Speculation: Roster Building thread: Part XIX (Thanks, Sam)

[McRanger92]

I get it, you love the guy because he's solving imaginary problems you've made up in your own head. What part of his year has impressed you? Overpaying his goalie by about 3m a year? Getting an ok defenseman for a former 2 OA pick? Bringing in defensive titans like de Haan and Soucy? Or brining in a mentally unstable 32 year old 1C, who couldn't even play for John Cooper, when the team will struggle for the next few years. They have maybe 1 decent defensive prospect, and 1, maybe two, forward prospects that look like they can be legit top 6 skaters.

Take it easy big fella. You might be the only person I've seen here who thought this roster was good enough, but paying Igor is somehow the problem.

You want to know what impressed me about Drury this year? He for once didnt sit on his hands and pretend things were going well. Is it his fault that Mika, Kreider, Trocheck, Panarin are all having down years? If the locker room problems were imaginary, why doesnt the team play with effort on a night to night basis? Do you think they have been? Playoffs wouldnt even be a question if our veterans could show up on the power play. You know, doing their freaking job?

 

[Pawnee Rangers]

Take it easy big fella. You might be the only person I've seen here who thought this roster was good enough, but paying Igor is somehow the problem.

You want to know what impressed me about Drury this year? He for once didnt sit on his hands and pretend things were going well. Is it his fault that Mika, Kreider, Trocheck, Panarin are all having down years? If the locker room problems were imaginary, why doesnt the team play with effort on a night to night basis? Do you think they have been?

Paying Igor is not the problem, paying Igor $2m more per year than the best goalie in the league because you panicked in October is the problem. The rest of your comment is the same BS stuff you've been posting all year.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

I don't agree that he's keeping this year's pick.....no I have no facts or anything to base it on.....as I stated to another poster, it's just a gut feeling that I have.

I think he'll make the pick this year and hope next year we finish better, the other side of it is that a pick next year likely won't help Chris Drury as that player is 3-4 years away as opposed to 2-3.

 

[Bacon Artemi Bravo]

Take it easy big fella. You might be the only person I've seen here who thought this roster was good enough, but paying Igor is somehow the problem.

You want to know what impressed me about Drury this year? He for once didnt sit on his hands and pretend things were going well. Is it his fault that Mika, Kreider, Trocheck, Panarin are all having down years? If the locker room problems were imaginary, why doesnt the team play with effort on a night to night basis? Do you think they have been?

I would say the locker room issues are at least partially Drurys fault. They have to be since he is the GM, ultimately he is accountable for performance. He’s been through too many coaches in a short period. There’s also been several reports of him not treating people well in the org. Not saying those are all true, but usually where there is smoke…ya know. I think he’s had a mix of good and bad trades. He’s also had a mix of good and bad picks. He certainly hasn’t been stellar, probably mediocre/middle of the pack GM.

 

[duhmetreE]

I haven't watched much in a while.... but man does Zibs kill a lot of plays....

He still hits a nice pass or two but there are major major warning signs there.

If we could get him to waive and move Kreider we will be better off. Or a coach that doesn’t default to them in big situations

Say whatever you want about Panarin, he’s the only one worth anything

 

[duhmetreE]

——-Cuylle——-
Panarin—JTM—Gabe
———Fox——-

You could even throw Othmann in there too, you know, actually play to his strength.

I think peca is in charge of the PP. he needs to go too. Muse is the only one worth keeping imo

 

[Levitate]

I get it, you love the guy because he's solving imaginary problems you've made up in your own head. What part of his year has impressed you? Overpaying his goalie by about 3m a year? Getting an ok defenseman for a former 2 OA pick? Bringing in defensive titans like de Haan and Soucy? Or brining in a mentally unstable 32 year old 1C, who couldn't even play for John Cooper, when the team will struggle for the next few years. They have maybe 1 decent defensive prospect, and 1, maybe two, forward prospects that look like they can be legit top 6 skaters.

