Speculation: Roster Building Thread: Part XIV (To trade or not to trade is the question)

[RangerBoy]

Dreger said last night on TSN that teams are calling Buffalo about Jack Quinn who has struggled big time coming off an achilles tendon injury. He suffered a knee injury later on. He had a good first year playing on a line with Cozens and Peterka. Then the achilles injury happened. Ruff has made him a healthy scratch recently.

The Sabres are a weird team. Adams traded Mittlestedt to the Avs for Byram because they didn't want to pay Casey. They have the same problem now with Byram who is arb eligible this summer and his name has been mentioned in trade rumors.

Does Buffalo have interest in moving some of their contracts? Cozens. Power. $15.45M combined. Miller? Kreider? Is Buffalo on his list? Kakko? The Rangers have the cap space at or near the deadline to make big moves. Nearly $22M. Shed some of their issues and acquire young signed players. Those contracts fit into team next season. Tagging $88M. The Rangers current commitments are not close to $88M. $69M-$70M. A team can't have more than $88M committed for next season. The cap will be $92.5M or $97M next season if there is a new CBA in place by June. The NHL wants to phase in the cap increases when the cap is linked to revenue again. They don't want $92.5M to increase to $110M.

Some of these guys in Buffalo are not working out for them. They make a ton of money and are signed long term. People talk about free agency and the Rangers will have cap space with a rising cap. Every team will have space.

Package Lindgren and Smith. Retain 50%. Create more cap space. Pick up an extra first round pick. Perhaps send the pick to the Sabres.

None of this BS about we can spend the Trouba money for a 34 year old RW. Let the money accrue and take big swings. Try to think outside the box. Not the usual Mitch Marner is a free agent in July. We should get him.

 

[leetch99]

That and he’s 22

...and he will stand up for himself . In saying that .... the time is coming and soon that he move his dial up a notch or he will be what he is for the rest of time . Does he have that in him ? I think he does .

 

[leetch99]

Idk I honestly think he’s horrific decision maker and puck mover behind the goal line

The Rangers look for those special skillsets when they scout them in junior pr trades or signings .

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Dreger said last night on TSN that teams are calling Buffalo about Jack Quinn who has struggled big time coming off an achilles tendon injury. He suffered a knee injury later on. He had a good first year playing on a line with Cozens and Peterka. Then the achilles injury happened. Ruff has made him a healthy scratch recently.

The Sabres are a weird team. Adams traded Mittlestedt to the Avs for Byram because they didn't want to pay Casey. They have the same problem now with Byram who is arb eligible this summer and his name has been mentioned in trade rumors.

Does Buffalo have interest in moving some of their contracts? Cozens. Power. $15.45M combined. Miller? Kreider? Is Buffalo on his list? Kakko? The Rangers have the cap space at or near the deadline to make big moves. Nearly $22M. Shed some of their issues and acquire young signed players. Those contracts fit into team next season. Tagging $88M. The Rangers current commitments are not close to $88M. $69M-$70M. A team can't have more than $88M committed for next season. The cap will be $92.5M or $97M next season if there is a new CBA in place by June. The NHL wants to phase in the cap increases when the cap is linked to revenue again. They don't want $92.5M to increase to $110M.

Some of these guys in Buffalo are not working out for them. They make a ton of money and are signed long term. People talk about free agency and the Rangers will have cap space with a rising cap. Every team will have space.

Package Lindgren and Smith. Retain 50%. Create more cap space. Pick up an extra first round pick. Perhaps send the pick to the Sabres.

None of this BS about we can spend the Trouba money for a 34 year old RW. Let the money accrue and take big swings. Try to think outside the box. Not the usual Mitch Marner is a free agent in July. We should get him.

Great, now tell Jim Dolan that

 

[leetch99]

22 Million at the deadline....LOL.....Dolan and his Gazoo Sather will have a ball with that amount plus they have Perreault + the first rounders the next 2 years and Mancini/Miller to wave to the rest of the league have nots .

Hang on Ranger fans.....the ride is going to be a wild one !

 

[nyr2k2]

You also have to look at the drafts too and 2021 was kind of weak.

