Speculation: Roster Building Thread: Part LIV

[bobbop]

NHL Rumor Mill – September 10, 2020 | Spectors Hockey

I love DeBrusk and think he would be a great addition to our young core EXCEPT we have no vacancies on left wing. Sorry.

 

[kovazub94]

I agree, yet for example the only player I would have thought about it with recently would have been ADA and I would have had concerns about doing so last off-season.

To put it another way, let's hypothetically say Chytil just ended his entry level. From a management position I think it would be difficult not to bridge him unless any long term contract had a pretty low cap hit attached. From the player perspective if the cap hit is pretty low, why is he not betting on himself that he could do better in the later year of that long term by being bridged now? I mean there is probably a sweet spot in there somewhere yet finding it sometimes seems pretty difficult.

The team and Chytil will find themselves in that position next off-season so for now that is just a hypothetical, yet unless he improves a ton I think that sort of scenario may still likely be in play.

I actually think bridging Chytil would be a great idea. How much would he want on a 6-year deal given he hasn't produced much and played mostly on the 3rd line (and will probably continue at the start of next season)? Could he sign for something around $4m for 6 years? He probably will be overproducing it by year 3, if not year 2.
Similarly I'd give it a try to give Buchnevich an extention while his production hasn't fully exploded. Find a good point around $5m - his trade value should only go up with it.

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

People clutching their pearls about a prospect being penciled in without "earning it" is hilarious

Oh how awful, we may have to play "unproven" Morgan Barron as opposed to Michael Haley or Greg McKegg

Truly a greek travesty

You play Greg McKegg and/or Michael Haley so you don't have to play Morgan Barron while he's "unproven" (not sure why you put that in quotes).

 

[True Blue]

Oh how awful, we may have to play "unproven" Morgan Barron as opposed to Michael Haley or Greg McKegg

That is actually not what a single person is saying.

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

Oh, you trickster you. Technicaling me with your technicalities.

Keep going and I'll tee you up again.

 

[bobbop]

I was listening to the NHL Network on Sirious XM earlier this week. The were talking about Wilson types. They had a quote from Ryan Reaves in there. He said..."I will take care of your Tom Wilson problem in the East". Im not sure what team they were referring to? Wonder if he is on the move next season? One more year at $1,750,000.

Sign me up.

 

[bobbop]

I have absolutely no recollection of this.

Don’t feel bad, a lot of us were mentally unavailable for large parts of this year.

 

[Ghost of jas]

Don’t feel bad, a lot of us were mentally unavailable for large parts ofvthis year.

At this stage of my life, this is actually how I prefer approaching many things.

 

[kovazub94]

People clutching their pearls about a prospect being penciled in without "earning it" is hilarious

Oh how awful, we may have to play "unproven" Morgan Barron as opposed to Michael Haley or Greg McKegg

Truly a greek travesty

Don't understand the sarcasm.

A. I wouldn't want to ruin Barron's development into something MORE than AAAA / 4th line player and also
B. Avoid any potential entitlement issues by enforcing an idea that even a 4th spot had to be earned

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Regarding Khodorenko, he got offers from 29 teams. He was easily the top college free agent this year. Time will tell if he can make the team but the talent is there

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

oooooh so close to nailing the landing on this take

Barron and Richards aren't in the same realm at all with Hayes and Vesey.

Hayes and Vesey were among the top 3/5 guys in college hockey when they played. Come on now

I'll grant you Richards, but I think you're underselling Barron here. If he had declined to sign with us and gone to the open market, I think he would have received similar interest to Hayes/Vesey from other teams.

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

I think Barron has a good shot of stepping into the NHL right away. He has the tools and the IQ. However he's a pretty big step up from some of the UDFA's we signed. We shouldn't lump them all in the same bucket.

If Barron earns a spot, then terrific. What a wonderful problem to have. But to pencil him in because he's developed well to date is a recipe for disaster.

Yup to both.

The disconnect comes from folks not seeing that these points are not mutually exclusive.

