Roster Building XX: How Many Patents Does Your GM Have?

[bleedgreen]

For all the talk of change (including my own), if we take Necas to arbitration (or just get him signed) and get the other three rfa’s signed we’ll have 11 forwards ready to go next season with Suzuki in place for the 12th….without making a single acquisition. I’d guess we’d have about 10 million left to find three defenseman We’d still be a good bet for a playoff spot.

Even if we get a suitor for KK that money is coming right back but if it’s a defenseman we’d be in better shape imo. Cheaper to bring in a fourth liner replacement up front and that close to 5 mill will be better served on defense than in the bottom six.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Im just pointing out how it worked for us. It may or may not work out this time. But I would bet it will be more in our favor than not.

Burns isn’t toast. He just can’t be the only defensive guy we have. Which he was for most of the playoffs.

Did we trade Slavin before the playoffs began?

 

[Stickpucker]

Sabres fan here. What are the Canes needs?

From an outsider, your team looks very complete and only gets beat in the playoffs by really good teams with hot goalies (Florida last year, Rangers this season).

It seems from reporting that the team is moving on from Necas and KK.

Thanks in advance.

Young cost controlled talent.

Rhs 2c and middle pair rd are near the top of the list. Ideally some size or meanness to help get over the hump in the playoffs.

Not going to be easy to find and cost a lot I'm sure.

Thanks, I think.

Buffalo wouldn’t be a great trading partner for really any of that.

1. Trading Thompson or Cozens would set the team back.
2. Peterka?
3. Jokiharju? He’s not a top pair D though.

Buffalo needs a 3C so moving Thompson for Necas is a lateral move for the Sabres, assuming Necas could be a center who plays Thompson’s minutes.

Peterka would be very interesting for the Canes.

 

[Stickpucker]

For all the talk of change (including my own), if we take Necas to arbitration (or just get him signed) and get the other three rfa’s signed we’ll have 11 forwards ready to go next season with Suzuki in place for the 12th….without making a single acquisition. I’d guess we’d have about 10 million left to find three defenseman We’d still be a good bet for a playoff spot.

Even if we get a suitor for KK that money is coming right back but if it’s a defenseman we’d be in better shape imo. Cheaper to bring in a fourth liner replacement up front and that close to 5 mill will be better served on defense than in the bottom six.

I think the plan is Aho, Kuzy, Staal, Drury down the middle and Suzuki and FUS get to fight for a wing spot and maybe steal a C spot over the season.

I think Kotkaniemi will be gone and we use his cap to retool the D.

Ideally we replace Turbo with a bigger player who can get to the interior of the ice or forecheck better. Someone like Crouse.

 

[Canes]

FUS and Jarvis taking a step will save the offense.

I'm worried about the d. They're effectively losing 3 top 4 defensemen with Burns being the oldest player in the League.

Yes our top 4 is iffy if both Skjei and Pesce leave and we don’t replace them with similarly talented free agent or trade acquisitions. I think we have enough options either internally or UFA wise to round out our forward group even if Guentzel and Teravainen don’t re-sign.

 

[HisIceness]

Ideally we replace Turbo with a bigger player who can get to the interior of the ice or forecheck better. Someone like Crouse.

Yeah, I wouldn't say no to this guy if we're not overpaying for him.

 

[bleedgreen]

I’ve wondered about Necas in a deal for Crouse.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Did we trade Slavin before the playoffs began?

Obviously the context was right side of the defense

 

[chaz4hockey]

I’ve wondered about Necas in a deal for Crouse.

Me too although I felt stronger about it pre-acquisition. New ownership my be smarter and keep Crouse.

 

[CandyCanes]

Is Crouse really that good or is he rated highly because he’s a big body? Does his value warrant being the main piece in a Necas trade? His best season he put up 45pts. I’m asking this as I don’t know much about his game. Seems like an ideal middle 6 forward?

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

88 million upper limit next year

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Hopefully the moves this summer will pan out. Right now, I’m pessimistic.

I do think Burns is a 3rd pair right now given decline in speed coupled with a decline in shot accuracy during the playoffs.

He played 82 games with 10 goals, 43P and +19 against tough competition during the regular season. Yes, he struggled in the playoffs, but many a player has had bad playoff performances.

If he continues to struggle/decline next year, then sure, but for 82 games, he wasn't a 3rd pairing player.

 

[bleedgreen]

Is Crouse really that good or is he rated highly because he’s a big body? Does his value warrant being the main piece in a Necas trade? His best season he put up 45pts. I’m asking this as I don’t know much about his game. Seems like an ideal middle 6 forward?

