Speculation: Roster Building Thread : Part XVI (Playoffs or Retool?)

[chris kontos]

is kaliyev on waivers yet?

 

[Clark Kellogg]

Let the McDavid ERA begin on July 1st, 2026!

 

[McRanger92]

Let the McDavid ERA begin on July 1st, 2026!

Rangers have to be the overwhelming favorite to sign Eichel when he hits the market.

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

Cap-wise, even with the jump to $95.5mil, we're going to be up against it (Igor's extension, JT's money, Miller's new contract), and I don't think it's possible to keep Mika at the wing going into next season. We have cheap wingers who could theoretically play, we don't have a cheap center.

Don't think we'll be struggling with cap at all. We have to re-sign Cuylle, Miller (if we don't shop him but with how we look on LD I doubt it), Edstrom, Rempe, and potentially Vaak (who again I think we sign given our LD situation). That's, probably, about 10M. We should have around 6.5M in cap space after all that, and that's WITHOUT trading anyone. We would need a backup goalie and another LD. Ideally Garand can be the backup for cheap. Kreider will likely be moved, and I doubt we'll need to take back salary. Value of the return pending, but that's 6.5M off the books. I don't think it'll be impossible to move Mika if he has a strong end to the season production wise. Very unlikely we'll get a team to take him without salary coming back, but could probably move him for a contract in the 4-5M range. And if we REALLY want to open up space and be aggressive in UFA, we can move Panarin. Unlikely, but certainly an option.

With the timing of the cap increase(s) we're actually in a pretty good position. Our bad contracts should be more movable and we have extra room to play around with.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Wingers yes. Lindgren unfortunately not. If Lindgren was easily replaceable by Jones it would have happened months ago. Brannstrom is just a contract he isn’t going to get minutes here for the same reason Jones isn’t going to/hasn’t gotten minutes here. Brannstrom was unclaimed on waivers at least once this season. The solutions to the Lindgren problem are not internal

Long term they aren't.

I have zero doubt that either guy would be an upgrade to him right now. There is literally nothing stopping them from even giving Schneider an extended look there to see what that looks like and letting either Jones or Brannnstrom take reps on the bottom pair outside of Laviolettes unwavering and unwarranted love for RL.

Since the new year -

It's not about finding a perfect or even a good solution at this point. They just need to find a less terrible one until they can find something long term because this cannot be allowed to continue. This isn't just bad, it's unplayable.

 

[Clark Kellogg]

Kreider is going to get threatened with waivers this summer if the rangers find a trade & he refuses to go. Not sure why people think that's an outlandish scenario considering it's already happened twice this year. His money will come off the books the easy way or the hard way.

Not if he goes unclaimed. Beautiful country up there in the foothills of the Berkshire’s.

 

[noncents]

move kreider and sign a ufa D. don't care if it's an overpay. just get the guy

 

[McRanger92]

Don't think we'll be struggling with cap at all. We have to re-sign Cuylle, Miller (if we don't shop him but with how we look on LD I doubt it), Edstrom, Rempe, and potentially Vaak (who again I think we sign given our LD situation). That's, probably, about 10M. We should have around 6.5M in cap space after all that, and that's WITHOUT trading anyone. We would need a backup goalie and another LD. Ideally Garand can be the backup for cheap. Kreider will likely be moved, and I doubt we'll need to take back salary. Value of the return pending, but that's 6.5M off the books. I don't think it'll be impossible to move Mika if he has a strong end to the season production wise. Very unlikely we'll get a team to take him without salary coming back, but could probably move him for a contract in the 4-5M range. And if we REALLY want to open up space and be aggressive in UFA, we can move Panarin. Unlikely, but certainly an option.

With the timing of the cap increase(s) we're actually in a pretty good position. Our bad contracts should be more movable and we have extra room to play around with.

Funny watching people freak out about the cap when Drury was able to wave a magic wand and get rid of our 2 "immovable" contracts. Now with the cap going up I can't believe it's still an issue for some people. The salary cap is a boogeyman that's not real. the Rangers havent had cap issues hamstring them in my lifetime.

