Speculation: Roster Building Thread LII: Countdown to Free Agency

[GAGLine]

Yea but what do we need the cap space for right now? I dont get the reasoning behind it. Every dollar counts in a cap world and we will need every dollar especially when we are ready to compete

To the bold, I don't know the answer. I can't say what other players Gorton is looking to bring in or which players he will end up trading and how much cap space that will afford us. I'm not advocating that we buy him out no matter what. I'm saying that if we need the cap space and can't trade him, a buyout isn't as bad as it seems. People are worried about the penalty in year 2, but as I've shown, it's really not a problem because of the other dead cap amounts coming off the books.

 

[Avery16]

Go ahead explain the “problematic” parts. Explain away. Would love to hear the over exaggeration if issues with the other players.

I think it would fall on deaf ears.

 

[RGY]

The Rangers have $17,500,000 according to CapFriendly. Rangers extend Trouba to $8,000,000. The Rangers now have $9,500,00 in cap space. Buchnevich, Kreider, ADA, Lemmywinks all need contracts. I like that Kreider plays a heavy game but Buchy with 101 points in 179 games played is tough to move on from. How can we afford Panarin at say, $12,000,000 per year with the others still needing contracts? I think both Marner and Panarin are looking for 12.

Kreider does not need a new contract for this upcoming season so he should not be included.

Again Offseason is just getting started. They could move some contracts.

 

[DutchShamrock]

I'm actually surprised at how many people wouldn't trade Miller for Nylander

It's not an indictment on Nylander, although there are people with ostrich syndrome that refuse to acknowledge he missed camp and think his bad play is a result of getting a big contract or his audacity to hold out.

The problem for us is we are looking pretty good at right wing but lack first pair potential defense. Yes, he's right handed and elite at zone entry/exit. Still a problem of trading what we lack for something we have enough off.

 

[Alluckks]

It's not an indictment on Nylander, although there are people with ostrich syndrome that refuse to acknowledge he missed camp and think his bad play is a result of getting a big contract or his audacity to hold out.

The problem for us is we are looking pretty good at right wing but lack first pair potential defense. Yes, he's right handed and elite at zone entry/exit. Still a problem of trading what we lack for something we have enough off.

I guess I still see him as having a good shot at Center rather than Wing; I understand the aversion a lot more if the perception is that he is dead locked at Winger

 

[RGY]

I think it would fall on deaf ears.

Go ahead. Dont make such a baseless, very strongly opinionated, claim and then just say its not worth explaining.

You want to bitch about Smith, Shattenkirk, Staal as usual, go for it. But I am sure it will just be the usual* over exaggeration of their issues, as if every team has a perfect 6 defenseman in their lineup.

 

[Avery16]

Go ahead. Dont make such a baseless, very strongly opinionated, claim and then just say its not worth explaining.

You want to ***** about Smith, Shattenkirk, Staal as usual, go for it. But I am sure it will just be the usual* over exaggeration of their issues, as if every team has a perfect 6 defenseman in their lineup.

Very strongly opinionated? Who’s over-exaggerating now?

 

[SA16]

I've ran the numbers on the Rangers cap over the last week. If they want to bring in someone expensive - whether it be Panarin, Nylander, or whoever - it's really not much of an issue. They have a lot of forwards with one year deals that they can trade, even for a minimal return, who should be preferable to signing a lower quality FA long term (for example as an outside team I'd easily prefer Namestnikov with 1-4 left than giving Simmonds 4M/year for multiple years). There's also the buyout option for Smith/Staal/Shattenkirk if none can be traded with retention. I think they even can clear the space without trading Kreider however I don't really like that idea since I'm not very comfortable giving him his next contract.

The one thing I do not really have a very good grasp on is what the contracts will look like for DeAngelo and Buchnevich.

 

[DutchShamrock]

I guess I still see him as having a good shot at Center rather than Wing; I understand the aversion a lot more if the perception is that he is dead locked at Winger

The has been ample opportunity and time for him to show us he is a center. Mathews has been hurt every season. I think the window for him to transition is just about closed.

 

[ETTER DE]

Like who? Panarin isnt worth in my eyes 12m aav. Duchene I wouldn't mind to play our 2nd line but I already know the pulse on that. We are not a playoff team with either of them and if you think we are then we are a bubble team at best.. why not just play hard let the season play out, get another top 10 pick continue the rebuild the right way and in year 2 if we need to buy them out that's fine bc it's only 2 years of dead space and less money being tied up.

