Speculation: Roster Building Thread: Part XVIV

[Good Intentions]

I'm not paying Kevin Hayes 7 mill for 7 years, dont care what he looked like the other night. As much as people crap on Trouba he is the only player we have that can match up against other teams top lines, that's a tough assignment and you are gonna get beat when you play against the best from time to time, it happens. People here are too reactionary, Brooks is a troll who knows little about building a hockey team if he thinks we should have gone into this season with Pionk as our top shutdown guy instead of Trouba. Its nonsense.

I think that’s exactly right, good take. Brooks’ agenda is to point at himself since he was (and he was) Hayes’ media head.

I was never a Hayes guy, don’t want him - and certainly not long term. That contract will not age well.

 

[Deleted member 23124]

I think that’s exactly right, good take. Brooks’ agenda is to point at himself since he was (and he was) Hayes’ media head.

I was never a Hayes guy, don’t want him - and certainly not long term. That contract will not age well.

I was a huge Hayes guy. I would have loved to keep him, but not at that price. To be honest, I would have been hesitant to give him $6M even if it were a team favorable contract.

 

[Mikos87]

Something in general the Rangers have to do for drafting/pro scouting is improve their due diligence and screening for scouting as some people have mentioned. Maybe ask different questions or additional psychological testing (without shock therapy lol...but there are open-ended questions and scenarios they can ask that will reveal a lot about the makeup of a kid).

I HATE HATE HATE using the "This is New York" excuse as some know on this board by other threads personality wise I don't have the NY in my DNA but I just happened to have been born here and work here and love my teams and always will and this place will always be in my blood even when I finally leave (Rangers/Giants/Mets and Knicks are cool too although I haven't watch NBA in about six year) but especially in the hockey culture, playing in this city or a Toronto is intense and not for everyone. Sometimes players indulge a little too much in the nightlife like Don Murdoch, become a celebrity like Duguay and Del Zotto (I'll talk about him in a second), have issues that are intensified with the easy access like a Derek Sanderson or Kevin Stevens. Other times athletes don't have the personalities for this place like a Lauri Korpikoski, Artem Anisimov (said he was happy to be on CBJ and appreciated his time in NY but won't miss it)or John Thompson from his brief trade deadline stint with the Mets in 2002, and we've seen star athletes who have won here crash and burn like LT/Doc Gooden.

The main point of my post and where JD needs to come in, is here are examples of players the Rangers have drafted who have had glaring character issues and why something needs to be done. And in this list I'm not talking about political opinions/numbskull immature things they did in juniors like a TDA or being a maniac on the ice like Lemiuex who both get along and are loved by their teammates, but character deficiencies:

1. Michael Del Zotto-I won't go into his personal stuff because it's all available via Google but let's just say New York for him and being in Teen Magazines wasn't a good fit with his personality

2. Ethan Werek-There's a reason he wasn't signed and traded. Discussed on this board. Major attitude issues. Thanks for helping get Lindberg and dealing with Expansion Draft 1.0

3. Evgeny Grachev-Not humble at all. Scored big and got a big head. Bad advice from his agent and like a recent draft pick thought he was better than he actually was.

4. JT Miller-He's having success in Vancouver and will probably top his 2017 season production wise. Larry Brooks hinted at his attitude and character issues a little. Why was he chased off two teams?

5. Robin Kovacs-Loose cannon. Immature and cocky in the wrong way. Another guy brought over too quickly.

6. Lias Anderson-Read the papers.

Look, maybe every team has a list like this, but that's six fairly high profile picks in various drafts. It's an issue and needs to be fixed.

Great post. They really need to revisit their player profile when drafting these kids. I can tell you that other teams put these kids through psychological testing, there are things that can be tested for.

Won't mention the team, but one makes players take a personality test to see where they would fit in the workplace, they want guys who fit into their culture, and will avoid guys who are overly sensitive. Some give the wonderlic to test IQ. There are also some bizarre questions asked as well to jar the guy regarding off-ice activities to screen for what they do off the ice. They interview teammates, coaches, training staff of junior and euroleague teams.

