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

I know you hate JT because someone called him an alpha once, but this guy scored 100 points just a year ago, that is a bona fide #1C. And it was just last year, not ages ago like the last time Zibanejad was any good.

Is he a 1C for the future, no of course not hes 32. But don't just dismiss him outright.
He falls off a cliff when he's not on the ice with Hughes and he soaked up a lot of points on the powerplay. He's not outplaying any elite centers in an even strength matchup. He's just another version of "we have a 1C at home" like Zibanejad was.

Also, I will say this: our center lineup 1-3 is the closest thing to a strength that we have, provided we play Zibanejad at center, which I would.

Our defense is barely NHL level, and low-key our wing corps sucks copious ass. Most of our pipeline are wingers, granted, but you're betting a lot on guys like Othmann and Perreault. Not so much Berard who convinced me day 1 that he's an NHL player. Also, you're kind of stuck with whatever Lafreniere ends up being and he kind of just sucks.
 
He's also been playing with the team's best offensive player and was still one of the worst players when the team was tanking last November.
Absolutely. He hasn't had a good year compared to last year, but for his cap hit it's hard to complain about his production & he's not even in the top 5 of the biggest problems the team has. He's been a rare FA signing who's exceeded expectations. However, I said during his first season that this team would be better off if he was the 3C on the depth chart.
 
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He falls off a cliff when he's not on the ice with Hughes and he soaked up a lot of points on the powerplay. He's not outplaying any elite centers in an even strength matchup. He's just another version of "we have a 1C at home" like Zibanejad was.

Also, I will say this: our center lineup 1-3 is the closest thing to a strength that we have, provided we play Zibanejad at center, which I would.

Our defense is barely NHL level, and low-key our wing corps sucks copious ass. Most of our pipeline are wingers, granted, but you're betting a lot on guys like Othmann and Perreault. Not so much Berard who convinced me day 1 that he's an NHL player. Also, you're kind of stuck with whatever Lafreniere ends up being and he kind of just sucks.
Why do they have to be stuck with Laf when they could easily move him in a hockey trade?
 
He falls off a cliff when he's not on the ice with Hughes and he soaked up a lot of points on the powerplay. He's not outplaying any elite centers in an even strength matchup. He's just another version of "we have a 1C at home" like Zibanejad was.

Also, I will say this: our center lineup 1-3 is the closest thing to a strength that we have, provided we play Zibanejad at center, which I would.

Our defense is barely NHL level, and low-key our wing corps sucks copious ass. Most of our pipeline are wingers, granted, but you're betting a lot on guys like Othmann and Perreault. Not so much Berard who convinced me day 1 that he's an NHL player. Also, you're kind of stuck with whatever Lafreniere ends up being and he kind of just sucks.

we need a full rebuild for sure but we won't get one.
 
Not sure where to put this, but per the JT Miller trade the rangers 2025 1st was "top 13 protected."

If I'm reading the standings right looks like they can't finish "worse" than 13th, so that means they will keep their 2025 1st and their 2026 1st will definitely go to Vancouver right?
 
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Not sure where to put this, but per the JT Miller trade the rangers 2025 1st was "top 13 protected."

If I'm reading the standings right looks like they can't finish "worse" than 13th, so that means they will keep their 2025 1st and their 2026 1st will definitely go to Vancouver right?
Van traded that pick to Pittsburgh the next day for Marcus Petterson. We still have the option to send the 2025 pick to Pitt.
 
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Why do they have to stuck with Laf? They could easily move him in a hockey trade if they actually wanted to improve the roster.
The contract is moveable, but who's gonna take it and send anything back?

He's kinda soft and not overly big, so he doesn't have the stuff you can sell GM's on.

You have to hope he's much better next year to get value out of him.
 
Van traded that pick to Pittsburgh the next day for Marcus Petterson. We still have the option to send the 2025 pick to Pitt.


