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

[Machinehead]

Well its different in the sense that he has multiple years left after this one. I think almost every non UFA acquisition has been a rental (which is an issue in itself.)

I don't think it was a "lets try to get in now!" move for that reason alone. We've heard time and time again about how they want to change the style of play/culture/etc. and this is certainly a move in that direction.

If he self rents his UFA's or tries to add more rentals? Yeah, thats a dumb ass hail mary.

1LD has been his biggest blind spot. Thats been an issue since he got here and it's only become more glaring as the player who occupies that spot has become less capable of handling it and he already wasn't really capable of handling it at his best.

Outside of McDonagh's relatively brief peak here before settling in with Tampa, 1LD has been an issue since Leetch retired. Somebody please.

 

[McRanger92]

I think the NMC and NTC are often over rated. Few guys try to stay where they are not wanted for long.

In that respect a few of Zibanejad's comments at the four nations were telling. He talked about how much he liked and was more comfortable playing with Swedes. If it's clear Kreider is on the way out, Mika miught be willing to waive to an Eastern Conference team with a Swedish presence. Think Toronto with Nylander who he played with on Team Sweden. Or Pittsburgh with Karlsson and Rakell who is a former teammate in Sweden. I think their will be a market for guys like Mika, Kreider and Panarin with teams who wont ask them to be the main guys.

 

[NickyFotiu]

In that respect a few of Zibanejad's comments at the four nations were telling. He talked about how much he liked and was more comfortable playing with Swedes. If it's clear Kreider is on the way out, Mika miught be willing to waive to an Eastern Conference team with a Swedish presence. Think Toronto with Nylander who he played with on Team Sweden. Or Pittsburgh with Karlsson and Rakell who is a former teammate in Sweden. I think their will be a market for guys like Mika, Kreider and Panarin with teams who wont ask them to be the main guys.

Its been a strangely quiet trade market. Not just for us. Very few rumors for the whole league. Where are the buyers? Feels like teams are more conservative this season so far.

 

[McRanger92]

Eh, I wouldn't say that is completely accurate though. He traded the teams captain and waived Goodrow. I mean those are pretty monumental moves in terms of NHL activity. The issue is, there is quite a bit more to do. It's like a game of whack-a-mole

So far his major long-term additions to the roster have been Trocheck, JT Miller and Will Borgen. Those are the only guys he has acquired for/extended for 4+ years. He gave large extensions to Fox, Mika, Igor and Lafreniere but they all are homegrown and predate him being in the big chair. He has to find a way to move Panarin and Kreider, who do not fit the team Drury is trying to build. I think it's fairly obvious Drury wants that Team USA play style in NY. We all know who fits that on this roster and who doesnt. He has given the veteran core so much rope. Too much in my opinion. And I am generally a fan of his work. But its gotten frustrating watching this team spin its wheels. Something more needs to be done. Incremental changes are only delaying the inevitable.

Its been a strangely quiet trade market. Not just for us. Very few rumors for the whole league. Where are the buyers? Feels like teams are more conservative this season so far.

There was a flurry of activity just before the Four Nations break. Truthfully Im expecting it to pick up whenever Rantanen rejects this contract extension from Carolina.

 

[NickyFotiu]

So far his major long-term additions to the roster have been Trocheck, JT Miller and Will Borgen. Those are the only guys he has acquired for/extended for 4+ years. He gave large extensions to Fox, Mika, Igor and Lafreniere but they all are homegrown and predate him being in the big chair. He has to find a way to move Panarin and Kreider, who do not fit the team Drury is trying to build. I think it's fairly obvious Drury wants that Team USA play style in NY. We all know who fits that on this roster and who doesnt. He has given the veteran core so much rope. Too much in my opinion. And I am generally a fan of his work. But its gotten frustrating watching this team spin its wheels. Something more needs to be done. Incremental changes are only delaying the inevitable.



There was a flurry of activity just before the Four Nations break. Truthfully Im expecting it to pick up whenever Rantanen rejects this contract extension from Carolina.

Deadline is fast approaching so hopefully buyers feel more urgency soon.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

That's my thing with Drury. He always feels like a sitting duck. He always feels like he's desperately papering holes to survive the next couple months (and maybe that's a Dolan thing) instead of having this big plan to transform the team.

Maybe somebody like Miller is a different direction, but right now, you can't convince me it's not "maybe we make the playoffs if I add this guy."