Drury has drafted 23 players and I'd say 11 of them are really solid picks and at least several of them should become serviceable NHL players---the way I'd rank them right now 1. Perreault 2. Mancini 2. Othmann 4. Emery 5. Sykora 6. Laba 7. Chmelar 8. Roobroeck 9. Fortescue 10. McConnell-Barker 11. Lamb......after which 12. Vaisanen (already signed) 13. Boilard 14. Korczak 15. Boyko 16. Aspinall 17. Kempf 18. Henricks 19. Gredig 20. Larsson are still too early to say or somewhat possibilities. To me the three that are done 21. Grubbe (playing in the Oilers farm system and not doing all that great) 22. Barbashev (unsigned and only 4 games in the ECHL this year) and 23. Karpa.

Yeah I agree. There are things Drury has done that I'm not fond of but at the moment, I feel like our drafting looks really strong since he took over. I mean if they ever decided (and were able) to do a full-on rebuild, our pantry isn't stocked with stars but in a few years we'd probably add half a dozen or more players to the roster from the list you assembled.

Othmann would be somewhere in the middle of the lineup with Perreault on the top line, Laba in the middle six, and in your bottom six you'd have Sykora, Chmelar, Roobroeck, and maybe BMB or Lamb. Mancini is already here and I think Fortescue makes it, and Emery should in some capacity, too. Again not a lot of stars or anything but that's good, cheap depth to have. It's hard to find the stars without higher picks.

 

[McRanger92]

I watch and listen to a lot of podcasts. Everyone says the Habs have so much young talent in their system. Pierre McGuire told Jeff Marek the Habs have 5 kids at Laval who will be NHL players. They have a million D. They have an extra first round pick this June. Reinbacher has been injured ever since Montreal drafted him instead of Michkov or Leonard Montreal gave Slajkovsky a huge contract in the summer which starts next season. The player has struggled big time. Two goals this season. Montreal signed all of their kids to long term extensions coming out of entry level. Buffalo did the same thing. A young 20-21 year old kid making $7M or $8M AAV might not be the best thing. We complain about the Rangers bridge contracting nearly everyone but the other way doesn't always work. Montreal doesn't have enough space for all of the youth and future picks to play for their team. It's hard to make trades. Some of their trades for Dach and Newhook haven't worked out.9-2 loss to Pittsburgh. I was watching that game and flipped to watch the Rams-49ers. Came back it was 7-2. ESPN plus shows the score before you click on the link. What happened. MSL might be next to go.

Gorton and Bobrov like to draft the "all sizzle, no steak" prospects. I'd love MSL to coach this team in the future. Impossible situation with the roster he has now, but a few years in the top chair in a tough market is great experience. If he does get canned, and so does Lavi after the season barring a 2024 Mets level turnaround, I'd love to hire MSL to lead the younger core. An ex-player who wasnt here long but gave his heart and soul to the team. That's the type of leader behind the bench that the Rangers need.

 

[kovazub94]

Remembering back to when Housely was hired, I made a point of noting he wasn’t well regarded as a position coach in Arizona. Ultimately he was forced out. Seems like nothing has changed.

IMO he's still banking on his reputation as a player. If anyone can give me a reminder about a positive influence he had from behind the bench - it will be welcomed as I seriously can't remember anything significant. He seemed to largely fail at every stop.

 

[kovazub94]

Nill had to deal with both Benn and Seguin on high priced, long-term contracts while neither was playing well. Despite that, they have remained competitive.

He and the coaches were willing to let the young guys run with it, and relegated Benn and Seguin to lesser roles. Thus far, Drury and Lavi haven't been willing to do that.

Cuylle, Chytil and Kakko have been given more ES minutes than last year, no? I didn't list them as a line because these extra ice time has come to them both as a line and when they were moved individually up in the lineup. Dallas changes look more dramatic from afar but their transition didn't happen overnight either - it was a process.

 

[kovazub94]

Yeah I agree. There are things Drury has done that I'm not fond of but at the moment, I feel like our drafting looks really strong since he took over. I mean if they ever decided (and were able) to do a full-on rebuild, our pantry isn't stocked with stars but in a few years we'd probably add half a dozen or more players to the roster from the list you assembled.

Othmann would be somewhere in the middle of the lineup with Perreault on the top line, Laba in the middle six, and in your bottom six you'd have Sykora, Chmelar, Roobroeck, and maybe BMB or Lamb. Mancini is already here and I think Fortescue makes it, and Emery should in some capacity, too. Again not a lot of stars or anything but that's good, cheap depth to have. It's hard to find the stars without higher picks.

