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

[RangerBoy]

When you’re a top tier Cup contender, the regular season is a millstone.


Sabres.

Word is that they are shopping Bo Byram. They are looking for a RHD.

Last year I suggested Trouba for Byram. There probably needs to be some additional pieces and money considerations but this still makes a ton of sense to me,

Buffalo just acquired Byram. Something is wrong. Buffalo has too many lefties. They knew that problem would occur when making the trade. Perhaps the Sabres didn't want to pay Mittelstedt and just made any deal. Another small D. No thanks.

Trouba sucks. Is Jacob accepting a trade to Buffalo? 12 team NTC starting next July. $8M. Brooks has reported the Rangers were willing to retain $2M. 25%.

 

[RangerBoy]

Trading Trochek, to me, is silly unless they’re blowing up the entire thing. He’s underpaid and brings exactly what the team should be looking for from all of their players.

Trocheck will bring back some value. His numbers have been slipping a little bit. Mika isn't the only problem. Maybe the other teams won't notice the decline.

Trocheck, a reliable fit among the skilled Rangers elite, has just four even-strength points — far fewer than Zibanejad, whose struggles at five-on-five are well-documented — and both the Rangers’ top centers are way down the list of Clear Sight Analytics’ expected goals plus-minus, a measurement of a player’s high- and mid-danger chances for and against on the ice.

The Rangers need the lines centered by Zibanejad and Trocheck to dominate five-on-five play, even if it doesn’t lead to huge offense. It can lead to power-play opportunities, where the Rangers excel, and to keeping pucks away from opposing teams counterattacking, a place in which the Rangers have been far too vulnerable. Not just this season, mind you, but every season since Drury took over.

Here’s where the Rangers have ranked in expected goals against off the rush the last four years, again courtesy of Clear Sight Analytics:

• 2021-22: 15th
• 2022-23: 22nd
• 2023-24: 28th
• 2024-25: 24th

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5919640/2024/11/13/new-york-rangers-nhl-season-analysis/