Speculation: Roster Building Thread: Part XX (WTF are we going to do this Off-Season edition)

[Mike in Houston]

Anyone know if Drury is addressing the media today?

I'd prefer the owner talk... and say Chris can solely focus on the hot oil pizza at Colony Grill now.

 

[kovazub94]

Separate performance from this, the longest tenured, most respected guy in the room *at best* let the team completely quit for 20 games in December because they decided they were pissy over... uh... the GM wanting to improve the team by any means necessary.

f*** all the way off, and double f*** off throwing out another injury to scare teams off from trading for you. 4D chess.

I don't buy that his day to day injury status was what scared off other GMs from potential trade - we've seen quite a few trades for injured players recently including this TDL

 

[Shesterkybomb]

He's been a very important part of PK's success over the last 4 (?) years but between JTM, Zib, Trocheck, Cuylle, and 4th liners there are plenty of options. I also think that Berard will be a good PKer fairly soon.

I'm not as concerned moving Kreider as I would be Lafreniere. His age suggests he's past a point of growth.

 

[majordomo]

Nope...our braindead GM gave him a deal that is buyout proof. We get basically no cap savings from buying him out. Then he doubled down & wrote it up the same way for our overpaid goalie.

I know that....but that's almost preferable to having him on the roster and on the ice.

 

[Captain Monglobster]

I watched Brett Howden take the puck blow by a defender and score last night. I want blood.

 

[SA16]

I know that....but that's almost preferable to having him on the roster and on the ice.

Buying out a player who had 33 points in his last 32 games (February onwards) for an 8M dead cap hit is preferable to having that player on the ice? You guys says Drury is a bad GM I can only imagine how bad the team would be if some of you guys were in charge.

 

[Levitate]

IMO with Mika I'm "fine" with him staying if we can stop the bullshit slow start low confidence just can't get it together for half the year or whatever that's been going on.

Come to camp ready to play and no more excuses.

Even if he becomes the teams 1st line RW or whatever, fine, if he can put up points next to Miller that way then at least it's a legitimate 1st line production (if they kept up what they were doing this year)

 

[NickyFotiu]

This is the riveting stuff he couldn't talk about for 3 months & needed to wait til break up day? He's still holding something back.

There may be but I would try to minimize how much opposing players knew about my injuries.

I think CK could have hustled more in our previous season 2023-24 so I do not give him a 100% pass based on injuries. I do understand injuries especially a back and vertigo would be extremely hard to play through.

In regards to some of the nasty stuff I just do not see CK as a huge trouble maker nor someone that would try to tear down his teammates season.

 

[savebyrichter94]

@Gordon Bombay

 

[mrhockey193195]

I'll disagree with the bold.

Knowing or not knowing doesn't change what the players responsibilities are.

It doesn't change responsibilities, but do you not empathize at all with how it can impact motivation? Any human would be affected by the uncertainty of whether they might be fired the next day, whether their colleagues might be fired the next day, whether they are going to be part of the company's future and (presumed) successes.

And before you say "this the NHL, they are millionaires, they should suck it up", I'll say this: this is the NHL, every single person in the league is an elite athlete, the difference between first place and last place often is just a few percentage points of effort & execution. Even the slightest amount of doubt, or lack of motivation, can have a huge impact on a team.

 

[will1066]

Gotta know whether Colony Grill management is communicative with its individual restaurants and employees. What's their recipe for success and how can it be translated to a hockey organization?

 

[Machinehead]

Based on the quotes we’re getting, and yes it will probably annoy some posters to say so, but this is partially the change over to a roster where the oldest guys are young millennials and half the team are Gen Z or whatever. I mean, it just is. Kreids and Mika make the millennial cut off by like 3-5 years, Fox and Laf and everyone else are Gen Z. There isn’t a player born before 91 on the team. This generation of players will expect communication and gentle management and inclusion. Even Ovie and Sid are 80s babies. That breed is dying out. This is the new future. When the second oldest guy on the team was born in 93 and we’re concerned with their age, that’s just reality.