There's a ton to criticize Drury about and you hit on al ot of it here!

But he did run the team back. The only one he moved was Goodrow and that was for cap space. He asked Trouba if he'd waive and he wouldn't, so the team was pretty close to the same team that went to the ECF just with some tweaking on the bottom lines/pairings

And they stunk. They pouted. They dove all into drama and playing like they gave not a single shit. The same group that went to the ECF played like a lottery team for the first half of the year.

Trouba was mad he was asked to waive and admitted afterwards he was checked out. Everyone on the team acted like entitled shitheads.

The house cleaning didn't really start until after it was clear this group had their heads up their asses

 

[UnparalledPark]

He's made one good move. The Trouba trade. Everything else has been underwhelming at best. Add to that the ridiculous extension he gave Igor and brining in a 32 year old center, he should be shit canned the moment the season ends.

He even screwed up the Trouba trade. Should have been done during off season.

 

[McRanger92]

I would say the locker room issues are at least partially Drurys fault. They have to be since he is the GM, ultimately he is accountable for performance. He’s been through too many coaches in a short period. There’s also been several reports of him not treating people well in the org. Not saying those are all true, but usually where there is smoke…ya know. I think he’s had a mix of good and bad trades. He’s also had a mix of good and bad picks. He certainly hasn’t been stellar, probably mediocre/middle of the pack GM.

Look I'm not gonna cry if they fire Chris Drury. But if he is the fall guy, Laviolette and these veterans need to go too. The GM cant make the players act like grown men. Only looking in the mirror can do that. But, as I said, Ive seen far more from drury in terms of trying to fix the issues than I have from the players or coach. That matters from where Im standing. And Im not necessarily upset that Drury has been tough on the players. As with all things, the people who want him gone need to do there homework and come up with a replacement too, otherwise it just looks like throwing a temper tantrum.

 

[UnparalledPark]

Ive always been a Drury guy and hes not perfect by any stretch, but a lot of people lashing out and blaming him when this season is clearly on the players and Laviolette. Drury is a distant 3rd as far as the blame goes. As you said, at least he tried to fix it. This roster coming in was more than capable of breezing to a playoff spot, even if they werent the contender some thought. And clearly he had designs to make bigger changes last summer. He should have ripped the bandaid off with Trouba in July, thats my main issue with him. But we also dont really know for sure what was going on with the team behind closed doors.

I don’t think blaming the players and coach over Drury is as clear as you think, although I’m sure each party would get a large share of votes.

 

[McRanger92]

I don’t think blaming the players and coach over Drury is as clear as you think, although I’m sure each party would get a large share of votes.

Did you think we should run it back with the same roster after losing to Florida?

 

[bernmeister]

Paying Igor is not the problem, paying Igor $2m more per year than the best goalie in the league because you panicked in October is the problem. The rest of your comment is the same BS stuff you've been posting all year.

There is consistent need to regularly upgrade the roster, and acquire quality youth to replace vets getting phased out
That is the reality of NHL = hard cap league

As applies in this instance, all things =, Igor should have been signed earlier, not at the last minute for max length allowable [7-8 yrs]. He wanted top $ and was gonna get top $. The pt is top $ last yr might have been a little cheaper than top $ in his final yr where there is no cushion and he can threaten to walk.

Now, it is possibly not true all things were =.
We heard that Igor 'wanted to bet on himself' in pursuit of 'setting a new standard' for Gs.
If that is true, then an earlier contract may not have been possible.

If that was the case, Rs should have considered what the market was for him, and if high enuf, to get a deal of quality assets, pref youth, and replace him w/stopgap Quick and Garand

Once the nmc kicks in we are married to this guy, learning from hindsight is useful, but going forward we should see what Shesty commands in a return and be guided accordingly.

 

[Pawnee Rangers]

There's a ton to criticize Drury about and you hit on al ot of it here!