I'm not sure if the Rangers are extensive in their due diligence. To date this year, they had two top 10 picks, and a 2nd rounder bail on them.

That is not a good look.

The 6 you listed: They were all take in the top 3 rounds. This has been going on for a long time. We just didn't feel it because the team was trading their draft picks during the window, but during a rebuild, you simply cannot have this happen.

 

[Mikos87]

Larry has reached the peak of stupidity with this latest hot take that makes the sun look like Hoth.

Larry's always been partial to his friends on the team. Guys that connected with him extensively always get this level of attention. I don't agree with it, but I also don't have a problem with Larry stepping up for his guys.

 

[Mikos87]

Nylander - Jokiharju was a "my problem for yours" swap IIRC. Didn't Jokiharju do a Puljujärvi/Honka?

No the Hawks wanted a top 6 player on the cheap, and could spare Jokiharju with Boqvist making noise. Buffalo was collecting RHDs this summer, and they didn't see Nylander cracking their roster. It's another situation where a 18 year old was put into the AHL. I don't think that's always a smart move, especially having to adjust to living like an adult on a $65K-$90K salary.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Our christmas list should include

A top 6 RW
Bottom 6 C(only if Barron is finishing college)
Another Lemieux type for bottom 6.
Other than that I feel our D will fix itself with our prospects, Miller, Lundkvist, Jones and Keane should fill in the holes on d.
Kravtsov(if he turns it around, which I feel he will) and Barron should fill out the rest of the roster.
Personally, our team is entertaining but a year or two from completion. I like the start to the build tho.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

Larry's always been partial to his friends on the team. Guys that connected with him extensively always get this level of attention. I don't agree with it, but I also don't have a problem with Larry stepping up for his guys.

Larry’s guys are the Devils. When it comes to the Rangers he purposefully goes out of his way to try to make them look bad.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Larry’s guys are the Devils. When it comes to the Rangers he purposefully goes out of his way to try to make them look bad.

Larry is trying to get people talking about him, he is very good at that, mostly because he says dumb stuff.

 

[Igor Shestyorkin]

Bolded part is quite interesting. Might have to happen. If it did, who would be suited and theoretically “expendable” from the back line? I think Miller is probably quite well-suited to forward but he’s definitely more valuable to the organization as a defenseman. Maybe a smaller defenseman, though, would be a candidate to change position.
All that said, probably more sensible to just trade a guy than to Try to change his game so dramatically.

Not sure why you'd ever think he was alluding to having one of our D prospects literally change their position for no reason. Clearly would have to be doing a D-for-F prospect swap, because the Rangers experimenting a D guy at forward has not gone all that well this year.

 

[Igor Shestyorkin]

I'm not paying Kevin Hayes 7 mill for 7 years, dont care what he looked like the other night. As much as people crap on Trouba he is the only player we have that can match up against other teams top lines, that's a tough assignment and you are gonna get beat when you play against the best from time to time, it happens. People here are too reactionary, Brooks is a troll who knows little about building a hockey team if he thinks we should have gone into this season with Pionk as our top shutdown guy instead of Trouba. Its nonsense.

Trouba is literally a bad defensive player, no matter what his "match-ups" are, lmao. Obviously don't expect anyone to be 100% perfect defensively, but Trouba is far from it.

 

[Mikos87]

Our christmas list should include

A top 6 RW
Bottom 6 C(only if Barron is finishing college)
Another Lemieux type for bottom 6.
Other than that I feel our D will fix itself with our prospects, Miller, Lundkvist, Jones and Keane should fill in the holes on d.
Kravtsov(if he turns it around, which I feel he will) and Barron should fill out the rest of the roster.
Personally, our team is entertaining but a year or two from completion. I like the start to the build tho.

