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

[Shesterkybomb]

It's such a weird dichotomy. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Players are crapped on for playing through injury. Players are called pu**ies for not playing through something.

The only difference is if you are contributing, Kreider isn't, he's been a black hole. Go home, get healthy, get better. If the reason he sucks is his injury he owes it to the team to shut it down

 

[Mike in Houston]

Joke, but… he is the one driving

View attachment 982777

It was good he did. Buch would have probably wrecked it.

 

[Vitto79]

Dvorak for Brodzinski ?

 

[NYR Viper]

If Zibanejad is going to play wing, which IMO he should, go get Tommy Novak. I doubt it costs much and he’s signed at a reasonable number for the next couple of seasons.

 

[bernmeister]

Dvorak for Brodzinski ?

no

 

[Chalfdiggity3]

With fox probably hurt long term And miller out for a period of time. Besides jones, who else plays?

I wonder what this does for drury at the deadline with both being out for a crucial stretch

 

[mike14]

With fox probably hurt long term And miller out for a period of time. Besides jones, who else plays?

I wonder what this does for drury at the deadline with both being out for a crucial stretch

It'd probably make sense to give Brannstrom a look, but if they want a righty for Fox I assume they'll go with Ruhwedel

 

[Vitto79]

Well easy decision to sell now

 

[17futurecap]

It'd probably make sense to give Brannstrom a look, but if they want a righty for Fox I assume they'll go with Ruhwedel

Bran is hurt with probably a concussion, but not confirmed obviously.

 

[mike14]

Do you think the Knights would be interested in getting Smith back for another Cup run?

 

[mrmovies779]

With Fox and Miller both out the solution is easy in Lav's eyes-More Lindgren

 

[McRanger92]

Rangers should be doing everything to move Panarin & Mika. Allergic to the dirty areas and physical play. Panarin floating everywhere and the amount of mental errors Mika makes drives me insane. There’s a solid team in there when you’re not paying Panarin, Zibanejad and Kreider 26m+ on the cap. Those guys don’t hate to lose enough because it got normalized during the rebuild

 

[mrmovies779]

Rangers should be doing everything to move Panarin & Mika. Allergic to the dirty areas and physical play. Panarin floating everywhere and the amount of mental errors Mika makes drives me insane. There’s a solid team in there when you’re not paying Panarin, Zibanejad and Kreider 26m+ on the cap. Those guys don’t hate to lose enough because it got normalized during the rebuild

They never rebuilt,they retooled.Rebuilding teams don't go out and trade for Trouba and sign Panarin.

 

[JimmyG89]

Zac Jones PP1? Not saying it's going to be elite, but he can fill a role.

Miller is a big issue if longterm. Vaak is going to get big minutes, let's see if he can stay healthy and play well. Same goes for Schneider, he's going to be challenged.

Would love to have Mancini now cause there would be a spot. It's going to be Ruhwedel unfortunately. Might be time for Robertson to get a look. They called him up for practice, so he's the 1st LHD callup.

 

[CommaSynapse]

It'd probably make sense to give Brannstrom a look, but if they want a righty for Fox I assume they'll go with Ruhwedel

If Brannstrom has that suspected concussion, they need a puck mover, and Jones makes the most sense (agreed based on the recall).

The pairings get very murky very quickly. I'd personally go for this:

Lindgren - Schneider
Jones - Borgen

But we'll get Vaakanainen on the second pair with Borgen...woof, though.

 

[Boris Zubov]

Zac Jones PP1? Not saying it's going to be elite, but he can fill a role.

Miller is a big issue if longterm. Vaak is going to get big minutes, let's see if he can stay healthy and play well. Same goes for Schneider, he's going to be challenged.

Would love to have Mancini now cause there would be a spot. It's going to be Ruhwedel unfortunately. Might be time for Robertson to get a look. They called him up for practice, so he's the 1st LHD callup.

It would suck to lose Fox & Miller long term, but it could be a chance for some of these guys to take an opportunity & run with it. If Jones gets a shot to run the PP, we'll finally be able to decide once & for all if he's a player. Maybe Vaak shows he's more than just a bottom pair guy with some extra ice time.

