Speculation: Roster Building Thread: New Season Edition

[The Crypto Guy]

Bonus Media Availability. Sammy Blais, Alexis Lafrenier and Kaapo Kakko.

English has really improved since last year it seems. Seems much much more confident going into this season as well.

Bob McKenzie released his first top 16 for the 2023 NHL draft.

'Didn't have to overthink this' - Bedard tops McKenzie's pre-season draft ranking

From the moment he was granted exceptional status in 2020 and then burst onto the scene as a “double underager” at the 2021 Under-18 World Championship, the giddy anticipation has been that the 2023 NHL Draft would be the Connor Bedard Sweepstakes.

www.tsn.ca

There seems to be a good number of centers available in this draft.

I'd be pretty thrilled if we can draft Nate Danielson with the Dallas pick.

 

[McRanger92]

English has really improved since last year it seems. Seems much much more confident going into this season as well.

He is also missing a tooth! American Kakko in 2022-23

 

[EdJovanovski]

He is also missing a tooth! American Kakko in 2022-23

You mean British Kakko

 

[BBKers]

All my tests very recently came back. 100% were negative despite huge suspicions of the contrary. Thanks for the good thoughts. You people are very important. Love you

 

[GAGLine]

All my tests very recently came back. 100% were negative despite huge suspicions of the contrary. Thanks for the good thoughts. You people are very important. Love you

Great news!

 

[Kords]

Wonder if this shirt has anything to do with the new reverse retro. Maybe the old Rangers crest this time?

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

English has really improved since last year it seems. Seems much much more confident going into this season as well.


I'd be pretty thrilled if we can draft Nate Danielson with the Dallas pick.

Mr. Miyagi would be most pleased

 

[GENESISPuck94]

Doesn't seem like there's room for a serious 9 game cup of coffee for Othmann.

Imagine not having room for a highly talented physical 1st round pick because 29 year old Carpenter and his 69 career points in 7 years and 48% faceoff percentage, and awful possession numbers needs to play instead.

Carpenter, Reaves, Hunt, Blais... none of them should be a serious consideration over guys like Lafreniere, Kakko, Othmann, Cuylle. But, here we are.

Remember last season when the 4th line was complete shit and one of the biggest issues this team had? It might be worse.

Teams winning Cups boast deep lineups, they don't cater to the scrubs, they fill their roster with the best players available to them. It would be great if we did the same thing.

 

[nsvoyageurs]

All my tests very recently came back. 100% were negative despite huge suspicions of the contrary. Thanks for the good thoughts. You people are very important. Love you.

Great to hear!

 

[Cmox]

Total conspiracy theory crap here, but Kakko's been pretty absent from NYR social media stuff this summer. Not that weird, but certainly a noticeable difference from years past.

It seems like hes been working on his game. Id be absent from SM too

 

[mas0764]

At this point he’s just a troll. ECF run last year and a Cup contender as a young and extremely talented team this year but all we get is spamming the boards with what an awful job they are doing. Drury just got a first and another pick for a disgruntled player but it doesn’t count because of some conspiracy theory that it was always Schneider’s job, despite the fact that Nils was gifted an opening night roster spot over Jones, who outplayed Nils last camp. Any positive will always be explained away, it’s a tired act

I expressed approval of Drury's return for Nils, not sure how that is trolling. Unless not agreeing that Drury is great is trolling, which seems to be the opinion of some around here.

 

[IDvsEGO]

Imagine not having room for a highly talented physical 1st round pick because 29 year old Carpenter and his 69 career points in 7 years and 48% faceoff percentage, and awful possession numbers needs to play instead.

Carpenter, Reaves, Hunt, Blais... none of them should be a serious consideration over guys like Lafreniere, Kakko, Othmann, Cuylle. But, here we are.

Remember last season when the 4th line was complete shit and one of the biggest issues this team had? It might be worse.

Teams winning Cups boast deep lineups, they don't cater to the scrubs, they fill their roster with the best players available to them. It would be great if we did the same thing.

Carpenter isn’t playing above the fourth.
Othmann is either on the third line and up, or he’s in the OHL.
Blais is the potential player blocking him.

 

[mas0764]

Imagine not having room for a highly talented physical 1st round pick because 29 year old Carpenter and his 69 career points in 7 years and 48% faceoff percentage, and awful possession numbers needs to play instead.

Carpenter, Reaves, Hunt, Blais... none of them should be a serious consideration over guys like Lafreniere, Kakko, Othmann, Cuylle. But, here we are.

Remember last season when the 4th line was complete shit and one of the biggest issues this team had? It might be worse.