Not if he goes unclaimed. Beautiful country up there in the foothills of the Berkshire’s.

LTIR is lovely this time of year. You're also nuts if you dont think a team like Buffalo would sprint to claim him

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

move kreider and sign a ufa D. don't care if it's an overpay. just get the guy

I'm guessing at the very least we move Kreider and pursue Chychrun, Gavrikov, and maybe Maata or Dumoulin for shorter term/cheaper options. Unless we trade Kreider for a LD.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

Updated playoff chances

Moneypuck 42.2%
Athletic 39%
Power Rankings Guru 37.5%
Hockey Reference: 20.5%
Fan Duel +162 they make it

The f***ing Islanders are above them right now with same amount of games played.

The Rangers do have the benefit of the most RW out of the group of 6 teams they are chasing due to their hot start, so they will likely hold the tie breaker. Still, they will need to grab at LEAST 10 out of the available 14 points to be in a position to buy before the deadline. They really need to win 3 out of the next 4 or 2 of 3 to at least get them on the path.

Bos
Pitt
@ Columbus (b2b)
2 weeks off
@ Buf
@ Pit (b2b)
@ NYI
Toronto
Trade deadline

Personally I think they are done and should start working the phones hard to sell after the 4 Nations tournament. And what stinks is there are only 2 teams currently in a playoff spot on the list of games here, which is likely giving some false hope.

 

[duhmetreE]

Long term they aren't.

I have zero doubt that either guy would be an upgrade to him right now. There is literally nothing stopping them from even giving Schneider an extended look there to see what that looks like and letting either Jones or Brannnstrom take reps on the bottom pair outside of Laviolettes unwavering and unwarranted love for RL.

Since the new year -


View attachment 971825

It's not about finding a perfect or even a good solution at this point. They just need to find a less terrible one until they can find something long term because this cannot be allowed to continue. This isn't just bad, it's unplayable.

while playing with Adam Fox.... amazing how bad he is. even more amazing how the org/coaches do not see it.

 

[will1066]

is kaliyev on waivers yet?

Honestly this crossed my mind

 

[effen]

Funny watching people freak out about the cap when Drury was able to wave a magic wand and get rid of our 2 "immovable" contracts. Now with the cap going up I can't believe it's still an issue for some people. The salary cap is a boogeyman that's not real. the Rangers havent had cap issues hamstring them in my lifetime.



LTIR is lovely this time of year. You're also nuts if you dont think a team like Buffalo would sprint to claim him

Uhh, Patrick Kane trade begs to differ.

Point is largely the same.

 

[tiggles]

Don't think we'll be struggling with cap at all. We have to re-sign Cuylle, Miller (if we don't shop him but with how we look on LD I doubt it), Edstrom, Rempe, and potentially Vaak (who again I think we sign given our LD situation). That's, probably, about 10M. We should have around 6.5M in cap space after all that, and that's WITHOUT trading anyone. We would need a backup goalie and another LD. Ideally Garand can be the backup for cheap. Kreider will likely be moved, and I doubt we'll need to take back salary. Value of the return pending, but that's 6.5M off the books. I don't think it'll be impossible to move Mika if he has a strong end to the season production wise. Very unlikely we'll get a team to take him without salary coming back, but could probably move him for a contract in the 4-5M range. And if we REALLY want to open up space and be aggressive in UFA, we can move Panarin. Unlikely, but certainly an option.

With the timing of the cap increase(s) we're actually in a pretty good position. Our bad contracts should be more movable and we have extra room to play around with.

My math has them at around at $3M to work with next year and that's without getting a LHD to replace Lindgren. @lakeshirts37 also came up with something similar. They should be fine as long as they can move another vet contract, but they've put themselves in the position where it pretty much has to happen.

 

[Savant]

Long term they aren't.

I have zero doubt that either guy would be an upgrade to him right now. There is literally nothing stopping them from even giving Schneider an extended look there to see what that looks like and letting either Jones or Brannnstrom take reps on the bottom pair outside of Laviolettes unwavering and unwarranted love for RL.

