Speculation: Roster Building Thread: Part XLI

[FartMilk]

I don't mind two teams, but three? What the f***?

If I'm getting rid of one, it's the Devils.

 

[NYSPORTS]

Same can be said for the Devils. If you're a football fan in New Jersey, you're either a fan of the Giants or the Eagles (and sometimes Jets and Cowboys). Why does New Jersey need a hockey team? Look how many teams are in the area. The Devils and Islanders are simply not necessary and should be relocated.
.

The Devils actually do ok. Stats dated a year ago indicate they are 13th in profit which is good considering they are sandwiched between NY and Philly. Meanwhile, the Islanders are near the bottom and unprofitable.

The NFL is so greedy i am surprised they haven’t brought in a 3rd team. Years ago it was rumored to be the Raiders which would have made things really interesting in the area. At the time, the proceeds or dollars a new team would owe the Giants and Jets was pretty high and betting even higher today. Still, the greedy NFL is all about money and that POS Stadium in Jersey wouldn’t be too pleased with a Stadium somewhere across the River.

 

[Kords]

Ok, so I went back and looked at Pronman's rankings of the last two classes, I was a bit wrong by time it got to the Turcotte/Zegras/Cozens ranking, but right on how Lefreniere/Hughes/Kakko/Byfield stack up.

He'd have them in tiers as such..... within the tiers, neither he nor I have them ranked, so they are only grouped by tiers. His tiers as a prospect rank as - Special (Projects as one of the very best players in the league), Elite (Projects as an impact player, someone who is top 10-15 percent in the NHL at his position), High-End (Projects as a first-line forward, a top-pair defenseman or a top-10 starting goaltender), Very Good (Projects as a top-six forward, top-four defenseman or starting goaltender in the NHL), and Legit (Projects to play in the bottom half of a lineup).

Special
Lafreniere (2020)
Hughes (2019)

Special/Elite Bubble
Byfield (2020)
Kakko (2019)

Elite
Turcotte (2019)
Byram (2019)
Caulfield (2019)

Elite/High End Bubble
Stutzle (2020)
Raymond (2020)
Perfetti (2020)
Zegras (2019)
Cozens (2019)

High End
Holtz (2020)
Drysdale (2020)
Askarov (2020)
Rossi (2020)
Boldy (2019)
Broberg (2019)
Dach (2019)
Newhook (2019)
Podkolzin (2019)

So that's 1-1 in special talents, and 1-1 in special/elite talents. But 2019 seems superior in elite through high end talent (basically the end of the first-liners/first-pairers), outnumbering 2020 by a 10-7 margin.

So..... the Rangers need to get inside that top 8 or 9 or so.

Pretty sure it was both Pronman and Button via Twitter back in the fall but I could be confusing what most bloggers have been saying as well (which obviously wouldn't hold as much water). Perhaps opinions have changed since then, but it has been said by just about everyone that this is one of the stronger draft classes of the decade and those tiers you listed don't really jive with that narrative. Are those tiers rated against their own draft class? Cause if so that doesn't tell the story.

 

[Ola]

How is Dolan’s financial status? Will we sail clear of any austerity measures?

I wonder what the status is among the other owners. A lot of ‘players’ are maybe not on the brink of disaster, but like squeezed right now for sure.

 

[Ola]

These things rarely play out, but I kind of like CBJs chances against Toronto. Think Torts is a great coach under these conditions. But it will be a mute point unless we beat Carolina...

 

[Ola]

I am sure it’s been commented on, but is the highest — our own — pick pre-lotto can be 9th? If there are four upsets in the West and MTL wins while we lose against Carolina?

And then let’s say one letter wins a top 3 spot. Then there is a second lottery which team among the bottom 7 that gets this top 3 spot — right?

So let’s say we are 9th. That means that we have 5% shot to get the No 1 pick, and there are a remaining 18.5% left among team 9 to 15, does that mean that we get 5/18.5% = 27% shot at the getting the top 3 pick?

 

[Leetch3]

I am sure it’s been commented on, but is the highest — our own — pick pre-lotto can be 9th? If there are four upsets in the West and MTL wins while we lose against Carolina?

And then let’s say one letter wins a top 3 spot. Then there is a second lottery which team among the bottom 7 that gets this top 3 spot — right?

So let’s say we are 9th. That means that we have 5% shot to get the No 1 pick, and there are a remaining 18.5% left among team 9 to 15, does that mean that we get 5/18.5% = 27% shot at the getting the top 3 pick?

yeah the highest it can be is 9th....there are 7 teams below us but calgary and winnipeg play each other so 1 of the teams below us is guaranteed to advance.

 

[nyr2k2]

How is Dolan’s financial status? Will we sail clear of any austerity measures?

I wonder what the status is among the other owners. A lot of ‘players’ are maybe not on the brink of disaster, but like squeezed right now for sure.

Dolan himself is worth a billion or two. MSG Sports Company which technically owns the team (a majority of the holding company is owned by Dolan) is worth well into the billions of dollars. Really unlikely we'd see any cutbacks that affect the on-ice product--more like increased costs for fans to offset the loss in revenue.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Dolan himself is worth a billion or two. MSG Sports Company which technically owns the team (a majority of the holding company is owned by Dolan) is worth well into the billions of dollars. Really unlikely we'd see any cutbacks that affect the on-ice product--more like increased costs for fans to offset the loss in revenue.

