Speculation: Roster Building Thread - Part XXXV

[Guyute]

classy? guy made over a million bucks as a player... no free tickets?

She's 90. What makes you think she wants to travel to midtown Manhattan?

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

Ah... well, I will point out that I said "eventually, if not right away, the defense looks like this..."

Lindgren probably stays in that top 4 for the immediate time being if Trouba was to be traded. So that is not an immediate swap-out.

The idea is that Miller-Fox and Jones-Schneider are the eventual long term top 4 pairings.



My conceptualization would, again, be that the eventual pairing long term is Miller-Fox and Jones-Schneider, but for next year, if I traded Trouba and a first for Detroit's first and took Lambert, it would probably be Miller-Fox and then Lindgren-Schneider.

The third pair would be highly similar to this year and we'd be rolling with Nemeth or another vet, and then a platoon of kids in Jones, Robertson and Nils rolling in and out. At the deadline you could add another vet to stabilize if needed.

This is a step back on D, but it's not a "giant," step back. The third pair with Nemeth or a vet and a combination of Jones, Robertson and Nils is probably RELATIVELY similar to our D this year with Nemeth/vet and Schneider.

It's the second pair that suffers. Lindgren-Schneider is probably worse than Miller-Trouba. But Miller-Fox is probably better than Lindgren-Fox right now, as Miller continues to ascend and frankly, so does Fox who is only 24 years old. And Lindgren probably grades out better against easier matchups as well.

It's a step back on D, but the trade off you are getting is a potential future 1C.

That's massive.

Massive.

And for the people who are on-board to win now - the cap savings from moving Trouba allow you to re-sign Vatrano, Motte, and Blais and you can ice a dominant fourth line. So defensive downgrade, but massive upgrade to your forward corps, both now and later.

And you still have another spare defender (either Lindgren, Nils, Jones, or Robertson) as trade bait.



It's not really a stretch to say your highly touted kids have to make NHL debuts at some point. These guys are getting into the line up next year one way or the other. The idea is that they are going to be good enough to actually be worth putting into your lineup.

I'm not going to spend the time tearing down this entire post. I'll just add two points here.

1. Saying it's not a stretch to have your highly touted kids make NHL debuts at some point is one thing. Throwing them to the wolves on a team that will be expected contend for the cup next year by tossing 3 rookies into the lineup in minutes that were eaten by high quality veterans the prior season is another. This is the kind of shit Edmonton and Buffalo do and we've seen the results.

2. I kinda can't get over the fact that you're really penciling in guys who have limited, or in Robertson's case zero NHL experience and just assuming that it's going to lead to roughly the same results as this year. Trouba is one of the most important players on this team. I realize he might be overpaid but it is inarguable that he plays a gigantic and critical role on this team and is a huge reason for their success this year. Do you recall what the team looked like when he was taken out of the lineup at the end of last year?

The Rangers have done wonderfully with developing recent defensive prospects (Miller, Fox, Lindgren, Schneider) and what you're suggesting is to throw that patient plan out the window and go to a sink or swim narrative when it's completely unnecessary. Next year we should dump Nemeth and slot in Jones. Perhaps mid-season, or after next year, if all goes well, we can dump Lindgren and bring another rookie along. What you want to do is completely tear down an upper echelon defense and replace it with a bunch of unproven prospects.

 

[Doctyl]

Trouba is a unicorn and not many in here seem to understand that. This guy is 2nd in the league in blocked shots and 8th in hits, all while putting up 37 points this year so far(and only 4 of those points were on the Powerplay, since he doesn't play on PP1). We can't talk about "filling shoes" with this guy - that's an extremely unfair ask of any of our young Dmen. Trouba is part of the very core of this team, without a doubt.

I like Trouba, but the Girardi defense argument ain’t it. We aren’t trading Trouba because he has a NMC also management definitely loves the guy. It would make a lot of sense to move his $8M if we could and it would solve the cap issue for the rest of the team and allow us to keep the rest of the roster together.

It won’t happen, but it should be looked into.

 

[BobMarleyNYR]

She's 90. What makes you think she wants to travel to midtown Manhattan?

According to HFNYR, everyone wants to be in NY.

