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

[Amazing Kreiderman]

In other news, congratulations (or condolences ) to @Amazing Kreiderman on his engagement! Your poor fiancee will have to share you with all the Rangers European prospects.

Since you brought it up:



And yeah, apologies for being absent. She's flying back to NY on Saturday, I am relocating to Dublin Monday and then we start her relocation so... Busy days

 

[Zats Muccarello]

I'd give up Buch + for Thomas.

What the f*** dude

 

[kovazub94]

Great story. Thanks... I really needed something like this precisely now at this exact moment.

My 3,5 year old daughter (Aurora) spent the last week in the intensive care (neurological unit) due to a mystical and non-defined neurological attack/breakdown. She had this initial attack/seizure and breakdown less than 2 weeks ago at her doctors office during a routine visit for what appeared to be a light spring cold (not at all acting strange, crying or anything really extraordinary beforehand - jut slight fever, runny nose and a bit tired, which is unusual). But we went to her ordinary physician (GP) just to be on the safe side anyways. She smiled and said “Bye Daddy” (CoVid restrictions now allow only one parent inside the doctors office here in Poland) when she left our car and went into the office with her Mother/my wife.

But a mere 20 minutes later, my suddenly hysterical wife comes running out with an unrecognizable Aurora in her arms. She is having serious cramps, her neck is in an awkward frozen backwards position and she has totally gone in a catatonic state whilst making awful sounds. We DRIVE to the hospital ultra fast "Aurora is having a neurological attack - we cannot wait for an ambulance" my wife Karolina says repeatedly. I drove like a maniac, under horrific circumstances, through a busy downtown traffic in my 400+ hp Jaguar, reaching the hospital pretty fast (but it seemed like ages) - which was fortunately pretty closeby. But that is the first time ever my wife yelled at me to drive faster. That is for sure.

Well there - she was in the ER within seconds and under their care. She was by then passed out and remained so for several hours. It came straight Out of the Blue. She was therafter sedated in isolation at the intensive care unit at the neurolgy clinic at the hospital for a few days. Karolina was there with her (only one parent applies here as well). But, after a multitude of tests - they still do not know what it was. They did multiple cat-scans (MRI +) of body and brain and the brain is seemingly fine. And every other test you can think of. They thereby excluded that it was a stroke, aneurysm, heart attack, epileptic attack or something like that. Originally they thought it was a heart attack as her EKG was at first off the charts. She also at first had very high CRP levels, but they subsided quickly and are now normal.

When she was released from the hospital the following statement was issued: "We will take no more tests as we have found no serious deficiencies with or disease in Aurora. We are very relieved that Aurora is seemingly fine", and then added that "the human body is not completely known yet, so this could be a one time attack connected to her ongoing light infection, exhaustion maybe also combined with fears. We may never therefore know what happened or why." So I guess that was it by the so called PROs conclusion. But... the head doctors at the hospital (upon her release) immediately and relentlessly wanted to put her on a 2 year plan of medication treatment for epilepsy - despite the fact that all the epilepsy tests were negative. Auroras GP however disagreed with this treatment and diagnosis. She was - good to remember - also under their medical ward for almost the entire seizure (~25 minutes) - yet they still have not been able to determine what it actually was and what caused it. They are but mere drug dealers it seems! Furious was too light of a word right tosummarize my state ofmind. 4 sho! . We naturally refused this "offer" - to their pathetic vocal protests

We now think it is possibly something COVID related (she had COVid for 6 weeks last autumn - but she tested negative now/but no antibodies test taken). She is still right now very weak, sore,vomits randomly and has unfortunately had several minor relapses/seizures/passes out. Just to point out, she was also diagnosed with selective mutism this spring (after having CoVid) as she suddenly refused to talk to anyone at all in her daycare for over 3 months. Which was never a problem before. But that suddenly subsidead and the diagnosis was then reversed by a second professionals opinion. Nothing is simple it seems. Damn...
But many professional people that I know, outside the normalized system, believe it could either be multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C - which is almost certainly derived from her previous CoVid infection) - or something entitled encephalitis. I dunno. Sorry for the totally irrelevant RANT btw...

Hey buddy, I wish your daughter a quick and complete recovery from this ordeal. Stay strong and just concentrate on things you CAN CONTROL - to make her feel better and stronger to deal with her ailment. My thoughts are with you and your family!