 

[RGY]

Debrusk is a role player. His passing skills are average at best. He has no ability to make other players on his line better. He has no creativity to his offensive game. Essentially what he is currently is a player who will get you around 20 goals, 20 assists by driving the net, getting some garbage goals with some decent ice time. That's a role player. I would rather bet on a player like Barron or Lias if he is here with his head on straight to put up those numbers and save money for the next 3 years with them. I've watched DeBrusk plenty and not one time did I ever feel he was dangerous in a game. That's a role player. You don't fear them when you play them and you just hope that they can chip in once in a while.

He is 23 years old. He has been a 40 point player thus far. He has moved up and down the Boston lineup and has not exactly had incredible players to play with. Look at who he was playing with in the playoffs. I think its extremely premature to label him one thing or the other. Not every player has to be an incredible passer or shooter to be a top 6 player. Tom Wilson plays in Washington’s top 6, he isn’t exactly the best at either but he plays a style of game that is needed for them to compete and helped lead them to a championship. They are more complete team because of him.

I dont know if you really have been watching DeBrusk as you say you have because if you came away with thinking Barron (who hasn’t even played a professional game yet) or Lias (who hasn’t played even a quarter of a season’s worth of NHL games) could provide the same level of play then I question your judgement and eye sight as well.

I would also say that DeBrusk had Carolina on their toes every time he hopped over the boards in that series. He may not be making passes like Marchand or ripping shots like Kucherov, but that does not mean he can’t be a high quality top 6 player. I’ll just bookmark this opinion for later, kid is only 23.

 

[RGY]

It would be nonsense to say that Barron and Richards are ready because neither has played professional hockey yet. They've never done it against professionals. Right now, they are just names.

Lias, right now, is not an NHLer either.

All the sudden, Howden is beyond criticism?

The bottom six, among other things, was exposed during the play-in series.

The worst thing you can do to a young player/prospect is hand him a spot.

It’s actually disturbing that a poster is suggesting an unproven kid like Barron is all the sudden a guaranteed NHL player who is better than proven players like DeBrusk. Disturbing. And then to just toss Richards name out there like that is even in this discussion. Incredibly disturbing.

 

[True Blue]

I love DeBrusk and think he would be a great addition to our young core EXCEPT we have no vacancies on left wing. Sorry.

People tend to forget that positions matter

 

[True Blue]

At this stage of my life, this is actually how I prefer approaching many things.

That's called "plausible deniability".

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

Regarding Khodorenko, he got offers from 29 teams. He was easily the top college free agent this year. Time will tell if he can make the team but the talent is ther

I didn't know this – that is interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Another data point is that the Rangers gave both him and Richards the max rookie contract to sign them, which they did not do for Newell or Elmer last year, or Rueschhoff this year. (Minor additional point: the latter got more as a % of the max than the former two.)

Totally agreed that no one should be penciling any of these guys into the lineup, but personally, I am quite optimistic about Barron and at least mildly intrigued by Khodorenko and Richards. But that's as far as I can take it until I actually see them play with the NHLers.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

When Barron signed his deal the team winked and told him “you have to make the team”

Which is the same thing that happened with Hayes and Vesey

I'll grant you Richards, but I think you're underselling Barron here. If he had declined to sign with us and gone to the open market, I think he would have received similar interest to Hayes/Vesey from other teams.

Barron would have probably gotten to that level had he played his senior year for sure

 

[RGY]

People tend to forget that positions matter

I totally agree they do. And the premise here is that if we already are considering Kreider to RW because of Lafreniere, then maybe we could make DeBrusk work. He is a helluva player to add, especially the type of game he plays. 23 years old and can be part of our window to compete in the next 1-2 years. But hypothetically, if they moved Buch and/or Strome for a LD/C and 1st round pick;

Lafreniere-Zib-Kreider
Panarin-????-Kakko
DeBrusk-Chytil-Gauthier
Lemmy-Howden/??-????

Sign a stopgap center if you can’t find one in a trade, while you draft one and then revisit this topic next offseason. 4th line, do you move on from Howden and sign a guy like Kuraly or someone else? RW, is that Fast or is it a youngster on a cheap ELC? Maybe a spot eventually Kravtsov can slide into later in the season to get some minutes at the NHL level.

 

[Edge]

IMO Lemieux is a misunderstood player on HF and could definitely be utilized better on the ice.

