Speculation: Roster Building Thread I (2019/2020) - A Day in the Life

[Levitate]

I would have preferred to buyout Smith + traded Names, but I don't think this is some egregious misstep. Something that might get lost in the weeds here, I perceive this as confirmation that the team views Fox as NHL-ready and they're expecting him to step in on the right side immediately.

I agree but it wouldn't surprise me to see another move here and a signing of a vet RD

 

[JT Kreider]

Also shows how much Names is worth right now. Can we have just shipped him back to tampa. I'll drive him to the airport.

And Miller got flipped for a 1st just a few weeks back. Brutal trade by Gorton.

 

[Irishguy42]

There were a lot of other ways to go this than buying out Shattenkirk.

Taking a worse deal on Strome/Names and then buying out one of the worse defensemen of the trio.

 

[TheTakedown]

I also feel incredibly bad for Shattenkirk on a personal level. Say what you want about his play but he left a lot of money on the table to come play for his childhood team and gets hit with an injury that pretty much derails his entire tenure here from the get go.

Shit happens... Guy had a knee problem that supposedly nobody knew about, that's probably why he took lesser years -- probably all that was offered to him

 

[Vinny]

So nobody likes staal and smith on this team, i can’t wait for next years draft lottery. And a season to see Panarin and the kids grow. Delighted about this.

 

[LiveLongandProspal]

Because a Staal buyout doesn't clear over $5M in cap space and the integration of Trouba and growth path of DeAngelo and Fox trumps any chance of Shattenkirk playing a meaningful role on this team to rebuild value.

Right, because with Trouba's injury history and DeAngelo's inconsistency and Fox as a relatively unknown, it would make sense to get rid of a veteran presence like Shattenkirk.

 

[Alluckks]

If we don’t want Fox starting the year with the team, and are trying to avoid triggering his trade condition that upgrades it to us sending our 2nd rounder, who plays the 3 RD? Smith?

 

[QJL]

The good news here is we should get a great haul for Kreider at the deadline. Here's to hoping he has a monster year.

 

[LiveLongandProspal]

Where was Shattenkirk going to play with Trouba, DeAngelo and Fox as our RHD? After Skjei, there are a lot more question marks for the LHD.

See above

 

[JT Kreider]

There were a lot of other ways to go this than buying out Shattenkirk.

Taking a worse deal on Strome/Names and then buying out one of the worse defensemen of the trio.

Nobody was taking on Namestnikov and Strome is essentially our #2c, we need him far more than Shattenkirk

 

[Rempe73]

Worst possible decision that could have been made. Even worse reporting. Might be time to fire every single NYR reporter and bring in a bunch of new ones.

Agree on the reporting. Disagree on the decision. They only had so many options left. I would have preferred a Namestnikov buyout/trade and a Kreider trade, but if they want to be competitive next season, they can’t trade Kreider. Wish there was a market for a 50% retained Shattenkirk, but if there wasn’t, then what can you do? He sucked with us, but the underlying metrics show that he may bounce back. I wouldn’t put money on it, and I would much rather give top 4 minutes to Trouba, ADA, and maybe even Fox before him. Not only are those players likely better, they’re younger. And paying a depth d-man 6.5 mil is not ideal.

And this buyout shouldn’t hurt us too bad when we need the cap space in 2-3 years. My only concern is that Shattenkirk bounces back and has value. Even so, he probably wouldn’t get the ice time necessary to bounce back with us. But even if he would, we need the cap space now. Just pissed that we decided to rush the rebuild.

Edit: Also, do we know if this is official or not? My service sucks. If so, I also wanted to add that even though I wanted him gone, I do feel bad for him. He could have gotten a lot more money, but he took a high-risk/low-reward scenario to play on the Rangers. Gotta respect that.

 

[Thirty One]

Still waiting for the next plot twist.

 

[Trxjw]

Not to mention Smith, staal, and shatts all have similar dead cap hits in 2022-23 and 2023-24... Avoiding a Shatts buyout means that you have to buy out Staal and Smith, which gets you around $6.1M in cap space, but the dead cap years gets up to around $2.5M... that's not a good look... All for what? Trading Shatts would probably net us a 2nd and a 3rd... Is the that worth losing $1M in cap space on a contending roster in those years? Think not

I think if there was any trade market for Shattenkirk the Rangers would've jumped on it. Even at 50% retention. My guess is he was very much viewed as an anchor around the league. What this move really does is give the Rangers breathing room when it comes to making trades. My guess is any team in the market for Kreider or Namestnikov wants to send money back and this move allows the Rangers to accommodate that to maximize the trade value.