 

[kovazub94]

Robert Thomas is one of the lowest volume shooters in the league and doesn't do much of anything at ES. What is so alluring about him?

He’s better than Lias 7OA pick.

 

[kovazub94]

I don’t understand the hype for trading for a guy that St Louis is apparently dying to get rid of

And overpaying while at it.

Looks like many here significantly undervalue Buchnevich so if / when he’s traded these posters will think Drury outsmarted the other GM.

 

[gravey9]

Great story. Thanks... I really needed something like this precisely now at this exact moment.

My 3,5 year old daughter (Aurora) spent the last week in the intensive care (neurological unit) due to a mystical and non-defined neurological attack/breakdown. She had this initial attack/seizure and breakdown less than 2 weeks ago at her doctors office during a routine visit for what appeared to be a light spring cold (not at all acting strange, crying or anything really extraordinary beforehand - jut slight fever, runny nose and a bit tired, which is unusual). But we went to her ordinary physician (GP) just to be on the safe side anyways. She smiled and said “Bye Daddy” (CoVid restrictions now allow only one parent inside the doctors office here in Poland) when she left our car and went into the office with her Mother/my wife.

But a mere 20 minutes later, my suddenly hysterical wife comes running out with an unrecognizable Aurora in her arms. She is having serious cramps, her neck is in an awkward frozen backwards position and she has totally gone in a catatonic state whilst making awful sounds. We DRIVE to the hospital ultra fast "Aurora is having a neurological attack - we cannot wait for an ambulance" my wife Karolina says repeatedly. I drove like a maniac, under horrific circumstances, through a busy downtown traffic in my 400+ hp Jaguar, reaching the hospital pretty fast (but it seemed like ages) - which was fortunately pretty closeby. But that is the first time ever my wife yelled at me to drive faster. That is for sure.

Well there - she was in the ER within seconds and under their care. She was by then passed out and remained so for several hours. It came straight Out of the Blue. She was therafter sedated in isolation at the intensive care unit at the neurolgy clinic at the hospital for a few days. Karolina was there with her (only one parent applies here as well). But, after a multitude of tests - they still do not know what it was. They did multiple cat-scans (MRI +) of body and brain and the brain is seemingly fine. And every other test you can think of. They thereby excluded that it was a stroke, aneurysm, heart attack, epileptic attack or something like that. Originally they thought it was a heart attack as her EKG was at first off the charts. She also at first had very high CRP levels, but they subsided quickly and are now normal.

When she was released from the hospital the following statement was issued: "We will take no more tests as we have found no serious deficiencies with or disease in Aurora. We are very relieved that Aurora is seemingly fine", and then added that "the human body is not completely known yet, so this could be a one time attack connected to her ongoing light infection, exhaustion maybe also combined with fears. We may never therefore know what happened or why." So I guess that was it by the so called PROs conclusion. But... the head doctors at the hospital (upon her release) immediately and relentlessly wanted to put her on a 2 year plan of medication treatment for epilepsy - despite the fact that all the epilepsy tests were negative. Auroras GP however disagreed with this treatment and diagnosis. She was - good to remember - also under their medical ward for almost the entire seizure (~25 minutes) - yet they still have not been able to determine what it actually was and what caused it. They are but mere drug dealers it seems! Furious was too light of a word right tosummarize my state ofmind. 4 sho! . We naturally refused this "offer" - to their pathetic vocal protests

We now think it is possibly something COVID related (she had COVid for 6 weeks last autumn - but she tested negative now/but no antibodies test taken). She is still right now very weak, sore,vomits randomly and has unfortunately had several minor relapses/seizures/passes out. Just to point out, she was also diagnosed with selective mutism this spring (after having CoVid) as she suddenly refused to talk to anyone at all in her daycare for over 3 months. Which was never a problem before. But that suddenly subsidead and the diagnosis was then reversed by a second professionals opinion. Nothing is simple it seems. Damn...
But many professional people that I know, outside the normalized system, believe it could either be multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C - which is almost certainly derived from her previous CoVid infection) - or something entitled encephalitis. I dunno. Sorry for the totally irrelevant RANT btw...

As a parent I can only begin to imagine what this has been like for you. I hope Aurora and the whole family gets through this as soon as possible.

 

[426ers]

She should have a full and quick speedy

Great story. Thanks... I really needed something like this precisely now at this exact moment.

