Speculation: Roster Building thread - Part XVII - (TDL is March 7th)

[Oscar Lindberg]

I don’t want to be a bummer but I’d like to see Cuylle score more than 40 points before pencilling him in as a top 6 forward for the future

Might just be me though

 

[NickyFotiu]

I don’t want to be a bummer but I’d like to see Cuylle score more than 40 points before pencilling him in as a top 6 forward for the future

Might just be me though

We need to find some real top line guys. I don't even like the term top 6 anymore because often on this board it ends up wanting 3rd liners on the 2nd line (or above) and 2nd liners on the first line. Ditto top 4 Dmen instead of real 1st pairing guys.. Lets aim for some elite guys not just may score 45 points if he played 20 minutes guys.

 

[McRanger92]

I don’t want to be a bummer but I’d like to see Cuylle score more than 40 points before pencilling him in as a top 6 forward for the future

Might just be me though

Sam Bennett is a top 6 player but has never scored 50. Points arebt everything. Give Cuylle the minutes and he will be in the areas on the ice he needs to be to get plenty of points

 

[jerseyjinx94]

What’s that website with the accurate-ish contract projections?

 

[BlueGoose27]

The league is going to want Brady Tkachuk somewhere in the US. He will be the Captain of Team USA in all likelihood at the Olympics. I think the Tkachuk family is going to push for him to be in the USA. Ottawa loses all leverage when the NMC kicks in. Is sneaking into the playoffs and getting bounced in round 1 convincing him to stay? The only reason they have a chance is because our dumbass squad stopped playing for a month and a half. They are a bubble team at best. And it's not like its a good market.

Brady will get dealt in the summer to the Rangers, Blues, Devils or Flyers. All 4 GMs have high motivation to get him. It's going to be a throwback haul to the Lindros trade. The trade negotiations will be good for ratings.

Curious, what would your proposals be for those 4 teams?

 

[80shockeywasbuns]

I feel like Lindgren would get them Zegras lol

 

[mike14]

What’s that website with the accurate-ish contract projections?

Evolving Hockey, I think

 

[RangerBoy]

Why then? Because he's from the area?

I hope you're not saying criticism of him has anything to do with his ethnicity or political affiliation.

Fox is from the area. Long Island. So many people loved Shattenkirk because he was from here. New Rochelle. That guy who used to play in San Jose. Labanc. Staten Island. He was mentioned so much on this board. You would thought he was Mike Bossy. Zegras is another one. He is from the area. Bedford. Let's get him because he grew up a Ranger fan and attended games at MSG. No.

Shattenkirk was an analytics darling. He was so great. His goals above expectation were 1,000. He was a PP specialist and 2nd pair D. Just put Shattenkirk with someone like McDonagh and he will win a Norris Trophy or two as a Ranger. Nope.

Everyone on this board gets criticized. Don't mention Adam Fox. It's a vendetta. Really? Fox is more a PP specialist and 2nd pair D making $9.5M than a first pair D. It's never Adam's fault. Poor Ryan Lindgren gets pillared every day for Fox being bad in games. Must be a vendetta.

If Hughes was healthy, would Fox even be playing? Werenski and Faber are having a better seasons than Fox. The game was too fast in the first periods for Fox. I am not the only one to see this. The U.S. was on the verge of getting run out of Montreal until their big D started defending. The Rangers have a Fox problem. Dom's charts can say Fox is all world but the guy can't defend or skate and he is a small D. Those are the facts.

 

[RangerBoy]

Had Fox gotten smoked by McDavid on canadas only goal you would have been all over him (FTR, I don’t think he could have done much there, sometimes a player is just going to get McDavid’d.)

But McAvoy isn’t a Ranger so free pass!

Sit this one out. McAvoy's hit on McDavid changed the game. The U.S. would gotten run out of the building by Canada.









I have had this conversation with you last season. Gustafsson. The Rangers are winning 16 playoff games with soft group of D.

 

[McRanger92]

Sit this one out. McAvoy's hit on McDavid changed the game. The U.S. would gotten run out of the building by Canada.









I have had this conversation with you last season. Gustafsson. The Rangers are winning 16 playoff games with soft group of D.

You must miss Trouba and his nuclear hits too.

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

Fox is from the area. Long Island. So many people loved Shattenkirk because he was from here. New Rochelle. That guy who used to play in San Jose. Labanc. Staten Island. He was mentioned so much on this board. You would thought he was Mike Bossy. Zegras is another one. He is from the area. Bedford. Let's get him because he grew up a Ranger fan and attended games at MSG. No.

