Speculation: Roster Building Thread: Part XVI

[NYR Viper]

I think you mean Josh Anderson

I agree that he could be a Fast replacement. But how much would he cost to acquire? There's also the fact that he needs a new contract. He's having a down year, but he scored 27 goals and 47 points a year ago.

He's currently making 2.1 mil (1.85 cap hit). Fast is making 1.95 mil (1.85 cap hit). Anderson will be 26 in May. Fast will be 28 in a week. Neither is likely to get a long term deal, but Anderson is likely looking at a larger AAV.

I'd be okay trading Kreider and Strome and using a piece from those trades or a piece within the organization to target Anderson should he be available. I'd sign him to a 3-4 year deal in the off-season

 

[NYR Viper]

I know I'm probably in the minority on this one, but I've never been wowed by McIlrath as a fighter.

I think he's very good and all, but people talked about his fighting so much and I just never came away feeling like I saw someone who looked like an unstoppable force out there.

At this point, I've watched him for more than 10 years and my stance has remained relatively unchanged.

I think that's an era thing. For this era, he's scary. Go back 10-15 years and he's probably good but not great. Like a Rupp/Engelland or someone of that ilk.

By this I mean, McIlrath is probably someone who would slightly intimidate guy like Simmonds or Wilson a bit. He's probably comparable to someone like Reaves.

 

[Kovalev27]

Quinn is gonna move Chytil who’s been our best center and has dominated with Kreider and Buchy, to Wing to accommodate Strome and Howden and I’m going to be livid.

 

[haveandare]

The answer to your question is 100% dependable on what TDA make at that point? Everyone are just in total denial about the decision Gorton put us in when he signed TDA to that bridge deal.

Tony D has 17 pts in 22 games. He was our second best skaters the 2nd half of the season last year. If he was good defensively he would be a lock to be a Norris Candidate.

Trouba is 3 years away from becoming an UFA. He will get paid a lot in arbitration next summer if he gets 50+ pts — of course. Two year arbitration award. The year after that he can just take the QO and be an UFA the following season.

Gorton is making extremely poor contract decisions and the people covering this team has no clue how the CBA works. They still talk about the Bridge Contract like it’s some fantastic option. Brooks isn’t afraid to call people out, but he loves the cowboy mambo jambo talk Slats started with.

What is the cost to lock up TDA to a long term deal next summer? 6.5m per? 7m per?

A 5 year deal at around 4m last summer would have been perfect.

People also talk about Buchnevich like he potentially could have a future here? Lol. After his bridge deal is up he can take the arbitration deal (our settle before it since everyone known the outcome), and be an UFA when the 2 year arbitration awards ends.

What would it take to lock up Buch to a long term deal right before he gets to UFA? 7m per? 8m per?

They are history, unless they are willing to forfeit a ton of money within grasp to stay in NY.

Lemieux could potentially be saved.

Can you imagine that we could have locked these guys up to extremely favorable deals last summer? All stars aligned and Gorton dropped the ball.

How did the stars align? There wasn't space to do these things.

Tony couldn't get a long term deal, there literally was not cap space for it. Not to mention, it's easy to say now that they should have locked him up since he's playing great, but last summer he was coming off his first and only impressive year, and even then he was scratched an awful lot.

You're talking about 3 years from now like any of us know what the overall team makeup is going to be by then. Look back 3 yers ago and think of how realistic it would have been to guess what the team would look like today.

 

[BKGooner]

I know I'm probably in the minority on this one, but I've never been wowed by McIlrath as a fighter.

I think he's very good and all, but people talked about his fighting so much and I just never came away feeling like I saw someone who looked like an unstoppable force out there.

At this point, I've watched him for more than 10 years and my stance has remained relatively unchanged.

He' a great fighter the way Tom Wilson is a great fighter - they are willing. Either of of them would get rocked by any top tier 80's or 90's fighter. McIlrath's balance while fighting is bad and he leaves himself too open. On a related note is that shine Lemieux is sorting courtesy of Wilson? I didn't see him really get caught like that...

 

[wafflepadsave]

Not sure I get the 90’s reference. The Pens do it all the time. Chicago did it. It might need different break out plays from your own end zone but it’s not difficult if the player thrives on the off side.

Orpik-Gonchar (2009)
Maatta-Daley (2016 & 2017)
Hainsey-Dumoulin (2017)

Nico Gross plays on the right side exclusively.

 

[NYR Viper]

He' a great fighter the way Tom Wilson is a great fighter - they are willing. Either of of them would get rocked by any top tier 80's or 90's fighter. McIlrath's balance while fighting is bad and he leaves himself too open. On a related note is that shine Lemieux is sorting courtesy of Wilson? I didn't see him really get caught like that...

No, he was high sticked against Ottawa

 

[wafflepadsave]

I think the thing we have to be cautious about is reacting to when this team has parts coming together and when those parts aren't.

