Speculation: Roster Building Thread: (still) No Quinn In NY Edition

[Tob]

 

[Clark Kellogg]

Wondering if this was bait given by Drury to one employee who is now an ex-employee?

 

[Clark Kellogg]

When Chicago learned that the Red Wings drafted a player named Red they went out and signed this player.
This many days until opening night:

 

[eco's bones]

I’ve considered Kreider a 30+ goal player for a few years now because of “non-skill” circumstances that prevented him reaching the actual number like season stoppage or missing games because of injuries (last offseason I predicted “close to 40” and was I wrong). Anyway, unless there are similar circumstances again, Kreider should be due for at least 30+ goals in 22-23.
As far as who’s taking Strome’s PP1 spot - I’d put my money on Trocheck. He’s already a proven good PP player and I also think he’s got an advantage over other options because Gallant would probably want to keep the existing scheme and give the bumper position to a right-hander. It would allow the player in this spot to both receive (short) passes from Panarin or Fox, or set up Zibanejad in the left circle, better / easier for a right-hander.

Kreider does have good hand skills though. He deflected in a number of shots last year and it almost seemed like he's not just deflecting them he's placing them in spots too. Hard to move out and is quick on rebounds. High IQ guys like Panarin and Fox can especially take advantage of that skillset.....not that Mika is a slouch setting him up either. The other thing is in the playoffs it was Mika with the hotter hand on the power play. It's like we have two guys that really know how to finish and two guys that are elite at setting up finishing scenarios. It's really hard to defend against that.

You're probably right on Trochek but I would like to see more opportunity for Lafreniere and Kakko this year if at all possible. I don't know if I'd go as far as saying Trocheck is a better offensive player than Strome but I think he's at least as good and I would say he's a much better all around player.

 

[frozenrubber]

Kreider does have good hand skills though. He deflected in a number of shots last year and it almost seemed like he's not just deflecting them he's placing them in spots too. Hard to move out and is quick on rebounds. High IQ guys like Panarin and Fox can especially take advantage of that skillset.....not that Mika is a slouch setting him up either. The other thing is in the playoffs it was Mika with the hotter hand on the power play. It's like we have two guys that really know how to finish and two guys that are elite at setting up finishing scenarios. It's really hard to defend against that.

You're probably right on Trochek but I would like to see more opportunity for Lafreniere and Kakko this year if at all possible. I don't know if I'd go as far as saying Trocheck is a better offensive player than Strome but I think he's at least as good and I would say he's a much better all around player.

As long as Kreider's back holds up (and crosschecks in front of the net are nothing like they used to be), Tomas Holmstrom put up 10+ powerplay goals deep into his late 30s, it's a good omen for Kreider.

When you think of PP specialists, it's crazy to think that Kreider scored 10 MORE goals than Ovechkin on the powerplay last year

 

[eco's bones]

As long as Kreider's back holds up (and crosschecks in front of the net are nothing like they used to be), Tomas Holmstrom put up 10+ powerplay goals deep into his late 30s, it's a good omen for Kreider.

When you think of PP specialists, it's crazy to think that Kreider scored 10 MORE goals than Ovechkin on the powerplay last year

A lot of credit has to go to the guys setting him up though. That's one of the points I'm making. Those guys are working his strengths and he's kind of the beneficiary of that. Other guys can't hang in front of the net like he can and get deflections like he while the opposing D are banging into him in front of the net. Someone like Fox will just hit his stick in the right place if you give Adam a split second extra time. He's also great at setting screens and sometimes that's a big factor in a goal even if he doesn't touch it or get an assist.

 

[kovazub94]

Kreider does have good hand skills though. He deflected in a number of shots last year and it almost seemed like he's not just deflecting them he's placing them in spots too. Hard to move out and is quick on rebounds. High IQ guys like Panarin and Fox can especially take advantage of that skillset.....not that Mika is a slouch setting him up either. The other thing is in the playoffs it was Mika with the hotter hand on the power play. It's like we have two guys that really know how to finish and two guys that are elite at setting up finishing scenarios. It's really hard to defend against that.

You're probably right on Trochek but I would like to see more opportunity for Lafreniere and Kakko this year if at all possible. I don't know if I'd go as far as saying Trocheck is a better offensive player than Strome but I think he's at least as good and I would say he's a much better all around player.

I hope my post didn’t come out as if I was questioning Kreider’s skills - he’s easily top-5 in the league in the front of the net category.

If we assume that PP1 is Zibanejad, Panarin, Fox, Kreider and Trocheck and both Jones and Kravtsov are in the lineup then my PP2 would be made up of the following group (Jones, Lafreniere, Kravtsov/Kakko, Trouba, / Chytil

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Pronman top 170, Under 23 list is out:

10 - Laf
43 - Miller
48 - Kakko
79 - Schneider
91 - Lundvist
98 - Othmann
100 - Jones

 

[UAGoalieGuy]

Pronman top 170, Under 23 list is out:

10 - Laf
43 - Miller
48 - Kakko
79 - Schneider
91 - Lundvist
98 - Othmann
100 - Jones

Rangers should be up there with the most players in the top 100 i would think with 7

 

[eco's bones]

I hope my post didn’t come out as if I was questioning Kreider’s skills - he’s easily top-5 in the league in the front of the net category.