My 3,5 year old daughter (Aurora) spent the last week in the intensive care (neurological unit) due to a mystical and non-defined neurological attack/breakdown. She had this initial attack/seizure and breakdown less than 2 weeks ago at her doctors office during a routine visit for what appeared to be a light spring cold (not at all acting strange, crying or anything really extraordinary beforehand - jut slight fever, runny nose and a bit tired, which is unusual). But we went to her ordinary physician (GP) just to be on the safe side anyways. She smiled and said “Bye Daddy” (CoVid restrictions now allow only one parent inside the doctors office here in Poland) when she left our car and went into the office with her Mother/my wife.

But a mere 20 minutes later, my suddenly hysterical wife comes running out with an unrecognizable Aurora in her arms. She is having serious cramps, her neck is in an awkward frozen backwards position and she has totally gone in a catatonic state whilst making awful sounds. We DRIVE to the hospital ultra fast "Aurora is having a neurological attack - we cannot wait for an ambulance" my wife Karolina says repeatedly. I drove like a maniac, under horrific circumstances, through a busy downtown traffic in my 400+ hp Jaguar, reaching the hospital pretty fast (but it seemed like ages) - which was fortunately pretty closeby. But that is the first time ever my wife yelled at me to drive faster. That is for sure.

Well there - she was in the ER within seconds and under their care. She was by then passed out and remained so for several hours. It came straight Out of the Blue. She was therafter sedated in isolation at the intensive care unit at the neurolgy clinic at the hospital for a few days. Karolina was there with her (only one parent applies here as well). But, after a multitude of tests - they still do not know what it was. They did multiple cat-scans (MRI +) of body and brain and the brain is seemingly fine. And every other test you can think of. They thereby excluded that it was a stroke, aneurysm, heart attack, epileptic attack or something like that. Originally they thought it was a heart attack as her EKG was at first off the charts. She also at first had very high CRP levels, but they subsided quickly and are now normal.

When she was released from the hospital the following statement was issued: "We will take no more tests as we have found no serious deficiencies with or disease in Aurora. We are very relieved that Aurora is seemingly fine", and then added that "the human body is not completely known yet, so this could be a one time attack connected to her ongoing light infection, exhaustion maybe also combined with fears. We may never therefore know what happened or why." So I guess that was it by the so called PROs conclusion. But... the head doctors at the hospital (upon her release) immediately and relentlessly wanted to put her on a 2 year plan of medication treatment for epilepsy - despite the fact that all the epilepsy tests were negative. Auroras GP however disagreed with this treatment and diagnosis. She was - good to remember - also under their medical ward for almost the entire seizure (~25 minutes) - yet they still have not been able to determine what it actually was and what caused it. They are but mere drug dealers it seems! Furious was too light of a word right tosummarize my state ofmind. 4 sho! . We naturally refused this "offer" - to their pathetic vocal protests

We now think it is possibly something COVID related (she had COVid for 6 weeks last autumn - but she tested negative now/but no antibodies test taken). She is still right now very weak, sore,vomits randomly and has unfortunately had several minor relapses/seizures/passes out. Just to point out, she was also diagnosed with selective mutism this spring (after having CoVid) as she suddenly refused to talk to anyone at all in her daycare for over 3 months. Which was never a problem before. But that suddenly subsidead and the diagnosis was then reversed by a second professionals opinion. Nothing is simple it seems. Damn...
But many professional people that I know, outside the normalized system, believe it could either be multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C - which is almost certainly derived from her previous CoVid infection) - or something entitled encephalitis. I dunno. Sorry for the totally irrelevant RANT btw...

She should have a full and quick easy recovery.

 

[I Eat Crow]

What I want to see is a trade for a vet defenseman before the expansion draft from a team that has expansion list problems. Trouba and Lindgren are the only D's that need to be protected. I'd leave DeAngelo and everyone else available. The Rangers can and should take advantage of their spare protection slots to get a good player or two for pennies on the dollar.

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

I know it's likely just a lot of hand-wringing because EDM shit the bed. But if they are dumb enough to even pick up the phone the Rangers should put together a giant offer.

 

[Lion Hound]

Since you brought it up:



And yeah, apologies for being absent. She's flying back to NY on Saturday, I am relocating to Dublin Monday and then we start her relocation so... Busy days

Congrats Steven!!!!

 

[CLW]

I'd be leery of any player that is on the fast track out of his current location.

I also think we have too many Pass-First/Second/Third thinkers on this team.

We need a couple 2-3 guys that like to and can shoot the puck.

