Speculation: Roster Building Thread - Part XIII (Nanaki edition)

[Mikachu93]

Mancini will be a player. Jumping from the NCAA to the NHL is a quantum leap in terms of defensive systems and speed, mainly off the rush.

Very rare that a defenseman can make that jump without time in the A. The fact that he looked above average with the puck on his stick in both zones is a huge plus. He just has no feel for the gap control and zone coverage at this level, which is coachable.

Would be shocked if he isn't on the roster full time next season.

 

[McRanger92]

He reminds me of Schneider. Schneider always had the tools, but when he first started, he was bad defensively to the point of having to tie a bell to the guy he was covering (so is Trouba every damn game for 20 minutes, but I digress).

And I still think Schneider needs work, but he's still only 23.

Point is, he's an NHL player now and I think Mancini will be as well.

The runway is clear on the right side for the Rangers for a decade, once Trouba is mercifully gone. Can't forget about Emery down the road as well.

 

[LokiDog]

From the Igor thread:

An elite goalie will probably get you a few more scratch off tickets by making sure you always get to the playoffs, likely winning a bunch of games along the way that you had no business even getting a point in… and then probably help you steal a series or two, and probably make those look closer than they were as well. But ultimately it’s a Kane/Toews/Keith plus a supporting cast and Crawford. A Sid/Geno/Letang plus some support and Matt Murray or Fleury (more known as a ‘good guy’ who was pretty good consistently for a long time than ever being spectacular). The Ovie/Backstrom/Carlsson and a supporting cast with Holtby. Even Kopitar/Brown/Doughty with good depth and Quick. Recently Vegas with anyone they can find in net.

Having a top 10 center and top ~32 goalie is more valuable than having a top 3 goalie and a top C that’s outside of the top 20 range. For half a minute we thought Zib was in that 15-20 range.

It’s almost impossible that we will acquire a genuine 1C before Panarin’s contract expires. It was supposed to be Zibanejad/Panarin/Fox and a supporting cast of Kreider, Trouba, Trochek a once very reliable Lindgren, and a very promising cast of youth in Laf, Kakko, Chytil, Miller and Schneider.

Lafreniere came around much slower than you’d want from a 1OA, especially with the timing for this core. He’s still not fully found his game.

Kakko, to this point - while a useful player who is learning to consistently be effective - is also disappointing relative to the way his draft position interacts with the timeline of this core.

Chytil also came along a bit slower than one might’ve hoped but mostly has been a victim of injuries. Regardless, his absences have also aligned poorly with the window of contention for this group.

Miller’s been up and down; this year has been maybe his worst. Schneider has been mostly positive. I think Trochek could bounce back if the rest of the team was more hungry too - he seems to be “infected” by the apathy or mopiness of the rest of the vets. Bread’s consistently been fine, all things considered. I’ve hated his playoffs but he’s been a nonstop producer and still has a motor of sorts. Lindy gave all he could, but he’s just toast even earlier than anyone could have predicted. Fox already seems to have lost half a step due to wear and tear/playing through some injuries and seems to also be a little “infected” with the mopes. Kreider has had a rough year, but there’s a lot going on with this group and I feel like he’s always meant to have been a supporting cast type; I’m 50/50 on him - he may need to go to fully reset the room.

However, the biggest issues have been:

1. The three kids arriving a lot slower than the true window arrived (hindsight: Bread’s been one of the best players in the world and we completely wasted his tenure which simultaneously ruined our rebuild, whoops)

2. The Trouba contract ending up being worse than anyone probably thought it would be, plus Fox got a huge extension almost immediately after, and Trouba never reached his WPG peak again

3. Mika Zibanejad being the type of 1C this model would have worked for, for all of a half of a season, in the Covid year before his extension, and never truly being the same since we came back for the bubble play-in

At first we talked about “long Covid” after he followed the bubble embarrassment with a poor start the next year. I think there was some lingering concussion theories? Somewhere along the line he became a big enough PP weapon to offset his initial 5v5 decline, and our PP was truly lethal, which masked some of his shortcomings temporarily.