Shattenkirk was an analytics darling. He was so great. His goals above expectation were 1,000. He was a PP specialist and 2nd pair D. Just put Shattenkirk with someone like McDonagh and he will win a Norris Trophy or two as a Ranger. Nope.

Everyone on this board gets criticized. Don't mention Adam Fox. It's a vendetta. Really? Fox is more a PP specialist and 2nd pair D making $9.5M than a first pair D. It's never Adam's fault. Poor Ryan Lindgren gets pillared every day for Fox being bad in games. Must be a vendetta.

If Hughes was healthy, would Fox even be playing? Werenski and Faber are having a better seasons than Fox. The game was too fast in the first periods for Fox. I am not the only one to see this. The U.S. was on the verge of getting run out of Montreal until their big D started defending. The Rangers have a Fox problem. Dom's charts can say Fox is all world but the guy can't defend or skate and he is a small D. Those are the facts.

Going to have to reconsider everything I’ve ever known now that 4 random fans on twitter think Fox sucks.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Sit this one out. McAvoy's hit on McDavid changed the game. The U.S. would gotten run out of the building by Canada.









I have had this conversation with you last season. Gustafsson. The Rangers are winning 16 playoff games with soft group of D.

Oh he threw a hit! Yippie!

He also got smoked on that goal and you wouldn’t have shut the f*** up about it had it happened to Fox.

You know who sucked a hell of a lot more than goose in the playoffs? Big tough Trouba and gritty TUFF Lindgren. Those are the reasons we lost, not Gustafsson so why don’t you ask your prompt engineer to make a few updates and try again?

 

[eco's bones]

On Brooks---I tend to believe he lost his sources from the Rangers locker room. Because he still had a job to do (or to justify doing) that forced him to create shit out of thin air. I don't think otherwise he's all that much different than before except for maybe older.

I suspect the Rangers already have feelers out in any number of directions---some as a seller and some as a buyer. A lot probably depends on how they do in the games leading up to the trade deadline. If they play like shit....they sell. If they get at least within a couple points of a playoff spot they probably buy with some chance they won't and it also might depend on how other teams they're competing with for that last spot or two do as well.

I just don't see us trading for Frederic at this time. I don't think it very likely we're trading other upcoming unrestricted players for him either. There's not much point to bringing him in unless you think he can significantly help the team make a playoff run and/or you can trade and sign and as far as the trade and sign option you're pretty much going to have to meet his number whatever is and it's probably overpriced. Trading Lindgren and Smith for him means we won't get younger players, prospects, picks for those two and if we're still trying to make the playoffs we'll probably have to move younger prospects, picks to get a replacement for Lindgren.

 

[leetch99]

Both gritty . Worth a look

From the AHL to the NHL top line /playoff hunt.....quite a start for a rookie . Has it happened often ? If he can fill in for Edstrom IMO that would be a great start for Othmann and the Rangers .....and then we go from there . Let's not put him in a position to fail right off the bat . Heck...I know he is Canadian and definitely would be up for it but we have to be realistic in his situation .

 

[jerseyjinx94]

On Brooks---I tend to believe he lost his sources from the Rangers locker room. Because he still had a job to do (or to justify doing) that forced him to create shit out of thin air. I don't think otherwise he's all that much different than before except for maybe older.

I suspect the Rangers already have feelers out in any number of directions---some as a seller and some as a buyer. A lot probably depends on how they do in the games leading up to the trade deadline. If they play like shit....they sell. If they get at least within a couple points of a playoff spot they probably buy with some chance they won't and it also might depend on how other teams they're competing with for that last spot or two do as well.

I just don't see us trading for Frederic at this time. I don't think it very likely we're trading other upcoming unrestricted players for him either. There's not much point to bringing him in unless you think he can significantly help the team make a playoff run and/or you can trade and sign and as far as the trade and sign option you're pretty much going to have to meet his number whatever is and it's probably overpriced. Trading Lindgren and Smith for him means we won't get younger players, prospects, picks for those two and if we're still trying to make the playoffs we'll probably have to move younger prospects, picks to get a replacement for Lindgren.

I’d rather not get Frederic bc I want to save some ammo for Sam Bennett in the summer. Frederic next deal screams Goodrow to me

 

[eco's bones]

Oh he threw a hit! Yippie!

