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Speculation: Roster Building Thread IV (2021 Offseason) - Bob Dylan turns 80 & "The times they are a changing!"

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I like Danault a lot, but the hype I hear him getting for the playoffs is getting a bit ridiculous. I know he was matched up against Matthews and Marner in the first round and they didn't produce, but still Danault's playoff stats are pretty underwhelming

ES points: 0
CF%: 48.73 (rel -0.08)
xGF%: 36.86 (rel -11.45)
SCF%: 41.53 (rel -7.98)
HDCF%: 37.5 (rel -13.18)

Obviously, he had the most difficult job on the team, but Matthews and Marner still had xGF%s well north of 60%. I don't think he shut them down as much as its being hyped up, despite them not scoring much at all. It seems more like they were unlucky/Price standing on his head.

Again, I like him, but if all this hype inflates his asking price anything north of $6M AAV or if the term is too long I don't know if its worth it.
 
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NYR Viper said:
I am seeing this correctly in regards to Colorado? They need to protect Makar, Girard, Toews and Johnson on defense?
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Yes, Colorado had Makar play during the 2018-19 season, and while burning a year off his ELC wasn't the worst thing, they do have to protect them now. YIKES.

Erik Johnson (NMC) is auto-protected. If they go 7-3-1, they can only protect 2 more out of Girard, Toews, Graves and Makar.

I guess the upside is thatr Makar is ineligible for an offer sheet as 10.2(c) status players (Same status Zac Jones will have in 2023)
 
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Colorado definitely goes 4/4 in expansion

Mackinnon
Rantanen
Kadri

Landeskog (UFA)

Girard
Makar
Toews
Graves

Grubauer

They're losing a good player to Seattle
 
I get being concerned about a potential Danault contract, but this team needs a center (or centers) that have an interest in playing 2-way, north-south hockey. It’s either get him for nothing but cash, or make a trade for one.
 
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JohnC said:
I get being concerned about a potential Danault contract, but this team needs a center (or centers) that have an interest in playing 2-way, north-south hockey. It’s either get him for nothing but cash, or make a trade for one.
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Right. This is exactly it for me.

You have to get one somehow.

"f*** it we'll just win with a bunch of wingers" isn't a thing.

The closest thing to that was Chicago and they had peak Jonathan Toews who was a bonafide franchise player at the time.
 
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JohnC said:
I get being concerned about a potential Danault contract, but this team needs a center (or centers) that have an interest in playing 2-way, north-south hockey. It’s either get him for nothing but cash, or make a trade for one.
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I absolutely agree that our 2/3C needs to be something different from Strome. We definitely need more a 2-way guy and Danault was a good shot suppressing center this season. Among centers with 500 minutes played, Danault was 28th in RelCA60. Since this season was all restricted to the division, looking at the previous season with the same search parameters Danault was 24th. He absolutely fits the bill with the eye test also.

My issue is that his playoff performance should be hurting his asking price, not helping it. Obviously its a small sample size and he is playing a very specific role, but listening to talking head broadcasters and some people here you would expect Bergeron-esque defensive numbers and they're just not there. I would love him on a reasonable contract, but I have no idea what that's going to look like in terms of what he might get from some GMs out there. I wouldn't want to really go up to 6.5X6 even.
 
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Everything I've said being said though, if there was even a thought in Drury's head to extend Strome then I would much rather hand that offer to Danault this offseason.
 
Laffy Taffy said:
I absolutely agree that our 2/3C needs to be something different from Strome. We definitely need more a 2-way guy and Danault was a good shot suppressing center this season. Among centers with 500 minutes played, Danault was 28th in RelCA60. Since this season was all restricted to the division, looking at the previous season with the same search parameters Danault was 24th. He absolutely fits the bill with the eye test also.

My issue is that his playoff performance should be hurting his asking price, not helping it. Obviously its a small sample size and he is playing a very specific role, but listening to talking head broadcasters and some people here you would expect Bergeron-esque defensive numbers and they're just not there. I would love him on a reasonable contract, but I have no idea what that's going to look like in terms of what he might get from some GMs out there. I wouldn't want to really go up to 6.5X6 even.
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I'd say team makeup plays a factor (without looking at the numbers, that is). Does adding a Danault make Zibanejad a better player by freeing up some of his matchup responsibilities? Does playing with Panarin and behind Zibanejad boost Danault's offensive numbers because he's behind a guy other teams will key in on? He'd be entering uncharted territory on this team.

It's an interesting gamble that I could be convinced is worth it.
 
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I think that most Stanley cup winning teams having a great center is more a product of

"Most good teams happen to have a great center"

rather than

"No team can win a cup without a great center now matter how good the rest of the roster/system is"

I'd argue that the 2007 Ducks didn't have a bona fide 1C.
 
