Roster Building Thread VI (2022-23): Offseason edition

[LaffyTaffyNYR]

If our top 9 wings average 14-15 minutes even strength does it really matter which line fans label the third line? Laf played more even strength minutes than CK the #1 line guy.

It does matter who they play with at ES tho..

 

[NickyFotiu]

It does matter who they play with at ES tho..

That stuff kind of what makes me think as well. The board says KK should be on the first line. They say Chytil should be on the second line. Yet when they play together they aren't playing with top 6 guys? Doesn't that seem flawed?

 

[LaffyTaffyNYR]

That stuff kind of what makes me think as well. The board says KK should be on the first line. They say Chytil should be on the second line. Yet when they play together they aren't playing with top 6 guys? Doesn't that seem flawed?

I don’t mind the kid line they look great at times together as long as they keep it for a while and give them ice time.

 

[NickyFotiu]

I don’t mind the kid line they look great at times together as long as they keep it for a while and give them ice time.

I don't mind it either. I just find the notion that the board calls them top 6 guys but at the same time says they don't play with top 6 guys to be inconsistent.

 

[LaffyTaffyNYR]

I don't mind it either. I just find the notion that the board calls them top 6 guys but at the same time says they don't play with top 6 guys to be inconsistent.

consistent time. Like if they want that line together give it at least half a season.

 

[LaffyTaffy13]

The Rangers have Chytil, Lafreniere and Kakko. Othmann and Cuylle will be on the team.. One or both players might play some games in the AHL. Barring something unforeseen, they will play for the Rangers. That's 5 players. The defense is still a young group. Fox. Lindgren. Miller. Schneider. Jones will be on the team. Hopefully, Laviolette won't play Gustafsson over Jones. Gustafsson had a very good season playing for Laviolette last season in Washington. Looking at the Rangers team, defense is the area which needs some help at the trade deadline. I like Jones but he is small. You need those big and rangy D for the playoffs. Hopefully Robertson gets a look. He fits the big body D mold. That's 5 more players with Jones. Housley should be able to get something out of Jones. Housley was one of the best offensive defenseman in the NHL. It was Leetch, Housley, MacInnis and Coffey. Igor is 27. That's 11. 22 players on the roster. 1/2 of the roster is made up young players. Trouba is 29. Trocheck is 29. More than half the team is under 30. The narrative is the Rangers are an old team. The Rangers needed a middle 6-9 forward and they had no money. Wheeler became available after the buyout. He hasn’t had many injuries in his career. His numbers are still good. Wheeler isn't the same play driver he was 5-6 years ago but he is better some of the players who have worn the Rangers sweater. Wheeler also brings much needed size on the wing. I would rather have Wheeler instead of Kane or Tarasenko. The same thing with Bonnino. He isn't the player from the Pittsburgh teams in 2016 and 2017. He can still fill a role for the Rangers at $800,000. Fourth line center. Win face-offs. PK. He can still play. It would have been nice to keep Halak but he didn’t want to take $825,000 plus $100,000 in bonuses. The Rangers swapped out an older goalie for another older goalie. I wonder where Halak is playing this season. If you look at each team, nearly every team has their goalie tandem under contract. Some teams like Pittsburgh have three goalies. The Rangers need 25 points from Quick's starts. It doesn’t matter who is the back-up goalie if something happens to Igor. The Rangers would still be screwed. Spicy pork is the 3rd goalie.

The rangers are built for sustained success. Trouba is gone by the latest july 1 2026 (likely traded sooner), kreider will likely be gone around july 1 2026, panarin gone on july 1 2026 and then you have a prime core of fox, kandre, lindgren, schneider on the back end to pair with chytil laff kakko othmann cuylle perrault up front with some solid vets in mika, trocheck sprinkled in + whatever ufa’s we land. Oh yeah and a likely multiple vezina winning goalie behind it all

 

[Fitzy]

The Rangers have Chytil, Lafreniere and Kakko. Othmann and Cuylle will be on the team.. One or both players might play some games in the AHL. Barring something unforeseen, they will play for the Rangers. That's 5 players. The defense is still a young group. Fox. Lindgren. Miller. Schneider. Jones will be on the team. Hopefully, Laviolette won't play Gustafsson over Jones. Gustafsson had a very good season playing for Laviolette last season in Washington. Looking at the Rangers team, defense is the area which needs some help at the trade deadline. I like Jones but he is small. You need those big and rangy D for the playoffs. Hopefully Robertson gets a look. He fits the big body D mold. That's 5 more players with Jones. Housley should be able to get something out of Jones. Housley was one of the best offensive defenseman in the NHL. It was Leetch, Housley, MacInnis and Coffey. Igor is 27. That's 11. 22 players on the roster. 1/2 of the roster is made up young players. Trouba is 29. Trocheck is 29. More than half the team is under 30. The narrative is the Rangers are an old team. The Rangers needed a middle 6-9 forward and they had no money. Wheeler became available after the buyout. He hasn’t had many injuries in his career. His numbers are still good. Wheeler isn't the same play driver he was 5-6 years ago but he is better some of the players who have worn the Rangers sweater. Wheeler also brings much needed size on the wing. I would rather have Wheeler instead of Kane or Tarasenko. The same thing with Bonnino. He isn't the player from the Pittsburgh teams in 2016 and 2017. He can still fill a role for the Rangers at $800,000. Fourth line center. Win face-offs. PK. He can still play. It would have been nice to keep Halak but he didn’t want to take $825,000 plus $100,000 in bonuses. The Rangers swapped out an older goalie for another older goalie. I wonder where Halak is playing this season. If you look at each team, nearly every team has their goalie tandem under contract. Some teams like Pittsburgh have three goalies. The Rangers need 25 points from Quick's starts. It doesn’t matter who is the back-up goalie if something happens to Igor. The Rangers would still be screwed. Spicy pork is the 3rd goalie.