Then slow starts became the norm but there was “Mika March” to look forward to, when he would get hot, and even score a timely goal or two in the playoffs. But each year he has gotten less and less effective - 5v5, 5v4, 4v5, every facet of his game, to the point where he is simply a Michael Grabner type of player being asked to play a Sidney Crosby role.

Mika Zibanejad was the wrong center. This team has never had a truly, truly elite 1C in their prime. I know the NYR are just too big of a business to ever do it, but I would so much rather somehow have the next Bedard or Celebrini or even a crack at a Kent Johnson or Adam Fantilli. Even though I know we just had those type of picks…

It’s truly a cruel fate - Lafreniere + Kakko + Chytil + Miller + our 1st wouldn’t land us Jack Hughes or Tim Stutzle today. It’s popular to belittle those guys here but that’s pure bias. They’re both basically franchise centers as relative children already. We never have had one. I would trade a Shesterkin, or even Lundqvist - 10/10 times at this point to see this team built from center instead of from net.

Elite goalies mask a lot of flaws but you still can’t win games with 1 goal. I would rather be trying to find a goalie for Matthews or McDavid (or be Mackinnon with one Cup already) at 27-28 years old than trying to build a competent roster in front of 29 year old Igor. We’re sort of a fan base of haters; objectively I’d rather have ANY of the players I mentioned over a single person on our team.

Sure, it’s fun to hate on them. I’m 38. These dudes are 22-23 (Jack & Timmy). As 21 year olds they each had arguably better years than Mika has ever had with 99 and 90 points in 78 games a piece. When Mika was 21 he put up 46 points in the NHL. I’d kill to have that talent on this team. Shesterkin feels young but I think we forget he debuted older; he’ll be 29 shortly. He’s not young and giving him an 8 year deal to be the highest paid goalie ever starting at 29 is lunacy. Fox is already turning 27. Imagine having a 21 year old center put up 90+ points.

 

[RangerBoy]

James Mirtle of The Athletic had some interesting numbers on the Rangers

Wait, are the Rangers and Islanders bad now?​

Two of the biggest tumbles in the standings are happening in New York.

After an ugly loss to the Devils on Monday, the New York Rangers are 1-6-0 in their past seven games and projected to drop 22 points from a year ago. That has them on track for the franchise’s second-biggest points percentage drop year-over-year since the 1994-95 Stanley Cup slash lockout hangover team 30 years ago.

The New York Islanders, meanwhile, have won only three of their past 12 games after Tuesday’s loss in Montreal. They don’t have quite as far to fall as their rivals from Manhattan, but any dip from last season’s 94 points would mean missing the postseason.

Neither team looks like a contender in many key metrics right now.

If anything, the Rangers’ underlying numbers make them look a little fortunate to have as good of a record as they do, and the Islanders — given their very low shooting percentage — appear a little unlucky.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say both teams are “bad” now, but they have clearly taken a step back towards average and need to rely on goaltending more than is ideal.

If the playoff race in the East picks up at all, they could miss — and have to watch the Devils represent the area in the postseason.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5963925/2024/12/04/nhl-trend-watch-blue-jackets-rangers/

22 points less is 92 points. Barely above the playoff line in the East last season. Washington had 91 points for the last WC.

 

[will1066]

Which Rangers are drawing trade interest in the aftermath of The Memo?

Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba have been at the center of recent trade rumors, but here are five other players the Blueshirts may be shopping.

www.lohud.com

 

[McRanger92]

James Mirtle of The Athletic had some interesting numbers on the Rangers

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5963925/2024/12/04/nhl-trend-watch-blue-jackets-rangers/

22 points less is 92 points. Barely above the playoff line in the East last season. Washington had 91 points for the last WC.

View attachment 939919

Their Captain has been moping around the ice all season and the team plays with no energy. They were never as good as their record said, but they definitely didnt fall off a cliff this badly. especially when they looked great offensively the first 2 weeks.

