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

[Fitzy]

Brodzinski has just had some really bad luck here so far. You have a guy who scores in the AHL who has a Sean Avery-esue 3% shooting percentage since he's gotten here.

 

[LaffyTaffy13]

i'm just not in camp torcheck is a 2c. i watched him for a long time and he is a great player in spurts but just like a d man that can play up for a bit in spurts he eventually peters out. i have no doubt that his placement on pp1 and the offensive opportunities that gave him grew his offensive confidence here 5v5, but that is exactly what many advocate for other players that were already here. strome kind of screwed the org in a weird way bc they never did have a 2c here, they had a guy that just got a bunch of points being placed in the perfect role from himself. there is a distinction. as such people just seem to think "better than strome" is a 2c, it isnt. our roster structure is so flawed w stregth on the wings and then generally a weak center group. mika is a 1c but at times is a pp specialist when left alone to be in his spot on the left circle, but we have two tweeners after that (which is a way to say we dont have a set 2c) and then we have been horrid at the 4c for quite awhile (goodrow should be 4th wing) although bonino is going to help that a lot. I love this team but i hate the way the roster is constructed with wingers, and to me trocheck was settling for another tweener center and locking the roster in harder than all the nmc/ntc that were given out like candy did. hopefully after this year some flexibility starts with the cap going up and some of the clauses loosening, but then i also get stuck bc at this point kreider isnt the worst deal and he has potential to play his whole career here, and trouba for his warts feels like the leader of this group, and i shutter to think where it would be if he wasnt here anymore, who steps into the role that isnt completely vanilla?


I think the matthews contract will tell you where mcd will end up. if matthews short term deal aligns with when mcd will hit ufa than i fully suspect mcd ends up in toronto.

aside from that, STOP sinking your prime cap money into wingers, we need strength down the middle.

Mcdavid leon and eichel are up the middle.

IMO the obvious one is kaprizov is going to want to be in NY. And then Leon. He knows regardless of how good he is, hes in the shadow of mcdavid much like messier was in the shadow of gretz.

Leon could easily come here. Its not like he has any ties to canada. To sign him as a 2025 ufa would like mean moving chytil (who you could get solid assets for), trouba (would only have 1 year left) and goodrow (who i expect to be gone by then anyway.

IMO the 2026 season opens with leon and kaprizov in the lineup

Laff-Leon-Kakko
Kaprizov-Mika-Perrault
Othmann-Trocheck-berard/ufa
Cuylle- mcconnell barker/ufa - sykora/berard

Lindgren-fox
Kandre-schneider
Jones/robertson-ufa

Igor

Cap projected to be near $100mm for 2026-2027 and that lineup is ridiculous

 

[bleedblue94]

Mcdavid leon and eichel are up the middle.

IMO the obvious one is kaprizov is going to want to be in NY. And then Leon. He knows regardless of how good he is, hes in the shadow of mcdavid much like messier was in the shadow of gretz.

Leon could easily come here. Its not like he has any ties to canada. To sign him as a 2025 ufa would like mean moving chytil (who you could get solid assets for), trouba (would only have 1 year left) and goodrow (who i expect to be gone by then anyway.

IMO the 2026 season opens with leon and kaprizov in the lineup

Laff-Leon-Kakko
Kaprizov-Mika-Perrault
Othmann-Trocheck-berard/ufa
Cuylle- mcconnell barker/ufa - sykora/berard

Lindgren-fox
Kandre-schneider
Jones/robertson-ufa

Igor

Cap projected to be near $100mm for 2026-2027 and that lineup is ridiculous

i would want nothing to do with kaprizov at that point. i understand that there are three centers in your list but i think eichel found a home and will make it work in vegas or on the west coast. mcd is a dream but i think he is destined for toronto or even by that point ottawa as crazy as it may seem if they have their new building and the team is in their window. leon would be the one in that group that might come here, but at that point is chicago looking to toss him a bag to come win with bedard if they have turned the corner? i love leon, would love to have him here. such a tremendously smart player

 

[surlysailor]

Heinen is still a guy I’m interested in. So is Comtois

100% agree with this. I don't see an issue with NYR brining in 2 or so more guys. If they can bring in 2 of Comtois, Tatar(doubtful), Pulijujarvi, Patrick, Heinen, Gregor to a 800k or less contact to compete for that 12/13F I don't see an issue with it. NYR have 5 contract slots available and doesn't gift Pitlick a spot in the lineup(if he wins out then great). Also if a Cuylle beats everyone out, worst that happens is they get placed on waivers.