He also got smoked on that goal and you wouldn’t have shut the f*** up about it had it happened to Fox.

You know who sucked a hell of a lot more than goose in the playoffs? Big tough Trouba and gritty TUFF Lindgren. Those are the reasons we lost, not Gustafsson so why don’t you ask your prompt engineer to make a few updates and try again?

Mind you I've been advocating for trading Lindgren all year. Just for one reason I think Fox needs a bigger, stronger, more physical partner.

I also liked what Gustafsson added to our team last year. That said he never really struck me as a great top 4 option. But back to Lindgren---he is tough and gritty---he's just not big and strong enough and he's often injured and too often overpowered and in that he's not much help to Fox.....or not enough. Having said all that and back to his grittiness and toughness---reports were he had cracked ribs in that series with the Panthers. I've had cracked ribs before. It's f***ing painful and I found it very hard to get any rest. I can't imagine someone playing hockey all that well with that issue. Truth is he should have not been playing at all.

Playoffs often bring up depth issues. Winning series often comes down to attrition. Against Tampa a couple years back Strome playing with abdominal tears on both sides. It does show how tough some players can be but it didn't help the team having him play at all. Last year Lindgren might have been somewhat more functional than that but the Rangers didn't have enough faith in the replacements and went with him. Trouba meanwhile skating around on a wobbly ankle. The next question was it just the D that cost us that series? because I saw Barkov just owning Zibanejad all over the ice. To me the Panthers dominated our team in that series---that speaks to a team wide problem. Igor stood on his head and kept the scores respectable. Other than that we were demolished from top to bottom.

 

[eco's bones]

I’d rather not get Frederic bc I want to save some ammo for Sam Bennett in the summer. Frederic next deal screams Goodrow to me

I do like Frederic as a player. But his role should be as a bottom liner and I wouldn't want to get in a bidding war for him via trade or with his next contract. If we're moving on Smith and Lindgren before season's end I'd also prefer picks, prospects as a return. Moving Lindgren also means---either picking up a vet to replace him, or going with Jones (if we haven't moved him as well) which might also signal that the Rangers have given up playoff hopes--because then it's either him or Vaakanainen in the top 4 or bringing up Mackey---again that's basically saying get ready for mid-April golf.

Bennett is more of a middle 6. I like him a lot too but that will be a hefty contract. I see a player who is going to get $6.5 to $7 mil (maybe go higher $8? than that.....there will be a bunch of teams after him) and a 6/7 year term which will have trade conditions. If the projections for the cap going up the next 3 years are correct what is a high number now for him won't be so bad three years from now. Just saying.

 

[TominNC]

Larry is in his mid-70s and had a heart cleanup a few years ago. He's enjoying being a grandfather and not having to go on the road that much anymore.

Having him around as the last part of the old guard; cherish it. At some point the reigns will be handed over to Vince and Instagram Mollie.

As for Josh Anderson; I think the all-time biggest blunder was when Larry wanted the Rangers to offersheet Chris Gratton a lifetime ago.

If we can trash players for getting older and losing it we can do the same for writers and broadcasters.

 

[pld459666]

I don’t want to be a bummer but I’d like to see Cuylle score more than 40 points before pencilling him in as a top 6 forward for the future

Might just be me though

It's his 2nd year in the league.

His projection is on track for a top 6 role and his style of play is similar to JT.

Playing them together as soon as October rolls around is most likely the best course for his continued development.

Hes not gonna produce much more than 40 with 2nd/3rd line minutes

 

[leetch99]

It's his 2nd year in the league.

His projection is on track for a top 6 role and his style of play is similar to JT.

Playing them together as soon as October rolls around is most likely the best course for his continued development.

Hes not gonna produce much more than 40 with 2nd/3rd line minutes

Likely will depend on a few factors....of which none have been determined as of yet and that being who will slot with who if Panarin and Kreider are still here and whether Laf moves back to his natural wing . He is at this time no Hell on his opposite side .

Another thing....albeit likely a long shot at this time....is that Cuylle and Laf would likely be involved in any Tkachuk deal if it ever happens . Anyways...all speculation at this time .

 

[NickyFotiu]

If we can trash players for getting older and losing it we can do the same for writers and broadcasters.

Age isn't Larry's issue imo. Ranger players didn't like or respect him going all the way back to the late 1970s.

