tells me they are not breaking this team down, but, rather being open to opportunities to get younger. I think they'll use the cap space to gain assets while taking on a bad contract or two. I do think that Shattenkirk remains a target regardless of what Brooks says on the matter.

 

[Fugazy]

4 x $4m AAV absolute max for Smith, otherwise, let another team take him on.

I agree the Rangers need to have a firm stance with Smith. Can't afford a bidding war and overplaying another player.

 

[Mac n Gs]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet, but our PK is going to take a massive hit with the loss of Stepan and Girardi. Step was our top PK'ing forward and Shattenkirk doesn't PK. This isn't even an exaggeration, he literally didn't see a second of PK time with the Blues this year. Smith is the obvious option, but that leaves us with all lefties for both PK units. Deangelo doesn't PK either, so currently we have McDonagh and Skjei who I trust. I don't trust Staal-Holden.

 

[RGY]

Hoping with the draft weekend now being over, its Monday and GMJG re-signs Smith and Fast before entering free agency.

Shattenkirk 6x$6.25
Thorntong for 1-2 years.
Boyle for 3 years.

Go to war.

Kreider-Zib-Buch
Nash-Thornton-Zucc
Miller-Hayes-Vesey
Fast-Boyle-Grabner
Peumpel

Mac-Shatty
Skjei-Smith
Staal-DeAngelo
Bereglazov
Pionk
Graves
Veteran defenseman

Hank
Kinkaid/Condon

Oh and trade Holden.

 

[bernmeister]

Is Smith really worth/going to get over $4m per? he looked ok in his time here but he was in and out of an average DRW lineup all season, and seems to be trending more as a Klein type bottom/middle pairing tweeter rather than a true top pairing guy.

Because we gave up a 2nd + 3rd for him, we MUST reasonably pay up to top $ for him, though obviously there is a point where we have to cut our loss and just say no.
Sign him 4/4.25 x 4
Keep him at least the first half of this season.
Opportunity comes up to recover/exceed what we paid for him as a rental, you take it. no loss. profit

Bern, I honestly wonder if you even watch some of the players you hype on this board. When Eichel went down, they played Johan Larsson at C instead of Reinhart. C'mon now, just accept reality: he's been a winger basically his entire NHL career.

Stop.
Eichel is undisputed 1C
then they got ROR and Nylander
On top of that for various reasons they compare Ennis betw, W and C.

No room at the inn, my friend
they don't give a rat's rump about what position he plays, as long as they are satisfied with his development/production

You infer he plays W cause that is all he is capable of.
Is it truly that, or is it instead Reinhart is versatile and there are other guys they prefer at C than W, as to those other guys being productive, not as to them at C vs Reinhart at C.

You know better. Yield to the logic, pal-o-meano, pal-o-mino!

I think many are underrating what we currently have a bit:
Kreider-Zib-Buch
Zucc-Hayes-Nash
Grabner-Miller-XXX
Vesey-Nieves-Fast
McD-(Staal)
Skjei-Holden
Bereglazov-DeAngelo

-Bereglazov is better than people realize. An Anisimov at D if you like. Very good pick-up.

-We will have locked Buch into a gym this off-season, very excited about how he may look. He will be a year older.

-Vesey is a year older, these guys may have some ups and downs their first three years, but he will become a good player.

-We have been looking for that RD for so long. DeAngelo was one of our targets, until convinced of otherwise I am assuming we have done our Due Diligence and that this kid will be great for us. With a kid like him -- the biggest holdback is COMPETITION. They need to play top offensive minutes to develop. He will get that here no doubt. I think he will be great.

-You are in trouble if you are too weak, too slow, incompetent at a certain position. Zib/Hayes/Miller/Nieves are a very strong group in many ways. Impressive group of young hockey players. Fast, strong, big, talented, smart and so forth. Sure our center lineup needs attention -- but it's not a black hole or a disaster group. Having an injured Dan Girardi is troublesome. Playing like JT Miller as say your No 1 center is far from optimal, but I still much rather have JT Miller on the ice for 1/3 of a game than Girardi on one leg for 1/3 of a game. Do you get what I mean? It's flawed, but we can still populate it with competent deserving players which will controll a lot of the damage and I definitely don't see any disaster scenarios as long as everyone is healthy.

