Speculation: Roster Building Thread III (2021 Offseason) - “Simple Jack”, "Will over Skill", "Drury in a Hurry"?

[Vitto79]

Ekholm has been a monster in this OT game for Nashville. Hes gotta be a target this offseason, but if i were the Preds id find a way to keep him

they likely go 4 4 and take a chance they gain cap space w Seattle taking Duchesne , Arvidson , Johansson

 

[Vitto79]

Drury is gonna sign Abdelkader isn’t he

 

[effen]

wish i had a dollar for every madpost in this thread about how pathetic and outclassed the rangers are by apparently the entire league and how they’d disintegrate into dust if they dared step on the ice in the playoffs

you guys are so exhausting

If you were smart you'd have taken the dollar for every fire quinn post, and be on the Wi-Fi in Hawaii right now.

 

[effen]

I'd say (and again this is just from what we have heard from the insiders on this board) that Gorts was hesitant to overpay at times... is that a bad thing or good? Probably depends on the situation.

He gets destroyed for the McD trade, and praised for dealing Nash... could he have dealt Kreider 2 drafts ago? At the trade deadline? Geo?

Those might have been opportunities to overpay a bit to get the player(s) we really need (i.e. a top center prospect)

I feel Gorts was on the right path... but maybe he wasn't as aggressive as he could've been (or Dolan thought).

I think there's a huge disconnect in what the message board thinks is available trades and what there are.

With regards to McDonagh, it apparently was a 1 team race with Toronto offering confirmed slug Jeremy Bracco if you want to consider that a second offer. It doesn't occur to people teams didn't pursue McDonagh. Not surprising they took a meh deal if that's all that was out there. In fact, that's what many of the same rage posters say you should do, as they dispassionately look at the NHL20 trade meter.

 

[Machinehead]

Drury is gonna sign Abdelkader isn’t he

He was out of the league last year, so I would think not. I would hope not.

I like the game that Abdelkader brought many years ago but there has to be options available who can play the game better currently. He sucked three years ago.

 

[JohnC]

I think he is active in talking and exploring options. But I think he is methodical and patient when it comes to making the actual move. I'm not finding fault, but Gorton could be called both active and restrained depending on the context.

I guess? It takes two to tango.

He was a GM that was constantly itching to make a trade in a league full of GMs practically allergic to making trades.

 

[Machinehead]

Sticking with Zibanejad might not be the worst thing, but as a guy who's not a franchise center and has holes, he needs support.

Strome is relatively cheap and would be the ideal 2C behind an all-situations franchise center. He's not cutting it as a guy who has a lot of the same holes Zibanejad does, but worse.

 

[Richard Banger]

Sticking with Zibanejad might not be the worst thing, but as a guy who's not a franchise center and has holes, he needs support.

Strome is relatively cheap and would be the ideal 2C behind an all-situations franchise center. He's not cutting it as a guy who has a lot of the same holes Zibanejad does, but worse.

If we are keeping Zib we need a 2way stud slotted behind him. A prime Stepan would be perfect

 

[TheBloodyNine]

Report: New York Rangers interest in Jack Eichel has cooled tremendously - Forever Blueshirts: A site for New York Rangers fanatics

But I thought Dolan was blowing up the team

Stopped reading at “Forever Blueshirts has learned…”

 

[RangersFan1994]

Drury is gonna sign Abdelkader isn’t he

I like his game but he is a bit too old for me. He is 34 now. No thanks

 

[Machinehead]

Stopped reading at “Forever Blueshirts has learned…”

What are they supposed to say, that they have irrefutable physical evidence?

 

[TheBloodyNine]

What are they supposed to say, that they have irrefutable physical evidence?

They can say whatever they want, it's a fan blog, and that's my point.

 

[Machinehead]

They can say whatever they want, it's a fan blog, and that's my point.

Brooks said the same thing already.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

Brooks said the same thing already.

No he didn’t, he said he “wasn’t convinced,” which means nothing, and is different from “considerably cooled.” Additionally, we all know Slats has used Larry to do his negotiating in the past, and now he’s back.

when Bob or Friedman report this I’ll listen, until then, not taking fanblog sources at face value because it furthers the narrative we want.

 

[RickChartraw]

Tom Poti 2.0?

jeez, I hope not. It got bad with him, Poti was getting booed everytime he touched the puck.

 

[Machinehead]

No he didn’t, he said he “wasn’t convinced,” which means nothing, and is different from “considerably cooled.” Additionally, we all know Slats has used Larry to do his negotiating in the past, and now he’s back.

when Bob or Friedman report this I’ll listen, until then, not taking fanblog sources at face value because it furthers the narrative we want.

I'll trust Brooks over Bob or Friedman when it comes to the Rangers.

Besides, Bob or Friedman will report that interest from the Rangers has cooled when Eichel is already on another team. They never speculate.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

I'll trust Brooks over Bob or Friedman when it comes to the Rangers.