 

[RangerBoy]

Motte missed the start of this season with off-season neck surgery. He had a bulging disk in his neck. Arthur Staple mentioned on his podcast that Motte has had neck fusion surgery before. If Motte re-injured his neck, that would be very bad for him.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Motte missed the start of this season with off-season neck surgery. He had a bulging disk in his neck. Arthur Staple mentioned on his podcast that Motte has had neck fusion surgery before. If Motte re-injured his neck, that would be very bad for him.

Looked pretty clearly like a shoulder/collarbone thing with the way he skated off so I think he's safe there.

If its a neck thing, he probably won't play again.

 

[EdJovanovski]

He's been taken off PP2 as well

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

According to HFNYR, everyone wants to be in NY.

Horny NCAA players, sure

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

Motte is done for the year, idk why they don’t just come out and say it. They talked around Rooney and Kakko’s injury and they were out like a third of the year

 

[Tob]

John Tortorella once packed up his leftovers and bone from his NY strip steak and brought it to the alley way with homeless vagrants and gave it to me and my dog, @EdJovanovski.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Trouba is a unicorn and not many in here seem to understand that. This guy is 2nd in the league in blocked shots and 8th in hits, all while putting up 37 points this year so far(and only 4 of those points were on the Powerplay, since he doesn't play on PP1). We can't talk about "filling shoes" with this guy - that's an extremely unfair ask of any of our young Dmen. Trouba is part of the very core of this team, without a doubt.

Trouba is a super important player for this team the problem is he makes wayyy to much money. Not his fault though.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

According to HFNYR, everyone wants to be in NY.

no but 20-something millionaire athletes sure do

 

[BobMarleyNYR]

If you recently, Gallant's recent comments about him and his usage of Copp make it less likely he will be second line center, though everyone thinks that that. My guess is that it is not used at center before the season ends, he'll remain in a supporting role on the same line but with a more skilled center. Just because he was capable of that in Winnipeg (the team that drafted him, right?). Doesn't mean he's necessarily going to play center somewhere else... If he's not unseated Strome by now, for even a shift (not talking faceoffs), I doubt they'd purposely downgrade (steeply IMO) in pure stick skill.

 

[duhmetreE]

He's been taken off PP2 as well

Cool. We have done very little to help him succeed.

We're setting it up to a point where he may discreetly ask for a trade.

Laffy to MTL for Wright or Cooley. Anything short of a Cooley/Wright return is a fat no.

 

[BobMarleyNYR]

no but 20-something millionaire athletes sure do

was debating whether or not to mention that, but it really bad stigma of which the Rangers have not been guilty for almost 20 years.

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

John Tortorella once packed up his leftovers and bone from his NY strip steak and brought it to the alley way with homeless vagrants and gave it to me and my dog, @EdJovanovski.

I was sleeping on the subway when Ron Duguay approached, clipped a lock of his hair, gave it to me and said his hair will grant me one wish only. Even though I was destitute, I wished for Ron Low’s dismissal and it was granted. But then we got Trottier and knew that I wasted my wish. True story

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

He's been taken off PP2 as well

 

[Clark Kellogg]

Today’s Media Availability. Filip Chytil, Barclay Goodrow and Coach Gerard Gallant.

 

[Levitate]

If you recently, Gallant's recent comments about him and his usage of Copp make it less likely he will be second line center, though everyone thinks that that. My guess is that it is not used at center before the season ends, he'll remain in a supporting role on the same line but with a more skilled center. Just because he was capable of that in Winnipeg (the team that drafted him, right?). Doesn't mean he's necessarily going to play center somewhere else... If he's not unseated Strome by now, for even a shift (not talking faceoffs), I doubt they'd purposely downgrade (steeply IMO) in pure stick skill.

I think it's more that while Strome is here, they're not gonna mess with the Panarin-Stome chemistry

Next year is another matter. If Strome is gone but Copp is re-signed, then I'd bet he gets a long look as Panarin's C.

As for Laf...I dunno, I know the focus is on winning this season but I've said a lot, they need to find a way to get him into an important position in the lineup. You can't keep pushing a high draft pick down the lineup because you have a veteran team trying to win, they have to find a way to develop into that top six forward they "need"

 

[Rangerfan4life90]

Motte is done for the year, idk why they don’t just come out and say it. They talked around Rooney and Kakko’s injury and they were out like a third of the year

I think out for the regular season is probably a given at this point, but not sure about playoffs.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

Cool. We have done very little to help him succeed.