-There are some interesting names out there. Gorton might get someone. Take a player like Dadonov, super fast and slick with the puck. Constantly terrorizing Ds. Contract might be a deal breaker, but who knows, I would give him a good sum on a 1 year deal to let him prove himself. There are all kind of different types. Sharp tics a lot of boxes for us. Williams is a winner. Doan I don't like for us, but sure he is an asset in some situations. Kovalchuk is a competent player still that is elite on the PPQB, truly top 5-10 in the world still, contract huge issue. We could take on the Sedins x2. Marleau. Just saying that we have one opening, and it's certainly some names out there. There are forwards with expensive contracts that we might take back if we deal Staal.

-Yes I hate Staal too where I have him. No arguments from me there too. Would L-O-V-E to be able to dump him at 50% retained and bring in McTruck. But I recon I would be too greedy if I got a hang up on that one. Seems impossible that it would happen, but I would love it.

-Look at the mobility we have on that roster! Very little slow dead wood. Very short commitments. A lot of Cap space. A great platform for the coming 10 years.

great post!

 

[RGY]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet, but our PK is going to take a massive hit with the loss of Stepan and Girardi. Step was our top PK'ing forward and Shattenkirk doesn't PK. This isn't even an exaggeration, he literally didn't see a second of PK time with the Blues this year. Smith is the obvious option, but that leaves us with all lefties for both PK units. Deangelo doesn't PK either, so currently we have McDonagh and Skjei who I trust. I don't trust Staal-Holden.

DeAngelo will have to learn PK.

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet, but our PK is going to take a massive hit with the loss of Stepan and Girardi. Step was our top PK'ing forward and Shattenkirk doesn't PK. This isn't even an exaggeration, he literally didn't see a second of PK time with the Blues this year. Smith is the obvious option, but that leaves us with all lefties for both PK units. Deangelo doesn't PK either, so currently we have McDonagh and Skjei who I trust. I don't trust Staal-Holden.

Not like Girardi was some great PKer or anything, he bled shots. I give him credit for being good at blocking them and putting his ass on the line but he wasn't good on the PK.

I actually hope we do play Shattenkirk on the PK, also, Staal-Holden needs to not be a thing, should have moved Holden at the draft.

 

[NYR Viper]

If the plan is to move Miller back to center, then the need becomes a top 9 winger, which should be a lot less costly than a center. I'd do the following:

Kreider/Zib/Buch
Vesey/Hayes/Nash
???/Miller/Zucc
Grabner/???/Fast

That 2nd line showed chemistry last year, as did Miller and Zucc.

Gorton's 'rebuild on the fly' comment tells me they are not breaking this team down, but, rather being open to opportunities to get younger. I think they'll use the cap space to gain assets while taking on a bad contract or two. I do think that Shattenkirk remains a target regardless of what Brooks says on the matter.

I/m not sure they separate Grabner from Hayes who showed some nice chemistry last year. I also think they see Grabner and Fast as more than just 4th line wingers.

 

[NYR Viper]

DeAngelo will have to learn PK.

Bereglazov will be a good PKer. I think they re-sign Smith still.

 

[RGY]

Bereglazov will be a good PKer. I think they re-sign Smith still.

I like Bereglazov but I dont see room for him this year IF we sign both Smith and Shattenkirk which I think they should.

Smith plays a style of game that really no one else on the defense or even team does. He can also help the young guys with proper defense as opposed to leaning on Staal for that, who I believe we will bought out next year if we cant trade him.

Shattenkirk will help DeAngelo develop his offensive side of the game.

