Speculation: Roster Building Thread: Part XXXII

[Ghost of jas]

Trouba is one year away from Group III. He files for salary arbitration again this summer. Gets awarded $6M plus by the arbitrator. Plays out the season and becomes a free agent in 2020. He can pick his team. His hometown Red Wings desperately an upgrade on D.

Trouba has a primary residence in Florida. Maybe he wants to play there. The Panthers could be an option depending on what they do this summer.

Is Trouba interested in signing a long term contract this summer or does he want to explore the market and become a free agent available to the highest bidder in 2020?

The Rangers don’t need another Kevin Hayes situation. He signs a one year contract and becomes a free agent the next summer. Any team trading for Hayes last summer had to pay him or view him as a one year rental. That’s assuming Hayes wanted to sign with that team. Same scenario with Trouba. The one year contract worked out well for Hayes. He will get paid more than the Rangers wanted to pay him.

His agent Kurt Overhardt is a pain in the ass. Another issue.

Very complicated.

Gorton clearly had interest in him last year, and I think the Rangers were a team he had interest in playing for. I’d rather see Gorton use assets to get a player like Trouba who fits the rebuild timeline, than try to sign someone like Karlsson.

 

[darko]

I dont see any reason to buyout Strome. He has played well and is still young.

They can move either him or Nams if they really want more cap relief. Someone will give something for them.

Save the buyout for someone else IF we even really need to buy someone out at this point.

Agree. And the thing is we don't really need cap relief. He's RFA and I'd bring him back on a short term deal.

 

[Ghost of jas]

Sure if Trouba comes with an extension.

I wouldn’t expect Gorton to agree to any such deal without an extension.

 

[Tawnos]

Come the end of the season, we need to unload Strome somewhere. Get a pick in return. Sell high on his unsustainable production that he has had since being traded. I think he'd return more than Names. I know Strome will be an RFA, but I don't see the production being duplicated next season. I can see Names being productive next season and being a desirable rental at the TDL.

I have no problem with trading Strome, but it should be pointed out that he's really not producing anything out of the norm for him. His career pace per 82 games was 38 points before this season. His projection to 82 games with the Rangers? 38 points. Clearly something wasn't right in Edmonton this year (on so many levels, but talking about him specifically), but he's been his average 3rd line self with us.

 

[GAGLine]

I like the idea of a Skjei plus for Trouba swap, since it cleans up the glut on left side, and adds a high end player who futs on the timeline.

We shouldn't be adding to Skjei for Trouba. Trouba is an RFA 1 year from UFA. Skjei is under contract for the next 5 years at a reasonable number. If anything, they should add, but a 1 for 1 swap would work. If they want us to add, no dice.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

I have no problem with trading Strome, but it should be pointed out that he's really not producing anything out of the norm for him. His career pace per 82 games was 38 points before this season. His projection to 82 games with the Rangers? 38 points. Clearly something wasn't right in Edmonton this year (on so many levels, but talking about him specifically), but he's been his average 3rd line self with us.

I dont think you can project his point from his time here as it's too small of a sample and he was getting used to a new team, new coach,new system. Is he the player he has been the last 10 games or the 10 before that, that's the question and there is no answer for that until he plays more here.

 

[JimmyG89]

Strome has a very cheap buyout at 1/3 instead of 2/3. 25 years old or younger.

The Rangers are better off buying him out if they don’t want him on the roster.

$433,333
$533,333

I don't think they'll have to buy him out based on his performance. Someone looking at a depth move could take the chance on him.

Better yet, I could see a cap strapped team making a trade where we get a player on an expiring deal that has a higher cap hit and not worth it for Strome + pick and that team buys him out. Tampa, Winnipeg, Toronto are three to look at.

I know Gorton talked about accelerating the rebuild, but we still have the current flexibility to make these kind of moves and compete.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Also, I'm not sold on Trouba as your pillar on defense.

 

[Edge]

I have no problem with trading Strome, but it should be pointed out that he's really not producing anything out of the norm for him. His career pace per 82 games was 38 points before this season. His projection to 82 games with the Rangers? 38 points. Clearly something wasn't right in Edmonton this year (on so many levels, but talking about him specifically), but he's been his average 3rd line self with us.

I think the difference is expectations and fit.

There's no expectation from Strome to score 25-30 goals, and 55-60 points. We didn't draft him, he wasn't out top pick, we never counted on him to evolve into that. We didn't trade a key piece of our team for him, etc.

He's also a really good fit for this particular team. He can slide around between center and wing, the system we utilize seems to play to his strengths, and we're using him in situations that play to his strengths.