We're setting it up to a point where he may discreetly ask for a trade.

Laffy to MTL for Wright or Cooley. Anything short of a Cooley/Wright return is a fat no.

I don’t think its going to be discrete, and when he does Cooley/Wright isnt going to be the level of return

 

[MrAlmost]

I wouldn't rule out the team believing that Copp is the best winger to help promote Chytil either. Chytil is still in a limbo as the 3rd line center on this team, next year, without Strome, maybe they feel Chytil can take 2C if he is flanked by very strong wingers like Copp and Panarin. Just another angle to approach it from.

I am not sure Kakko plays a fast enough game to work well with Kreider and Z. Vatrano really fits on that line with his style. Maybe Blais plays there like he did before getting hurt. With Motte's injury status it may be unlikely he is resigned so Blais is more likely to be back for cheap. If Copp is kept, and I think he should be, I just dont think there is room for Vatrano. He is a good player, but we need cap space so it can accrue over the course of the year to make a deadline acquisition.

People might not like it, but to fill out that 4th line, which I think will have Brod and Hunt, we should look into our friend Colin Blackwell. Would be a solid, fast and tenacious 4th line. A little small, to be fair, but the rest of our lineup is actually quite big, so the speed would help a lot. Also, Nico Sturm is a good bottom line center.

 

[MrAlmost]

Also, sitting Laf isn't a bad thing. He looks like a young player that has played a lot of tough games. He could use some rest here and there. He has had a better season this year then last. More points (More games, I know) and though people shit on it, a better plus-minus despite the significant increase in games played. He is a smarter and more reliable player then he was and is more involved in the play throughout this year then he was last year. He still needs to improve and engage more cause he has to realize that the NHL is too good and the game does not "come to you" so to speak. You gotta go get it. I doubt he asks for a trade. At least, not for a few years.

 

[McRanger92]

Also, sitting Laf isn't a bad thing. He looks like a young player that has played a lot of tough games. He could use some rest here and there. He has had a better season this year then last. More points (More games, I know) and though people shit on it, a better plus-minus despite the significant increase in games played. He is a smarter and more reliable player then he was and is more involved in the play throughout this year then he was last year. He still needs to improve and engage more cause he has to realize that the NHL is too good and the game does not "come to you" so to speak. You gotta go get it. I doubt he asks for a trade. At least, not for a few years.

Lafeniere also hasnt been good lately, which I know is tough for the experts on social media to admit. The other thing no one wants to mention is that Chytil's game turned around in a big way when he watched a couple games from the press box.

Also, any of these kids who might think of "demanding a trade" (no chance Laf does this despite the speculation) should look no further than the team on the ice, and what happened when Kravtsov decided to go that route. The best thing for these young players right now is embracing the pressure to perform for a team looking to win the Stanley Cup this year. Thats what will make them better.

 

[BobMarleyNYR]

I think it's more that while Strome is here, they're not gonna mess with the Panarin-Stome chemistry

Next year is another matter. If Strome is gone but Copp is re-signed, then I'd bet he gets a long look as Panarin's C.

As for Laf...I dunno, I know the focus is on winning this season but I've said a lot, they need to find a way to get him into an important position in the lineup. You can't keep pushing a high draft pick down the lineup because you have a veteran team trying to win, they have to find a way to develop into that top six forward they "need"

chemistry be damned, I'm just talking about slight positional changes-- players kind of do that naturally. If you listen to Gallant's last pregame, he indirectly says Copp isn't really a top six player... Panarin is accustomed to the right wing being the workhorse and the center his back and forth guy. So it depends on what kind of chemistry you want to play with, in the off-season I guess. Because those days are nearing the end anyway. I still think they should re-sign Copp over Strome, just maybe not in that roll. It

Why Vatrano gels even better with the first line is kind of a mystery, I think. I'd rather not say Panarin not play someone where they could muse off of each other (although I think he'd be a very good two way winger if he lost his mojo, which probably won't be soon... Copp may not be the guy you want right next to him for that reason alone.

I also think Copp is going to get way more than it is worth. The Goodrow effect. Regardless, they might do well to keep him.