Good list. I look at it like this:

xxx-Zibs-Kakko
Bread-xxx/Strome-xxx/Strome
xxx-Chytil-Buch
Lems-Howdie-xxx

Smith

Skjei-Trouba
Hajek-Ada
Lindy-Fox

Smith

If I were to look at what the Rangers can do to asset manage their way to filling in these holes, the Rangers will have more prospects and picks from the Kreider, Fast, McKegg sell-off at the deadline, and with a bunch of prospects in the pipeline, you have both draft and ELC currency. The Rangers are hamstrung with cap space, but that's manageable with some astute moves.

• One top 6 Left winger and One Top 6 Right Winger, or One top 6 Left winger and One top 6 center.
  • Fingers crossed for Lafrenierre or Byfeld to fill one of these slots, there are no assurances here, but three other options that can compensate.
  • Trade package of picks/prospects for an RFA to be that can fill one of these voids. Think Athanasiou, LeBanc, Gaudette.
  • Trade an NHLer in a dollars in, dollars out deal. Brady Skjei for a Top 6 solution, like a Silfverberg, Palat, Reilly Smith, Zucker.
  • Sign a UFA- would be the least favorable option. A guy like Erik Haula.
• A Skilled LWer for a 3rd unit that can score.
  • This is VK's to take.
• A 4th line C/RW with speed and PK ability.
  • Would like to get a trade return here for Lias to fill this slot, even adding a pick if you have to.
  • Trading a pick will do it too.

If the Rangers get lucky, they can take a step next year with something like the following. The D prospects cook for another year until they can displace a guy like Sjkei.

Athanasiou-Zibs-Kakko
Bread-Byfeld-Strome
VK-Chytil-Buch
Lems-Howdie-Roslovic

Smith

Skjei-Trouba
Hajek-Ada
Lindy-Fox

Smith

 

[Mikos87]

Larry is trying to get people talking about him, he is very good at that, mostly because he says dumb stuff.

He is, and that's his job. Last one standing in a dying business. I'll tip my hat to that.

 

[Mikos87]

Trouba is literally a bad defensive player, no matter what his "match-ups" are, lmao. Obviously don't expect anyone to be 100% perfect defensively, but Trouba is far from it.

I don't know about that. He was outstanding in a shutdown role next to Morrissey.

The Rangers dont have a sure handed player on the left side whose intelligent and doesn't panic on a consistent basis.

WPG also had a much better team defense than the rangers do.

I think Hajek ends up being that guy next to Trouba. Skjei is too unstable, indecisive and unreliable in that role.

Trouba would do well next to a fellow authoritative defenseman.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Trouba is literally a bad defensive player, no matter what his "match-ups" are, lmao. Obviously don't expect anyone to be 100% perfect defensively, but Trouba is far from it.

Our d wont be fixed until we have a reliable left side dman in the top pair, Skjei is on the 2nd pair and Staal is retired. Trouba will be fine when he has a stay at home dman to play with or atleast someone with speed that can recover quickly.

 

[Blue Blooded]

I don't know about that. He was outstanding in a shutdown role next to Morrissey.

The Rangers dont have a sure handed player on the left side whose intelligent and doesn't panic on a consistent basis.

WPG also had a much better team defense than the rangers do.

I think Hajek ends up being that guy next to Trouba. Skjei is too unstable, indecisive and unreliable in that role.

Trouba would do well next to a fellow authoritative defenseman.

Hajek has a long way to go, as has Lindgren. Currently Rykov looks the best bet of our NHL/AHL defencemen and has a lot to do with not having played in the NHL yet so his performance is purely hypothetical.

I do agree that Skjei is better suited to an offensive role next to one of ADA/Fox though.

In addition, I think it's important that we try Fox in the primary shutdown role for a somewhat significant stretch before the season is over to suss out who between him and Trouba is better suited to the role before Trouba's trade clauses kick in.

 

[wafflepadsave]

Yeah, Huska already has one edge over both Geo and Shesty, he isn’t small.