Since the new year -


View attachment 971825

It's not about finding a perfect or even a good solution at this point. They just need to find a less terrible one until they can find something long term because this cannot be allowed to continue. This isn't just bad, it's unplayable.

Brannstrom and/or Jones are probably upgrades on Lindgren but if they aren’t going to get picked for the lineup they are irrelevant. The issue is we are clearly out on this profile of Dman. If they aren’t going to play small puck moving Dman, they they need to get someone that they will play. The closest thing they had to that internally was Mancini. He’s obviously in Vancouver now. They’ll have to look elsewhere

 

[RangerBoy]

Reilly Smith and Ryan Lindgren to Colorado. I believe Avs GM Chris MacFarland is a Lindgren fan. He said Lindgren is a throwback to the old NHL. The Rangers were in Colorado last season. CMac visited Sam and Joe in the booth between periods. He knows Sam very well because he is from NY. Pace University. Sam said it was nice chatting with the Avs GM and Sam mentioned the Lindgren mention. Last week, Sam and Joe mentioned talking to MacFarland about the Rantanen trade.

Lindgren would be an upgrade over Middleton who is the Avs 3rd pair D. That guy can barely skate and Smith gives the Avs more depth upfront. The Rangers retain 50% on each player. $4.125M. Colorado would be a better team with both players. Maybe they keep them in the summer.

The Avs have some long term IR money remaining.

Avs first round pick in 2026 and the Rangers second round pick in 2025.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Oh please let Lindgren go to Colorado and have Towes simultaneously come down with a case of the extreme shits that keeps him out for a few games.

Lindgren-Makar will give the anti Fox people a f***ing brand new level of appreciation for him. Think Lindgren-Fox is bad? Wait until you see Lindgren in big minutes with a partner who actually can't defend!

I also realize that Colorado has sort of lost the luster of being a mega rush offense but thats another team that is a bad fit for RL. If McFarland wants to deal with that mess he can have it.

Smith is a good fit for them though.

 

[McRanger92]

Updated playoff chances

Moneypuck 42.2%
Athletic 39%
Power Rankings Guru 37.5%
Hockey Reference: 20.5%
Fan Duel +162 they make it

The f***ing Islanders are above them right now with same amount of games played.

The Rangers do have the benefit of the most RW out of the group of 6 teams they are chasing due to their hot start, so they will likely hold the tie breaker. Still, they will need to grab at LEAST 10 out of the available 14 points to be in a position to buy. They really need to win 3 out of the next 4 or 2 of 3 to at least get them on the path.

Bos
Pitt
@ Columbus (b2b)
2 weeks off
@ Buf
@ Pit (b2b)
@ NYI
Toronto
Trade deadline

Personally I think they are done and should start working the phones hard to sell after the 4 Nations tournament. And what stinks is there are only 2 teams currently in a playoff spot on the list of games here, which is likely giving some false hope.

With all due respect, selling Reilly Smith and Ryan Lindgren has nothing to do with continuing to push for the playoffs. I think Drury is going to be looking for buying opportunities and I anticipate there will be many. I doubt he's in on the big rentals but if he intends to extend a player (like Borgen) I could see it. Something around Frederic or Geekie for Kreider if Boston takes his whole salary.

Uhh, Patrick Kane trade begs to differ.

Point is largely the same.

Yeah the Kane thing was an issue of their own making but you're right. Also they should have put Lindgren on LTIR for that, but I digress.

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

With all due respect, selling Reilly Smith and Ryan Lindgren has nothing to do with continuing to push for the playoffs. I think Drury is going to be looking for buying opportunities and I anticipate there will be many. I doubt he's in on the big rentals but if he intends to extend a player (like Borgen) I could see it. Something around Frederic or Geekie for Kreider if Boston takes his whole salary.

boston has like 1M in cap space rn. don't know the deal w/ the prorated space or whatever but I doubt they have room to take his contract without sending salary back, unless they unload someone else in a different move/make it a three team trade.

 

[NYR Viper]

Trading Smith and Vesey is a no-brainer. Drury and his team are allowing Berard and Othmann to play big minutes in the AHL as long as possible but those are the replacements and they're ready. Make those moves.