I genuinely think the Trouba stuff has demoralized the team. As @Kovalev27 said, how do we expect the locker room to respect him when he was horrendous in the playoffs and then refused to leave due to reasons that have nothing to do with hockey. Especially when an actual leader who stepped up in big moments (Goodrow) got shown the door with much less respect than Trouba has.

Get Trouba off this team, slap the C on Kreider and let him be the transitional captain for the next 2.5 years. The young guys arent ready to take over from a leadership perspective but Chris should be at age 34. The young players respect him because he works with them in practice. He needs to start showing it on the ice but I do believe he and Mika care. Trouba's play and comments have shown he doesnt, and the team isnt following a lame duck into battle every night expecting to win.

Which Rangers are drawing trade interest in the aftermath of The Memo?

Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba have been at the center of recent trade rumors, but here are five other players the Blueshirts may be shopping.

www.lohud.com

Cliff notes? Im not renewing my sub to lohud.com just for Vince to steal our ideas.

 

[NYR Viper]

Their Captain has been moping around the ice all season and the team plays with no energy. They were never as good as their record said, but they definitely didnt fall off a cliff this badly. especially when they looked great offensively the first 2 weeks.

I genuinely think the Trouba stuff has demoralized the team. As @Kovalev27 said, how do we expect the locker room to respect him when he was horrendous in the playoffs and then refused to leave due to reasons that have nothing to do with hockey. Especially when an actual leader who stepped up in big moments (Goodrow) got shown the door with much less respect than Trouba has.

Get Trouba off this team, slap the C on Kreider and let him be the transitional captain for the next 2.5 years. The young guys arent ready to take over from a leadership perspective but Chris should be at age 34. The young players respect him because he works with them in practice. He needs to start showing it on the ice but I do believe he and Mika care. Trouba's play and comments have shown he doesnt, and the team isnt following a lame duck into battle every night expecting to win.



Cliff notes? Im not renewing my sub to lohud.com just for Vince to steal our ideas.

I'm not slapping the C on anyone at this point

 

[Pawnee Rangers]

How about just waive Lindgren or Trouba and let Rehwedal play? The D looked pretty good towards the end of last year with Trouba out and him in. Give them 20 games or so. Drury can't swing a big deal now that the other GMs have him over a barrel. OR go big and move Miller, i just read his agent (who also reps Goodrow) is looking for a big raise and is in no way motivated to do the Rangers any favors.

 

[RangerBoy]

Does Nill contact Drury on subtext regarding Kreider?

 

[McRanger92]

I'm not slapping the C on anyone at this point

They need to. This isnt a veteran team like the 13-14 Rangers that can police themselves without a Captain. Kreider needs to take up the mantle or probably get traded this summer also.

 

[will1066]

Cliff notes? Im not renewing my sub to lohud.com just for Vince to steal our ideas.

He floated Jones, Lindgren, Miller, Kakko and Shesterkin as having drawn interest from teams, based on his conversations with sources and connecting the dots. Also said that Lavi and Drury have been having late-night conversations.

 

[UAGoalieGuy]

Their Captain has been moping around the ice all season and the team plays with no energy. They were never as good as their record said, but they definitely didnt fall off a cliff this badly. especially when they looked great offensively the first 2 weeks.

I genuinely think the Trouba stuff has demoralized the team. As @Kovalev27 said, how do we expect the locker room to respect him when he was horrendous in the playoffs and then refused to leave due to reasons that have nothing to do with hockey. Especially when an actual leader who stepped up in big moments (Goodrow) got shown the door with much less respect than Trouba has.

Get Trouba off this team, slap the C on Kreider and let him be the transitional captain for the next 2.5 years. The young guys arent ready to take over from a leadership perspective but Chris should be at age 34. The young players respect him because he works with them in practice. He needs to start showing it on the ice but I do believe he and Mika care. Trouba's play and comments have shown he doesnt, and the team isnt following a lame duck into battle every night expecting to win.