Besides, Bob or Friedman will report that interest from the Rangers has cooled when Eichel is already on another team. They never speculate.

Brooks is constantly out scooped and changes his opinions by the day. My favorite of his will always be “Richards isn’t coming here” a few weeks before he signed here.

You’re right that Bob doesn’t speculate but Elliote is the king of speculation, even though he is incredibly trust worthy and breaks a lot. He’s always dropping a “I’m wondering” type of statement.

 

[Clark Kellogg]

lol yea. They are in reality very close to being great

After the Wilson hit all you heard is they are not tough enough but Trouba and Lindgren were out

The team had like the most major penalty fights in the league

I agree in adding sandpaper this off-season but it’s only 1-2 pieces

I don’t know Vitto usually I agree with you but not on this one.
I don’t think it’s the fighting or the TW incident, more of the dirty areas that the Rangers lack toughness. They don’t go there, they don’t rub out opponents along the boards or behind the net. They don’t park in front of the other teams net as much as they should when they are controlling the puck in the offensive zone and they allow other teams to stand in front of our net with no resistance. Also the team has yet to develop a pack mentality. Too often opposing teams take liberty with our players and go unchallenged. Not saying they should drop the gloves but they a should en masse rush the other teams players that crossed the line. On top of talented and skilled players those elements are needed to complete in the NHL playoffs.

 

[ETTER DE]

I think there's a huge disconnect in what the message board thinks is available trades and what there are.

With regards to McDonagh, it apparently was a 1 team race with Toronto offering confirmed slug Jeremy Bracco if you want to consider that a second offer. It doesn't occur to people teams didn't pursue McDonagh. Not surprising they took a meh deal if that's all that was out there. In fact, that's what many of the same rage posters say you should do, as they dispassionately look at the NHL20 trade meter.

You are completely ignoring the fact that McDonagh had more than a year left on his contract. There was no hurry to trade him for that return. I dont care how any insiders spin it. I cannot believe the return would have been any worse if they had waited to the summer at least. With one year left a trade partner could have got an extension done right away.

 

[Vitto79]

You are completely ignoring the fact that McDonagh had more than a year left on his contract. There was no hurry to trade him for that return. I dont care how any insiders spin it. I cannot believe the return would have been any worse if they had waited to the summer at least. With one year left a trade partner could have got an extension done right away.

The problem w the trade was adding Miller and getting Namestnikov. Likely not the case but it seemed like a 1-1 deal

Lundkvist is the wild card. It’s a good deal if he’s legit

Both Hajek and Howden could go this year though

 

[Leetch3]

why wouldn't the rangers talk down their interest? even if plan A, B and C are all trade for eichel. it doesn't benefit us to let buffalo know that...play up the damaged goods angle and see if it drives down the price.

also turning away from eichel doesn't means we aren't going to see major changes this offseason. just means we don't know who the potential target might be

 

[Fitzy]

Sticking with Zibanejad might not be the worst thing, but as a guy who's not a franchise center and has holes, he needs support.

Strome is relatively cheap and would be the ideal 2C behind an all-situations franchise center. He's not cutting it as a guy who has a lot of the same holes Zibanejad does, but worse.

Agreed, which is why I think if Strome has a future on this team it is as a right wing who fills in at center when there is an injury.

So the question for me is who do we want to keep at RW, Strome or Buchnevich. Strome is more versatile and has the Panarin chemistry, but Buchnevich is the more hard nosed and arguably more skilled player.

 

[Dr. Ogrodnick]

Rangers team twitter testy this morning. One little response to their buch knicks experience tweet about how buch already had the knicks experience when cocaine James started meddling with the rangers and blocked.

 

[NoQuitInNewMexico]

Isn't signaling to the media that we aren't interested just a part of the Rangers Big Acquisition Process by now?

The Rangers fight about as much as anyone else does. They have an identity as a skilled/young team but they support each other. They made sensible acquisitions with a bit of an edge like DeAngelo and Lemieux to watch the players flame out of town (Lemieux in particular was probably a worse player when he left New York than he was when he left Winnipeg). They drafted Lias Andersson to be a #grit #character #leader, played him in the NHL too early, and got in an elaborate argument with the guy over his own feet (?).

I think Laf and Kakko will be tough, physical pain-in-the-ass players very soon. I'm more worried about the team speed when you look at the core players.

 

[Machinehead]

Agreed, which is why I think if Strome has a future on this team it is as a right wing who fills in at center when there is an injury.

So the question for me is who do we want to keep at RW, Strome or Buchnevich. Strome is more versatile and has the Panarin chemistry, but Buchnevich is the more hard nosed and arguably more skilled player.

Both will be looking for a commitment and I would rather see if we can get a hard nosed player to play a Hagelin/Fast role on a line with skilled players, that's off the books in 2-3 years.