 

[Levitate]

**** happens... Guy had a knee problem that supposedly nobody knew about, that's probably why he took lesser years -- probably all that was offered to him

I thought he got hurt in training camp or preseason

LD depth is pretty bad if you buy out Staal and are convinced Smith isn't a NHLer at this point. At least DeAngelo has about a years worth of experience, but running Hajek and Rykov/Lindgren/whatever behind Skjei is pretty rough

Then again Smith can play RD as well so they could be considering him a vet swing D depending on what side needs him

But ultimately it's probably more just about the pure cap hit and savings than anything else.

 

[Blue Blooded]

Where was Shattenkirk going to play with Trouba, Fox and DeAngelo as our RHD?

We have no idea if Fox is NHL-ready, let alone a better NHL defenceman than Shatty. An added bonus is that if Fox plays less than 30 games, we give up a lower pick.

And even if Fox forces his way onto the team, Shatty or DeAngelo can play the left side. DeAngelo-Shattenkirk had a ridiculously dominant game as a pairing against Buffalo, where they basically ran a 5v5 powerplay for two periods outattempting Buffalo something crazy like 18-3. They didn't continue to play together after that game unfortunately.

 

[LiveLongandProspal]

Left Side

Skjei
Smith
Staal
Hajek
Lindgren
Rykov
Reunanen



Right Side

Trouba
Deangelo
Fox
And I guess I can put Smith on this list also

 

[Alluckks]

Skjei Trouba
Staal DeAngelo
Hajek Smith/Fox?

Can Rykov play the right side? Can Hajek?

 

[Don Chytil]

If we don’t want Fox starting the year with the team, and are trying to avoid triggering his trade condition that upgrades it to us sending our 2nd rounder, who plays the 3 RD? Smith?

If I was the Rangers I would do whatever is best for Fox's development, I wouldn't mess around with it by worrying about the trade condition. If he looks ready, he'll play. If not, you play Smith there or bring in a vet on a cheap 1 yr contract for depth/injury protection.

 

[JT Kreider]

See above

This is still a rebuild, getting DeAngelo and Fox the ice time to work through inconsistencies and prove themselves is a priority

 

[Blue Blooded]

I thought he got hurt in training camp or preseason

LD depth is pretty bad if you buy out Staal and are convinced Smith isn't a NHLer at this point. At least DeAngelo has about a years worth of experience, but running Hajek and Rykov/Lindgren/whatever behind Skjei is pretty rough

Then again Smith can play RD as well so they could be considering him a vet swing D depending on what side needs him

But ultimately it's probably more just about the pure cap hit and savings than anything else.

Sign Claesson for league minimum, he was our best LD last year. We also have a ton of LDs that could push for a spot and with our RD corps (esp if we didn't buy out Shatty) they will have good enough partners to help them along.

 

[Mac n Gs]

If we don’t want Fox starting the year with the team, and are trying to avoid triggering his trade condition that upgrades it to us sending our 2nd rounder, who plays the 3 RD? Smith?

This was also the other huge downside to buying out Shattenkirk. This is just poor management when there are much worse players to have gotten rid of on this team. They should've made Fox pay his dues and earn that spot.

 

[TheTakedown]

I think the other reason why they didn't go for a Smith + Names buyout is because now you need to add a forward into the mix. Even a guy for minimum salary costs you $600k, that's nearly half of the cap savings of a Names buyout.

The rangers already HAVE 3 RHD on the roster. It's a position of abundance (not strength just yet). Losing Shatts, $1.2M in cap space, and the possibility of 2 draft picks is a small price to pay for acquiring Trouba, Fox, and panarin

 

[Alluckks]

Hajek, Rykov, and Lindgren are all LDs that shoot left, any that could be tested out on the right side? Do we sign a cheap vet (and can we afford that)?

Do we just play Fox there out of the gate and cough up the pick?

Do we float Smith there and shield our eyes during his shifts?

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

Neither Staal nor Smith save us enough cap space. Why is that so hard to understand? Would you rather give Kreider away than see marginal player A retained over marginal player B?

Then attach an asset to/retain on Namestnikov and get someone to take him. Or have some foresight and buy Strome out when it was advantageous

And if they had done more to clear space earlier in the summer, this wouldn’t have been an issue. Gorton is patient but he waits till the last second.

Same shit happened last summer. We all expected Namestnikov or Spooner to go and they just signed them to deals cause they had no other options at the last second.

Also newsflash, they’re probably going to “give” Kreider away at the deadline. He’s going to go for a late first and Average/good prospect, not exactly some great haul

 

[Trxjw]

Right, because with Trouba's injury history and DeAngelo's inconsistency and Fox as a relatively unknown, it would make sense to get rid of a veteran presence like Shattenkirk.

Trouba has been very healthy recently and when you've backed yourself into a bad cap situation you can't afford a $6.5M veteran defensemen as your safety net. This is the reality that the Rangers are in.