 

[LOFIN]

The descriptive tweet above reeks of a guy under the influence of something. Maybe there's a DUI in there somewhere which might be the contract termination out.

Wouldn't it be the other way around? If he was actually DUI, that would reek of an abuse problem and mean that he should be directed to the players' assistance program, and contract termination would be illegal. If he was not using any substances, that's just grade A asshole behaviour and terminating the contract under that basis would be more valid.

As for Kane and Tarasenko, if they want to be back for league minimum then sure why not. But Tarasenko won't, and Kane probably wants to rehab properly and use that time to evaluate what contender will have the best odds to win.

 

[bernmeister]

i'm just not in camp torcheck is a 2c. i watched him for a long time and he is a great player in spurts but just like a d man that can play up for a bit in spurts he eventually peters out. i have no doubt that his placement on pp1 and the offensive opportunities that gave him grew his offensive confidence here 5v5, but that is exactly what many advocate for other players that were already here. strome kind of screwed the org in a weird way bc they never did have a 2c here, they had a guy that just got a bunch of points being placed in the perfect role from himself. there is a distinction. as such people just seem to think "better than strome" is a 2c, it isnt. our roster structure is so flawed w stregth on the wings and then generally a weak center group. mika is a 1c but at times is a pp specialist when left alone to be in his spot on the left circle, but we have two tweeners after that (which is a way to say we dont have a set 2c) and then we have been horrid at the 4c for quite awhile (goodrow should be 4th wing) although bonino is going to help that a lot. I love this team but i hate the way the roster is constructed with wingers, and to me trocheck was settling for another tweener center and locking the roster in harder than all the nmc/ntc that were given out like candy did. hopefully after this year some flexibility starts with the cap going up and some of the clauses loosening, but then i also get stuck bc at this point kreider isnt the worst deal and he has potential to play his whole career here, and trouba for his warts feels like the leader of this group, and i shutter to think where it would be if he wasnt here anymore, who steps into the role that isnt completely vanilla?


I think the matthews contract will tell you where mcd will end up. if matthews short term deal aligns with when mcd will hit ufa than i fully suspect mcd ends up in toronto.

aside from that, STOP sinking your prime cap money into wingers, we need strength down the middle.

general agree
exceptions to every rule, but you are correct, rule suggests prioritization of middle over Ws is usually smarter

Matthews - yes, he potentially impacts McD; howev, AM has unique situation. Potentially AZ can offer him, as a favorite son, a stake in club ownership a la Lemieux.

All the top guys will get max $$$.
Other factors will influence final decision.

 

[LOFIN]

Just realized Halak is still out there. Outplayed his hand, expected to get a raise from what we paid him?

 

[RangersFan1994]

Brodzinski has just had some really bad luck here so far. You have a guy who scores in the AHL who has a Sean Avery-esue 3% shooting percentage since he's gotten here.

He needs top 6 minutes to produce, he gets that in Hartford and 4th line here. Can't wait for a prospect like Will Cuyle to get that treatment. Brodzinski is an AHL player, Cuylle has a furure in the NHL.

 

[duhmetreE]

i'm just not in camp torcheck is a 2c. i watched him for a long time and he is a great player in spurts but just like a d man that can play up for a bit in spurts he eventually peters out. i have no doubt that his placement on pp1 and the offensive opportunities that gave him grew his offensive confidence here 5v5, but that is exactly what many advocate for other players that were already here. strome kind of screwed the org in a weird way bc they never did have a 2c here, they had a guy that just got a bunch of points being placed in the perfect role from himself. there is a distinction. as such people just seem to think "better than strome" is a 2c, it isnt. our roster structure is so flawed w stregth on the wings and then generally a weak center group. mika is a 1c but at times is a pp specialist when left alone to be in his spot on the left circle, but we have two tweeners after that (which is a way to say we dont have a set 2c) and then we have been horrid at the 4c for quite awhile (goodrow should be 4th wing) although bonino is going to help that a lot. I love this team but i hate the way the roster is constructed with wingers, and to me trocheck was settling for another tweener center and locking the roster in harder than all the nmc/ntc that were given out like candy did. hopefully after this year some flexibility starts with the cap going up and some of the clauses loosening, but then i also get stuck bc at this point kreider isnt the worst deal and he has potential to play his whole career here, and trouba for his warts feels like the leader of this group, and i shutter to think where it would be if he wasnt here anymore, who steps into the role that isnt completely vanilla?


I think the matthews contract will tell you where mcd will end up. if matthews short term deal aligns with when mcd will hit ufa than i fully suspect mcd ends up in toronto.

aside from that, STOP sinking your prime cap money into wingers, we need strength down the middle.