Not a single pick in the top half of the first round so it's difficult to bank on a star. Having Perreault fall to us was a lucky break and kudos to Drury for grabing him, luck or not. Otherwise there are a few depth options out there with at least a couple that should pan out.

BTW Let's say thank you to Gorton for his gift of getting Cuylle from the pick he got from LA for Andersson.

 

[Clark Kellogg]

I watch and listen to a lot of podcasts. Everyone says the Habs have so much young talent in their system. Pierre McGuire told Jeff Marek the Habs have 5 kids at Laval who will be NHL players. They have a million D. They have an extra first round pick this June. Reinbacher has been injured ever since Montreal drafted him instead of Michkov or Leonard Montreal gave Slajkovsky a huge contract in the summer which starts next season. The player has struggled big time. Two goals this season. Montreal signed all of their kids to long term extensions coming out of entry level. Buffalo did the same thing. A young 20-21 year old kid making $7M or $8M AAV might not be the best thing. We complain about the Rangers bridge contracting nearly everyone but the other way doesn't always work. Montreal doesn't have enough space for all of the youth and future picks to play for their team. It's hard to make trades. Some of their trades for Dach and Newhook haven't worked out.9-2 loss to Pittsburgh. I was watching that game and flipped to watch the Rams-49ers. Came back it was 7-2. ESPN plus shows the score before you click on the link. What happened. MSL might be next to go.

Gorton has been with the club for three drafts. One of his first hires was Bobrov.
Over the course of those 3 drafts the organization has had 30 picks and have chose 15 European players.
In 2022 the Canadiens pick at 1OA was Slafkovsky and as you have mentioned has 2 goals in 25 games this season. 4 players come to mind that they passed on (2 Centers and 3 D) 2 European and 2 North American.
In 2023 and 2024 they had the 5 OA pick.
Also using those two picks to draft Europeans.
I am Not making an anti-European response; I am making a case that Bobrov is a terrible judge of talent and he should not be anywhere near an NHL organization in any capacity.
But since he is, I’m glad that fan base has him.
Laissez les bons temps rouler!

 

[Clark Kellogg]

Dreger said last night on TSN that teams are calling Buffalo about Jack Quinn who has struggled big time coming off an achilles tendon injury. He suffered a knee injury later on. He had a good first year playing on a line with Cozens and Peterka. Then the achilles injury happened. Ruff has made him a healthy scratch recently.

The Sabres are a weird team. Adams traded Mittlestedt to the Avs for Byram because they didn't want to pay Casey. They have the same problem now with Byram who is arb eligible this summer and his name has been mentioned in trade rumors.

Does Buffalo have interest in moving some of their contracts? Cozens. Power. $15.45M combined. Miller? Kreider? Is Buffalo on his list? Kakko? The Rangers have the cap space at or near the deadline to make big moves. Nearly $22M. Shed some of their issues and acquire young signed players. Those contracts fit into team next season. Tagging $88M. The Rangers current commitments are not close to $88M. $69M-$70M. A team can't have more than $88M committed for next season. The cap will be $92.5M or $97M next season if there is a new CBA in place by June. The NHL wants to phase in the cap increases when the cap is linked to revenue again. They don't want $92.5M to increase to $110M.

Some of these guys in Buffalo are not working out for them. They make a ton of money and are signed long term. People talk about free agency and the Rangers will have cap space with a rising cap. Every team will have space.

Package Lindgren and Smith. Retain 50%. Create more cap space. Pick up an extra first round pick. Perhaps send the pick to the Sabres.

None of this BS about we can spend the Trouba money for a 34 year old RW. Let the money accrue and take big swings. Try to think outside the box. Not the usual Mitch Marner is a free agent in July. We should get him.

Esch, how much longer can that franchise survive in Buffalo?

 

[GAGLine]

Cuylle, Chytil and Kakko have been given more ES minutes than last year, no? I didn't list them as a line because these extra ice time has come to them both as a line and when they were moved individually up in the lineup. Dallas changes look more dramatic from afar but their transition didn't happen overnight either - it was a process.

That's fair. The even strength time is pretty even, though I think the Zib line should get less. The real issue in the PP. At some point, that has to change. Even if the kids aren't more successful, we need to stop rewarding players who are playing poorly.