To me the largest issue here is there’s no obvious core pieces that are stars coming down the pipe to take over from this current group

Like if you assume Kreider, Mika and Panarin are gone, that leaves you JT, Igor and Fox. And maybe Trocheck

Laf hasn’t proven he’s a viable good long term option, Cuylle is solid but not a star. So you’re banking on trading for or drafting your next core.

Will JT, Fox and Igor still be good by the time that group is ready? Probably not (although Fox is more likely than the other two)

The team is in this weird in between where they have to rebuild the foundation but also have committed a bunch of money to core players who are going to exit their prime sooner rather than later.

And it feels like Drury is just papering over shit because that’s the easiest path

 

[McRanger92]

Deadline is fast approaching so hopefully buyers feel more urgency soon.

Wishful thinking on my end but I look around the league and all season Ive seen teams in need of major shakeups, including our own. With the cap rising Im hoping we see more of these throwback 90s trades with lots of names witching teams. Its exciting for the league. They should be looking to capitalize on the popularity.

 

[bernmeister]

I think the NMC and NTC are often over rated. Few guys try to stay where they are not wanted for long.

Nevertheless, I would have a team policy, no NMCs, period, no exceptions
reasonable->extensive ntcs as warranted do the job and leave at least a little bit of wriggle room

While we have to be fair to the player and vice versa, we cannot have another repeat Zib and just trust going forward

 

[NickyFotiu]

Wishful thinking on my end but I look around the league and all season Ive seen teams in need of major shakeups, including our own. With the cap rising Im hoping we see more of these throwback 90s trades with lots of names witching teams. Its exciting for the league. They should be looking to capitalize on the popularity.

Hopefully but very quiet rumor wise so far imo.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Nevertheless, I would have a team policy, no NMCs, period, no exceptions
reasonable->extensive ntcs as warranted do the job and leave at least a little bit of wriggle room

While we have to be fair to the player and vice versa, we cannot have another repeat Zib and just trust going forward

I would try to avoid them or limit them for sure. They have become fairly popular league wide.

 

[Savant]

I think the NMC and NTC are often over rated. Few guys try to stay where they are not wanted for long.

It is a barrier.

JT Miller wasnt a trade for this season. The deadline is coming up. Drury still has plenty of moves to make and his actions this year show he will continue to do so. He's very likely going to buy and sell with next year in mind because he's not getting fired lol.

Miller was absolutely a trade for this season. If it wasn’t, there wouldn’t have been lotto protections on the draft pick. Kakko for Borgen was a trade for this season too. Igor extension. Etc.

What I’m saying is that if Drury isn’t the guy, you can’t keep letting him make moves that blow up on the next guy like Gorton did to him

 

[Guyute]

If I'm Drury, I'm offering Panarin with 50% retention to Florida and Washington right away. Florida has the cap space with Tkachuk off to LTIR. Washington needs another top-6 scorer. Ovi will score even more goals with Panarin feeding him one-timers on the PP.

Both teams are contenders to come out of the Eastern Conference. Have them duke it out over who gets Panarin at $5.9 AAV for two playoff runs. Maybe we can get Mackie Samoskevich+ or, dare I say, Ryan Leonard. I bet the Caps owner would love to get OV another Cup as he breaks Gretzky's record.

 

[TGWL]

The defense is hard to evaluate. Can it be that everybody is total ass? I mean, yeah, it can definitely be that and I wouldn't argue. But we should start by getting rid of Phil Housley before we go and trade 4 dmen while keeping Fox, Borgen and Miller?

Obviously Buffalo Sabres had issues and it's not all on coaching, but they were 2nd in goals against during Housley's time. Arizona struggled on the backend.
WC - USA
2010-2011 - No medal
2013-2014 - Bronze
2014-2015 - No medal
But hey we have that WC Jr. Gold medal to look back on.

I guess his time will be up when Lav is canned. We're watching the same games over and over again and the thought of losing an unprotected first next year while potentially being a bottom team is making me mad.

 

[TGWL]

No, I want to live in this world, let me dream

Seriously though, I think there is a fit for Panarin in LA. No idea what his trade value is but I could see him getting a haul

Kempa is basically the heart of their team. Yeah, yeah, they have Kopitar, but he's turning 38. Kempa is making 5.5m while doing everything for them. (Same in the playoffs although sample size) They probably want to extend him.

