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

[MrAlmost]

You don't think that.

Pretty much everyone else who wants to purge the vets does.

I don't. I just like excitement.....

Or maybe just chaos.

 

[Siddi]

By taking like, a 3 game hiatus or whatever it was? That was all I heard about this season, and things between him and EP blowing up. If he was dogging it the same way Mika did the first half of the season, then I stand corrected.

He literally took his ball and went home for a month the day after being benched for dogging it.

You guys cant have it both ways. Either it is bad quitting on your team or its not. The why doesnt matter.

 

[McRanger92]

You don't think that.

Pretty much everyone else who wants to purge the vets does.

I don’t think it’s the that simple. People want to root for a team and players that they can be proud of the effort on a nightly basis. You don’t get that from the players on this team and it starts with the veterans.

 

[Siddi]

Yes.

 

[Boris Zubov]

He literally took his ball and went home for a month the day after being benched for dogging it.

You guys cant have it both ways. Either it is bad quitting on your team or its not. The why doesnt matter.

Both the Canucks President & GM absolved him of the issues in their locker room. It was reported at the time that he needed to get away from the team to clear his head & to nurse his injured shoulder, but you can keep on keeping on with your agenda.

Canucks’ Jim Rutherford: J.T. Miller ‘tried hard’ to fix situation with Elias Pettersson

Vancouver Canucks' Jim Rutherford says that Elias Pettersson needs to "buy into" working hard ahead of the 2025-26 NHL season.

www.dailyfaceoff.com

 

[NYR Viper]

The only reason to send Mika to Hartford would be locker room morale/distraction anyways, since there is no cap reward any more and for all of his issues he’s far, far superior to other options that we currently have.

I suggested Kreider for Lindholm but Mika makes some sense too. You’re just putting a lot on Lindholm to be the real top pairing guy he was expected to be, again.

Free agency of course with some of the left defensemen there is intriguing, but given what Chych got in this market I’d expect the couple 1B/2A types there to have the bidding start at 8x8.5, and go up from there. Which CAN happen for the rangers but that’s a big investment and I hope they vet the player properly for that kind of term.

Lindholm’s contract is almost tight at what I would consider a 3D making. I’m expecting Miller to make something similar honestly. Maybe $5.5m?

 

[Siddi]

Both the Canucks President & GM absolved him of the issues in their locker room. It was reported at the time that he needed to get away from the team to clear his head & to nurse his injured shoulder, but you can keep on keeping on with your agenda.

Canucks’ Jim Rutherford: J.T. Miller ‘tried hard’ to fix situation with Elias Pettersson

Vancouver Canucks' Jim Rutherford says that Elias Pettersson needs to "buy into" working hard ahead of the 2025-26 NHL season.

www.dailyfaceoff.com

You are right. He was so beloved that they basically gave him away.

 

[NYR Viper]

I wonder if Panarin would consider waiving for Anaheim now that Quenneville is their coach. Verbeek said their goal was to bring in a coach to add 10 more wins. Henry Samueli recently said that the rebuild was a long and painful process, and that it’s time for them to take the next steps towards being a playoff contender. He also said that Verbeek won’t have to pinch pennies anymore and that he’ll have support to do what it takes to make them into a good team; no stupid contracts, but spend smart and you’ll have support.

Anaheim has accumulated so many picks and prospects, and they won’t be able to keep/pay them all. Most of their key positions are checked, but they got absolutely clownpounded under Cronin - 3rd fewest goals for, 4th most goals against. Quenneville’s run n’ gun style will suit them with the puck moving ability on the backend and speed they have up front. I don’t think it will be enough as is to make it better with what’s there now. I don’t know how it’s even possible, but their powerplay% over the last two years is 15%. Fifteen. Percent. PK was a disaster too.

For the framework of their org (I’m sure I’ll miss some):

G: Dostal was very impressive last year and John Gibson has been there for 50 years

C: Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish are both studs. Lunderstrom and Strome are there as the bottom-6 Cs.

W: Troy Terry is very underrated. Zegras has so much skill, but we know that Verbeek has discussed trading him before. The Cutter Gauthier trade was a slam dunk. I like Sam Colangelo and Vatrano. Beckett Sennecke is gonna be a player.

LaCombe and Mintyukov are studs. They have Zelleweger and Stolberg too. Their RD is Gudas and Trouba.