Teams winning Cups boast deep lineups, they don't cater to the scrubs, they fill their roster with the best players available to them. It would be great if we did the same thing.

Stop trolling.

/sarcasm

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Oh our 4th is going to be AIDS for sure

 

[McRanger92]

Imagine not having room for a highly talented physical 1st round pick because 29 year old Carpenter and his 69 career points in 7 years and 48% faceoff percentage, and awful possession numbers needs to play instead.

Carpenter, Reaves, Hunt, Blais... none of them should be a serious consideration over guys like Lafreniere, Kakko, Othmann, Cuylle. But, here we are.

Remember last season when the 4th line was complete shit and one of the biggest issues this team had? It might be worse.

Teams winning Cups boast deep lineups, they don't cater to the scrubs, they fill their roster with the best players available to them. It would be great if we did the same thing.

Carpenter/Reaves are going to be a fourth liners, theyre not blocking Cuylle or Othmann at all. Hunt I think is on the roster bubble and could easily get beat out by Vesey (PK ability) or Rydahl (new blood with an enticing skillset).

As for Blais, its popular to say he's a plug, but he's won a Cup and brings some physicality that we couldve used last year. Im ok with giving a highly motivated player a chance to show what he can do with 2 studs to lengthen our top 9.

I dont see an issue with the Rangers letting Cuylle get some more seasoning in HFD if he (likely) doesnt win a spot out of camp. I fully expect him to be a contributor down the stretch and in the playoffs.

It's unfortunate that Othmann needs to go back to juniors rather than the AHL, but it is what it is. People on this board who have watched him more than me have said he needs to work on his defensive game anyway.

 

[QJL]

Hard to see where he fits. Blais would have to be knocked down to the fourth line.

As he should be.

That’s Othmann’s spot for the taking. I hope he forces his way.

If not, Patrick Kane is going to be the other RW pushing Blais down.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

As he should be.

That’s Othmann’s spot for the taking. I hope he forces his way.

If not, Patrick Kane is going to be the other RW pushing Blais down.

Othmann is not going to be on the 1st line come opening night. He's a great prospect but some need to temper their expectations down. He will very likely be in the OHL this season, as he likely should. Expect him to be making noise in 23-24.

 

[gravey9]

Othmann is not going to be on the 1st line come opening night. He's a great prospect but some need to temper their expectations down. He will very likely be in the OHL this season, as he likely should. Expect him to be making noise in 23-24.

Othmann's got a lot to like as a prospect. A lot. But you are more than correct. Not only does he belong in the OHL again this year (AHL would be better but not possible), but Othmann still has a lot of work to do off the puck. He still floats a bunch out there. And beyond that, there are little things in his game that just won't fly in the pros. Dangerous passes, not getting the puck out of the zone, straying in the d zone. I would be shocked if Othmann is able to throw a switch and clean up his game in a way that Gallant is comfortable with. Gallant and Dave Cameron (Team Canada coach at WJCs) are buddies. Beyond that, similar mentality when it comes to players cleaning up their game away from the puck. And Cameron didn't fully trust Othmann out there. In fact, from the interviews I've heard with Cameron. while he seems to like a bunch of Othmann's skills and attributes, I get the sense he doesn't love him as a player.

Cameron, on the other hand, was effusive about Cuylle, who is a far more dependable player at this stage, but offensively doesn't have some of the things Othmann has. Point being, Othmann's gotta focus on getting stronger, quicker and becoming a 200 ft player this year. It's a must. He needs to start doing all the little things right or his transition to the pro game may take longer than all of us expect. Regardless, he's gotta go back to Juniors this season.

 

[2014nyr]

Othmann's got a lot to like as a prospect. A lot. But you are more than correct. Not only does he belong in the OHL again this year (AHL would be better but not possible), but Othmann still has a lot of work to do off the puck. He still floats a bunch out there. And beyond that, there are little things in his game that just won't fly in the pros. Dangerous passes, not getting the puck out of the zone, straying in the d zone. I would be shocked if Othmann is able to throw a switch and clean up his game in a way that Gallant is comfortable with. Gallant and Dave Cameron (Team Canada coach at WJCs) are buddies. Beyond that, similar mentality when it comes to players cleaning up their game away from the puck. And Cameron didn't fully trust Othmann out there. In fact, from the interviews I've heard with Cameron. while he seems to like a bunch of Othmann's skills and attributes, I get the sense he doesn't love him as a player.