In many ways, he kind of reminds me a little bit of Pouliot in terms of his journey to get here. Former high first round pick, his production here isn't really all that different than what it was in other places, but the environment is different.

Now having said that, his 20 goal pace would mark a career high, and his 38 points amount to the second highest season total of his career. So outside of his 17 goal/50 point campaign, he's definitely on the higher end of his career spectrum.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Strome has a very cheap buyout at 1/3 instead of 2/3. 25 years old or younger.

The Rangers are better off buying him out if they don’t want him on the roster.

$433,333
$533,333

Have you been watching him play? Why would they buy him out?

 

[NYR Viper]

Also, I'm not sold on Trouba as your pillar on defense.

I'm not sure he needs to be a pillar on defense if his cap his is at or around $6-7m. If we are looking for a pillar, you're probably looking at $9-10m per season. At his cap hit (most likely), you're expecting him to be a McDonagh-like player. Top-pairing, but doesn't need to carry the entire thing himself.

 

[NYR Viper]

Strome's status as a RFA, to me, make him someone to keep around. I find it hard to believe he will be making as much, or more on his next contract and the Rangers hold the cards. He's a useful depth player and he's very popular in the room. Fast and Namestnikov are the guys to unload as both are UFA's. See how Strome fairs next year and see where it takes you

 

[Edge]

Also, I'm not sold on Trouba as your pillar on defense.

Trouba is one of those names who keeps popping up on these boards over and over and over again, and I just don't see the love affair.

He's a good defenseman, not a great one. Not necessarily a guy who transforms our defense. And that's when he's healthy, which he's had a very, very hard time doing in the NHL over a large enough sample size for it to be a concern.

I also have a feeling that once this board actually had him, he'd be exactly the type of player they turn on quickly.

So maybe some of my feelings are a self-defense mechanism, because I don't want to have to deal with the likely consequences.

 

[Tawnos]

I think the difference is expectations and fit.

There's no expectation from Strome to score 25-30 goals, and 55-60 points. We didn't draft him, he wasn't out top pick, we never counted on him to evolve into that. We didn't trade a key piece of our team for him, etc.

He's also a really good fit for this particular team. He can slide around between center and wing, the system we utilize seems to play to his strengths, and we're using him in situations that play to his strengths.

In many ways, he kind of reminds me a little bit of Pouliot in terms of his journey to get here. Former high first round pick, his production here isn't really all that different than what it was in other places, but the environment is different.

Now having said that, his 20 goal pace would mark a career high, and his 38 points amount to the second highest season total of his career. So outside of his 17 goal/50 point campaign, he's definitely on the higher end of his career spectrum.

Yeah, I can see the Pouliot comparison and I definitely agree about the expectations thing. 100%

The 20 goal pace is likely something that'll even out in terms of his G:A ratio over a larger sample. As for 38 points representing his 2nd best finish... I tend to think of things in ranges. Him getting 38 points per 82 in his Rangers time this year doesn't really represent a better season than 34 points per 82 in 17-18 or his 35 per 82 in 16-17 or his 32 points per 82 in 15-16. He's a 30-40 point player, which slots perfectly as a 3rd liner.

 

[NYR Viper]

Trouba is one of those names who keeps popping up on these boards over and over and over again, and I just don't see the love affair.

He's a good defenseman, not a great one. Not necessarily a guy who transforms our defense. And that's when he's healthy, which he's had a very, very hard time doing in the NHL over a large enough sample size for it to be a concern.

I also have a feeling that once this board actually had him, he'd be exactly the type of player they turn on quickly.

So maybe some of my feelings are a self-defense mechanism, because I don't want to have to deal with the likely consequences.

Doesn't it depend on the expectations? He's a good top-pairing guy. To me, when I watch him play, he reminds me of McDonagh. He's not going to be THE guy. But he can be a key piece on a winning team (like he is now)

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

The NYR basically did what they could to try to get a top pick.

They are 2nd to last in ROW. They have the most shootout wins in the league and are above average in “loser points”.

Lot of random variance in that...aka NYR luck. Hard to shake the feeling that this franchise is cursed sometimes.

 

[JimmyG89]

Now having said that, his 20 goal pace would mark a career high, and his 38 points amount to the second highest season total of his career. So outside of his 17 goal/50 point campaign, he's definitely on the higher end of his career spectrum.

He's shooting at an insane percentage right now. His value isn't going to get much higher at this point. We rescued that value when flipping Spooner for him. We could net a pick in return if someone really needs space. 400K for him to not be on their roster in exchange for an expiring deal and a pick? We can nab another Strome type player as a UFA.