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I Eat Crow said:
Colorado definitely goes 4/4 in expansion

Mackinnon
Rantanen
Kadri

Landeskog (UFA)

Girard
Makar
Toews
Graves

Grubauer

They're losing a good player to Seattle
Click to expand...

Graves is bad so they can just not protect him and ask Johnson to waive since he won’t be claimed anyway and then they are fine.
 
Fitzy said:
I think that most Stanley cup winning teams having a great center is more a product of

"Most good teams happen to have a great center"

rather than

"No team can win a cup without a great center now matter how good the rest of the roster/system is"

I'd argue that the 2007 Ducks didn't have a bona fide 1C.
Click to expand...
"Most good teams happen to have a great center" is still a two-way relationship.
 
TheBloodyNine said:
So no credit then given to how the Candiens actually played against them? That's gonna be a tough sell in negotiations. If you don't think this guy isn't getting 6-7 on a longer term deal then I got the bridge to sell you. That shouldn't even be the discussion right now because that is bound to happen. The discussion should be is he worth that much on a long term deal.
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That’s been the media narrative, that the leafs are built poorly and these guys can’t get the job done in the playoffs. What did MTL do that was so special? The leafs have never been good in the playoffs, their big players got a lot of shots and scored about as much as they have in past playoffs failures. The series went to 7 games. Price was good.

Sure, his own camp will push that narrative, they’d be crazy not to. But that doesn’t mean it’s accurate or that being on the buying side of it won’t be a disaster
 
Machinehead said:
Buchnevich is kind of a weird player. I don't think it's fair to call him one-dimensional or a finesse forward because he's a nasty f*** and plays serviceable defense. That being said, he definitely plays that way with the puck. If there isn't a clear path to the net, he just sort of tosses it somewhere and hopes for the best.

The whole team has that mentality. If there's no clear rush chance, just toss it. They never work to create a chance.

I think a lot of that can change with coaching, but none of our centers have ever been anything but rush players. That's why I want Danault or something besides what we have.

Montreal sucks f***ing wind up front and Danault racks up points at even strength. He could easily score as much as Strome given the same opportunity.
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I don't love Strome, and think there's some pretty big holes in his game, but this fanbase seems to consistently write off his points. Yes he benefits from playing with Panarin, but he is a far cry from just a passenger. The bolded is a fairly big assumption that seems primed for a let-down if you ever got your wish.
 
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Machinehead said:
They're not *that* far apart but Danault is definitely a better player.

I like Buchnevich but I don't understand the sudden rallying to bring him back. I feel like all people do is complain and then they don't wanna change anything about the team they complain about.

Buchnevich is an easy target to make changes based on the teams strengths and weaknesses. If there's no cap, you keep him, but this is the league we play in.
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Not advocating for keeping Buch one way or the other. Nor am I saying Buch is the better fit on this roster. But just purely as the kind of players each have evolved into, Buch is a top 6 wing with very good offensive instincts who can play all situations. Danault is a well rounded 3rd line center with limited offensive ceiling comparatively to Buch. He might be a better fit right now on this team but to me it's as a 3rd line center. Buch has been on our top line and rightfully so.
 
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mulli25 said:
I don't love Strome, and think there's some pretty big holes in his game, but this fanbase seems to consistently write off his points. Yes he benefits from playing with Panarin, but he is a far cry from just a passenger. The bolded is a fairly big assumption that seems primed for a let-down if you ever got your wish.
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Danault outscores Strome at even strength in a walk every year.

One guy is stapled to the first unit and the other doesn't get PP time at all.

We need to move Strome out of that LH wall spot for Lafreniere anyway. When that happens, we'll be lucky if Strome gives us 45 points.

It's not writing off his points, it's just what the stats say.
 
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gravey9 said:
Not advocating for keeping Buch one way or the other. Nor am I saying Buch is the better fit on this roster. But just purely as the kind of players each have evolved into, Buch is a top 6 wing with very good offensive instincts who can play all situations. Danault is a well rounded 3rd line center with limited offensive ceiling comparatively to Buch. He might be a better fit right now on this team but to me it's as a 3rd line center. Buch has been on our top line and rightfully so.
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Danault is not a third line center. He's currently a first line center.

He averages 50 points over 82 the last three years. You can't name a third liner in hockey that puts up 50 points. And that's with zero powerplay time!
 
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Machinehead said:
Danault outscores Strome at even strength in a walk every year.

One guy is stapled to the first unit and the other doesn't get PP time at all.

We need to move Strome out of that LH wall spot for Lafreniere anyway. When that happens, we'll be lucky if Strome gives us 45 points.

It's not writing off his points, it's just what the stats say.
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Do we really need points that don’t bring much else to the table?

I gained a newfound appreciation for Ryan Strome this year, but if we’re gonna compete we need a different dimension behind Zibanejad, rather than slower, worse Zibanejad.
 
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