I don't see how Othmann and Cuylle make the team. Maybe one of them. Othmann would have to be top 9, pushing Goodrow/Vesey back down. SOmeone would have to shift to RW.

Gustafsson over Jones gives us the best chance to win on any given night, but Jones should rotate in and get at least 30 games in addition to fitness stints in Hartford. The hope is that Jones ultimately turns into someone like Gustafsson, who would have been a lot more expensive in a typical UFA year. God knows how Mikkola and Schenn got paid the way they did

Robertson is still at best a season away. Most of our best AHL watchmen think he's not ready- at best the third best blueliner on the team last year behind Emberson and Jones. He's still waiver exempt I believe, my guess would be unless he takes another step this season he will be moved at the deadline.

IDK about Wheeler over Tarasenko. But Tara isn't signing for league minimum. I prefer Wheeler over nobody.

Agreed- all our old players are role players, no one playing big minutes. Average age is a bit deceptive that way.

Agreed on Igor and the backup. Unless Quick is an absolute trainwreck (In which case enter Domingue) it won't make a difference.

NYR's 4th line is gonna be slow. It's up to Lavi to figure out how to deal with that.

 

[NickyFotiu]

consistent time. Like if they want that line together give it at least half a season.

I don't know the stats but I felt they played together a lot. If they didn't then they must be playing with top 6 guys so again some of the they don't play with top 6 guys seems flawed.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Still feel that they’re going to be f***ed until they find a way to be rid of Panarin unless other people really take a leap forward and make him less important.

Hopefully when the cap opens up a bit there will be a taker on that front. They won’t have much trouble moving Trouba, nhl GMs overvalue what he brings to the table.

 

[Clark Kellogg]

I want to feel this way but it's fool me once shame on you... but fool me 20+ times...

20+ years (since the dark ages) of the Rangers prioritizing aging vets over drafted young forwards. I have a hard time believing it will suddenly change. But I'll be very pleasantly surprised if it does.

Even when a drafted young forward blossoms into what they want or start to, they get traded. Dubinsky + Anisimov for Nash, Callahan for St. Louis, Miller for literally nothing, Savard for Hlavac, Amonte for Noonan and Matteau (yay we got a goal out of it), Kovalev for Nedved and Tamer, Duclair for Yandle, Kravtsov for nothing, Doug Weight ... among others.

I really want to believe Wheeler is used as a role 3rd-4th liner while the kids are leaned on and allowed to grow in leadership roles. But, the past evidence suggests otherwise.

…and this is why we fail.
Like a glutton at a buffet who fills up on all the food that is set out at the beginning and can’t conceive that if he is patient and disciplined that he will be rewarded.

 

[Avery16]

Drury is punting on the 2023-2024 season. The Rangers will contend when the cap allows them to keep their bad contracts and still sign impact free agents.

 

[Shadowtron]

Drury is punting on the 2023-2024 season. The Rangers will contend when the cap allows them to keep their bad contracts and still sign impact free agents.

That and they can’t keep whiffing on these draft picks.

 

[pld459666]

If our top 9 wings average 14-15 minutes even strength does it really matter which line fans label the third line? Laf played more even strength minutes than CK the #1 line guy.

Lafreniere needs to be on 1st PP unit.

Panarin, Mika, Kreider, Lafreniere and Fox

Put him on the RW opposite Panarin.

Trocheck, Chytil, kakko, Miller and Wheeler on PP2

 

[NickyFotiu]

Lafreniere needs to be on 1st PP unit.

Panarin, Mika, Kreider, Lafreniere and Fox

Put him on the RW opposite Panarin.

Trocheck, Chytil, kakko, Miller and Wheeler on PP2

Laf hasn't looked great on the PP but Im open to giving him more chances. That still won't make him look better overall as a player. He needs to put in a lot of work this offseason. He should be skating 4 hours a day if he wants to improve. Just showing up will not do it.

 

[Nickmo82]

I don't see how Othmann and Cuylle make the team. Maybe one of them. Othmann would have to be top 9, pushing Goodrow/Vesey back down. SOmeone would have to shift to RW.