Could something be worked out for Panarin for one of those D and a few other pieces? I’m assuming this would be revisited if they miss out on Marner or Boeser. I could see the Rangers liking Stolberg for his size and skating combo. Maybe get Zegras and try flipping him to Buffalo for Peterka?

Panarin can reunite with his buddy Strome and get his cookies on the powerplay. He’ll help juice the offense and get to enjoy the beach and sunny weather on off days.

Zegras has one more year left at a pretty high cap hit. A basis of a deal around Zegras + for Panarin makes sense in principle, especially with Quenneville there.

It would be interesting to see that deal go down because there’s no doubt in my mind that Trouba would help nix that deal if Panarin was one of the concerns in the locker room in NY. If he gave that trade the green light than I’d say that points the finger elsewhere

 

[Homelander]

Any word on the assistant coaches?

 

[LokiDog]

You don't think that.

Pretty much everyone else who wants to purge the vets does.

I haven’t seen anyone think that…

 

[haohmaru]

So quitting on your team is only frowned upon if it is because a player was moved?

I was asking a question. Didn't want it to be answered by a question.

@Machinehead said JT Miller and Mika were the same because of player(s) being moved? Who was the player moved in Vancouver that caused Miller "to quit"?

 

[NYR Viper]

Would Anaheim trade Mintyukov? He had a down year and they’re pretty loaded on defense.

Zegras + Mintyukov + ________ for Panarin

Zibanejad + Jones for Lindholm + 2nd

Kreider + Soucy for Colton + 1st ‘27

Lafreniere-Miller-Zegras
Cuylle-Trochek-Perrault
Othmann-Colton-Berard
Edstrom-Carrick-Rempe
Parssinen
Brodzinski

Lindholm-Fox
Miller-Borgen
Mintyukov-Schneider
Vaakaneinen

Shesty
Quick

 

[haohmaru]

He got traded because he was dogging it. Why do we think he was available?

If anyone was dogging it it was EP, not Miller. Miller was traded because the two couldn't co-exist and EP is younger.

His full NMC and only waiving to go to one place didn't hurt us either.

Ask Vancouver fans. Almost all of them wanted Miller to be the guy to stay. That doesn't sound like a guy who was "dogging it".

 

[Mac n Gs]

Any word on the assistant coaches?

Not yet. This is what Staple wrote last week:

No news yet on assistant coaches​

A league source said Sullivan may not fill out his staff just yet and could be waiting to see who’s available as teams drop out of the playoffs and new coaches are hired around the league. There are still five teams with coaching vacancies at the moment.

Mike Vellucci, Sullivan’s assistant the past five seasons in Pittsburgh, could be an option. David Quinn, the former Rangers coach who was Sullivan’s assistant this past season, might also be an option, even though there could be some obvious reluctance for Quinn to return to the Rangers under Drury, who fired Quinn upon getting the GM job four years ago. There will be other candidates too, though Tortorella will not be one of them.

 

[Machinehead]

I haven’t seen anyone think that…

Go back to around page 12 of the Sullivan thread where I took a bunch of heat for saying this team isn't close to competing from the same people that want to get rid of Panarin, Mika, and Kreider.

 

[Homelander]

Not yet. This is what Staple wrote last week:

Thanks! Gotta think Peca and Muse will get good, hard looks

 

[mrhockey193195]

Thanks! Gotta think Peca and Muse will get good, hard looks

I really hope so. I think both could end up being star head coaches one day.

 

[Chalfdiggity3]

Go back to around page 12 of the Sullivan thread where I took a bunch of heat for saying this team isn't close to competing from the same people that want to get rid of Panarin, Mika, and Kreider.

Hence why we don’t want to give up next years pick. In order to really change the room and build a culture you must remove the cancers. Then you can implement your system and culture. I’ve already stated I would take this route and build with the pieces we get back. This is not a playoff team next year and I’m more than okay with that. You can get loads of draft capital back, which you can then pick in a loaded draft or make trades or offer sheet someone.

But totally see us running it back next season,.. the rangers way lol

 

[Fitzy]

Retaining on Mika to get a 2nd is kinda wild.

At the very least, it's a move where you're kind of taking a step back, which none of the anti-Mika crowd seems to want to accept.