Cliff notes? Im not renewing my sub to lohud.com just for Vince to steal our ideas.

There isn't a paywall

 

[rangers1314]

Seguin is having hip surgery again tomorrow. He’s out 4-6 months.

Jim Nill almost traded for Kreider before he signed his extension with NYR. Does he circle back?

 

[McRanger92]

How about just waive Lindgren or Trouba and let Rehwedal play? The D looked pretty good towards the end of last year with Trouba out and him in. Give them 20 games or so. Drury can't swing a big deal now that the other GMs have him over a barrel. OR go big and move Miller, i just read his agent (who also reps Goodrow) is looking for a big raise and is in no way motivated to do the Rangers any favors.

They have to consider waiving Trouba if they know he'll block a trade/there isnt any takers.

There isn't a paywall

There was for me

 

[ThePeoplesPeople]

Seguin out 4-6 months.

Kreider + for Mavrik

 

[Brutananadilewski]

Agree with all of this except for Laviolette. They have to move out Trouba and Lindgren and see how that goes before they switch up the coach again.

Disagree.

Zibs and Kreider should have long been disbanded, Zibs should have been sat out a few games, Laffy showed up to play in the 2nd half of the season, definitely came into his own against the Panthers and you still keep him on PP2, rewarding players who don't deserve more ice time with more ice time, and then there is his incessant need to want to continue using certain pairings.

Then why did we fire Gallant?

 

[NYR Viper]

How about:

Kreider for Mavrik Bourque + DAL 1st '25 (lottery protected)

They have the cap space and the need now with Seguin down. Kreider fills Pavelski's net front role on the PP and adds depth on the wing. Next year, they will have cap space as Benn is a UFA

 

[RangerBoy]

What are the Rangers getting for Kakko?

 

[SnowblindNYR]

They did call up Rempe recently. They got embarrassed and he took a really dumb penalty.

The amount of love on this team for bad players because they do things unrelated to hockey is astonishing.

 

[DanielBrassard]

Does Nill contact Drury on subtext regarding Kreider?

Trouba or Kreider would make sense for Dallas. I mentioned perhaps Trouba for Matt Dumba and a pick last night. Kreider for their 1st+prospect.

 

[ThePeoplesPeople]

Seguin is having hip surgery again tomorrow. He’s out 4-6 months.

Jim Nill almost traded for Kreider before he signed his extension with NYR. Does he circle back?

I like how you think

 

[McRanger92]

Disagree.

Zibs and Kreider should have long been disbanded, Zibs should have been sat out a few games, Laffy showed up to play in the 2nd half of the season, definitely came into his own against the Panthers and you still keep him on PP2, rewarding players who don't deserve more ice time with more ice time, and then there is his incessant need to want to continue using certain pairings.

Then why did we fire Gallant?

They did disband Kreider and Mika and then we had 4 lines that sucked. If you play the 2 of them (w/Berard) as a 3rd line 5v5 and let them play PP/PK, its better for everyone. They arent top 6 players anymore. Laviolette has been slow to adjust but I think we are there.

 

[DanielBrassard]

How about:

Kreider for Mavrik Bourque + DAL 1st '25 (lottery protected)

They have the cap space and the need now with Seguin down. Kreider fills Pavelski's net front role on the PP and adds depth on the wing. Next year, they will have cap space as Benn is a UFA

I could see that being a deal, I wonder if Liam Bichsel might be available as well with Dallas having Heiskanen, Harley, and Lindell on the left side for the foreseeable future.

 

[McRanger92]

Dallas isnt getting 3 years of Chris Kreider unless they are forking over Wyatt, Stankoven or Harley. Id be willing to include K'Andre in a Harley trade as well.

 

[UAGoalieGuy]

Trading Jones, Kakko or Miller would be stupid unless it's a hockey trade for a player of similar age/projection.

Yes let's hold on to the dopes that are mopping around like a bunch of babies.