Speculation: Roster Building Thread: Part LXVII

[GeorgeKaplan]

Could the cap potentially go down?

This is really a 180 response from the front office. They were already moving full speed ahead with the Kreider, Trouba, and Panarin signings, and getting Lafreniere should only accelerate the project.

I get that a lot of the cap space we have now isn't actually "there" but the Rangers seem really afraid of something coming down the road.

I don't think it can go down, but I think they don't exactly want to force anything yet. They're still letting their young players get acclimated to the league, and those young players are going to have to play a part in any sort of actual contending this team is going to do, whether it's tomorrow or 5 years from now. And then there's the expansion draft and the next contracts some of these RFAs are going to get. They're for sure keeping tabs and making calls and everything they had been doing previously still, but there might be some more hesitance on their side or even a team that would pull the trigger on a trade with the Rangers might not be as quick to pull the trigger on anything now

 

[aufheben]

Benning the madman

 

[Richard Banger]

He'll be turning 22 when his ELC is up. We'll be getting that regardless.

The guy's probably going to be here through 3 or 4 roster overturns.

Right but I don’t want it to be Laf and friends when he is 23-30. If you strap yourself now to the cap then down the road when Laf contract is up you are going to have to trade a really good player (maybe one of Krav Miller or Chytil)because you can’t pay both of them.

 

[pled]

quick question, who is your top LD ? Lindgren, Smith ?

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

Could the cap potentially go down?

No, they negotiated for it to stay flat for at least 2/3 years. It can go up slightly in the third year but as far as I know it cannot go down

I will say they’re operating very cautiously which I’m fine with. Better than Gorton handing out bad deals like candy.

He’ll never admit it, but with hindsight Gorton will probably tell you off the record they shouldn’t have signed Kreider

 

[Synergy27]

Honestly, I don't think the Kreider deal is that bad when looking at the player and the contract. The problem is he's going to be a 3rd line player at some point in the near future. If, for instance, Laf played center, it would be far more forgiving. But with Panarin ahead of him and Laf soon to be ahead of him, the Kreider deal looks kinda bad.

Kreider made all the sense in the world when it was likely that this team would be adding a good, not elite, and not immediately NHL ready center prospect at the draft this year. There is no way they extend him that deal had they known they'd be winning the Laf lottery. The Rangers have good problems right now, but they are problems nonetheless, and the solution is not clear at all. It is going to take some creativity.

Also, I am curious if @Edge or anyone else ITK is aware of any trades that were actually on the table for Kreider. Obviously everything would be different, but it's be interesting to be able to speculate about what could have been done with potentially three first rounders this year. Maybe they could have moved up for Lundell after all.

 

[aufheben]

quick question, who is your top LD ? Lindgren, Smith ?

Lindgren plays with Fox so probably Smith.

 

[kovazub94]

Also, we can't pretend the salary cap just falls from the sky like snow.

Gorton created our cap situation.

So at the time when Kreider was resigned Gorton should have known that the cap won’t go up by let’s say $6m over the next three years and we get 1OA that not only added an immediate roster player but also an immediate roster player at LW?

I guess you could say that he created this cap situation himself by not considering the high likelihood of this possibility.

 

[duhmetreE]

That’s how you put yourself in cap hell. I don’t want the rangers to only compete when Laf is on his ELC. I want lots of kicks at the can.

We have $13M freeing up next season. That will help dramatically. More ELC on the way as well. Possibly replacing ADA with Lundkvist ( more savings ).

We are set up beautifully IMO. I still think we should be aggressive in the 2C neck of the woods. I sound like a broken record but a player like Cirelli is perfect. He'd be pushing 30 goals with our wingers while being a selke candidate. He could be locked up for 5-6 years at $4-5ishM. He should be the #1 target and I'd be ok with them overpaying slightly from a position of strength

 

[GAGLine]

Meh. If we have $6M in space it should be enough. I'd go in with the mindset that Lafreniere and Shesty hitting their bonuses. That's $75.5. I do not think we need to be a full $10M under the cap. I think there's a good chance Strome is gone. So, 9-10M to re-up our RFAs brings us to $73.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the Org sees players hitting their bonuses, couldn't they just offload a player like Smith? or Buch for that matter?

It's not about them hitting their bonuses. We have to account for their potential bonuses on day 1 of the season. Even if none of the bonuses for any player are hit, we still have an issue with bonuses.

 

[huerter]

No, they negotiated for it to stay flat for at least 2/3 years. It can go up slightly in the third year but as far as I know it cannot go down

I will say they’re operating very cautiously which I’m fine with. Better than Gorton handing out bad deals like candy.

He’ll never admit it, but with hindsight Gorton will probably tell you off the record they shouldn’t have signed Kreider

When you have the worst contract in the league, it's hard to get cised because you didn't give out any more bad deals.