Lindgren is the tougher one just because you have to backfill him with at least a NHL body. I'm not sold on Jones and Branstrom, while intriguing, isn't a solution for a team pushing for the playoffs.

This is going to be a process, moving towards a very different looking team next season. Take the moves that are available for improvement or lateral steps with the future in mind and go from there.

 

[McRanger92]

boston has like 1M in cap space rn. don't know the deal w/ the prorated space or whatever but I doubt they have room to take his contract without sending salary back, unless they unload someone else in a different move/make it a three team trade.

Those Zadorov and E. Lindholm contracts were asinine. I thought carlo couldve been a fit here as well but not now that Borgen is extended.

 

[McRanger92]

Trading Smith and Vesey is a no-brainer. Drury and his team are allowing Berard and Othmann to play big minutes in the AHL as long as possible but those are the replacements and they're ready. Make those moves.

Lindgren is the tougher one just because you have to backfill him with at least a NHL body. I'm not sold on Jones and Branstrom, while intriguing, isn't a solution for a team pushing for the playoffs.

This is going to be a process, moving towards a very different looking team next season. Take the moves that are available for improvement or lateral steps with the future in mind and go from there.

To me the priority should be solving the Fox partner and 3C issues with short term (1.5 year solutions) to maintain flexibility for the 2026 free agent class.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Trading Smith and Vesey is a no-brainer. Drury and his team are allowing Berard and Othmann to play big minutes in the AHL as long as possible but those are the replacements and they're ready. Make those moves.

Lindgren is the tougher one just because you have to backfill him with at least a NHL body. I'm not sold on Jones and Branstrom, while intriguing, isn't a solution for a team pushing for the playoffs.

This is going to be a process, moving towards a very different looking team next season. Take the moves that are available for improvement or lateral steps with the future in mind and go from there.

Lindgren could be an easy fix if they just relegate him to 3LD and put Schneider or Miller with Fox. But since Lav is so braindead they need to save him from himself and get Lindgren off the team completely

 

[NYR Viper]

To me the priority should be solving the Fox partner and 3C issues with short term (1.5 year solutions) to maintain flexibility for the 2026 free agent class.

I don't disagree, but I think for this season, considering the lack of assets the organization now has, I'd remain patient.

Guys who I would be looking at if they can trade Lindgren:
Maata
Martinez
Ferraro
Lauzon
Gustafsson
Cole

None of these guys are top-pairing but they would all be improvements on Lindgren.

An ideal scenario would be if Nashville was interested in cutting future cap by trading Lauzon and Novak though. Kill two birds with one stone.

Mario Ferraro is an interesting one. Still young, pretty physical. Obviously playing WAY too many minutes.

If the cost is too high on any of these guys I'd still consider trading Lindgren and just paying a 4th or 5th for Martinez or Cole and then circling the wagons in the off-season

 

[Clark Kellogg]

Funny watching people freak out about the cap when Drury was able to wave a magic wand and get rid of our 2 "immovable" contracts. Now with the cap going up I can't believe it's still an issue for some people. The salary cap is a boogeyman that's not real. the Rangers havent had cap issues hamstring them in my lifetime.



LTIR is lovely this time of year. You're also nuts if you dont think a team like Buffalo would sprint to claim him

In Israel they have a Tenth Man Advisory. Born out of being surprised during the Yom Kippur War.
Nothing is left to chance. When the government plans a strategy and even if all 10 committee members agree, the 10th person must bring forth a counter argument and try and persuade the other 9 members.
No surprises.
The Rangers would do well to adopt that policy. Plan for every scenario.
Think back to the Lafreniere draft. According to Jeff Gorton, no member of the organization met with or interviewed Alexis Lafreniere because they didn’t believe they could get him.
That seems to me to be insanity (nuts)!
If there is a mathematical chance, regardless of how minuscule then the organization should have a contingency plan(s) ready.
All these trade proposals that get posted that involve Zibanejad even though he has stated that he is not willing to waive his NMC seems ridiculous and a waste of time.
Posting that Kreider might still be on the Ranger’s payroll fully or partially come next season is just Tenth Man planning.