Vegas just won with with Stephenson and Karlsson. Very similar styles to Trocheck.

Colorado won with Kadri, very similar style to Trocheck IMO. Kadri, a glorified 3C... until he wasn't.

Tampa won with Cirelli.

I think the issue is that our 1C hasn't been good enough. Our top paid players haven't been good enough.

We're not going to have a Crosby-Malkin top6. We need depth and 3 lines to roll. Problem was, we didn't even have a single line excelling at 5v5 with Gallant. Let alone 3. Our top guys are no where to be found when needed.

 

[duhmetreE]

He needs top 6 minutes to produce, he gets that in Hartford and 4th line here. Can't wait for a prospect like Will Cuyle to get that treatment. Brodzinski is an AHL player, Cuylle has a furure in the NHL.

one can play Center. The other does not.

If Brodz outplays Bonino in camp, he should be the 4C.

 

[LOFIN]

Colorado won with Kadri, very similar style to Trocheck IMO. Kadri, a glorified 3C... until he wasn't.

Kadri was always an elite #2C. He was cast into #3 role when Toronto was dumb and signed Tavares, a decision they probably still regret to this day. Kadri had one down year in Colorado, otherwise he was solid. Now another down year in Calgary, but that team had a bunch of other issues besides him...

Otherwise, I agree with your post. Tro is just fine for a #2C. That's not going to be an issue. An issue will be our 3rd and 4th lines, and if Panarin is going to play like he's paid to do.

 

[Trxjw]

Holding out for Kane is foolish. There's no telling what you'll get from him coming off his surgery and we already have two top-six RWs in the lineup: Blake Wheeler with something to prove and the player Kappo Kakko needs to be in order for this team to actually have a reasonable chance at being something more than a bubble team next season.

I expect the team to offer a couple of PTOs for camp hoping to hit on one like they did with Vesey and to serve as a failsafe if some of the kids aren't ready to make the jump.

 

[LaffyTaffyNYR]

I heard Kane won’t sign until he’s healthy so who knows what’s going on, on the ice at that point a few months into the season.

 

[duhmetreE]

Kadri was always an elite #2C. He was cast into #3 role when Toronto was dumb and signed Tavares, a decision they probably still regret to this day. Kadri had one down year in Colorado, otherwise he was solid. Now another down year in Calgary, but that team had a bunch of other issues besides him...

Otherwise, I agree with your post. Tro is just fine for a #2C. That's not going to be an issue. An issue will be our 3rd and 4th lines, and if Panarin is going to play like he's paid to do.

I don't buy that.

If Kadri was an elite 2C, then Trocheck is an elite 2C.

Kadri had a great contract season in 2022. That's not who he is. It's the outlier of his entire career. He's still a strong player.

 

[LiveLongandProspal]

Holding out for Kane is foolish. There's no telling what you'll get from him coming off his surgery and we already have two top-six RWs in the lineup: Blake Wheeler with something to prove and the player Kappo Kakko needs to be in order for this team to actually have a reasonable chance at being something more than a bubble team next season.

I expect the team to offer a couple of PTOs for camp hoping to hit on one like they did with Vesey and to serve as a failsafe if some of the kids aren't ready to make the jump.

Phil Kessel!

 

[RangersFan1994]

 

[bleedblue94]

Vegas just won with with Stephenson and Karlsson. Very similar styles to Trocheck.

Colorado won with Kadri, very similar style to Trocheck IMO. Kadri, a glorified 3C... until he wasn't.

Tampa won with Cirelli.

I think the issue is that our 1C hasn't been good enough. Our top paid players haven't been good enough.

We're not going to have a Crosby-Malkin top6. We need depth and 3 lines to roll. Problem was, we didn't even have a single line excelling at 5v5 with Gallant. Let alone 3. Our top guys are no where to be found when needed.

kadri is a more impactful player than trocheck.

i would take karlsson and stephensen over chytil and trocheck for mid 6 centers 10/10,

you bring up cirelli, you would take trocheck over a healthy cirelli? i certainly would prefer cerelli

i agree mika hasnt been good enough and all season people comment that he looked worn down and again this goes to a core question with this team: why are kreider, zib, and fox pking all the time??? why are we not using those special team minutes for other players and saving the horses for the pp and to be more effective at even strength? I just do not understand it. you want to run them out their in a pinch, fine, but 462 mins of pk time for those three during the year AND using them for it during the playoffs just makes no sense

unpopular opinion, if chytil cannot figure out how to be at least 45% on faceoffs he needs to be moved off the position, it is insane that we continue to claim we have center depth and we have a guy in this group with a career 40.3 fo%. on the plus side, continuing to let him take faceoffs in the face of that kind of incompetance might be the most longstanding dedication this org has shown to any developing forward that is struggling, but somehow he got worse last year. the guy was 39% at the dot.