Ok, to offer a rebuttal, a bunch of Gen Z's are gonna have their name on the Cup this year. And even more next year. And even more the following year.

Who's the standard right now? Tampa? Florida? Those rosters are Gen Z's and barely over the line Millennials. The best player in the world wears 97 on his back. He's a Gen Z.

This is another one of those things that's only a problem with the Rangers.

 

[mrhockey193195]

Struggling is one thing, outright quitting is something completely different. These guys flat out quit in the middle of the season when they went 4-15 during that stretch in Nov/Dec.

Did they quit? Or were they struggling with motivation, struggling with chemistry and execution, struggling with confidence because things were going wrong and they had no idea if they would be on the team the very next day?

Again - it's the NHL. The smallest of margins separate great teams from poor teams, and are the difference between a team looking like they are giving 100% and everyone is in sync vs. a team looking they aren't trying.

 

[bobbop]

If Kreider’s hand requires surgery, it complicates any possible trade and likely makes a buyout impossible to execute..

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

If he waited until the deadline to begin making moves you'd probably be complaining that he waited too long...

This team has been horrendous at 5v5 for 4 years now. The first 20 games of the year showed how goaltending-dependant they were, even moreso than last year... what exactly is drury suppose to do? Let the ship sink on its own? So you can clamor that he isn't doing enough?

He could have made actual moves in the offseason to address what you’re describing as opposed to the jack shit he did

But I know it’s a radical idea to expect a GM to be able to pivot past their initial idea in the event it doesn’t work out

 

[Shesterkybomb]

If Kreider’s hand requires surgery, it complicates any possible trade and likely makes a buyout impossible to execute..

Hot take....
Drury gets canned, Kreider and Mika get another year here.

 

[Mike in Houston]

Gotta know whether Colony Grill management is communicative with its individual restaurants and employees. What's their recipe for success and how can it be translated to a hockey organization?

The hot oil sells itself.

 

[Guyute]

I watched Brett Howden take the puck blow by a defender and score last night. I want blood.

He was legitimately the worst forward in the league during his last season with the Rangers. I guess the moral of the story is: don't give up on young players under 25.

 

[Levitate]

He was legitimately the worst forward in the league during his last season with the Rangers. I guess the moral of the story is: don't give up on young players under 25.

Quinn messed him up by refusing to let him develop.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Hot take....
Drury gets canned, Kreider and Mika get another year here.

Yea, lets run it again, that will work.

This is why i’m glad Drury is staying. He doesnt care about catering them, Krieder’s ass is gone. He chose his own path this season.

 

[savebyrichter94]

The hot oil sells itself.

 

[Boris Zubov]

Did they quit? Or were they struggling with motivation, struggling with chemistry and execution, struggling with confidence because things were going wrong and they had no idea if they would be on the team the very next day?

Again - it's the NHL. The smallest of margins separate great teams from poor teams, and are the difference between a team looking like they are giving 100% and everyone is in sync vs. a team looking they aren't trying.

I would agree if they didn't look lifeless to a man. Another group I might give them the benefit of the doubt, not this one.

 

[DialUp]

Exit interviews gives me the chills! So pumped for next year!!

 

[DialUp]

View attachment 1019141

holy shit, he looks amazing!

 

[mrhockey193195]

I would agree if they didn't look lifeless to a man. Another group I might give them the benefit of the doubt, not this one.

But again, I'm convinced that "looking lifeless" is a bit of an illusion. The smallest of margins can have a huge impact on how a team looks on the ice.

When you have an entire roster of players who - for all their faults - by and large have never had their effort or dedication questioned in previous seasons, all look terrible in the same season, I'm actually willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Not absolving them of all blame and responsibility. But definitely not going to call them "quitters" or "lazy" or "coasting". There's likely a more reasonable explanation (i.e., the culture of the org has taken a hit, there was a rift between management and players, the players never knew what direction the team was going in and whether they would be a part of the team going forward, and as a result everyone struggled)