That's right about the 1st going to Pittsburgh (sigh), but I didn't think it was an option. The way the trade reads it seems to say if the 2025 1st was in the top 13 it was automatically protected...And if so the 2026 1st would transfer.
 
That's right about the 1st going to Pittsburgh (sigh), but I didn't think it was an option. The way the trade reads it seems to say if the 2025 1st was in the top 13 it was automatically protected...And if so the 2026 1st would transfer.
I think the team that was granted protection always has the option to waive protection.
 
The contract is moveable, but who's gonna take it and send anything back?

He's kinda soft and not overly big, so he doesn't have the stuff you can sell GM's on.

You have to hope he's much better next year to get value out of him.
I agree with all of that, but he's a former 1OA which GMs salivate over for some reason. Some teams could see 2025 as a blip on the radar & think he bounces back in the right situation or they just might still be blinded by his juniors pedigree. Even if we had to add to Laf to bring back a better player, there's gotta be options out there that are better than keeping his sorry ass.
 
I agree with all of that, but he's a former 1OA which GMs salivate over for some reason. Some teams could see 2025 as a blip on the radar & think he bounces back in the right situation or they just might still be blinded by his juniors pedigree. Even if we had to add to Laf to bring back a better player, there's gotta be options out there that are better than keeping his sorry ass.
That's what I thought about Kakko and he brought back a depth defenseman.

Granted, we continued to let Kakko not score and get scratched in full view of everyone. It might be better to cut ties with Lafreniere sooner rather than later.

Knowing the Rangers, they'll think he bounces back themselves, and end up stuck with or trading whatever he ends up being.
 
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I think the team that was granted protection always has the option to waive protection.

Really? Not sure that's true because I think there are also trades where the "option" is announced as part of the deal. So in other words there are two types of trades...

  1. One where a team has the option of giving this pick or next year's pick to the other team.
  2. One where the condition of which year's pick will transfer is already baked in and cannot be changed..

I think the rangers/Canucks deal was #2.
 
That's what I thought about Kakko and he brought back a depth defenseman.

Granted, we continued to let Kakko not score and get scratched in full view of everyone. It might be better to cut ties with Lafreniere sooner rather than later.

Knowing the Rangers, they'll think he bounces back themselves, and end up stuck with or trading whatever he ends up being.
They held on to Kakko way too long when it was obvious he was never going to amount to anything more than a 3rd liner. Laf is a season removed from a high 50 point pace where he flashed a bunch in the playoffs. Hopefully they move him before that shine completely fades, but your last sentence is probably what winds up happening given our track record. Sigh.
 
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and then the next year he put up 70 which was awful considering his usage, and this year 60 points which is pathetic. And one of the worst defensive centers around for much of the year. Combined with being one of the softest players in the league.

JT still put up more than a PPG on this mess of a team in his time here. He gets more benefit of the doubt.
JT was awful in VAN this season. Equally as bad if not worse than Mika. Mika at least showed up at the rink.

JT was good for a stretch of games when arriving here. When the adrenaline was gone he went back to being dirt for the most part before finishing the season somewhat respectable.

Also, when playing with Mika, they share center duties equally.
 
Absolutely. He hasn't had a good year compared to last year, but for his cap hit it's hard to complain about his production & he's not even in the top 5 of the biggest problems the team has. He's been a rare FA signing who's exceeded expectations. However, I said during his first season that this team would be better off if he was the 3C on the depth chart.
I think, salary aside because who cares at this point?, he was every bit as guilty as the other guys that are getting all the slack. Blown assignments, coughing pucks up, no mojo, no edge, no nothing all season long.
 
They held on to Kakko way too long when it was obvious he was never going to amount to anything more than a 3rd liner. Laf is a season removed from a high 50 point pace where he flashed a bunch in the playoffs. Hopefully they move him before that shine completely fades, but your last sentence is probably what winds up happening given our track record. Sigh.

Kakko is already better than a 3rd liner. 50 point pace since he joined the Kraken. That’s 2nd line production and we all know his defensive game is solid. He’s been better than Lafreniere this season.
 