Right now, there are a lot of parts coming together, and that's allowed us to get back to .500. But it's to be expected that there are going to be stretches where the offense isn't producing like this, and the defense is probably not going to make up the difference, even with improvement.

I say this not to be a downer, but to hopefully set the table for what has a good likelihood of happening. Because when/if it does happen, we're going to be right back to the "This a Bad Hockey Team" and "Management is Lost" type threads. And those too will not be an accurate reflection.

How do you block those threads?

 

[wafflepadsave]

Wow, didn't realize Josh Anderson was having such a horrible start to this season. If Columbus was to trade him, I'd be intrigued.

Have ya given up on Kassian?

 

[wafflepadsave]

I'm not saying he's a target, but that's the kind of age range/situation I expect the Rangers to be monitoring as they're looking at potential moves this season and this off-season. Be it moving veterans, be it moving a prospect, a young player, a pick, etc., I think they're going to be looking at guys in the age range where they can step and be productive in fairly short order.

What would Columbus want right now, if it was a possibility?

 

[wafflepadsave]

While Smith isn't exactly lighting the world on fire as a 4th liner, he can be passable at times and while I wouldn't hesitate for a second to send him to Arizona for absolutely nothing, I would greatly prefer for it to be Staal. Even though him being benched is what is best for the teams performance, I can't imagine it is an easy thing for all of these guys to deal with, especially for those who have played with him for so long.

I am a bit surprised we haven’t heard about his anticipated return. Should be soon.

 

[Edge]

What would Columbus want right now, if it was a possibility?

Help on the wings.

 

[GAGLine]

I am a bit surprised we haven’t heard about his anticipated return. Should be soon.

They said something about it on the broadcast last night. IIRC, he hasn't started skating yet, but he's close.

 

[RangerBoy]

I agree on Staal. The cap hit implications of buying him out next year are minimal. We need the roster spot for other players.

If Skjei is traded, that would still leave us with Trouba, DeAngelo, Lindgren and Hajek who need protection. Trouba obviously has to be protected because of the NMC, so that means 1 of the other 3 will be left unprotected, assuming they aren't traded. All of those 3 should satisfy the 40 games or 70 games requirements, barring injury, so there probably won't be a need to sign someone to expose.

At forward, we will likely protect Panarin, Zib, Buchnevich, Chytil, Lemieux, Howden, with one slot left. Kakko doesn't need protection. Kreider and Strome will probably be gone, but if we end up re-signing one of them, or we trade for/sign someone who needs protection, we have the extra slot. Or Andersson can be protected, assuming he's still here. Or Fast, if he is re-signed.

I think we're in really good shape for the expansion draft. Our rebuild came at the right time as a lot of players are exempt, and a lot of the ones who aren't, have been traded or soon will be. We'll need to sign a goalie to expose, but that shouldn't be a problem. We'll likely lose a dman in the draft, but we've got plenty of depth.

The Rangers said Staal would be out a minimum two weeks and he would reevaluated after the two weeks. Last Saturday was two weeks. There hasn't been an update. The Rangers are a better with Lindgren and Hajek in the lineup.

Staal and Smith. Both of them should be bought out. The Rangers need to move on from them. Both buyouts are not bad. The Rangers free up some money and roster spots. The Rangers can find a better winger than Smith. A real actual forward.

The Rangers buyout Staal and save $2,133,333 on the cap.
The Rangers buyout Smith and save $1,566,667 on the cap.
The cap goes up by another $2M. $83.5M.

The Staal and Smith buyouts add $6.35M to the buyout ledger for next season. $13,844,444. Gorton signed Shattenkirk and Smith to 4 year contracts when he already had Staal for 4 more seasons. Gorton f***ed up there.

Adds $1.85M for a total of $4,394,444 in buyout money for 21-22.

The current TV with NBC expires after 20-21. Seattle will join the NHL in 21-22. The cap should go up by a pretty good number.

Maybe the loonie breaks out of the 75 cents trading range in the next few years.

The Rangers open up roster spots and play their young players. Lundqvist's $8.5M comes off the books after 20-21.

 

[RGY]

Would LOVE to grab Josh Anderson right now. That would make us much tougher to play against when the first two lines are resting. The combination of Lemiuex and Anderson would abuse teams physically and mentally. You need that kind of depth to wear teams down.

 

[wafflepadsave]

See, and this is why I personally think that at some point in the future, ADA will likely move on to finish his career elsewhere. If you've got that many guys with the same flaw playing the same position, you've created a weakness for your opposition to exploit. Indeed, we've seen how Quinn has tried to mitigate this problem by playing a hybrid D/F on his 4th line so that neither Fox nor DeAngelo play much PK.

This isn't a knock on Tony! He's a dynamic offensive D, as we saw last night. But I also think he's the least rounded of the current RD, 3 years older than Fox (only 1 less than Trouba!), and the biggest liability in his own zone. As @Edge described him a day or so ago, he's an incredibly dangerous 3rd pair PP specialist. And that's a very valuable guy... if most or all of the rest of your D are stalwarts.

