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Speculation: Roster Building Thread - Part XXVI

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bigdog16 said:
Its probably already been said 100 times since last night. But that Laf Chytil Blais line makes me wet
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Soaked.

It's also the best case scenario, if Blais goes full Strome playing with Laf and Kakko continues to progress. Such a dangerous team this has potential to be. We just beat two playoff teams back to back on the road. If we would've gotten our asses kicked three games in a row I honestly wouldn't even be worried. So proud of our boys.
 
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EdJovanovski said:
When they come back I’d like to see:

Panarin - Strome - Goodrow
Kreider - Zibanejad - Kakko
Lafreniere - Chytil - Blais
Hunt - Rooney - Reaves
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This is the forward group they have to give a chance to. Hopefully Kakko can gel with Mika and Kreider because the other three lines should gel nicely.
 
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Craig Button compared Alexis Lafrenière to Mikko Rantanen



Former Flyers goalkeeper and TPS director of hockey operations Antero Nittymaki compared Kakko to Rantanen.

Kakko feels more comfortable playing wing, but he's also experienced at center, a position he played at least eight times when TPS was dealing with injuries this season. He went 52-for-107 on face-offs (48.6 percent), including 51.1 percent in the offensive zone (24-for-47) and 65.2 percent in the defensive zone (15-for-23).

"I don't think he prefers center, but I don't think he minds it either," Niittymaki said. "You get more out of him offensively if you play him on the wing, but that's my opinion. He plays a safe game when given the responsibility at center, but that's not a bad thing. I was surprised how defensively responsible he was for an offensive player. We never had to worry about his defensive game all year.

"In some ways, he reminds me a lot of Mikko Rantanen at the same age, but I think Kaapo is a better skater, more skilled."
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Kakko confident, not cocky ahead of 2019 Draft

Maybe the Rangers should have Kakko take face-offs. His numbers look pretty good on this team. He can play on the wing but he takes the face-offs. The Rangers have tried everything else. Mike Eastwood was the last good face-off guy this organization employed.
 
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Crease said:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Kakko
Panarin - Strome - Goodrow
Lafreniere - Chytil - Blais
Reaves - Rooney - Hunt
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Like this Kakko is the type of player this line needs someone who can control the puck feed zib, or shoot taking advantage of a Kreider screen.

line two has proven when clicking it doesn’t matter who is on the right.

line 3 looked good for one game let’s see how it rolls over. But Chytil looks to be becoming a shoot first guy. Laf historically good near the net and making passes while in front.
 
Once we're healthy, I think these lines make the most sense. Roll the first three evenly.

Kreider/Zib/Kakko
Laf/Chytil/Blais
Panarin/Strome/Goodrow
Hunt/Rooney/Reaves

Edit: I see the thread agrees on something for once.
 
user26 said:
Really wonder if Strome and Krav would be targeted in a package from Ott. Especially with Pinto out too
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Pretty sure the Rangers would be adding at this point. Not selling-off. Especially not selling-off to Ottawa.
 
Glen Sathers Cigar said:
These should absolutely be the lines when Strome and Kakko are back.

I do wonder if Drury will look into acquiring another winger to play with Strome and Panarin and bump Goodrow down.
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It seems Panarin and Strome want someone like Goodrow on that line. They preferred Fast to Kakko.
 
I wasn't a Quinn fan, but the guys Drury obtained this summer are the guys that Quinn needed to do some of the things he preached to the team about doing.

How many times has Reaves forced a turnover just by the threat of an incoming hit? I know of at least one goal as a direct result of it.

How many times has Blais set the tone for the game? He's a bull in a china shop, with some pretty slick mitts at times.

Who was capable of shutting a game down like Goodrow did in the last couple of minutes in last night's game?

We had nothing like this last season. If this is the kind of thing we see all year, we are going to be in great shape, especially as Panarin and Zibanejad get going.
 
Avery16 said:
It seems Panarin and Strome want someone like Goodrow on that line. They preferred Fast to Kakko.
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I mean I think Goodrow can fit but if it's going to be a grinder type, I'd like someone with a bit more creativity than Goodrow. I like the player Goodrow is but he plays an EXTREMELY simple game. Fast and to a lesser degree (IMO) Blackwell fit in that role because they were grinder puck retrieval guys but also had some really good skill and ability to make the creative play when it's there.

Goodrow may be able to do that and it's definitely worth a shot, I just wonder if it will work. If the Chytil line stays this solid then we absolutely need to try Goodrow with Panarin-Strome and Kakko with Mika-CK.
 
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Crease said:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Kakko
Panarin - Strome - Goodrow
Lafreniere - Chytil - Blais
Reaves - Rooney - Hunt
Click to expand...
I think you’ve found the missing puzzle piece to unlocking that three line depth scoring balance we’ve been craving.
 
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bbny said:
I wasn't a Quinn fan, but the guys Drury obtained this summer are the guys that Quinn needed to do some of the things he preached to the team about doing.

How many times has Reaves forced a turnover just by the threat of an incoming hit? I know of at least one goal as a direct result of it.

How many times has Blais set the tone for the game? He's a bull in a china shop, with some pretty slick mitts at times.

Who was capable of shutting a game down like Goodrow did in the last couple of minutes in last night's game?

We had nothing like this last season. If this is the kind of thing we see all year, we are going to be in great shape, especially as Panarin and Zibanejad get going.
Click to expand...

I'm optimistic. But cautiously so. Preds played a hard, heavy game. But they are a little light on high end skill. And Saros is decent but no Rinne. I think we need to get used to playing against teams that are not the same 7 teams we played last year. We should be able to come by easier victories outside our division. But inside will still be our biggest test with a few exceptions.

Still, it's nice to see the way we are winning games. It's a lot closer to the way the last group won games. In a sense having a few less skilled guys in the lineup is helping the team form an identity perhaps sooner than it might have if everyone was healthy.
 
I know that winning a game like last night and the one in Toronto can almost feel disheartening. What I can tell you is that finding ways to win ugly games, on the contrary, is quite a skill to have as a team. They will gel more and come together, and they will again find rough patches in the future. If we know they can find ways to win when they're in those rough patches, we're actually setting up to have quite a nice season.
 
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RangerBoy said:
Craig Button compared Alexis Lafrenière to Mikko Rantanen



Former Flyers goalkeeper and TPS director of hockey operations Antero Nittymaki compared Kakko to Rantanen.



Kakko confident, not cocky ahead of 2019 Draft

Maybe the Rangers should have Kakko take face-offs. His numbers look pretty good on this team. He can play on the wing but he takes the face-offs. The Rangers have tried everything else. Mike Eastwood was the last good face-off guy this organization employed.
Click to expand...


Dominic Moore had good face-off years here. Betts was good too but had no offense at all.
 
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