One of them is on track to crack top 5 in production all time for an O6 franchise while the other is a decent role player. Let me repeat myself, Mika, in the worst season of his career is still outproducing Vinny despite playing 3 min less/game and being a vagabond up and down the line-up.

I dont know what you are trying to prove with the PPP breakdown? Yes, good players get PP time...

Superior penalty killer? Mika has Vinny more than doubled in SHP over their careers.

I am sorry but you are delusional if you believe they have had similar careers. But hey, you got their age right and, yes, Vinny is better at the dot. :thumbu:

Over the past two years, playing for the same team, Trochek has 4 more points than Mika. Mika is “out producing” Trochek by 1 point this year.

Their career points per 82 games are 6 apart, no matter how many times you want to say that Mika “in the worst year of his career” is “out producing” him. It’s 59 and 58 points. Short handed points isn’t the primary measure of effectiveness as a penalty killer - Trochek is the superior defensive player.

When two players of the same age are 6 points apart in their 82 game average over 800+ games, you can say whatever you want as hard as you want and it won’t make it true.

Mika had some higher offensive peaks but ultimately has averaged out to be almost the exact same player. Last year Trochek had him beat by 5. This year Mika has him by 1, with a game remaining. Over the course of Trochek’s time as a Ranger Mika is up by 23 points over 3 seasons, or roughly ~8 points per year. So we’ve got the career sample size where they are 6 points apart per 82 and the 3 year sample size where they’re separated by ~8. We’ve got the last 2 years where Trochek is ahead by 4 points and we’ve got this season where Mika is ahead by 1. It seems like they’ve been pretty similar players to me, whether it’s across entire careers, the last 3, 2 or 1 seasons.

Zibanejad had a higher peak with career years of 91 and 81 points, while Trochek had 77 and 75 as his bests. Pretty close to what separates their career averages as well.

Of Mika’s 91 and 81, 39 and 28 came on the PP respectively. Also 31 of his 72 last year, and 19 of his 59 this year.

Of Trochek’s 77 and 75, 24 and 27 came on the PP respectively. Only 24 of his 77 last year, and 12 of his 58 this year.

Last year, Zibanejad 72 points, 41 non PP. This year 59 points, 40 non PP. 131 points, 81 non PP points.

Last year, Trochek 77 points, 53 non PP. This year 58 points, 46 non PP. 135 points, 99 non PP points.

Trochek’s first year as a Ranger, he had 64 points, 47 not on the PP. That was Mika’s 91 point career year - he had 52 not on the PP.

Since Trochek came to NY, it’s 222 points for Mika with 133 not on the PP and 199 points for Trochek with 146 not on the PP.

Over 1/3 of all of Mika’s career points have been on the PP; 34%. Trochek is barely above 25%.

There’s virtually no doubt as to which player works harder and does more off the puck and one is specifically positioned to be THE go-to shooter on the PP, which is why this info is relevant, before you spout off about “good players” deserve their PP time. It’s NYR - we all know that’s not how PP time is decided.

You can slice this a lot of ways and keep losing the argument. Mika’s raw points per game is .7933 and Trochek’s is .7213. They’ve both played over 800 NHL games. We’re not comparing Bedard and Celebrini here on some absurdly small sample size before either has reached their prime. It’s a .072 point per game difference. Significantly leas than 1/10th of a point per game.
 
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Kakko is already better than a 3rd liner. 50 point pace since he joined the Kraken. That’s 2nd line production and we all know his defensive game is solid. He’s been better than Lafreniere this season.
Kakko's production has been basically what it was here with extra minutes & some power play time. He has 14 goals combined for the season. He's a 3rd liner.
 
Trocheck no. Panarin yes because he’s a pending ufa and why not tank for at least one year in a great draft class and get some return for him at 50%
Rangers aren’t tanking, especially if they give up next years pick. If you want to trade Panarin I get it, but that’s extremely unlikely to happen if the Rangers are planning on competing which it seems like they are.
 

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