 

[Avery16]

If we had any inkling that Lafreniere would be a Ranger before free agency opened, Kreider would never have been re-signed. That contract won’t be back breaking, but I doubt it ages well. Hindsight is always 20/20, but I’d rather have the cap space.

I wonder what our best offer for Kreider was prior to TDL. In any event, I dont see a shift to RW affecting his game terribly much.

 

[duhmetreE]

It's not about them hitting their bonuses. We have to account for their potential bonuses on day 1 of the season. Even if none of the bonuses for any player are hit, we still have an issue with bonuses.

Isn't just $4M in space needed?

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Lindgren plays with Fox so probably Smith.

This, but Lindgren-Fox started to take first pair assignments towards the end of the season.

 

[bl02]

No, they negotiated for it to stay flat for at least 2/3 years. It can go up slightly in the third year but as far as I know it cannot go down

I will say they’re operating very cautiously which I’m fine with. Better than Gorton handing out bad deals like candy.

He’ll never admit it, but with hindsight Gorton will probably tell you off the record they shouldn’t have signed Kreider

Probably and unfortunately deal was made pre-covid. I think Kreider is better than Toffoli and two different players but is he worth 2 million plus a year? probably not.

 

[kovazub94]

...but if you're giving up so little in assets for a quality player, I'm sure we could find a way to figure things out.

Sure there’s a way. Sign a Schmidt and then be ready to trade DeAngelo for a mid-round pick.

 

[RGY]

If Kreider’s money isn’t on the books, who are they signing to replace him? Who is going to provide that same level of play that he offers? The speed that keeps the opposition honest? The net front presence on the PP? Forget the other things like leadership and tenure in this organization, which he does provide. Forget even the physical play and size he offers. What is all that money allowing you to do this offseason that you cannot do with him on the books? Or even next offseason in which more money comes off the books. You weren’t going to roll out another young guy to the already extremely young team to replace Kreider. So who were you planning to sign that offers all that? I don’t see Kreider’s contract as a hindrance, with or without Lafreniere. I don’t see a quality replacement. There is something to be said about having someone who has been around the organization for more than a few years.

 

[MysticLeviathan]

We have $13M freeing up next season. That will help dramatically. More ELC on the way as well. Possibly replacing ADA with Lundkvist ( more savings ).

We are set up beautifully IMO. I still think we should be aggressive in the 2C neck of the woods. I sound like a broken record but a player like Cirelli is perfect. He'd be pushing 30 goals with our wingers while being a selke candidate. He could be locked up for 5-6 years at $4-5ishM. He should be the #1 target and I'd be ok with them overpaying slightly from a position of strength

Igor requires a new contract bext year. Buch requires a new contract if he stays. The year after that Kakko will need a new contract. Then Laf. Chytil will also need a new contract if he decides to stay. Kravstov will also have contract concerns.

Yes, a lot of dead money goes away, but ELCs will start dropping like crazy.

That’s what you get when you have one of the youngest teams in the league.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

Based the Rangers comments today, they’re totally fine with this team getting another 10 pick next summer

In an ideal world they would be making moves to contend quicker before Fox, Laf and Kakko need new deals but when a fourth of your cap space is tied up in buyouts, you’re kinda SOL

 

[Vitto79]

Lindgren plays with Fox so probably Smith.

I’m hoping they can get creative and do something like Goligoski for Smith ... saves AZ real dollars and about a million off the cap

 

[aufheben]

Guys we have no idea what the Rangers have been up to. Gorton could have been on the phone 24/7 for the last week trying to make a big move. Frankly there’s been a lot of crazy shit happening, so, be careful what you wish for...

 

[LiveLongandProspal]

Guys we have no idea what the Rangers have been up to. Gorton could have been on the phone 24/7 for the last week trying to make a big move. Frankly there’s been a lot of crazy shit happening, so, be careful what you wish for...

I'm guessing he's reached Level 1000 on Candy Crush

 

[ecemleafs]

So at the time when Kreider was resigned Gorton should have known that the cap won’t go up by let’s say $6m over the next three years and we get 1OA that not only added an immediate roster player but also an immediate roster player at LW?

I guess you could say that he created this cap situation himself by not considering the high likelihood of this possibility.

he signed kreider before any "known" cases of covid in the USA and how the f*** could he plan that a team that was like 15th best in the NHL would get lafreniere???

 

[aufheben]

Based the Rangers comments today, they’re totally fine with this team getting another 10 pick next summer

In an ideal world they would be making moves to contend quicker before Fox, Laf and Kakko need new deals but when a fourth of your cap space is tied up in buyouts, you’re kinda SOL

Based on everything Edge has said, mgmt has been actively trying to upgrade, just not via free agency.

 

[Kovalev27]

They’re going to put Johnson next to Trouba and you know it. And everyone should be prepared for another year where Trouba doesn’t look like his best possible self because he’s playing with garbage.