For me the facts are the following:

-Lemieux can be very effective in the agitator/instigator role, the first half of the season he goaded a lot of players into penalizing themselves. However, he definitely did it in a way that the refs weren't thrilled about (think him pretending to want to fight Gudbranson against Anaheim and getting only him penalized) and that's probably why the second half he looked kinda impotent. I remember he got hit against Nashville and somehow ended up with a game misconduct.

-Lemieux is not a 4th liner. In terms of skill or ability. I don't think he has good middle 6 upside like has been suggested in the past but he's a 3rd liner. In his current state probably not a great one but he has skills we are not utilizing. If Kakko or Howden were NHL players this year he'd probably have had more points (his most common linemates) and he also spent a bit of time with McKegg and PDG.

-In his short stints there he is a very good penalty killer. He has the instincts and aggressiveness you want out of a PKing forward and I hope they keep trying him there. I can't stress enough that it's way better than the hodge podge of crap we have now.

-Having said this he can be a real moron and his conditioning isn't good. It's why he chases the play a lot. The refs probably got tired of him making them look stupid (as funny as it was) and you could basically assault him at the end of the season and it wouldn't be called. A fresh and focused Lemieux is a good player like we saw against Carolina but I really didn't see him doing that the second half. And that hit on Donskoi was indefensibly stupid.

Lemieux can be really frustrating but I think with some more coaching he can be a pretty effective player that I think I'd rather keep a few more years than try to replace.

Interestingly enough, while we focus on the Rangers "rebuilding" a 2016 draft, they've also quitely done the same with 2014 as well.

From 2014, we have ADA who was taken 19th and Lemieux who was taken 31st. That's on top of Shesterkin from the fourth.

 

[Fitzy]

I'm not trying to be an old fuddy-duddy but so much of this thread right now is just individual ideas with very very low probabilities of transpiring.

Trying to figure out what this roster is going to look like even without speculating on trades and free agent signings is tough enough as it is. There are big decisions upcoming with DeAngelo, Strome, Fast, and Lundqvist. Until we know the deal with those guys, there's not much point in speculating beyond.

 

[NoQuitInNewMexico]

I'm not trying to be an old fuddy-duddy but so much of this thread right now is just individual ideas with very very low probabilities of transpiring.

Trying to figure out what this roster is going to look like even without speculating on trades and free agent signings is tough enough as it is. There are big decisions upcoming with DeAngelo, Strome, Fast, and Lundqvist. Until we know the deal with those guys, there's not much point in speculating beyond.

If I can't yell at people about the last spot or two on the Rangers roster every year I can't be me

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

I didn't know this – that is interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Another data point is that the Rangers gave both him and Richards the max rookie contract to sign them, which they did not do for Newell or Elmer last year, or Rueschhoff this year. (Minor additional point: the latter got more as a % of the max than the former two.)

Totally agreed that no one should be penciling any of these guys into the lineup, but personally, I am quite optimistic about Barron and at least mildly intrigued by Khodorenko and Richards. But that's as far as I can take it until I actually see them play with the NHLers.

Khodorenko is an intriguing prospect. I remember talking to Joey Bones about him regularly in his draft year and it really sucked that he suffered that brutal injury that cost him a draft spot. At one point, he was projected to be a 1st round pick so to see him go undrafted altogether was a shock.

I was excited when we signed him and know it's still a question of him adjusting to the pro game, but I think he and Barron are quite similar when it comes to their chances of carving out a nice NHL career.

 

[HonestGabe]

Sign me up.

I don't think he will be available but Reaves has changed his game in recent years to become a pretty reliable 4th line player under Gallant/DeBoer.

I think a 4th line of Lemieux - Howden - Reaves would be a PITA to play against and still be able to chip in 15-25 points each. Probably would give Howden some more insulation to not be the complete corpse he was at times last season.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

I'm not trying to be an old fuddy-duddy but so much of this thread right now is just individual ideas with very very low probabilities of transpiring.

Trying to figure out what this roster is going to look like even without speculating on trades and free agent signings is tough enough as it is. There are big decisions upcoming with DeAngelo, Strome, Fast, and Lundqvist. Until we know the deal with those guys, there's not much point in speculating beyond.

At the end of the day this thread is mostly just an exercise in creativity, more often then not there's not much point in any of the talk that's going on in it