Speculation: Roster Building Thread - Part XXX

[EdJovanovski]

Not at all but as a winger he was the odd contract out. I'm not saying the move was a good one but both grittier and younger forwards needed roster spots. Players like Blais and Goodrow etc are supposed to make us harder to play against.

Buch had good trade value regardless of the actual return.

Kakko & Laf (especially Kakko) aren't grittier than Buch lol

 

[NYRFANMANI]

See the issue here is that you’re both incorrect

But for the record, Kocuckur is way more incorrect.

 

[NYRFANMANI]

Kakko & Laf (especially Kakko) aren't grittier than Buch lol

Buch was charmin' toilet paper soft until he became American Buch. Just wait for American Kakko.

 

[tomobson]

I don’t know what the advanced stats have to say about Hajek the few games he’s played this season but he hasn’t been the abomination some people are making him out to be. I wonder how much of the flack he catches is due to him being part of the McDonagh trade.

He's definitely been better than what we've seen out of Tinordi but that's not saying much. He's looking like an ok 7th dman tbh. Maybe if he gets more playing time he can be passable in a third pairing role in his career.

I do think Brendan Smith was a terrible partner for him to play with because that man is so erratic you never have any idea of what he's about to do. Even though Nemeth hasn't been too good Hajek and Lundkvist do probably feel a bit more comfort back there than what they would have felt with Smith if he stayed around. Hajek has a beautiful skating stride, it looks so effortless, if he can use that to buy time and space to get out of the dzone he'll carve out an NHL career but probably not with the rangers. He definitely needs forward support because he can't seem to be able to make breakout passes, I feel like he's actively avoided trying to make any stretch passes in his recent stint and rather skates to the red line to dump it in, but he can connect on short passes in the zone to better puck movers.

 

[Ola]

Gallant praised Brendan Leipsic a lot in Vegas before he was dealt to make room for Reeves. I am all for giving people a second chance. Playing in the KHL will have been a good experience for him.

 

[BobMarleyNYR]

I would not do it...it has been said on here a few times you need 9 able bodied Dmen on a Cup run....think about how bad our Cup run was against the Kings . I also remember Anaheim in 07 having trouble but despite injuries to Niedermayer and or Pronger and a couple of others they managed with the influx of decent spares who were familar with the system. For a 4th maybe I think on it but for a 7th for a Dman...not a chance .

might as well call up Bittetto, then

 

[pld459666]

Kakko & Laf (especially Kakko) aren't grittier than Buch lol

At the same ages, Kakko and Lafreniere are miles ahead of Buchnevich in terms of grit and sandpaper.

A stiff wind was able to knock Buchnevich off the puck and on his rear end

 

[McRanger92]

Kakko & Laf (especially Kakko) aren't grittier than Buch lol

They are lightyears ahead of where Buch was as a 20/21 year old.

 

[EdJovanovski]

At the same ages, Kakko and Lafreniere are miles ahead of Buchnevich in terms of grit and sandpaper.

A stiff wind was able to knock Buchnevich off the puck and on his rear end

They are lightyears ahead of where Buch was as a 20/21 year old.

In terms of strength yes, but grit? Playing with an edge? Buch has always had an attitude back to the WJC taunting the USA bench after scoring. Back in the KHL doing the hand sign of slitting a throat at an opposing teams player. Buch has always had that edge/assholeness to him even when he was a scrawny kid. Kakko doesn’t have that same edge and is a much more meek personality.

 

[egelband]

whats Hajek ?

let’s throw in Kravtsov for Studnika too !

I suggested something like this a while back. Got told off by a boston fan…apparently studnicka is untouchable. Welcome to HF, eh?

 

[Raspewtin]

It doesn't mean Blais is redundant, it means we have depth.

we have the worst RW depth in the league lol

 

[NYR94]

I think I saw Lehkonen's name mentioned in the roster building thread before. This is an article about how good he's been defensively
Lehkonen putting on a defensive clinic for struggling Habs - TSN.ca

Only three skaters (Boston’s Bergeron, , and ) have better expected goal rates against than Lehkonen, which is a remarkable benchmark considering the talent disparities between the two teams.

 

[Overcast]

In terms of strength yes, but grit? Playing with an edge? Buch has always had an attitude back to the WJC taunting the USA bench after scoring. Back in the KHL doing the hand sign of slitting a throat at an opposing teams player. Buch has always had that edge/assholeness to him even when he was a scrawny kid. Kakko doesn’t have that same edge and is a much more meek personality.

Finns aren't known for being the most expressive/emotive culture.

 

[EdJovanovski]

Finns aren't known for being the most expressive/emotive culture.