 

[RangerBoy]

Gorton clearly had interest in him last year, and I think the Rangers were a team he had interest in playing for. I’d rather see Gorton use assets to get a player like Trouba who fits the rebuild timeline, than try to sign someone like Karlsson.

Gorton tried to acquire Trouba in 2016 when he was holding out as s group II. Winnipeg wasn’t very interested in trading him at that time.

There really wasn’t much trade talk last year. Winnipeg was content going with the one year contract.

Trouba is one year away from group III now. He was 4 years away in 2016.

Why is Karlsson even in the discussion? If you look at what Gorton told Custance last week, Karlsson doesn’t fit.

 

[Edge]

Doesn't it depend on the expectations? He's a good top-pairing guy. To me, when I watch him play, he reminds me of McDonagh. He's not going to be THE guy. But he can be a key piece on a winning team (like he is now)

The problem is that he's like that for maybe 50 games as season, out of the 60 some odd he averages. That's not going to change as he gets older.

And while he reminds me of McD, I don't find him to be as good as McD. Especially when I look at his support cast and what is asked of him.

So I find myself staring at a player who is coming from an environment that benefits him more than ours will, compares unfavorably to the guy he reminds us of, and has consistently missed a quarter of the season for the past half-decade. And I'm going to ask him to come here, to a lesser team, that will rely on him more, as he gets older.

That just seems like a recipe for disappointment and frustration.

 

[GAGLine]

Also, I'm not sold on Trouba as your pillar on defense.

I can understand that, but he has many of the qualifications for the job. He's a right-handed dman with size, which we very much need. He has shown capable of playing big minutes and in all situations, and he puts up points. He also just turned 25, which puts him at 30-33 when his next contract expires, depending on the length. He should be in his prime by the time we are ready to compete.

He may not be perfect, but can we win a cup with him as our 1RD? That's the question. I don't see any better options out there. The draft won't help any time soon. Lundkvist and Keane are both multiple years away from being consistent NHLers, and does either project as first pair? There aren't many highly rated RHD in the upcoming draft.

The most highly rated dman in the current draft is Byram, and he's a lefty. He's also projected to go around about where we should be picking. He has the tools to be a 1st pair dman. If we were to trade Skjei for Trouba and draft Byram, we'd have the makings of a solid 1st pair, with plenty of depth behind them. ADA, Pionk, Keane and Lundkvist on the right side. Miller, Rykov, Hajek, Lindgren, Reunanen on the left side. Maybe others like Day, Gross, Ragnarsson, Crawley can become bottom pair guys.

If we want to compete in the near future, we have to fix the defense, and to do that we need a 1RD.

 

[RangerBoy]

Have you been watching him play? Why would they buy him out?

The other guy said the Rangers should try to trade him for a pick. Did you see that? What type of pick are the Rangers getting for Strome this summer? Teams will have other targets in mind. If they need to clear out a roster spot and or money, Strome can be bought very cheap.

 

[Edge]

He's shooting at an insane percentage right now. His value isn't going to get much higher at this point. We rescued that value when flipping Spooner for him. We could net a pick in return if someone really needs space. 400K for him to not be on their roster in exchange for an expiring deal and a pick? We can nab another Strome type player as a UFA.

I've never quite understood, or bought into the arguments where a guy will never get better than he is right now, because he's overachieving, but somehow we're the only ones who know that so we can get better trade value.

If Strome is a solid third line type, I'm perfectly okay with that. I don't really see the need to take what's working, trade it for a middling return, and then attempt to replace what we already have via free agency.

Strome's contract isn't a problem and it's not like we're going to get an amazing return for him. I'm not really following the thought process on this one.

 

[RangerBoy]

I don't think they'll have to buy him out based on his performance. Someone looking at a depth move could take the chance on him.

Better yet, I could see a cap strapped team making a trade where we get a player on an expiring deal that has a higher cap hit and not worth it for Strome + pick and that team buys him out. Tampa, Winnipeg, Toronto are three to look at.

I know Gorton talked about accelerating the rebuild, but we still have the current flexibility to make these kind of moves and compete.

Gorton isn’t signing players willy nilly to accelerate the rebuild. He isn’t promising any big signings to speed up the process.

Strome has a high cap hit. $3.2M.

 

[Thirty One]

Gorton isn’t signing players willy nilly to accelerate the rebuild. He isn’t promising any big signings to speed up the process.

Strome has a high cap hit. $3.2M.

3.1. Sick of your lies.

 

[Tawnos]

Gorton isn’t signing players willy nilly to accelerate the rebuild. He isn’t promising any big signings to speed up the process.

Strome has a high cap hit. $3.2M.

$3.2m ($3.1m?) is a high cap hit?