Gustafsson over Jones gives us the best chance to win on any given night, but Jones should rotate in and get at least 30 games in addition to fitness stints in Hartford. The hope is that Jones ultimately turns into someone like Gustafsson, who would have been a lot more expensive in a typical UFA year. God knows how Mikkola and Schenn got paid the way they did

Robertson is still at best a season away. Most of our best AHL watchmen think he's not ready- at best the third best blueliner on the team last year behind Emberson and Jones. He's still waiver exempt I believe, my guess would be unless he takes another step this season he will be moved at the deadline.

IDK about Wheeler over Tarasenko. But Tara isn't signing for league minimum. I prefer Wheeler over nobody.

Agreed- all our old players are role players, no one playing big minutes. Average age is a bit deceptive that way.

Agreed on Igor and the backup. Unless Quick is an absolute trainwreck (In which case enter Domingue) it won't make a difference.

NYR's 4th line is gonna be slow. It's up to Lavi to figure out how to deal with that.

I thought Jones had to clear waivers to go to Hartford.

 

[Fitzy]

I thought Jones had to clear waivers to go to Hartford.

Yeah but not for a conditioning stint

 

[Mac n Gs]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this yesterday from 32T yet, but Friedman mentioned what he’s been hearing about an Evan Bouchard extension for Edmonton. Would be really helpful for negotiating with Key

 

[PuckLuck3043]

That and they can’t keep whiffing on these draft picks.

Andersson and Kravs were whiffs by Gorton, but they have 5 under age 25 No. 1 picks playing on the team. They just picked one of the best value picks in this year's draft. They also have guys like Othmann, Cuylle, Sykora, Berard, BMB, Jones, among others in the pipeline, some of which may be on the team very soon. Believe it or not other teams also don't hit on every draft pick.

 

[LaffyTaffyNYR]

Drury is punting on the 2023-2024 season. The Rangers will contend when the cap allows them to keep their bad contracts and still sign impact free agents.

Wheeler funny enough produced more than Tarasenko did over a season so I don’t think we got any worse.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this yesterday from 32T yet, but Friedman mentioned what he’s been hearing about an Evan Bouchard extension for Edmonton. Would be really helpful for negotiating with Key

A really good comp for Miller

 

[IDvsEGO]

Andersson and Kravs were whiffs by Gorton, but they have 5 under age 25 No. 1 picks playing on the team. They just picked one of the best value picks in this year's draft. They also have guys like Othmann, Cuylle, Sykora, Berard, BMB, Jones, among others in the pipeline, some of which may be on the team very soon. Believe it or not other teams also don't hit on every draft pick.

The Andersson wiff is mitigated by hitting on Chytil.
The kratsov wiff is heavily mitigated by hitting on both miller and lundkvist.
The Rangers surprisingly have done well for drafting.

 

[Avery16]

Wheeler funny enough produced more than Tarasenko did over a season so I don’t think we got any worse.

I’m looking at it two ways-

1) what’s coming in vs what came out. Here, Wheeler, Pitlick, Bonino, Gustafsson and Quick for Tarasenko, Kane, Motte, Mikkola, Halak.

2) what we did this off-season vs teams who clearly intend to compete. Look at what Pittsburgh, Toronto, Nashville and Carolina all did. We aren’t competing with them next season. Drury doesn’t intend to.

 

[LaffyTaffyNYR]

I’m looking at it two ways-

1) what’s coming in vs what came out. Here, Wheeler, Pitlick, Bonino, Gustafsson and Quick for Tarasenko, Kane, Motte, Mikkola, Halak.

2) what we did this off-season vs teams who clearly intend to compete. Look at what Pittsburgh, Toronto, Nashville and Carolina all did. We aren’t competing with them next season. Drury doesn’t intend to.

Those were deadline deals tho which he may do again depending on how the season goes. Vegas adding Barbashev was huge for them etc.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

The Andersson wiff is mitigated by hitting on Chytil.
The kratsov wiff is heavily mitigated by hitting on both miller and lundkvist.
The Rangers surprisingly have done well for drafting.

Eh I dunno if this is the right way to look at it.

I'd rather have Chytil and Suzuki than just Chytil.

I'd rather have Farabee and Miller than just Miller and a few games of Tarasenko. Farabee is really the only good forward from that 1st round taken after the top 4 so that makes that miss hurt less. Doesn't mean they couldn't have taken a D but it is what it is.

We got Bobrov'd and I'm glad hes taken his act to Montreal (where surprisingly, they passed on the Russian who is actually good this year.)

 

[huerter]

Lafreniere needs to be on 1st PP unit.

Panarin, Mika, Kreider, Lafreniere and Fox

Put him on the RW opposite Panarin.

Trocheck, Chytil, kakko, Miller and Wheeler on PP2

I can think of a reason why he can't be.

 

[Fitzy]

Lafreniere needs to be on 1st PP unit.

Panarin, Mika, Kreider, Lafreniere and Fox

Put him on the RW opposite Panarin.

Trocheck, Chytil, kakko, Miller and Wheeler on PP2

IDK why you'd want a player who is eventually going to set the NYR record for career PP goals in the bumper spot.