But he did run the team back. The only one he moved was Goodrow and that was for cap space. He asked Trouba if he'd waive and he wouldn't, so the team was pretty close to the same team that went to the ECF just with some tweaking on the bottom lines/pairings

And they stunk. They pouted. They dove all into drama and playing like they gave not a single shit. The same group that went to the ECF played like a lottery team for the first half of the year.

Trouba was mad he was asked to waive and admitted afterwards he was checked out. Everyone on the team acted like entitled shitheads.

The house cleaning didn't really start until after it was clear this group had their heads up their asses

They had a really good record, even though they probably weren't playing a very sustainable brand of hockey, when he decided to throw a grenade into the room. Totally his prerogative, he's the GM but it didn't really achieve the intended outcome. I think the Goodrow thing was a bigger deal than most people think. I also think that the animosity between Drury and the team didn't start with just Goodrow. It probably goes deeper and further back than that. Also bringing Trouba's wife/family situation into it and making it public is just awful, dirty shit. Regardless of how you think he handled it, this year has been shit. He should share the blame. And the worst part is, they're no better positioned for next year, they're gonna be worse. It's funny, a lot of the posters here said the team would be better by simply just removing Trouba and Lindgren from the roster. Are they? The East is a tire fire and they still couldn't lock down the last wild card spot.

 

[UnparalledPark]

He traded Goodrow, Trouba and Lindgren like everyone has been asking him to do for years. The team got dismantled because it wasnt good enough to get past game 6 of the ECF on the back of our elite goalie.

I agree they were not quite good enough. Now we are nowhere near good enough. We’re not even quite good enough to make the playoffs. When you have a car that finishes 29th in a 32 team race, maybe just try to give it a tuneup, not rebuild the engine. Drury rebuilt the engine, and now half the field has lapped us.

 

[McRanger92]

I agree they were not quite good enough. Now we are nowhere near good enough. We’re not even quite good enough to make the playoffs. When you have a car that finishes 29th in a 32 team race, maybe just try to give it a tuneup, not rebuild the engine. Drury rebuilt the engine, and now half the field has lapped us.

Where was the cap space to make these changes? Trouba was making 8 million dollars to torpedo every playoff series weve been in. Goodrow was a cap casualty. If you want to criticize Drury for not being ruthless enough with the albatrosses in the summer, that I hear. I think offloading Goodrow and trouba to bring in Guentzel should have been the play.

But i just cant blame management for what happens when the players step on the ice. They quit on us. They didnt need to. Their record was "good" when they got called out, but the underlying play was horrible. There had been too much evidence over the last 4 seasons to stand pat and trust the players to figure it out. We went through a stretch just like this in January of last year until Igor got hot and made us forget.

 

[UnparalledPark]

All he had to do was run it back and if the team stunk, he could have started the dismantling at the deadline with zero drama. Instead he signs a goalie to an insanely dumb contract, brings in a lunatic 1C, and still has a piss poor prospect pool. He's a joke.

This is exactly right.

 

[Levitate]

Everyone who follows the team said "yeah their record was good but they were playing bad and we all knew it was only a matter of time" more or less. Brooks, other beat writers, everyone watched that start and knew it was smoke and mirrors. It wasn't even the play of previous years where they were mediocre analytically but still managed to consistently win, it was just poor poor play papered over with some timely goals and goaltending
e: I guess I mean to say, trading Trouba wasn't some massive change that torpedoed their season. They were already playing poorly and looked checked out and like they were intentionally trying to get their coach fired. Trading Trouba came when Drury saw that the team he told could "run it back" was failing spectacularly at running it back.

IMO if trading one guy no matter how well liked he is blows up the locker room then the locker room was shit to begin with.

At any rate, IMO this is a "lost" season pretty much from Drury's perspective and he's trying to position them for more changes over the summer. What those are I dunno, will they be better, I dunno.
Honestly if I had my way yeah I'd rather have a different GM. I'd also rather have different players and a different coach. Everyone has been a disaster this year for no good goddamn reason.