Cameron, on the other hand, was effusive about Cuylle, who is a far more dependable player at this stage, but offensively doesn't have some of the things Othmann has. Point being, Othmann's gotta focus on getting stronger, quicker and becoming a 200 ft player this year. It's a must. He needs to start doing all the little things right or his transition to the pro game may take longer than all of us expect. Regardless, he's gotta go back to Juniors this season.

id bet there was a solid f u showdown with cameron after cracked the shts about his pre-tourny penalties or when he found out he was sitting and cameron didnt let it go. i got no problem with othmann having that fire, hes young, easier to reign that in that coach it out. for his part i think othmann handled the tournament perfectly, as hes said he leaned into his role with a positive attitude to put the team first. sure he desperately wanted to be playing on that top line, takes some maturity to put the team ahead of yourself and not pout or be a distraction at that age in a tournament that means as much as the wjc does to canadian kids.

also had to drive cameron up a wall pretty much every picture i saw off ice he was hanging out with the golden boy bedard. was also clearly a leader on the team letter or not, down to coming out of the locker room last with mctavish. never seen a 4th liner do so many interviews at that tournament either.

but agree he wont be on the team this year. ohl is probably better than ahl anyway, i think hes best suited to jumping straight to the nhl when hes ready. hes such a smart structural player with spacing and positioning, im not sure hed have much to gain in the beehive hockey of the ahl. not the end of the world if he spends time there - not gonna hurt him, just dont think time there stands to benefit him much if hes physically ready for pro hockey.

 

[NYRFANMANI]

The way Kakko answered the question, "did you stay in NY during the summer?"

was like, "bro, hell no, I couldn't wait to get the f*** outta here". lol

 

[Vitto79]

Othmann is not going to be on the 1st line come opening night. He's a great prospect but some need to temper their expectations down. He will very likely be in the OHL this season, as he likely should. Expect him to be making noise in 23-24.

Agreed next year is his time but with that said he can come on the playoff ride

 

[haohmaru]

Imagine not having room for a highly talented physical 1st round pick because 29 year old Carpenter and his 69 career points in 7 years and 48% faceoff percentage, and awful possession numbers needs to play instead.

Carpenter, Reaves, Hunt, Blais... none of them should be a serious consideration over guys like Lafreniere, Kakko, Othmann, Cuylle. But, here we are.

Remember last season when the 4th line was complete shit and one of the biggest issues this team had? It might be worse.

Teams winning Cups boast deep lineups, they don't cater to the scrubs, they fill their roster with the best players available to them. It would be great if we did the same thing.

If Othmann doesn't make the team it will have absolutely nothing to do with Carpenter.

Panarin Zibanejad Kreider Kravtsov Kakko Lafrenier Trochek Chytil Blais

There are the nine culprits ahead of Othmann. He's not spending his rookie season playing 5 minutes a night with Reaves. He either supplants Blais or he's in the OHL.

If Goodrow is healthy, I like our fourth line.

 

[Clark Kellogg]

First player born in Germany to play in an NHL game.
Centred the Bulldog Line.
Was a true Workhorse/Warhorse.
This many days until opening night:

 

[chosen]

All my tests very recently came back. 100% were negative despite huge suspicions of the contrary. Thanks for the good thoughts. You people are very important. Love you

Last month a good friend of mine died of cancer. I have another close friend who will find out in a few days whether he has pancreatic cancer. It's been 2 years since my wife died from cancer.

I'm happy you're okay and partially because of that mothafukka cancer, and all the scary shit going on in the world, I tend to not get as angry as I used to about things like did the coach play the wrong player at the wrong time or whether or not player A is good enough.

Watching hockey, to me, is one of the great joys of life, and when I'm watching a good game, the rest of the world disappears for 3 hours.

Congratulations on what to you must be one of the best moments of your life.

 

[chosen]

Imagine not having room for a highly talented physical 1st round pick because 29 year old Carpenter and his 69 career points in 7 years and 48% faceoff percentage, and awful possession numbers needs to play instead.

Carpenter, Reaves, Hunt, Blais... none of them should be a serious consideration over guys like Lafreniere, Kakko, Othmann, Cuylle. But, here we are.

Remember last season when the 4th line was complete shit and one of the biggest issues this team had? It might be worse.

Teams winning Cups boast deep lineups, they don't cater to the scrubs, they fill their roster with the best players available to them. It would be great if we did the same thing.

It's up to guys like Othmann to force the hands of management by playing their way into the lineup. If management thinks he gives them a better chance of winning, he'll make it. Miller forced his way into the picture at a very young age. It's always up to the player.

As to the bottoms of lineups, every team that thinks they have a shot to win it all, bolsters their lineup as the playoffs approach. That's a universal.