 

[FIRE DRURY]

I don't buy that.

If Kadri was an elite 2C, then Trocheck is an elite 2C.

Kadri had a great contract season in 2022. That's not who he is. It's the outlier of his entire career. He's still a strong player.

Trocheck and Kadri have almost identical PPG in their career, even with Kadri's career year he had on Colorado.

 

[LOFIN]

I don't buy that.

If Kadri was an elite 2C, then Trocheck is an elite 2C.

Kadri had a great contract season in 2022. That's not who he is. It's the outlier of his entire career. He's still a strong player.

I'm not talking about the outlier year either. If we look at his stats from 12-13 onwards (when he, and incidently Zibanejad) became full time NHLers, Kadri has scored 384 even strength points in 770 games. That's pretty decent. Zibanejad, also 384 EVP, but in 12 games less.

Kadri is a pretty damn good #2C, and has been throughout his career.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

if Panarin is going to play like he's paid to do.

You could have really just stopped here.

Thats the key to everything else. A worth his paycheck Panarin was the difference between winning the cup and getting bounced in round 3 in 2022 and who knows what they would have done if he had given them anything last year.

I'm not in love with the roster diversity either, but that can be figured out as the season moves on. Panarin being a dud is not something that can be overcome unless a bunch of other guys pick up the slack.

 

[LOFIN]

Trocheck and Kadri have almost identical PPG in their career, even with Kadri's career year he had on Colorado.

Trocheck is a good #2 as well, no-one is arguing that. Or shouldn't. I know it's sexy to look at Penguins with Crosby and Malkin, and Edmonton with McDrai. But the fact is, usually teams don't have two elite #1Cs. TBH, most teams don't have a #1 of that caliber, see us with Zibanejad, Carolina with Aho etc.

 

[LOFIN]

Soo, they couldn't get the trade done with Carolina then? Or maybe this indicates that the Canes are really after EK and don't see the need for TDA?

 

[duhmetreE]

kadri is a more impactful player than trocheck.

i would take karlsson and stephensen over chytil and trocheck for mid 6 centers 10/10,

you bring up cirelli, you would take trocheck over a healthy cirelli? i certainly would prefer cerelli

i agree mika hasnt been good enough and all season people comment that he looked worn down and again this goes to a core question with this team: why are kreider, zib, and fox pking all the time??? why are we not using those special team minutes for other players and saving the horses for the pp and to be more effective at even strength? I just do not understand it. you want to run them out their in a pinch, fine, but 462 mins of pk time for those three during the year AND using them for it during the playoffs just makes no sense

unpopular opinion, if chytil cannot figure out how to be at least 45% on faceoffs he needs to be moved off the position, it is insane that we continue to claim we have center depth and we have a guy in this group with a career 40.3 fo%. on the plus side, continuing to let him take faceoffs in the face of that kind of incompetance might be the most longstanding dedication this org has shown to any developing forward that is struggling, but somehow he got worse last year. the guy was 39% at the dot.

We tend to lean on 'what have you done for me lately and Kadris run in Colorado is still on our minds. Kadri may be slightly more impactful but I think they are very similar. Don't get me wrong, Trocheck had a horrendous Playoffs, as did the whole team. Major, major let down from him in the Playoffs.. I think he will be much better under Lavi than Gallant though. He was lost the first 20 or so games with how dumb and unstructured our system was.

We have kids on the 3rd line. That is suppose to be the heart of the teams 'role players'. I really want Zibs to back off as a 'main matchup' guy.

It's not an unpopular opinion, I've been saying it for a while. He's poor positionally and lacks awareness on defense. He hasn't shown much growth. Maybe it gets better with some coaching? He can still carry the puck up ice as a winger. I do not get the issue. I know the org 'views' him as a Center, if Peca and crew can help him mature, that'd be nice. Teach him how to use his size and speed on the PK? No one ever though of having Kreider there.

 

[JimmyG89]

Soo, they couldn't get the trade done with Carolina then? Or maybe this indicates that the Canes are really after EK and don't see the need for TDA?

Or the Flyers are tired of his shit and this was the only way cause Carolina probably wanted 50% retention (they have 2.5M in cap space) or getting a 3rd team involved to also take 50%. Flyers were also probably getting next to nothing and just cut bait.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

It’s 2023 and people still think faceoffs should determine whether or not a player stays at center.