Speculation: Roster Building Thread LXXXV: Sell some now, buy some later

[Pawnee Rangers]

Normally that's the coach. But instead he keeps rewarding Laf with top minutes. To be frank, between Laf's and Kakko's struggles, one clearly looks more engaged in the games than the other. Yet Kakko finds himself pinned to the bench more than the other. Why wasn't Kakko out in OT over Laf last night?

Not saying you, but this place is loaded with people pissed off these kids aren't getting MORE opportunity. I agree with you regarding Kakko last night though, didn't see much ice in the third or in OT. I thought he looked pretty good. But I disagree about the coach having to light the fire for you. He was the first overall pick for a reason, go out there and make something happen. Get in someones face, he's just so damn passive most of the time.

 

[Rangers in 7]

Not saying you, but this place is loaded with people pissed off these kids aren't getting MORE opportunity. I agree with you regarding Kakko last night though, didn't see much ice in the third or in OT. I thought he looked pretty good. But I disagree about the coach having to light the fire for you. He was the first overall pick for a reason, go out there and make something happen. Get in someones face, he's just so damn passive most of the time.

The passive part of his game is by far the most frustrating thing about him this year. Guy has played with an edge his entire junior career, gets here and looks like he’s not interested. We all know he has the talent and eventually will be a top player but he has to start showing something

 

[Shesterkybomb]

They need to run Georgiev and let him work it out, if Shesterkin is out long term we need georgiev to get back in a groove..kincaid isn't the answer

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Also...i dont care who is in or out of the lineup put the three kids together and let them play. Blackwell, Gauthier whoever can move up with the other two lines. Im finding that the young guys are worried about fitting in by making the older players happy, let them play together.

 

[The New Russian Five]

Not saying you, but this place is loaded with people pissed off these kids aren't getting MORE opportunity. I agree with you regarding Kakko last night though, didn't see much ice in the third or in OT. I thought he looked pretty good. But I disagree about the coach having to light the fire for you. He was the first overall pick for a reason, go out there and make something happen. Get in someones face, he's just so damn passive most of the time.

Are you kidding? If a player isn't engaged, as a coach, it is absolutely your responsibility to light a fire under his ass. Draft position should have no factor in that part.

 

[bl02]

They need to run Georgiev and let him work it out, if Shesterkin is out long term we need georgiev to get back in a groove..kincaid isn't the answer

You're right We have no choice right now we have to go with Georgiev. Having said that Georgiev just isn't good enough to carry us on the kind of stretch we need to get back into the race. Only one man can do that but needs to stay healthy enough to do it.

 

[Pawnee Rangers]

Are you kidding? If a player isn't engaged, as a coach, it is absolutely your responsibility to light a fire under his ass. Draft position should have no factor in that part.

Lol, ok guy. 27 games in now and Laff still needs a pregame rah-rah speech?

 

[RGY]

Strome to TOR for a top prospect, lets do it.

 

[Pawnee Rangers]

The passive part of his game is by far the most frustrating thing about him this year. Guy has played with an edge his entire junior career, gets here and looks like he’s not interested. We all know he has the talent and eventually will be a top player but he has to start showing something

I don't get it either. I can understand the lack of scoring, or having to adjust to having less time and space to make a play, that the goalies at this level are better than anything he's ever seen, I can even accept the Covid weirdness and the fact he's playing teams like Boston and Washington multiple time a week, but the complacency is maddening.

 

[bl02]

Strome to TOR for a top prospect, lets do it.

I heard Dubas may be looking to make some moves. Is this your hope or you heard something?

 

[bl02]

I don't get it either. I can understand the lack of scoring, or having to adjust to having less time and space to make a play, that the goalies at this level are better than anything he's ever seen, I can even accept the Covid weirdness and the fact he's playing teams like Boston and Washington multiple time a week, but the complacency is maddening.

Maybe he's missing his family? They haven't been able to visit him and of course vice versa. I am sure NY was not even in the top 10 of his preferred destinations at draft time.

 

[Pawnee Rangers]

Maybe he's missing his family? They haven't been able to visit him and of course vice versa. I am sure NY was not even in the top 10 of his preferred destinations at draft time.

Could be, doesn't seem crazy. Although, I'm not sure how you know NY wasn't a top 10 destination for him.

 

[jay from jersey]

Lol, ok guy. 27 games in now and Laff still needs a pregame rah-rah speech?

It’s not just the one guy, although I’m sure you can single some out. But this team has come out flat in almost every game of the season so far. They put themselves behind and in a hole that’s too hard to get out of most of the time. That is unacceptable to me

 

[Pawnee Rangers]

It’s not just the one guy, although I’m sure you can single some out. But this team has come out flat in almost every game of the season so far. They put themselves behind and in a hole that’s too hard to get out of most of the time. That is unacceptable to me

This team has been coming out flat since the Tortorella days. Last night they were not great in the first but last week they came out looking great in all four games against Pitt and Boston only to get deflated by some awful goaltending. I just don't think Quinn going into the locker room and giving the speech from Miracle is what this team is missing.