BTW Let's say thank you to Gorton for his gift of getting Cuylle from the pick he got from LA for Andersson.

I thank him for fixing his mistake. Or maybe I should thank LA for that

 

[MrAlmost]

Gordon has been with the club for three drafts. One of his first hires was Bobrov.
Over the course of those 3 drafts the organization has had 30 and have chose 15 European players.
In 2022 the Canadiens picked at 1OA was Slafkovsky and as you have mentioned has 2 goals in 25 games this season. 4 players come to mind that they passed on (2 Centers and 3 D) 2 European and 2 North American.
In 2023 and 2024 they had the 5 OA pick.
Also using those two picks to draft Europeans.
I am Not making an anti-European response; I am making a case that Bobrov is a terrible judge of talent and he should not be anywhere near an NHL organization in any capacity.
But since he is, I’m glad that fan base has him.
Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Bobrov selects too many Europeans. The talent pool is not as deep as north America so if you have 30 picks and a 50/50 split you are going to miss more than hit. There are simply better players in Canada and US and their ability to translate to bottom 6 play on the NHL ice is less of a concern.

 

[bernmeister]

Mika for Miller next summer. They’re the same age and almost the same salary. The Swedes love Vancouver. Have them convince Mika to waive his NMC if he’s open to a change after being ground down by the NY media all year. Pettersson can plant the seed at the 4 Nations in February. Allow the Sedins and Allvin to talk to Mika. Even Sundin chose to go to Vancouver at tye end of his career.

There is no universe where 'nucks do that, now or next year

Also, don't want the Mika prob betw now and then
Deal Mika at half for Raty, Juulsen and approx 3m cap relief. Eat the 4.25 hit. Worth it to be rid of his toxic ass NOW

 

[kovazub94]

I’d like to see what Vaak can do before moving anyone.

Aside from Lindgren. He could be waived tomorrow and I’d be okay with it.

I was hoping to see signs of turnaround from Lindgren after his bad season last year (worst of his career through then) but he somehow gotten even worse this season.

 

[kovazub94]

That's fair. The even strength time is pretty even, though I think the Zib line should get less. The real issue in the PP. At some point, that has to change. Even if the kids aren't more successful, we need to stop rewarding players who are playing poorly.

I'm not touching PP1 at this point but all for start rewarding kids with more ES time.

 

[kovazub94]

I thank him for fixing his mistake. Or maybe I should thank LA for that

Getting a 2nd round pick for a failed (1st round) prospect was fixing a mistake, but on top of that Cuylle is well outperforming from his drafting spot.

 

[surlysailor]

Gorton and Bobrov like to draft the "all sizzle, no steak" prospects.

Id push back on this, they def started off wanting to add skilled players, now most of them obv didn’t pan out and bobrov does suck at knowing skill, but I do feel their plan was to get skill then grit players. Look at their final draft, Schneider, cuylle, rempe, & berard.

 

[Savant]

Why does Schneider get zero hate. I can count the amount of times he’s looked good on 2 hands

If you and I are getting chased by a bear. I do not need to out run the bear. I need to out run you.

 

[kovazub94]

I know you're being sarcastic but this is worth reiterating.

The Rangers took a massive L essentially just firing Buchnevich to tell Kakko "here is your spot with no competition" and he lost it to Colin Blackwell in like six games.

You're significantly oversimplifying what transpired leading to Buchnevich trade.

It did wind up to be a huge L for the organization though, no argument there.

Yes?

We're being mean to Kakko because he sucks. I don't see the problem.

He doesn't suck. He does not play up to your expectations as a 2OA pick

 

[JohnC]

You're significantly oversimplifying what transpired leading to Buchnevich trade.

It did wind up to be a huge L for the organization though, no argument there.

Agreed. I’d say it was maybe 70% trying to get tuffer after the Wilson/Panarin incident and 30% turning the keys over to Kakko and Kravstov.

 

[Machinehead]

He doesn't suck. He does not play up to your expectations as a 2OA pick

Nah, he sucks.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

I was hoping to see signs of turnaround from Lindgren after his bad season last year (worst of his career through then) but he somehow gotten even worse this season.

Decline is a mother f***er.

 

[NYR Viper]

If Owen Power was actually available, that's a guy I go VERY hard after