Panarin, Zib etc can and like to shoot the puck. So do Laf and Kakko. Kreider has a pretty handy wrister, Buch scores a few, as does Strome. Chytil likes to shoot. Otherwise, trade for Laine

I'm more interested in having a strong cycle game, a couple of strong two-way centers behind Zib, better overall structure and zone exits/entries etc. Scoring/shooting is the least of this teams problems. Tampa, Colorado, Florida, Toronto, Carolina, Winnipeg etc hardly play a prototypical shoot first game. Even Boston's first line doesn't. Montreal do, but their offense sucks unsurprisingly. The good teams don't play that kind of hockey anymore.

I checked the Blues forum - apparently Thomas has been checked out since the bubble last year. They do talk about his high upside but something is not right there. Maybe a change of scenery is what's needed. Could be a case of buy low for high reward, I wouldn't overpay for him though.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

What I want to see is a trade for a vet defenseman before the expansion draft from a team that has expansion list problems. Trouba and Lindgren are the only D's that need to be protected. I'd leave DeAngelo and everyone else available. The Rangers can and should take advantage of their spare protection slots to get a good player or two for pennies on the dollar.

I’m wondering if they could store a player for another team for a pick. Team A trades Defenseman to the Rangers with a pick for future considerations. After expansion draft, Rangers flip the player back to that other team for future considerations as well. Any rules against that?

 

[RGY]

Pittsburgh needs a goalie.

Georgiev

for

Crosby

 

[smoneil]

This board would absolutely hate Robert Thomas.

Eh, if you put him together with Santana, that'd be pretty Smooth.

 

[McRanger92]

I like the idea of using Georgiev to get a useful bottom 6 forward from a team needing a goalie. Hell, the Rangers can leave him exposed for Seattle if they pluck someone from another team with protection issues. Its not like theres a major drop (if any) from Geo to Kinkaid

 

[Machinehead]

I see we're still stapling some rando onto the 4th line, calling it a day, and then wondering why the team is "too soft."

 

[TheDirtyH]

I caught a lot of flack last year for proposing a match around Tuch and DeAngelo and a lot of the feedback was pretty similar: our guy is really valuable and their guy is not. I think people need to be a little more realistic about our own assets and other teams'. Buchnevich is the better player right now, but it's not like he's astronomically better. Factor in that Thomas plays Center which is valued at a premium vs. the wing. Then factor that Buchnevich is four years older than Thomas, so you're basing more of Thomas's value on what you project from him than Buchnevich.

Thomas may be too pass first. OK, but so is Philip Danault. So is Ryan Strome, who Thomas would all but evict from the roster. For that matter, so is Buchnevich... Thomas also fills a lot of needs for us and his age only makes the fit more ideal relative to our timeline. If all you get out of Thomas is a pass happy 2nd line center, you've still got enough talent on the wings to conceivably run with he and Chytil as imperfect but useful top six centermen for many years to come.

It's easy--especially when you like the player we have and is being dangled--to focus on the weaknesses of the player I'm suggesting we acquire. But who's asking what Robert Thomas's strengths are and what does he bring that Buchnevich doesn't? He's pass happy, but he's also near elite company in shot contributitons. He's a beast in transition, ranking among the best at carrying the puck out of the Dzone and into the Ozone--a skill we are not exactly flush with and especially at center. He's also a very efficient forechecker, which, once again, last I checked, is not a skill we have in spades atm. From Dom's season preview in The Athletic:

In terms of scoring, Thomas isn’t far behind O’Reilly and it’s because he might be an even better passer. His 1.81 assists-per-60 ranked 10th in the league last season and even more impressive was that 1.3 of those were primary. That ranked fifth and his high danger pass rate was a little better than O’Reilly’s too. He’s elite in that regard and that’s only in his sophomore season.

The 20th pick from 2017 looks like he’s in line for a huge breakout in his third season with the model projecting him to be a 55-point player. He should see a much bigger role to get there and that’s part of the reason he’s expected to be worth 1.6 wins. I figure he sees a substantial minute increase from the 14:04 he averaged last season. He deserves it as his on-ice numbers at five-on-five were also stellar. That was in mostly sheltered minutes and this year the Blues will test his mettle in tougher top-six minutes. He starts the year as the team’s second-line center between two excellent offensive wingers, Jaden Schwartz and Hoffman. With his vision, he should be able to find both for some easy goals, but it’s worth noting how hard he works too. On a team known for its forechecking ability, Thomas might’ve been the best last year recovering 4.7 dump-ins per 60, one of the best marks in the league.