We cant have Mac do everything nor can we ice inexperienced defensemen throughout the 6 spots with no NHL games under their belt. It would be a disservice to both them and the fans

 

[nsvoyageurs]

Alright, let's go. My bonkers offseason plan and then I'm off to bed:

McDonagh to BUF for Reinhart, 1st in '18, and 1st in '19.
Staal + goalie prospect not named Shestyorkin to FLA for Bjugstad and Demers.
Nash @ 50% to NSH for 1st in '18 or '19.
Hayes to MTL for 1st in '18 or '19.
Holden to DAL for Niemi (cap dump), 2nd in '18, 2nd in '19.
Re-sign Smith @ 3 x $4.25MM.
Sign Shattenkirk @ 6 x $6.25MM.
Sign Dadonov @ 2 x $3.5MM.
Leaves you with approx. $2MM working room to start the season.

Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich
Zuccarello-Reinhart-Dadonov
Vesey-Bjugstad-Miller
Grabner-Nieves-Fast

Skjei-Shattenkirk
Smith-DeAngelo
Bereglazov-Demers

Lundqvist
Niemi

2018: 2x 1st round picks , 1x 2nd round picks gained.
2019: 2x 1st round picks, 1x 2nd round picks gained.

Who's with me?

This.^ (even though I know there is ZERO chance of this happening

Calgary aside from the Hamonic trade; it'll be harder for a team to give up their 2018 1st round picks, seeing how highly rated that draft projects to be. Maybe a team gets desperate at the trade deadline?

 

[Fugazy]

DeAngelo will have to learn PK.

I think Bereglazov will be a very valuable PKer for this team moving forward.

 

[East Coast Bias]

If ****ing Toronto, a hot bed for hockey, can tear it down and build it up so can we. Both teams have 1 Cup in a zillion years as well.

Toronto was accidentally horrible for about a decade. Going into last year, they had made the playoffs 1 time in 12 years - the lockout shortened season, and were on a run on 9 straight seasons with less than 85 points.

It was only a couple years ago they started tanking, after years of high draft picks through incompetence.

Edmonton is similar.

And without landing that ping pong ball for #1 in a generational draft year (Matthews/McDavid) - they'd be bang on average franchises for decades.

I'm not against rebuilding. I just think people are being straight up delusional here about a) the length of time it will take and b) you're relying on luck as a big part of your strategy. It's being sold as a 3-4 year, only way to win strategy, which I think is BS.

 

[Ghost of jas]

I/m not sure they separate Grabner from Hayes who showed some nice chemistry last year. I also think they see Grabner and Fast as more than just 4th line wingers.

They aren't putting Grabner with Hayes if Hayes becomes the 2nd line center. And, on this team as constituted, Grabner and Fast are 4th liners...very good ones, but 4th liners nonetheless.

 

[Savant]

If ****ing Toronto, a hot bed for hockey, can tear it down and build it up so can we. Both teams have 1 Cup in a zillion years as well.

Toronto has Mathews and a hoard of other top 10 picked forwards since the lockout. The only Ranger that fits that category is Lias Andersson.

The Rangers have been too good since the lockout to accumulate those assets. But you are right that geography has been a factor.

 

[JohnC]

No tear it down rebuild happens with Hank still on this team.

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

We're not going to tank, rebuilding doesn't necessarily equate to tanking. I think Gorton just meant that he wanted to change the core somewhat and add some speed.

That's me speculating though, but i think of it more as re-tooling while adding some extra futures to try and stay competetive long term aswell.

 

[Savant]

This.^ (even though I know there is ZERO chance of this happening

Calgary aside from the Hamonic trade; it'll be harder for a team to give up their 2018 1st round picks, seeing how highly rated that draft projects to be. Maybe a team gets desperate at the trade deadline?

If the Rangers are hypothetically moving McDonagh, there is no point in getting Bjugstad. Also Bjugstad isn't very good. That being said, I think it would be very wise for the Rangers for the Rangers to use McDonagh to get a Barkov or Trocheck headlined deal from the Panthers. Let them keep Bjugstad.