If we assume that PP1 is Zibanejad, Panarin, Fox, Kreider and Trocheck and both Jones and Kravtsov are in the lineup then my PP2 would be made up of the following group (Jones, Lafreniere, Kravtsov/Kakko, Trouba, / Chytil

There are some very good options for it. Depending on how Jones or Lundkvist go there might even be a chance that K’Andre is part of it too. Gallant was giving him some time last year. He’s got an excellent shot. He’s not the slickest puck mover in small spaces though. Jones is though and Nils is pretty good and he’s another guy with a great shot.

 

[leetch99]

I think the Rangers power play will be at least as good if not better this year. We'll see someone different in the bumper position on PP1 (Lafreniere, Kakko, Trocheck?) but Strome was the weakest link in our PP1 last year. I also expect Fox to be even better. All that is reason why I don't expect Kreider to revert back to being a 25 goal scorer. He might not get 52 but 35/40 with Zibanejad and Panarin scoring more power play goals may be what happens instead. At the end of the day if it scores as many or more it doesn't really matter who gets the goals to me. Keeping in mind if Kreider gets 15 (or higher) power play goals and not 26 that's still a very good number.....and when you have all world hockey IQ's in Fox and Panarin and Kreider is great at hanging in the front deflecting in shots and getting to rebounds and screening he's a lot for opposing teams to deal with. He creates a lot of chaos in front of the net.

I think if he stays healthy he should come close to his second 50 goal season ....he might even score more !!!

 

[eco's bones]

I think if he stays healthy he should come close to his second 50 goal season ....he might even score more !!!

Even coming close I'd be happy but I also think Mika should score more if Kreider doesn't score as many and Chris is very good at setting screens for Mika's one timer. I do expect that unit to be better and to me Fox probably hasn't reached his peak. He's the one significant player who we might expect a bit more from.

 

[Lays]

Any off-season player interviews?

I know Kakko usually does a Finnish interview each summer, would be interesting to hear what he had to say about last season considering he was pretty candid the off-season before

 

[Clark Kellogg]

We lost a few good men in that Rick Nash trade.
We gained a few good men in that Rick Nash trade.
This many days until opening night:

 

[AirGut]

We lost a few good men in that Rick Nash trade.
We gained a few good men in that Rick Nash trade.
This many days until opening night:
View attachment 580214

He was my favorite growing up, he sparked my love for Russian Hockey players. Did he officially retire or is he playing overseas?

 

[Clark Kellogg]

He was my favorite growing up, he sparked my love for Russian Hockey players. Did he officially retire or is he playing overseas?

Played 27 games last season with
Yaroslavl Lokomotiv of the KHL. Not sure about this upcoming season.

 

[Ola]

The Rangers young players will determine the trajectory of the team. Even Larry Brooks came to that realization a few weeks ago. Gallant and his staff need to put the young players in the best position to succeed. Maybe use Lafreniere on the 1st unit PP instead of Trocheck. Kakko. Kravtsov. He is better than Gauthier. If Gauthier fell off the boat, he would not hit the water. Chytil. He needs to stay healthy. One of the young guys needs to step up on defense.

The cavalry is not coming at the trade deadline this season. The Rangers do not have $6M-$7M in cap space which equates to $27M-$31M in combined cap hits. No Andrew Copp, Frank Vatrano, Tyler Motte and Justin Braun. The Rangers will begin the season with less than $1M in cap space.

This is the Rangers team.

Yeah, and its not only Laf and Kakko who can step up for us. A Troy Krug like breakout season by Zac Jones wouldn't hurt. Lundkvist matching Fox's rookie season, sort of, can't be ruled out.

I don't really believe in kids exceeding expectations to contribute on a 4th line or even a smaller role on a 3rd line. The ends don't meet, what a kid that exceeds expectation can do -- at least on the wing -- won't be what is successful on a depth line most of the time.

But I think that there is much more reason to be hopeful about what our kids can do on the blueline.

 

[Ola]

He was my favorite growing up, he sparked my love for Russian Hockey players. Did he officially retire or is he playing overseas?

I like AA a lot too.

In a way, Anisimov is the last of his sort. There is of course no distinct cut-off line, but junior hockey in Russia up to like 05' give or take a few years was still "old school". Think the KHL formed in like 08'. Gradually to that date and increasingly after it, Russian junior hockey became more modern/business like.