He had a disappointing year, was oft-injured. Maybe he regressed and is doomed to do so, but I'm willing to make the bet that the 21 year old has more to give than his worst season so far.

 

[RangersFan1994]

Agent: No trade request from Vancouver Canucks' J.T. Miller - TSN.ca

 

[TheDirtyH]

I don’t understand the hype for trading for a guy that St Louis is apparently dying to get rid of

Would love to see the source stating St. Louis is dying to get rid of Thomas. His struggles this year (as a 21 year old), the Blues' having two top six centers locked in ahead of him, and their tighter margins to win now while their window is open may have made Robert Thomas available. I.e. A player who would otherwise be obviously regarded as untouchable, due to an evolving landscape of circumstances including a disappointing season, has entered the chat. Personally, I think he's exactly the kind of player worth selling high on Buch for. The value isn't as far off as people think it is in the first place, and the fact is, Thomas is both a better fit for many things we need and are weak in, and has the potential to be a better player overall.

Seriously, Buch has been being actively shopped around for years at this point -- does that qualify as a player that we are absolutely dying to get rid of?

 

[CLW]

I know it's likely just a lot of hand-wringing because EDM shit the bed. But if they are dumb enough to even pick up the phone the Rangers should put together a giant offer.

Why even be interested? EDM is a shitty team because they have McDavid and Drei. Teams win cups, not individual stars. Winnipeg won easily because they are a better team. Colorado, Tampa and Vegas are powerhouses because they have depth. Florida have better individual stars in Barkov and Huberdau but struggle with Tampa because of Tampa's superior depth, especially on D and in goal.

The Rangers are close to becoming a real team with depth. Decide which one to keep, Zib or Strome, find two good two-way C in trades (not expensive UFAs) get competent coaching and the Rangers are well on their way to competitiveness.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

Would love to see the source stating St. Louis is dying to get rid of Thomas. His struggles this year (as a 21 year old), the Blues' having two top six centers locked in ahead of him, and their tighter margins to win now while their window is open may have made Robert Thomas available. I.e. A player who would otherwise be obviously regarded as untouchable, due to an evolving landscape of circumstances including a disappointing season, has entered the chat. Personally, I think he's exactly the kind of player worth selling high on Buch for. The value isn't as far off as people think it is in the first place, and the fact is, Thomas is both a better fit for many things we need and are weak in, and has the potential to be a better player overall.

Seriously, Buch has been being actively shopped around for years at this point -- does that qualify as a player that we are absolutely dying to get rid of?

Well there’s never been any reports that the Rangers were unhappy with Buch like there has about St Louis being unhappy with Thomas so not really a fair comparison.

 

[romba]

For McDavid I'd give up all draft picks until the end of time, Kakko, Zbad (soon to be a big contract that won't fit with McDavid), CK, Miller and Jones. Probably wouldn't get it done if he were made available as teams would be throwing the moon at Edmonton.

Yes, you can make it work around a generational talent, even with a stagnant cap.

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

Why even be interested? EDM is a shitty team because they have McDavid and Drei. Teams win cups, not individual stars. Winnipeg won easily because they are a better team. Colorado, Tampa and Vegas are powerhouses because they have depth. Florida have better individual stars in Barkov and Huberdau but struggle with Tampa because of Tampa's superior depth, especially on D and in goal.

The Rangers are close to becoming a real team with depth. Decide which one to keep, Zib or Strome, find two good two-way C in trades (not expensive UFAs) get competent coaching and the Rangers are well on their way to competitiveness.

If you think EDM is shitty because of McDavid than I'm not sure what to tell you. I would much rather have McDavid at 12.5 than Zib at 10 or whatever he'll command.

 

[NYR94]

Agent: No trade request from Vancouver Canucks' J.T. Miller - TSN.ca

Interesting. Goes to show you that you have to be careful with these stories that people run with on Twitter. I guess Miller realizes he's in a pretty good situation in Vancouver and isn't likely to find better linemates than Pettersson/Boeser/Horvat, etc. somewhere else.

 

[TheDirtyH]

Well there’s never been any reports that the Rangers were unhappy with Buch like there has about St Louis being unhappy with Thomas so not really a fair comparison.

The best trade the rangers have made maybe in the last 20 years was for a young center that a team that saw itself as a contender was unhappy with.