So we have to sell both kidneys now for tickets?

 

[nyr2k2]

So we have to sell both kidneys now for tickets?

Yeah, I don't go to MSG anymore. I'll take my almost-5-year-old daughter when she's old enough to sit through a whole game, but otherwise, I have no interest at this point. If memory serves the last time I went was with my wife and stepson. Only "firsts" from this point on.

 

[NoQuitInNewMexico]

I like saying things like "No more Devils, the world has progressed past the need for Devils" but honestly they're a big part of my childhood too growing up in Jersey. The bastards.

 

[Joey Bones]

Sure, the owners are fine....the teams are the trouble spots.

Meant that as the same. The teams are fine....

 

[17futurecap]

How is Dolan’s financial status? Will we sail clear of any austerity measures?

I wonder what the status is among the other owners. A lot of ‘players’ are maybe not on the brink of disaster, but like squeezed right now for sure.

I would say he's doing pretty well.

 

[Avery16]

https://nypost.com/2020/05/27/henrik-lundqvist-deserves-chance-to-be-rangers-playoff-starter/

 

[bobbop]

How is Dolan’s financial status? Will we sail clear of any austerity measures?

I wonder what the status is among the other owners. A lot of ‘players’ are maybe not on the brink of disaster, but like squeezed right now for sure.

Dolan makes money more by accident than most of us do on purpose

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

https://nypost.com/2020/05/27/henrik-lundqvist-deserves-chance-to-be-rangers-playoff-starter/

If he beats Shestyorkin in this short camp the teams have, sure. Then Lundqvist deserves to be the starter.

 

[Ola]

Pretty cool, the Dolan family founded HBO. Didn't know that.

I wonder how they are positioned for the cut the cord movement. Do they today have any interest in streaming services? Do they also deliver broadband or just cable TV?

 

[Ola]

If he beats Shestyorkin in this short camp the teams have, sure. Then Lundqvist deserves to be the starter.

Yeah, I actually agree with everything Brooks says in that article. Hit the ice and take it from there.

In addition, if Hank is on par with Shesty and Geo, I would start with him. Why? Its as simple as this, the conditions could not possibly be worse for a goaltender, every goaltender. This POs is the worst conditions to play -- goaltenders have ever faced in history of hockey and will ever face in in the future. Nothing can beat this. Its a short series. One goal against can easily cost you a series like this. The team in front of you are rusty. Etc etc etc.

Many of us remember how Shesty looked in the first game in Traverse City. He was declared a bust instantly. Wasn't good at all against kids. Shesty has a poor record in important games for Russia, and haven't really stood out in the POs for SKA (I think). Normally, it doesn't mean anything. For me this doesn't impact my evaluation of his future one bit. But I don't think he is waterproof no matter what kind of conditions you throw him into. Nobody is.

So from my POV, you must look at this from a upside perspective vs downside perspective. If Hank and Shesty seem to be close on the upside, I see significantly less downside with starting Hank. So he has a nightmare game 1 and lets in 7 easy shots within the first 30 minutes. Big deal, bye. Thanks for everything. For Shesty, these things can be career defining.

 

[Leetch3]

If he beats Shestyorkin in this short camp the teams have, sure. Then Lundqvist deserves to be the starter.

which is exactly what larry is saying

 

[egelband]

Right in front of Sparks is where Big Paul Castellano head of the Gambino crime family was gunned down on unsanctioned orders from John Gotti in late 1985.

Also a phenomenal steak house. Their dry aged was the best around. Haven’t been in probably 15 years now though.

Big Paulie got shot up a bunch, but make no mistake, he died of coronavirus.

 

[egelband]

Bettman saying in an interview on NBS Sports that the economy in the NHL is stable, but it obviously hurt with the pandemic. Every team owner is fine financially.

Nice to hear some honesty. The baseball owners crying poverty is nauseating. Admittedly, I haven't been following the story closely (wgaf, really). But I respect Bettman taking that’s nonsense if the table.

 

[LaffyTaffy]

Pretty cool, the Dolan family founded HBO. Didn't know that.

I wonder how they are positioned for the cut the cord movement. Do they today have any interest in streaming services? Do they also deliver broadband or just cable TV?

We pay for HBO on our Prime account. Cutting the chord so that you dont have BS cable channels doesn’t necessarily mean losing premium channels. Almost every major channel is available as an add on either on Prime or Hulu or Fubo. They’re positioned just fine as long as HBO keeps coming out with shows worth paying extra for.

 

[egelband]

If that's the best offer? Yes.

I hear you. But I think I’d try holding out for a second or the middle sixer on an elc, as suggested by @Avery16

 

[Ola]

We pay for HBO on our Prime account. Cutting the chord so that you dont have BS cable channels doesn’t necessarily mean losing premium channels. Almost every major channel is available as an add on either on Prime or Hulu or Fubo. They’re positioned just fine as long as HBO keeps coming out with shows worth paying extra for.

So they still own HBO? I thought it was like Time Warner. Or do they own parts of it?

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

If the team can get a 2nd and 3rd for Georgiev I'd be ecstatic.

I'm still holding out hope San Jose wants to swap for Labanc