 

[jay from jersey]

Honestly, they have to be sellers at this years TDL imo…..
Even if they sneak into a wildcard slot, with the way this season has went, I have no confidence whatsoever.
Kreider and Zibby are playing the worst in their last 5 seasons or so.
Fox is hurt, Edstrom hurt, miller is hurt, on and on…
Fox’s worst year, down year for shesty, etc
Too many things went sideways to course correct at this current place in time……
I fear if they sneak in, the impulse to add will be too great a temptation…….
The culture change and “ changing of the guard” needs to happen…..
give the kids more time etc….
Play laf with miller, play cuylle more, evaluate some farm guys and reward them with opportunities/time
Berard, Othmann, chmelar, sykora, etc

At minimum, 2 of the older core of ( Panarin/zibby/kreider) need to go this season….
Get them to waive their NMC and get back some assets for them now…

The decision whether to give KAM .serious years and term is vastly approaching….
you all know how I feel about this 1. Too jeckyll/Hide for me to commit, but it’s not a 100% guarantee he would not progress or earn the deal either……. Just my opinion.

Smith/Lindgren/brod/ vesey etc all go


There’s a big drop in talent in this years draft after top 15 picks….
Next season has an overall better draft class, but making that pick top 12 protected or it switches to 2026 was smart. Even with a lot of turnover, I see this team being better next season with a full year of JT/Tro taking a bigger part of the room/culture
Theoretically, shesty/fox/Kam/laf/Cuylle/Edstrom etc should all be better and have bounce back/usual performances…..

This offseason is really big…. They need to add a FWD like Brady Tkachuk in the mix…. If not him exactly, a similar style of player. Maybe mason Mctavish can be on the block???
Laf and Cuylle getting bigger roles and more minutes is critical. Sorry guys, but they are both likely here for the long haul…. They just gave Laf his big extension and he’s still not getting 1PP time….. yes he hasn’t had a great year, but you’re looking for him to be an offensive weapon. That’s why they are paying him what they are…. Ya think getting him 1PP mins in a throwaway year might be beneficial and help him start next year???
Or are we just never going to see if our 1OA pick who has lots of talent btw, can rack up point with the other team having 1 less guy on the ice?
Seeing Zibby pad his stats on the pp Is like acid in my mouth with the year he’s had and the gutless lifeless hockey he’s played for large portions of the year.

They also need to add a legit top pair D into the fold somehow.
Trade and get what you can now…
Best Likely scenario at the start of camp Imo is something like

UFA/Trade-Miller-Laffy
Cuylle-Trochek-zibby/bread
Berard/Othmann-Ufa/Trade-kalyev/ufa
Edstrom- Carrick- Rempe/ kid/ufa vet

UFA/trade-fox
Miller- Borgs
Vaak/Jones/Kid-Schneider

Shesty
Quick

Plus trade assets…. Go to war…. If they need to upgrade 3C/W etc do it after the first 30 or so games next year or at the TDL ….

There’s a lot a room to mix and match lines if they need to be tweaked as well, but start giving the freaking kids you’re paying and depending on the time/opportunity to show you what they can do in this off year for Christ sakes.

 

[jay from jersey]

Rangers should be doing everything to move Panarin & Mika. Allergic to the dirty areas and physical play. Panarin floating everywhere and the amount of mental errors Mika makes drives me insane. There’s a solid team in there when you’re not paying Panarin, Zibanejad and Kreider 26m+ on the cap. Those guys don’t hate to lose enough because it got normalized during the rebuild

It’s mission critical to get 2/3 of them out of here. If for nothing else to change the culture in the room and the dynamic of play in the top 6.

Zac Jones PP1? Not saying it's going to be elite, but he can fill a role.

Miller is a big issue if longterm. Vaak is going to get big minutes, let's see if he can stay healthy and play well. Same goes for Schneider, he's going to be challenged.

Would love to have Mancini now cause there would be a spot. It's going to be Ruhwedel unfortunately. Might be time for Robertson to get a look. They called him up for practice, so he's the 1st LHD callup.

I like the Robertson idea, if for nothing else just to see if he has the chops to hang with nhl players for an extended look.

 

[jay from jersey]

Then why has he been playing? Why did he go to the 4 Nations when other players sat out to heal injuries? Why was he called out by Drury and healthy scratched by Laviolette? Nobody said boo about his back until after the Memo. reeks of excuse making, which tis team has done over the years with injuries (see: Trouba in 2024, Strome in 22)

Yea…. Too many coincidences….
If his back injury was serious or seriously contributing to hampering his play, why go to 4 nations as an ex fwd??? And why play the min when the starters went out with injury?????
It’s sad to say, but some guys have just written off this season mentally for whatever reasons…..
We all see the lack of hunger and compete on most nights. It’s been pretty evident and a stark contrast from the last 3-4 years. There’s def something rotten in Denmark.
Bottom line is kreids saw what happened with Trouba and Goodrow ( both thought to be insulated with clauses/contracts) and basically realized he’s the most likely next domino to fall and be traded….
Panarin is the better overall scorer and zibbys contract kicking in simultaneously with the 1st year of a long term extension makes kreids the most likely target to go…..
He also knows Lindgren is going/wont be back……. These guys aren’t stupid. Don’t need to have a IQ of 160 to know which way the wind blows…..
Just my estimate of the situation