 

[TheDirtyH]

If Fox's usage in this tournament proves all of you right about him, then Kakko's immediate promotion to the top line makes you all equally wrong anyway, so just shut up about it.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Mind you I've been advocating for trading Lindgren all year. Just for one reason I think Fox needs a bigger, stronger, more physical partner.

I also liked what Gustafsson added to our team last year. That said he never really struck me as a great top 4 option. But back to Lindgren---he is tough and gritty---he's just not big and strong enough and he's often injured and too often overpowered and in that he's not much help to Fox.....or not enough. Having said all that and back to his grittiness and toughness---reports were he had cracked ribs in that series with the Panthers. I've had cracked ribs before. It's f***ing painful and I found it very hard to get any rest. I can't imagine someone playing hockey all that well with that issue. Truth is he should have not been playing at all.

Playoffs often bring up depth issues. Winning series often comes down to attrition. Against Tampa a couple years back Strome playing with abdominal tears on both sides. It does show how tough some players can be but it didn't help the team having him play at all. Last year Lindgren might have been somewhat more functional than that but the Rangers didn't have enough faith in the replacements and went with him. Trouba meanwhile skating around on a wobbly ankle. The next question was it just the D that cost us that series? because I saw Barkov just owning Zibanejad all over the ice. To me the Panthers dominated our team in that series---that speaks to a team wide problem. Igor stood on his head and kept the scores respectable. Other than that we were demolished from top to bottom.

Lindgren was bad before he got hurt and that’s really the problem. It’s not that they didn’t have replacements, it’s that they didn’t actively try to replace him. They could have easily done that at the deadline last year.

Trouba actually played relatively well (for Trouba) in his limited 5v5 minutes through 2 rounds. Lavi made the mistake of wanting to “muscle up” and he really got taken advantage of vs Florida. Lindgren was Lindgren. He sucked epically pre cracked ribs too.

Florida dominated, but it’s important to look at why. For me the three things that are most clear were

1. Rangers inability to move their puck out of their own end efficiently led to a ton of extended zone time or “reload” sequences. oaf defensemen who can’t move the puck are the prime suspects here.

2. Despite that, they gave up most of their goals off the rush, which is an area they’ve struggled to defend since AV was here. This is multi layered as it’s a combo of the forwards doing stupid shit, not trying hard enough to get back into the play, the actual defense being collectively bad at it and the aforementioned reload plays (Trouba and his Grand Canyon sized gap control was obvious, but Lindgren got gashed off the rush in every series more than anyone.)

3. The PP. They scored more short handed than they did on the PP in this series. I think they actually outscored Florida 5v5 in this series somehow.

4. Coaching. I don’t know why both Gallant and Laviolette have decided to give Zibanejad the tough matchups. I don’t know that his line would have done a lot better against the others but I think there would have been more push back from the trocheck line (even with a useless Panarin.) Bumping up Trouba was dumb, his over aggressiveness was a major detriment in this series. Lindgren should have at most, been used sparingly instead of doing what ever the hell it was that he did in the playoffs last year. Graded out as the worst defenseman on the team by a lot.

It’s not just the 2 D, but when you have those 2 D playing in your top 4 you’re basically playing on hard mode. Really tough to win that way against a team that went on to eventually win the whole thing.

I think they could have beaten Florida with a better body in place of Lindgren and/or Panarin actually doing something. You bascially had to hope that Panarin would carry over most of his play from the RS (and for the most part he didn’t) but Lindgren was a self inflicted wound, there was nothing stopping them from upgrading there as he was an obvious sore spot even before the playoffs started.

 

[leetch99]

We need a bigger Fox.....think like a wolf or even Coyote !

 

[NYR Viper]

Adam Fox isn't the issue. Does the defense need to get bigger and more physical along with more competent? Yes. Borgen was a nice step in that direction. I actually like Vaak too, he is passable on the bottom-pairing. That process needs to continue.

Adam Fox @ $9.5m isn't really a concern. He is one of the best offensive d-men in the league and when he is on the ice, the team consistently out-performs the other team.

Montour got $7.143m on a LONG term deal this past offseason
Skjei got $7m

Wait until we see what Chychrun gets as a UFA. AFP has him projected @ $7.85m as of right now. I am guessing he eclipses $8-$8.5m per season. That's a guy whose only full 82 game season he ever played was last year in Ottawa and who doesn't really drive offense anywhere close to how Fox does with regularity.