We made great trades bc of the space we have. We can only continue to do that IF we have cap space

Agree that cap space is a big asset. What I am afraid of is that next year or the year after a player of Panarins level will not be available. Could risk going into a season with lots of cap space but no one to sign. And then sign an inferior player just to sign someone. (Shattenkirk all over again..)

 

[LaffyTaffy]

Joonas Donskoi. That is all.

 

[SA16]

The has been ample opportunity and time for him to show us he is a center. Mathews has been hurt every season. I think the window for him to transition is just about closed.

Well a major reason he has not played Center is because their center depth has been Matthews/Bozak/Kadri and then Matthews/Tavares/Kadri each year of his career so there was never a full time opening other than brief periods with players injured (Matthews) or suspended (Kadri). There was never an open spot and the other guys were even long-term established Centers or the number 1 overall pick.

 

[Trxjw]

I would think that the Johnsson deal set a bar for Buchnevich unless the Rangers want to go with more term. 3 years @ $3.4m per.

 

[Trxjw]

If we added Nylander I would 100% try him at center. However I wouldn't acquire him with the expectation that he'd be one.

 

[GAGLine]

I see your point but the Rangers should bring in vets on short term contracts. I think Simmonds and Brassard as one year stop gaps both help the prospects develop and can be used as assets at the deadline.

I think Simmonds has lost a step but I think he is the sort of forward Quinn would want.

Do you think the Rangers should target any free agents? I do. I think bringing in 2 veteran forwards who won't get in the way of the rebuild is something the Rangers should consider. Perhaps not Simmonds and Brassard. Just 2 names I would consider.

It depends on who we move out. If we assume that Kakko and Kravtsov are on the team, and Buch and Lemieux are re-signed, we have 14 forwards already. Maybe Kreider and Vesey go, opening a spot for 1 vet (we probably don't need to carry 14 if Smith is still around). Maybe Nieves gets replaced by another vet.

We need to see how it plays out.

I've ran the numbers on the Rangers cap over the last week. If they want to bring in someone expensive - whether it be Panarin, Nylander, or whoever - it's really not much of an issue. They have a lot of forwards with one year deals that they can trade, even for a minimal return, who should be preferable to signing a lower quality FA long term (for example as an outside team I'd easily prefer Namestnikov with 1-4 left than giving Simmonds 4M/year for multiple years). There's also the buyout option for Smith/Staal/Shattenkirk if none can be traded with retention. I think they even can clear the space without trading Kreider however I don't really like that idea since I'm not very comfortable giving him his next contract.

The one thing I do not really have a very good grasp on is what the contracts will look like for DeAngelo and Buchnevich.

It's possible, but let's not act like it's easy. Gorton has his work cut out for him if he intends to make room for a player making 11+ mil.

 

[RGY]

Strongly opinionated? Who’s over-exaggerating now?

Still waiting for you to pick apart how “problematic” it was. Stop deflecting and take the time to explain rather than making an empty comment.

 

[Chalfdiggity3]

To the bold, I don't know the answer. I can't say what other players Gorton is looking to bring in or which players he will end up trading and how much cap space that will afford us. I'm not advocating that we buy him out no matter what. I'm saying that if we need the cap space and can't trade him, a buyout isn't as bad as it seems. People are worried about the penalty in year 2, but as I've shown, it's really not a problem because of the other dead cap amounts coming off the books.

I completely get what you are saying and I respect your opinion greatly over the time I've spent on here. We have no idea what the mind if gorton is except that he is sticking true to building a contender the right way. I trust gorton and jd bc they have build Boston and ST Louis.

I'm worried about the cap hit in year 3 and 4. I just dont like having dead cap space if we have no reason to do so especially during year 3 and 4 when we will be competing. I like having the flexibility to do all sorts of moves. The cap at 81.5 only a .5% increase scares me and the talk that it will be set for 3 years at a slightly higher cap does not want me to have any dead money on the books then

 

[Chalfdiggity3]

Agree that cap space is a big asset. What I am afraid of is that next year or the year after a player of Panarins level will not be available. Could risk going into a season with lots of cap space but no one to sign. And then sign an inferior player just to sign someone. (Shattenkirk all over again..)

Then during that time with the ridiculous amount of prospects we will have then we can trade a few for a great talent like ROR and st Louis. Without cap space we can not do that deal or the trouba deal. We will need the cap to sign our own guys too.

 

[NYR Viper]

I would think that the Johnsson deal set a bar for Buchnevich unless the Rangers want to go with more term. 3 years @ $3.4m per.