 

[NickyFotiu]

Someone needs to be the adult and if Kreider is in fact dealing with Back issues, then Laviolette needs to sit him if he won't admit to his own limitations

They may be letting him try to play through it hoping he may score to up trade market.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Yea…. Too many coincidences….
If his back injury was serious or seriously contributing to hampering his play, why go to 4 nations as an ex fwd??? And why play the min when the starters went out with injury?????
It’s sad to say, but some guys have just written off this season mentally for whatever reasons…..
We all see the lack of hunger and compete on most nights. It’s been pretty evident and a stark contrast from the last 3-4 years. There’s def something rotten in Denmark.
Bottom line is kreids saw what happened with Trouba and Goodrow ( both thought to be insulated with clauses/contracts) and basically realized he’s the most likely next domino to fall and be traded….
Panarin is the better overall scorer and zibbys contract kicking in simultaneously with the 1st year of a long term extension makes kreids the most likely target to go…..
He also knows Lindgren is going/wont be back……. These guys aren’t stupid. Don’t need to have a IQ of 160 to know which way the wind blows…..
Just my estimate of the situation

Yet he could barely move and only played around 4 minutes against Canada. Im sorry but its silly to look at CK and think that is the normal physical CK who is just upset he might be traded. You can literally see the discomfort and caution on his face at times.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Vaak went from a minus 4 vs Buffalo to 3 points last night. I know he was a first round pick but at age 26 does anyone know what we have? Is he for sure better than Jones?

 

[leetch99]

Geesh....so Fox left with a bad shoulder . That cannot be good for a small defender no matter how slick you are . Small defenders take a beaten is a real thing . If he does return he will be a sure fire target at every op by opposing clubs . Now they really need an addition back there . Maybe Schneider can finally step up ?

 

[RangerBoy]

The Rangers should sell their rentals. The shooter tutor would have stopped more pucks than Blomqvist and Sorokin. The Rangers won two games they had no business winning. Fox and Miller left the game with injuries. Should Lindgren's status on the team have anything to do with those injuries? The Rangers are a borderline playoff team. The Rangers are not signing Lindgren. No. What are we discussing here?

Call Utah and make a trade for Valimaki. Teams are concerned about adding a contract and money. Send them back a minor league contract. Valimaki was assigned to the AHL. The Rangers have the cap space. They might as well use it and they need defensemen if Miller is out long term and they trade Lindgren. Retain money on Lindgren and Smith.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like any of the veteran players will be moved. They all have restriction clauses and big contracts. Kreider would be one guy to move but he keeps missing games.

TSN reported last night, the Kings are looking for a scorer. The Kings don't want to subtract from their roster.

The Wild have a few long term injuries in Kaprizov and JEE. Who knows if they will return this season? Kaprizov was supposed to return this season but the timeline has changed. JEE is a new injury. Week to week. Zibanejad is perfect for them. They need a center. They will open up space in the summer with the big buyouts coming off of their books. Minnesota could make the deal this season with their long term injuries. They have a very good prospect list. Would Mika waive during the season? Does he waive at all? He likes being around Swedes. Brodin and JEE. His BFF Zuccarello is there for one more season. Kaprizov is there.

 

[McRanger92]

Yea…. Too many coincidences….
If his back injury was serious or seriously contributing to hampering his play, why go to 4 nations as an ex fwd??? And why play the min when the starters went out with injury?????
It’s sad to say, but some guys have just written off this season mentally for whatever reasons…..
We all see the lack of hunger and compete on most nights. It’s been pretty evident and a stark contrast from the last 3-4 years. There’s def something rotten in Denmark.
Bottom line is kreids saw what happened with Trouba and Goodrow ( both thought to be insulated with clauses/contracts) and basically realized he’s the most likely next domino to fall and be traded….
Panarin is the better overall scorer and zibbys contract kicking in simultaneously with the 1st year of a long term extension makes kreids the most likely target to go…..
He also knows Lindgren is going/wont be back……. These guys aren’t stupid. Don’t need to have a IQ of 160 to know which way the wind blows…..
Just my estimate of the situation

Totally agree. these guys are human and not robots. Doesnt excuse it, but I understand it. You're burying you head in the sand if you're still fooled by the lack of competitiveness from the top guys on a night in night out basis.

Vaak went from a minus 4 vs Buffalo to 3 points last night. I know he was a first round pick but at age 26 does anyone know what we have? Is he for sure better than Jones?

A good young depth defenseman. But people will hate him eventually for not being more. That's the way it goes around here.