The Russian kid before like 05' was basically always compared to his peers from other nations (a) over-trained, i.e. had better technical ability than he had natural skill for and (b) under-developed in terms of performance in games. The reason for that is pretty simple lol, they had much more skill focused training, especially at young age, and played much fewer games. 20-30 games per year up until you were like 18 y/o. They had like training programs in certain areas. 1 hour on the ice without pucks just working on skating technique, 1 hour on the ice with a puck just working on stick-handling. Then perhaps some drills. Like a gymnast trains. Many many hours per day and week.

Development today is of course better. Much more focused which gives better well rounded results. But it was facinating watching those Russian kids come up because relative to their peers they were always better in certain areas and worse in others. In this era, a kid like Brady Skjei can come to a NHL camp and drive the puck up ice without even throwing a glance at the puck. How is that possible? Its only done by him spending a month or so each summer at some camp in the US working on it, and then keeping it up during the seasons. Its not unique. But go back 20+ years and it was rare. When you saw a 18 y/o Anisimov fetch a puck behind his own net and driving it up ice with his head up reading the ice infront of him without throwing a glance at the puck it was pretty unique. He loved making long hard and crisp back-hand passes. You don't really see a guy today that kind of obviously have spent much more time than what is reasonable compared to his game in general on making long hard back hand passes. Everyone can make a hard cross ice pass wtih his forhand, some have better back-hands, but Anisimov lol it was a thing for him.

 

[GENESISPuck94]

August is the worste month for hockey. So boring. Cant wait for camps to open.

 

[IDvsEGO]

Yeah, and its not only Laf and Kakko who can step up for us. A Troy Krug like breakout season by Zac Jones wouldn't hurt. Lundkvist matching Fox's rookie season, sort of, can't be ruled out.

I don't really believe in kids exceeding expectations to contribute on a 4th line or even a smaller role on a 3rd line. The ends don't meet, what a kid that exceeds expectation can do -- at least on the wing -- won't be what is successful on a depth line most of the time.

But I think that there is much more reason to be hopeful about what our kids can do on the blueline.

I think alot of the kids on the third line will depend on gallant's usage.
In Vegas gallant had 3 very balanced lines and used them in that way, and got good production from all 3.
He can do something similar here and balance all 3 lines in even strength time, and the kids on line 3 should be on pp2.
The problem becomes if he gives the third line 8-10 minutes again. Then we have issues because yeah thats not going to be a contributing line.

 

[bleedblue94]

i dont know if it has been mentioned here but bill dly recently alluded to economic growth ahead of schedule and when asked if the 2-3 year timeline was accurate he said something to the affect that was safe but they were very optimistic there was the opportunity for that to move up. he is a lawyer and he was talking with the lawyerly vagueness but you could tell with the rumblings of cap increases coming sooner that he wasnt putting any cold water on that. my guess is that we see a jump in the summer of 24 with the outside possibility that they consider a 3m jump in the summer of 23 IF everything progresses as consistent with their projections.

 

[cheech70]

i dont know if it has been mentioned here but bill dly recently alluded to economic growth ahead of schedule and when asked if the 2-3 year timeline was accurate he said something to the affect that was safe but they were very optimistic there was the opportunity for that to move up. he is a lawyer and he was talking with the lawyerly vagueness but you could tell with the rumblings of cap increases coming sooner that he wasnt putting any cold water on that. my guess is that we see a jump in the summer of 24 with the outside possibility that they consider a 3m jump in the summer of 23 IF everything progresses as consistent with their projections.

It is a reasonable strategy that benefits all sides...throw in 1 buyout also...

 

[bleedblue94]

It is a reasonable strategy that benefits all sides...throw in 1 buyout also...

league does not want a buyout. they absolutely do not want it bc they dont want money out of the cap system.

i understand why many of us would like it, but i dont think that will happen

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Maybe. Depends on how good the kids start off the season, and if it takes Mika a couple of months to get going again. Our 2nd line center is an upgrade though. Our bottom pair should be better than the start of last season too.

As i said a lot has to go right for us to be better than the team that played in the eastern finals. The 2nd line isnt better, we lost Copp and Strome and added Trochek. Everyone forgets Panarin had his career year with Strome, there's 0 guarantee he is as good with Trochek, and I'd even go as far to say its unlikely. Will Trochek's other assets make up for that, time will tell. And even if we say " hopefully Kakko fills Copp's spot adequately", and Lafreniere jumps on line one, those two guys are taken off the 3rd line which was one of our best lines in playoffs. We've added Trochek, Kravtsov, Carpenter and Blais i guess, even if i dont ever believe he will play a whole season and we lost our 1st line RW, 2nd line center and 2nd line rw, as well as Motte and Rooney. Again a lot has to go right for Kakko and Lafreniere to be good in the top 6, and then we have to hope our 3rd line isnt destroyed with their departure from it. The wildcard is the trade deadline though, or a guy like Kravtsov jumping in and carrying the 3rd line.

 

[cheech70]

Trochek plays down the middle of the ice with attitude...... Bread will benefit greatly...need a hound dog to crash the corners