I’m hopeful it’s a longer deal than 3 years.

Also, as far as players I’d go get:
Brian Boyle - 1 year at $3m

Trade for:
Ryan Reaves
Nikita Gusev - Sign at 5 years for $4m

Trade away:
Kreider
Vesey
Namestnikov - bring back bad buryable contract (Gagner)

Re-sign:
Buchnevich - 6 years at $4m
DeAngelo - 1 year at $2.5m
Trouba - 7 years at $7.5m

Buch-Zib-Kakko
Kravtsov-Chytil-Gusev
Lemieux-Howden-Andersson
Fast-Boyle-Reaves
Nieves

Skjei-Shattenkirk
Hajek-Trouba
Staal-ADA
Smith

 

[NernieBichols]

I just don’t see how keeping Kreider until the deadline and signing Panarin is plausible. If you want Panarin, Kreider needs to go this week.

I’m not surprised we didn’t get the value many thought we would for Kreider. I got ridiculed here for saying a mid teens 1st was a stretch. Soderstrom and Newhook are far more valuable than Kreider in my opinion, even to teams looking to compete.

If we can pull a 2020 1st from an overconfident team, that’s the play to run here.

If we’re thinking we’re out on Panarin, I’m fine with keeping Kreider until the deadline.

The time to strike in free agency is now. The 2020 UFA class is very weak.

Fingers crossed for Bread.

Remember that teams can go 10% over the cap during the summer. Buys them some time, but of course teams can just wait them out to that deadline as well if Gorton hasn’t managed the cap beforehand

 

[Irishguy42]

The fascination with trading for Ryan Reaves continually leaves me dumbfounded.

 

[UAGoalieGuy]

With the Rangers cap, let's get some things straight.

• The Rangers have a hair over $17.5MM in cap space with 19 players signed (this includes Shattenkirk, Smith, Belesky, Fox and Hajek) as well as the dead cap space they have from Spooner and Girardi.
• Kreider does not need a new contract.
• The rumors out of the Trouba camp that were reported out earlier this past week was he was looking for $7.5MM on a long term contract. So not sure where the $8MM is coming from.
• With the Leafs wingers signing for between $3 and $3.5MM on 3 year deals, Buch should get that or even a bit less, unless he is signing for 5+ years.
• Lemieux and ADA will not break $2MM each.

Going with the upper limit on each, the Rangers would have $2.5MM left in cap space with 23 players signed.

Operate your offseason scenarios from there lol

 

[Chalfdiggity3]

I’m hopeful it’s a longer deal than 3 years.

Also, as far as players I’d go get:
Brian Boyle - 1 year at $3m
Colin Wilson - 1 year at $2.5m

Trade for:
Ryan Reaves
Nikita Gusev - Sign at 5 years for $4m

Trade away:
Kreider
Vesey

Re-sign:
Buchnevich - 6 years at $4m
DeAngelo - 1 year at $2.5m
Trouba - 7 years at $7.5m

I'm in agreement with signing players like Boyle Ennis panik and Boyle for 1 year deals and having more assets at the deadline to trade to playoff teams and get more assets back.

Krieder and vesey traded for the right deals sooner rather than later.

 

[SA16]

It's possible, but let's not act like it's easy. Gorton has his work cut out for him if he intends to make room for a player making 11+ mil.

We'll have to see how things shake out but for the sake of an example here are all the multiyear contracts signed in FA last year with cap hits between 2M and 4.5M.

Jay Beagle - 4 x 4
Matt Calvert - 3 x 2.85
David Perron - 4 x 4
Riley Nash - 3 x 2.75
Vlad Namestnikov - 2 x 4
Michael Grabner - 3 x 3.35
Derek Ryan - 3 x 3.125
Blake Comeau - 3 x 2.4
Leo Komarox - 4 x 3
Antoine Roussel - 4 x 3

Outside of Perron/Ryan these are not particularly great contracts for depth players but they all make more money than Vesey/Fast/almost all more than Strome. Namestnikov has extra value now in that you can get him for 1 year and avoid the 3-4 year term on much of these guys.

From another teams perspective I would far prefer to trade for one our forwards with 1 year left and give up a mid to late pick than to sign a player like this.

 

[Trxjw]

I’m hopeful it’s a longer deal than 3 years.

Well the Rangers have historically been very reluctant to hand out extended deals to players coming off of an ELC. Not sure I see Buchnevich being a guy who breaks that mold given how inconsistent he's been.