And he played well in the wjc ‘s in spite of his weak teams.

 

[Good Intentions]

Hajek has a long way to go, as has Lindgren. Currently Rykov looks the best bet of our NHL/AHL defencemen and has a lot to do with not having played in the NHL yet so his performance is purely hypothetical.

A bit of a convoluted statement. Hajek has a long way to go and yet Rykov looks the best bet? That’s a pretty bold take. And you’re saying Lindgren has come a long way or has a long way to go?

(My Skjei rant below) xoxo,

I’ll tell you what Skjei is “best suited” to do - and it doesn’t involve any built in excuses of who he’s paired with....Brady Bleeping Skjei is “best suited” to realize he can’t make a defensive error every damn game - that would be a marvelous realization for him...
Merry Christmas, Brady - you’re a skilled athlete that regularly makes pivotal errors in your own end. Defenseman? Not so much. Ultimately, all of that size and athleticism means jack to me, he’s just a mannequin.

 

[LokiDog]

A bit of a convoluted statement. Hajek has a long way to go and yet Rykov looks the best bet? That’s a pretty bold take. And you’re saying Lindgren has come a long way or has a long way to go?

(My Skjei rant below) xoxo,

I’ll tell you what Skjei is “best suited” to do - and it doesn’t involve any built in excuses of who he’s paired with....Brady Bleeping Skjei is “best suited” to realize he can’t make a defensive error every damn game - that would be a marvelous realization for him...
Merry Christmas, Brady - you’re a skilled athlete that regularly makes pivotal errors in your own end. Defenseman? Not so much. Ultimately, all of that size and athleticism means jack to me, he’s just a mannequin.

If Brady would stop trying to be a 40+ point defenseman (which he isn’t) and just embrace being a 20-30 point dman he could be a much better player.

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

I'm not sure if the Rangers are extensive in their due diligence. To date this year, they had two top 10 picks, and a 2nd rounder bail on them.

Who was the second rounder? At least Kravstov came back,

 

[Mikos87]

Who was the second rounder? At least Kravstov came back,

Gropp.

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

Gropp.

Oh him hahaha. He's past the point of being a prospect to me totally forgot about him. He's a 1/10 version of Michael Ryder.

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

A good partner for Trouba is what Matthew Robertson projects to be. Too bad he’s still probably a few years away.

 

[Avery16]

Great post. They really need to revisit their player profile when drafting these kids. I can tell you that other teams put these kids through psychological testing, there are things that can be tested for.

Won't mention the team, but one makes players take a personality test to see where they would fit in the workplace, they want guys who fit into their culture, and will avoid guys who are overly sensitive. Some give the wonderlic to test IQ. There are also some bizarre questions asked as well to jar the guy regarding off-ice activities to screen for what they do off the ice. They interview teammates, coaches, training staff of junior and euroleague teams.

I'm not sure if the Rangers are extensive in their due diligence. To date this year, they had two top 10 picks, and a 2nd rounder bail on them.

That is not a good look.

The 6 you listed: They were all take in the top 3 rounds. This has been going on for a long time. We just didn't feel it because the team was trading their draft picks during the window, but during a rebuild, you simply cannot have this happen.

Plus Kovacs (not this year but recently enough)

 

[Avery16]

A good partner for Trouba is what Matthew Robertson projects to be. Too bad he’s still probably a few years away.

By the time Robertsson is ready for first pair minutes, Trouba is going to look like Staal.

 

[Deleted member 23124]

Larry is trying to get people talking about him, he is very good at that, mostly because he says dumb stuff.

I wouldn't say it's dumb stuff....more like wild speculation. Despite appearances to the contrary, Larry is not dumb....and his statements, no matter how outrageous they are, all have a purpose -- sometimes obvious, most times not.

As KB said -- his job is to get people talking. He does this by proposing odd player proposals, speculation about prior and/or possible deals and scenarios.

The thing I don't understand is why people take him seriously.