Not just his meek demeanor but his play too, don’t get me wrong I love Kakko; but he’s very much a gentle giant. He’s a very strong kid and great at board battles but he never throws a hit during them, never finishes his checks. Even Kravtsov throws hits and Kakko is much stronger than Kravtsov

 

[jay from jersey]

My buddy in Albany is a Blues fan, so I told him what he was getting and he loves him. But at the end of the day, Buch had to go. He said we would love Blais, and unfortunately he's out for the year, but Blais was playing very well before that.

That’s the real shame. We all saw his hitting can cause a huge momentum shift as far as the game goes, for fans and players both.
But before that dick Subban, he was really starting to play better and show some skill offensively too.
He most likely wouldn’t have matched buchs production, but at least replaced a solid chunk of it. Plus all the other stuff we needed.
Only silver lining is he likely doesn’t cost too much to resign now.
I would guess 2.5, possibly less. Still not old. Hopefully he comes back on a mission and he’s knee is good to go.

 

[McRanger92]

In terms of strength yes, but grit? Playing with an edge? Buch has always had an attitude back to the WJC taunting the USA bench after scoring. Back in the KHL doing the hand sign of slitting a throat at an opposing teams player. Buch has always had that edge/assholeness to him even when he was a scrawny kid. Kakko doesn’t have that same edge and is a much more meek personality.

Buch was best known for sulking on the bench until he gained an edge in the covid shortened season. He’s a really good player but it seems like his tenure here is put on a pedestal because he was a fan favorite. I’m not sold on Kakko/Lafreniere yet but they are regular NHLers at the same age Buch was still in Russia.

 

[CommaSynapse]

I was, and am, a huge Buch fan since we drafted him, and I did my best to catch as much as I can in the Cherepovets days. He took a massive step in his game over the last few years and really worked on both sides of the puck. I would have loved to have kept him as he was coming into his own, but I knew he was going to end up getting traded. Just the business side of things. There are other guys I would've looked to trade first, but, positionally, it just made the most sense for Buch to be the odd one out.

I do think we could have gotten more than what we did, but it is what it is, and I've got nothing more productive to say about it.

As for improving the current roster, I hope we're not genuinely looking at Leipsic. Second chance or not, it's just not the type of guy I'd want around our younger players.

 

[aufheben]

Ya’ll aware that Buchnevich is no longer on the team, right?

 

[egelband]

Precisely. He wont be qualified much higher cause of his injury, which is a mixed blessing for us and the cap situation. But like I said, we're 4th in the league in points %. I'd rather have that than a PPG Buch, and I loved Buch just as much as anyone.

If there’s any year for us to get a break on a contract it’s next year. Gonna be tight. I think that after next year things get a little more manageable.

 

[tlk]

positionally, it just made the most sense for Buch to be the odd one out.

played out a bit ironically considering where we are positionally

 

[tlk]

Ya’ll aware that Buchnevich is no longer on the team

no.

 

[Barnaby]

The cap implications of the Buchnevich trade were never about this season. Since the problem was next season, that means you're talking about rentals and teams like to see where they are first before trading away useful players.

Long term, certainly. I do think Drury also probably had some other balls in the air as well for this season, but they didn’t pan out for whatever reason. For example they could’ve taken back a center for this season made easier with the added space then had flexibility with a guy like Strome as to whether they eventually dealt him or used an own rental with the new center occupying his money next year. Either way, long term, Buch was going.

 

[Barnaby]

Hajek has outplayed Miller & Lindgren in his time up - Nemeth as well.
Badly outplayed actually.

Uh.... what...?

I actually don’t think Hajek has been bad this year. He’s not terrible to have around as a 7 or 8th.

He’s nowhere near Lindgren or Miller though (who I do think is overrated).

 

[Barnaby]

Kakko & Laf (especially Kakko) aren't grittier than Buch lol

No, but they wanted to add grit and obviously Kakko and Laf weren’t moving. Buch was obviously going to be the odd man out. The complaint is the lack of value brought back and Blais with a 1st would’ve been plenty fair. The 2nd makes it underwhelming. Blais going down didn’t help the optics. Either way, it’s over and done with.

 

[Wtp99]

No, but they wanted to add grit and obviously Kakko and Laf weren’t moving. Buch was obviously going to be the odd man out. The complaint is the lack of value brought back and Blais with a 1st would’ve been plenty fair. The 2nd makes it underwhelming. Blais going down didn’t help the optics. Either way, it’s over and done with.

Blaise has his name on a Stanley cup, brings something to the team. I do agree Buch also brought something to the team. But he had to get paid so he became the odd man out. We did get a decent return for him.