No he’s highly rated because he’s a big body. I don’t think he’s that good, I think he’s more of a “surprisingly decent offense for a big dude”. Pretty mobile for his size too. I’ve actually watched a couple of games where he wasn’t as physical as I would’ve liked, but it was a really small sample.

He would be a middle six guy to me, but it’s not easy to find these guys and he’s got some time left on his contract. Would presumably be a much better fit in the system than Necas has been, though a big drop off skill wise.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

He played 82 games with 10 goals, 43P and +19 against tough competition during the regular season. Yes, he struggled in the playoffs, but many a player has had bad playoff performances.

If he continues to struggle/decline next year, then sure, but for 82 games, he wasn't a 3rd pairing player.

This is all true, but ultimately, it's the playoffs that matter. If Burns was struggling in Round 1/2, how can we hope to rely on him in Rounds 3/4?

At the very least, we need to lessen his minutes in games that don't matter. In those blowout games throughout the year, maybe Burns doesn't need to play that PP with 4:00 left.

 

[cptjeff]

88 million upper limit next year

With a jump this big, no wonder all our UFAs are gonna test the water. There are gonna be some utterly stupid deals handed out this year.

 

[chaz4hockey]

He played 82 games with 10 goals, 43P and +19 against tough competition during the regular season. Yes, he struggled in the playoffs, but many a player has had bad playoff performances.

If he continues to struggle/decline next year, then sure, but for 82 games, he wasn't a 3rd pairing player.

Perhaps but he was markedly worse this year versus last and guys to the outside were a problem for him even in the regular season (Slavin had to cover for him much more).

At his stage in his career, partnering with Slavin doesn’t give the Canes a shutdown top pair that most top teams have (this, 3rd pair in my view). As well, as I mentioned in an earlier post he is much too passive physically and Canes need him to hit more in the playoffs.

FWIW: I liked him a lot in year one; clearly I don’t anymore and given his late 30’s age, I suggest he is being selfish not taking time off during the season (do you want to win or just have a consecutive game streak). Speculation sure, but It may have helped him this playoff season to take some time off before the Isles series.

 

[chaz4hockey]

With a jump this big, no wonder all our UFAs are gonna test the water. There are gonna be some utterly stupid deals handed out this year.

Shouldn’t the Canes have more $ too?

They certainly have raised ticket prices versus LY and 6 playoff home games this past year covers a lot expense (of course, wild card is Bally’s payments (or whatever they will be called next season).

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

This is all true, but ultimately, it's the playoffs that matter. If Burns was struggling in Round 1/2, how can we hope to rely on him in Rounds 3/4?

At the very least, we need to lessen his minutes in games that don't matter. In those blowout games throughout the year, maybe Burns doesn't need to play that PP with 4:00 left.

Sure, that's fair. But that's different from saying "He's a 3rd pairing defenseman".

Svech had 2 goals in the playoffs. Should we label him as a 4th liner because of it?

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Perhaps but he was markedly worse this year versus last and guys to the outside were a problem for him even in the regular season (Slavin had to cover for him much more).

At his stage in his career, partnering with Slavin doesn’t give the Canes a shutdown top pair that most top teams have (this, 3rd pair in my view). As well, as I mentioned in an earlier post he is much too passive physically and Canes need him to hit more in the playoffs.

He was not a 3rd pairing defensemen this year. Maybe he will be next year, but he wasn't this year.

Here's GA/60 for Canes defensemen 5v5 this year.

Chatfield: 2.03 (against weaker competition)
Skjei: 2.03
Burns: 2.07
Orlov: 2.07 (against weaker competition)
Slavin: 2.13
Pesce: 2.51

Canes had the 7th best GA/60 in the NHL 5v5.
Canes had the 3rd best xGA/60 in the NHL 5v5.

the date doesn't back up that he was a problem.

 

[chaz4hockey]

He was not a 3rd pairing defensemen this year. Maybe he will be next year, but he wasn't this year.

Here's GA/60 for Canes defensemen 5v5 this year.

Chatfield: 2.03 (against weaker competition)
Skjei: 2.03
Burns: 2.07
Orlov: 2.07 (against weaker competition)
Slavin: 2.13
Pesce: 2.51

Canes had the 7th best GA/60 in the NHL 5v5.
Canes had the 3rd best xGA/60 in the NHL 5v5.

the date doesn't back up that he was a problem.