He's not Barclay Goodrow. He's a player that leaves a hole in the lineup.

If you wanna just roll with that, that's fine, but the sentiment from a lot of folks is "nah we're gonna trade Mika and win the Cup."

Yes. You have to have a plan for the cap space otherwise it’s a meaningless gesture.

Even a disgruntled Mika playing second line right wing is an X factor and the roster on paper is far better with him than without him.

If we could get Duchene with that cap I’d be all for it but there are no certainties in this free agent market and that’s before we speculate about whether Drurys tinkering will make us a slightly less appealing destination

 

[Riche16]

You don't think that.

Pretty much everyone else who wants to purge the vets does.

Some of us want to purge the "vets" (aka rotten core) & start over with a rebuild that has a chance to work this time.

Personally, I feel that the Shesty contract (& to a lesser extent the JT trade) is Drury flailing away at something in the past. A failed attempt that only gets more futile as time moves on.

Trading Z leaves a massive hole. Same with Key & Kreider to lesser extents.

Z & 20s points alone are a huge loss no matter what the lack of effort was.

Some of us aren't advocating the filling of those holes immediately. Not close.

 

[Kendo]

Thanks! Gotta think Peca and Muse will get good, hard looks

Peca's certainly always serving a good, hard look.

 

[IDvsEGO]

Go back to around page 12 of the Sullivan thread where I took a bunch of heat for saying this team isn't close to competing from the same people that want to get rid of Panarin, Mika, and Kreider.

The team is in this weird spot, aside from a few rarities, the majority of this team seriously underperformed this past season.

The underperforming players are the ones who we want to move. Mika/CK/Panarin

Drury moving some of the other underperformers was the start of it.
I think there's a legit core of talent.
Miller is a bottom end 1c. Or a high end 2c.
Trocheck is a 2C.
Fox is a 1d
Miller can be a 2d with the right coaching
Schneider can be 2nd pair
Laf has high end tools, needs to grow more

So we have a solid core you can build around, but missing pieces for it to be a complete set.

 

[bernmeister]

Yes. You have to have a plan for the cap space otherwise it’s a meaningless gesture.

Even a disgruntled Mika playing second line right wing is an X factor and the roster on paper is far better with him than without him.

If we could get Duchene with that cap I’d be all for it but there are no certainties in this free agent market and that’s before we speculate about whether Drurys tinkering will make us a slightly less appealing destination

bold assumes inaccurately zero benefit from moving him
if you max retain, that is still 50% recovery of cap hit
Plus
by retaining 50% you can get something of value back

when you add those intangibles it is not a given we are "far better with him than without him"

 

[Machinehead]

The team is in this weird spot, aside from a few rarities, the majority of this team seriously underperformed this past season.

The underperforming players are the ones who we want to move. Mika/CK/Panarin

Drury moving some of the other underperformers was the start of it.
I think there's a legit core of talent.
Miller is a bottom end 1c. Or a high end 2c.
Trocheck is a 2C.
Fox is a 1d
Miller can be a 2d with the right coaching
Schneider can be 2nd pair
Laf has high end tools, needs to grow more

So we have a solid core you can build around, but missing pieces for it to be a complete set.

I would argue the missing pieces are not the supplements, they're the core talents we need to push the guys we have down into the roles they should be in.

At the very least, if you try to win with a solid but underwhelming group of forwards, your defense has to be great. It's far from that. It's a weakness. I've preached it before: Adam Fox is the star that you have. Double down on that position. Get a real #2.

Also, at this point, I wouldn't even dignify the remaining forward group with "solid." The underperformers you named scored 79 goals. Maybe my perception of it is incorrect, but when people posit "we just want to move these guys, the rest is solid," I feel like replacing 79 goals is totally glossed over both in the short-term and the long-term.

We just label guys "1C," "2C," whatever and nobody ever talks to me about results or whether or not any of these guys really deserve to be in those roles.

Miller and Trocheck down the middle would match up very poorly against most counterparts remaining in the playoffs, and even some of the first round exits.

I just don't buy shipping out the core as the endgame or even the midgame. It is opening the curtain on fixing this team.

 

[Cmox]

He literally just did that in Vancouver.

Apparently, he was pissed because no one was game ready or trained during the off season. And it showed.


Edit: whoops, I didn't see it was posted earlier.