But with Trouba already a 40-point+ guy, Fox a 40-point+ guy with significant upside beyond that, and given the pipeline coming – which includes Keane and Lundkvist, who are both slightly larger, with better defense, and good (though admittedly not equal) offense on the doorstep – I just don't see Tony here for the long haul, especially after he gets paid (which he should, and will).

Honestly, I feel like Trouba (contract, NMC) and Fox (forced his way here, unheard of start in only his 1st NHL season, at the age of 21) are both long term locks, and I wouldn't be surprised if all of ADA, Lundqvist, and Keane get moved eventually. And if/when they are, I expect them to return excellent value, because they're good players; just not great fits on the Rangers.

I mean, if I'm management, and I'm looking long-term, I'm hoping for a blue line that looks like:

Miller-Trouba
Hajek/Rykov/Robertson-Fox
Jones/Reunanen-Skinner

(Always with the potential for someone outside the organization to join the conversation, especially to compete with the slashed groups and Skinner.)

Not because the odd men out among Hajek/Rykov/Robertson, Jones/Reunanen, ADA, Lindgren, Lundqvist, Keane, etc. are bad players. They're not! (Hell, both ADA and Lindgren are playing and holding their own in the NHL right now.) But because of the mix I want to see in 2-3 years when I expect this team to open a long window of going deep into the playoffs.

That was the old Montreal model of operation. Continue to develop players, who for whatever reason weren’t long term pieces, that are traded for other assets (1sts).

 

[wafflepadsave]

Time

Sorry yes, am currently in my International Econ class, probably shouldn't be on here lol.

to focus on class.

 

[Kovalev27]

I can’t see a scenario where Marc Staal isn’t bought out this summer. Makes too much sense not to.

 

[SA16]

The answer to your question is 100% dependable on what TDA make at that point? Everyone are just in total denial about the decision Gorton put us in when he signed TDA to that bridge deal.

Tony D has 17 pts in 22 games. He was our second best skaters the 2nd half of the season last year. If he was good defensively he would be a lock to be a Norris Candidate.

Trouba is 3 years away from becoming an UFA. He will get paid a lot in arbitration next summer if he gets 50+ pts — of course. Two year arbitration award. The year after that he can just take the QO and be an UFA the following season.

Gorton is making extremely poor contract decisions and the people covering this team has no clue how the CBA works. They still talk about the Bridge Contract like it’s some fantastic option. Brooks isn’t afraid to call people out, but he loves the cowboy mambo jambo talk Slats started with.

What is the cost to lock up TDA to a long term deal next summer? 6.5m per? 7m per?

A 5 year deal at around 4m last summer would have been perfect.

People also talk about Buchnevich like he potentially could have a future here? Lol. After his bridge deal is up he can take the arbitration deal (our settle before it since everyone known the outcome), and be an UFA when the 2 year arbitration awards ends.

What would it take to lock up Buch to a long term deal right before he gets to UFA? 7m per? 8m per?

They are history, unless they are willing to forfeit a ton of money within grasp to stay in NY.

Lemieux could potentially be saved.

Can you imagine that we could have locked these guys up to extremely favorable deals last summer? All stars aligned and Gorton dropped the ball.

There was no cap space to do that.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

I can’t see a scenario where Marc Staal isn’t bought out this summer. Makes too much sense not to.

LTIR

 

[SA16]

I can't see why it makes any sense to buy out Staal rather than just not play him. They don't need the cap space. Why extend it another year even if it's minimal?

 

[wafflepadsave]

the lack of side among our RHD d prospects is why getting a guy like trouba was a big deal...but I'm less concerned with the lack of size and more concerned with the ability to play defensive. You can be small and still good defensively, if fox/deangelo/lundkvist are smart players breaking up plays with their sticks and getting out of the zone quickly I don't think anyone will care that they are smaller. plus we should also have size on the left to help balance that out.

Well, we’ll need plenty of them as long as the caps, bruins, etc are allowed to to hit to hurt without impunity.

 

[wafflepadsave]

I know I'm probably in the minority on this one, but I've never been wowed by McIlrath as a fighter.

I think he's very good and all, but people talked about his fighting so much and I just never came away feeling like I saw someone who looked like an unstoppable force out there.

At this point, I've watched him for more than 10 years and my stance has remained relatively unchanged.

 

[LeetchisGod]

I'm not saying he's a target, but that's the kind of age range/situation I expect the Rangers to be monitoring as they're looking at potential moves this season and this off-season. Be it moving veterans, be it moving a prospect, a young player, a pick, etc., I think they're going to be looking at guys in the age range where they can step and be productive in fairly short order.

Anderson and Lemieux on a checking line would be a nightmare for opposing dmen.

 

[NYR Viper]

Have ya given up on Kassian?

He's a UFA to be, so no. Although his price would probably be to high for where the team is currently. I was hopeful he could have been had when his value was lower