Doughty just came back so I don't know what they're doing with Brandt Clarke for the lineup, but he won't be traded with a stud like Kempe for 1 year of Panarin.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Kakko was never gonna grow here anyways, he said it himself. At this stage the only thing people should be mad about in regards to him is that Drury dragged his ass trading him.

He should been traded f***ing 2 years ago

Orrrrrr, you fix the reason your high picks can't develop in this organization. The reason we're shit is because players that we drafted should be vets who run this team now. Kakko has looks good with Seattle, and he really only just got there. If Lafreniere leaves here he'll turn into Mike bossy, the problem lies in the organization not the draft picks. Chris Drury hasn't done anything for forward development since he landed in hartford.

 

[haohmaru]

I would try to avoid them or limit them for sure. They have become fairly popular league wide.

If you want to offer competitive contracts, you can't avoid them for any player that other teams are also vying for. The better the player, the less likely you can land them without one.

The NHLPA will never agree, but complete NMC's shouldn't be a thing anymore. I'm pro-player but this just puts WAY too much power in their hands. Look at Miller - this is a 100 point player that was moved for a talented guy one hit away from possibly never playing again, a middling 1st, and a bottom pair D. In a really competitive market where destination wasn't limited to ONE place he would've gotten A LOT more in return.

 

[haohmaru]

Orrrrrr, you fix the reason your high picks can't develop in this organization. The reason we're shit is because players that we drafted should be vets who run this team now. Kakko has looks good with Seattle, and he really only just got there. If Lafreniere leaves here he'll turn into Mike bossy, the problem lies in the organization not the draft picks. Chris Drury hasn't done anything for forward development since he landed in hartford.

I was all for keeping Kakko and have said so for years.

That being said,

Let's remember Kakko is on a terrible team that's losing all the time playing more minutes and more important minutes than he did with the Rangers. His ATOI is whopping FOUR AND A HALF more minutes per game. That's a crazy increase. 13 to almost 18.

He himself said he didn't do enough with his opportunities here. He'll be a good NHL player for the next 10 years and, as much as it sucks, it wasn't going to work here.

 

[UAGoalieGuy]

Smith, Lindgren and Vesey showing up on the scoresheet strike while the iron is hot!

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

If I'm Drury, I'm offering Panarin with 50% retention to Florida and Washington right away. Florida has the cap space with Tkachuk off to LTIR. Washington needs another top-6 scorer. Ovi will score even more goals with Panarin feeding him one-timers on the PP.

Both teams are contenders to come out of the Eastern Conference. Have them duke it out over who gets Panarin at $5.9 AAV for two playoff runs. Maybe we can get Mackie Samoskevich+ or, dare I say, Ryan Leonard. I bet the Caps owner would love to get OV another Cup as he breaks Gretzky's record.

If there is any chance to bring Leonard here I would move mountains.

I would not be opposed to moving Panarin, or anyone at this point really.

 

[SA16]

Nevertheless, I would have a team policy, no NMCs, period, no exceptions
reasonable->extensive ntcs as warranted do the job and leave at least a little bit of wriggle room

While we have to be fair to the player and vice versa, we cannot have another repeat Zib and just trust going forward

Congratulations on never signing a good FA/extending an elite player again.

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

yes let the panarin for leonard propaganda spread

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

If there is any chance to bring Leonard here I would move mountains.

I would not be opposed to moving Panarin, or anyone at this point really.

Zero chance.

 

[Guyute]

Zero chance.

Then no cup for you, Ted Leonsis. Panarin goes to Florida and knocks out the Caps in one of OV's final seasons.

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

Zero chance.

with attitude like that maybe

you have to BELIEVE folks

if we all come together and believe we can make the caps give us leonard for panarin

this is the team that traded forsberg for erat!!! panarin is 10x better

 

[bernmeister]

If you want to offer competitive contracts, you can't avoid them for any player that other teams are also vying for. The better the player, the less likely you can land them without one.

The NHLPA will never agree, but complete NMC's shouldn't be a thing anymore. I'm pro-player but this just puts WAY too much power in their hands. Look at Miller - this is a 100 point player that was moved for a talented guy one hit away from possibly never playing again, a middling 1st, and a bottom pair D. In a really competitive market where destination wasn't limited to ONE place he would've gotten A LOT more in return.

Agree, tho I'm not sure you can have an nmc if it is not complete

Congratulations on never signing a good FA/extending an elite player again.

Fine, there are plenty enuf good guys who want to come here if they are getting paid who will relent

'and yes, congrats to me for pointing out we can avoid the zib->related fiascos going forward