 

[Mac n Gs]

We don't really have any high profile rental forwards. Buch is on the last year of his deal, but he's RFA, so who knows if they'd be interested in him as a 'future' player, which is what would get us the best trade return.

Buch to a team planning to extend him would get a lot more than 12 games of Buch without a future plan for him.

Agreed, but I’m not sure which teams fit that profile right now and are a good trading match for us. BOS/CGY/EDM come to mind, but there’s not much there that I’d want from them in return

 

[Ratelleitlikeitis]

Strome to TOR for a top prospect, lets do it.

Is Strome as a TML third line centre behind Matthews and Tavares affordable for them? Currently it's Kerfoot. I'm not sure Strome brings the gritty playoff style they want. Also, I'm not sure what prospects they have that would match our interests.

 

[bl02]

Is Strome as a TML third line centre behind Matthews and Tavares affordable for them? Currently it's Kerfoot. I'm not sure Strome brings the gritty playoff style they want. Also, I'm not sure what prospects they have that would match our interests.

They have some nice prospects. Probably wouldn't be traded for Strome but you never know. Amirov, Robertson, Sandin/Liljigren still have nice potential. Sure no stud centers but Robertson is something the Rangers seem to be lacking so far from their young prospects. At least from what i've seen of him.

 

[kovazub94]

We’re obviously DOA without Shesty, but I’d rather not rush him back from a groin injury. Avoiding a lingering groin issue ruining his career is way more important to me than trying to salvage this season

So he went to not practicing from practicing in full gear just two days after the injury?

 

[Crease]

Was really hoping to see a new “Confirmed with Link” thread today.

 

[bl02]

More bad news. Fox, Buch PDG still on the covid list. No one knows the circumstances but considering recently guys like Pageau and Crosby didn’t spend much time on it I would say no good.
I guess the only positive is that with the covid protocol they would have to have three Straight negative tests to be ok’d back.
So I guess tomorrow would be day 3 or Thursday would be if Monday was a false positive.

So best case scenario they could be back Friday eve vs wash otherwise figure some time late March ugh

 

[kovazub94]

Couple notes on the hand wringing about the kids...

1) After a slow start, Shesty has been as advertised
2) Chytil has taken a step forward this year
3) Kakko is not scoring but is actually playing competent hockey like a 3rd line winger, at age 20.

The big negatives recently have been Miller and Lafreniere. I've got nothing for you on Laf, but Miller would look a lot better if we were playing him 12 minutes a night on the 3rd pairing, where a rookie of his rawness should be, instead of 24 minutes a night next to Trouba facing off against other team's good players. It's the absolute shambolic state of our current NHL defense that necessitated Miller being used WAAAY too much for his own good.

2 years down the line when we know what we have in Lundkvist, Robertson, Schneider, and maybe Jones/Reunanen, the defense should be more competent. Problem is that none of Hajek, Smith, Johnson, or Bitteto are good enough yet to take that 2nd pairing spot with Miller.

The Fox situation complicates things more.

I'd posit that minus the hype of his draft position, Kakko may just be a slow developing project. He hasn't been put in many high danger positions this season, which may be some fault of his own, but he also hasn't been gifted grade A scoring opportunities like Strome and Zibanejad have so much this year. I'm not a corsi dogmatist, but Kakko has the second best ratio behind Chytil this season, while last year he was bottom 10 at his position in the league.

Also- the fact that this roster has enough high end talent to keep our young kids away from the biggest situation minutes is gonna save us many many $$$s on their next contracts. We are one of the only franchises I can remember that had two top 2 picks but had enough high level forwards that those players didn't immediately start out in bigger roles.

But yes, Laf has stunk, and I have no solution to that one.

From what I've noted Miller went from having a steady run of good / great games to playing one such game mixed in with one adequate and one bad. For a rookie coming out of a limited schedule NCAA background and with his overall lack of play the position - it's still pretty good.
Trouba seems to be the perfect partner for Miller even if entails more minutes for the rookie. The other factor specifically from last night is that Miller was forced onto 1st pair per se since Fox was out. Now we don't know how long Fox will be out so we should expect more games when Miller struggles. What's the alternative? Trouba - Lindgren then Smith or Hajek and Miller? We need Fox back the same way we needed Panarin back and before then Trouba and Chytil.

Kakko while better than in the rookie year is still just a bit slow with his trigger on the execution - whether it's a shot, pass or getting to a specific place on ice. Maybe lately it's been because of Covid but he's developing.

Lafreniere just looks slow and it might be both physical and mental. Maybe he needs a break but now with Buchnevich out - he'll have to wait at least until this Russian is back or another is done with quarantine and ready to go.

 

[Richard Banger]

When is the TDL this year?

 

[Daves a mess]

When is the TDL this year?

April 12

 

[leetch99]

Plunk Lafreniere into a C spot on 3rd line for a few shift here and there and see if more range on the ice helps him out a bit . WTF can it hurt right bow....maybe he likes it and it provides more offensive options for him with Kreider on his left and Kravtsov on his right ....something different .

 

[tomobson]

This season is a disaster and all I'm hoping for at this point is that Gorton can work some TDL magic.