 

[UnparalledPark]

I get it, you love the guy because he's solving imaginary problems you've made up in your own head. What part of his year has impressed you? Overpaying his goalie by about 3m a year? Getting an ok defenseman for a former 2 OA pick? Bringing in defensive titans like de Haan and Soucy? Or brining in a mentally unstable 32 year old 1C, who couldn't even play for John Cooper, when the team will struggle for the next few years. They have maybe 1 decent defensive prospect, and 1, maybe two, forward prospects that look like they can be legit top 6 skaters.

You forgot Urho the magnificent.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

man i feel for folks who still defense Drury. It must be exhausting defending such a mid individual

He should be shown the door this summer but he won’t be

 

[McRanger92]

man i feel for folks who still defense Drury. It must be exhausting defending such a mid individual

He should be shown the door this summer but he won’t be

Likewise to the people who still defend these players

 

[Levitate]

man i feel for folks who still defense Drury. It must be exhausting defending such a mid individual

He should be shown the door this summer but he won’t be

Honestly I just don't want the players to escape blame for this absolutely disgusting season.

They don't deserve any excuses made for them with the way they played for most of the year

e: The real "blame" here being everyone in the organization. This kind of shit shouldn't ever happen.

 

[UnparalledPark]

Take it easy big fella. You might be the only person I've seen here who thought this roster was good enough, but paying Igor is somehow the problem.

You want to know what impressed me about Drury this year? He for once didnt sit on his hands and pretend things were going well. Is it his fault that Mika, Kreider, Trocheck, Panarin are all having down years? If the locker room problems were imaginary, why doesnt the team play with effort on a night to night basis? Do you think they have been? Playoffs wouldnt even be a question if our veterans could show up on the power play. You know, doing their freaking job?

Pretend things were going well? I suspect if you asked 28 teams how things went for us last year, all would say they definitely went well. This notion that the team I root for is a failure because they fall 6 games short of a championship is mind boggling to me. Sure make a few changes but whatever you do, don’t do what Drury did. I kinda like watching playoff hockey.

 

[lakeshirts37]

Idk Bedard looks really mid so far

Cant tell if this is sarcasm or not

 

[lakeshirts37]

Ive always been a Drury guy and hes not perfect by any stretch, but a lot of people lashing out and blaming him when this season is clearly on the players and Laviolette. Drury is a distant 3rd as far as the blame goes. As you said, at least he tried to fix it. This roster coming in was more than capable of breezing to a playoff spot, even if they werent the contender some thought. And clearly he had designs to make bigger changes last summer. He should have ripped the bandaid off with Trouba in July, thats my main issue with him. But we also dont really know for sure what was going on with the team behind closed doors.

Agreed - I also think Drury is much better suited for a President of Hockey Ops role. He needs to hire a GM under him and then really beef up the front office with a couple Assistant GMs, bigger Analytics department, more scouts, etc. There needs to be way more opinions and viewpoints in the room

 

[McRanger92]

Pretend things were going well? I suspect if you asked 28 teams how things went for us last year, all would say they definitely went well. This notion that the team I root for is a failure because they fall 6 games short of a championship is mind boggling to me. Sure make a few changes but whatever you do, don’t do what Drury did. I kinda like watching playoff hockey.

No one said they were a failure for falling short. I think Drury's offseason was a failure given what transpired. I just want to know what the logic is behind blaming Drury for Mika having 16 goals on the season and Kreider having 5(FIVE!) assists with 7games left in the season. Panarin is going to finish with his worst season as a ranger. Trocheck has been horrible. Lafreniere has regressed. K'Andre with his second straight down season. Fox down year. Why is this on the GM? these guys were supposed to be the foundation of the franchise. All because Drury traded Trouba after he himself admitted that he was checked out? he was the captain of the team lol.