Slavin hides his partners sins. My view, perhaps not yours that Burns has declined and shouldn’t be at top of the lineup.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Slavin hides his partners sins. My view, perhaps not yours that Burns has declined and shouldn’t be at top of the lineup.

I'm not saying he hasn't declined, I'm just saying he wasn't a "3rd pairing" defensemen this year. Maybe he will be next year, but he wasn't this year.

Secondly, the data doesn't back up your view.

 

[Chan790]

Even if Burns is declining, I don't see us doing much about it beyond maybe going out and finding a 1-year stopgap on an expiring contract so we can give him days off and slide him down to 3rd pair to rest some nights.

I think it's smart to project/look forward on our defense.

If everything goes well in camp and Morrow breaks camp on 3rd-pair, I think we could see him slide up next to Slavin by year's end if Burns faulters. Morrow seems tailor-fit to that spot.

A year from now we should be seeing Nikishin on NA ice, and likely making his NHL debut by end of 2026.

Something I'd like to see, but goes against our past patterns, is that there are a handful of agile, big-bodied defensive RHD in the draft projected around where our 1st is, notably EJ Emery and Charlie Elick. I'd love to see us snag one of them...either of Elick or Emery (both are high-floor) would likely be ready by 2027.

3 years from now, we could have our next elite top-4 locked-in for a half-decade relatively cheaply, giving us a lot of money to spend upfront and with an unprecedented long contention window.

Slavin-Morrow
Nikishin-Emery?

Looks really good to me. That 2nd-pair is mean and probably very defensively-solid.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Shouldn’t the Canes have more $ too?

They certainly have raised ticket prices versus LY and 6 playoff home games this past year covers a lot expense (of course, wild card is Bally’s payments (or whatever they will be called next season).

They will have more cash and they will spend it, but maybe not in the way that fans expect. The 2016 offseason is a cautionary tale when it comes to the impact of rising salary caps on UFA. I think that a lot of fans are used to the relative sanity of these past UFA markets because the flat cap has been the case for almost a half-decade now. That's not the norm, however.

Even if Burns is declining, I don't see us doing much about it beyond maybe going out and finding a 1-year stopgap on an expiring contract so we can give him days off and slide him down to 3rd pair to rest some nights.

I think it's smart to project/look forward on our defense.

If everything goes well in camp and Morrow breaks camp on 3rd-pair, I think we could see him slide up next to Slavin by year's end if Burns faulters. Morrow seems tailor-fit to that spot.

A year from now we should be seeing Nikishin on NA ice, and likely making his NHL debut by end of 2026.

Something I'd like to see, but goes against our past patterns, is that there are a handful of agile, big-bodied defensive RHD in the draft projected around where our 1st is, notably EJ Emery and Charlie Elick. I'd love to see us snag one of them...either of Elick or Emery (both are high-floor) would likely be ready by 2027.

3 years from now, we could have our next elite top-4 locked-in for a half-decade relatively cheaply, giving us a lot of money to spend upfront and with an unprecedented long contention window.

Slavin-Morrow
Nikishin-Emery?

Looks really good to me. That 2nd-pair is mean and probably very defensively-solid.

Also, there's always the deadline rental market if Burns falls off. They usually don't use it, but like Guentzel, never say never.

 

[robbieberns]

I may get lambasted for this but I think we should make a big play for Reinhart this summer if he’s available at a a number that wouldn’t cripple us. I know we’d be paying for a career year and wild shooting percentage, but he’s safely a PPG guy with 243 in 242 games the last three seasons. Pretty much the exact same weight and height as Svech, and offers a bit more of the direct game breaking talent compared to a Guentzel. A player who he is a year younger than as well.

The tax situation in Florida coupled with their ability to offer that extra year are two massive advantages, but can Florida afford a a fourth contract near or north of 7 figures on top of Tkachuk, Barkov, and Bob? If we offer up 9 or 9.5 does FLA walk away?

 

[Svechhammer]

Sure, that's fair. But that's different from saying "He's a 3rd pairing defenseman".

Svech had 2 goals in the playoffs. Should we label him as a 4th liner because of it?

I mean I'm still thinking last year's injury was keeping him from being 100% for us this year, so I'm willing to see how he does next year.

But, if he continues to struggle, you have to at least entertain the thought of seeing what we might be able to get with a package that centers around him. That bring said, I personally think he'll have a career arc that kind of mimics MacKinnon a bit where he puts up very good numbers for a while in his younger years and then it all clicks in the mid to late stage of his career where he goes supernova.