Roster Building XXI: It Gon' Go Down.

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

I agree with you, KK also looked decent on his time at wing as well. I think they should put him on Staal's wing personally, let him learn to be one of Rod's favourites there.

I agree with this. Make KK-Staal-Fast the refreshed version of Martinook-Staal-Fast.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

KK shouldnt be on a line with Staal. We need to add some skating to a line with Staal and Fast, not subtract from it.

 

[Unsustainable]

Matt Roy might be an under the radar big RHD move we make

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

KK shouldnt be on a line with Staal. We need to add some skating to a line with Staal and Fast, not subtract from it.

I feel like Martinook is a major regression risk considering his style of play. He just has the feeling of a player who's going to strongly cash in on the back of the usual NHL GM desires for gritty postseason players and decline soon after. I'd rather re-tool that third line with a young defensive center like Drury or KK transitioning to wing next to Staal.

 

[Borsig]

better shit or get off the pot. Moves are happening fast

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

I feel like Martinook is a major regression risk considering his style of play. He just has the feeling of a player who's going to strongly cash in on the back of the usual NHL GM desires for gritty postseason players and decline soon after. I'd rather re-tool that third line with a young defensive center like Drury or KK transitioning to wing next to Staal.

its doesnt have to be martinook but it should be a guy who is faster than staal and KK. going against top lines and all. KK hasnt done well defensively against top lines.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

its doesnt have to be martinook but it should be a guy who is faster than staal and KK. going against top lines and all. KK hasnt done well defensively against top lines.

Are basement teams still trying to pry a pick away from Ottawa to take on the Mathieu Joseph contract? If the Canes want an even speedier version of Martinook, he might be the solution, ideally with some salary retention.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

better shit or get off the pot. Moves are happening fast

What moves are you expecting them to make before the draft and/or the 1st?

Necas trade is the only move we could feasibly make, and it's easier and smarter to wait until the draft

 

[Borsig]

What moves are you expecting them to make before the draft and/or the 1st?

Necas trade is the only move we could feasibly make, and it's easier and smarter to wait until the draft

UFA signings.

 

[bleedgreen]

UFA signings.

I think teams are going to make bigger efforts to keep their ufa’s overall, but I’m not expecting us to be one of those teams.

 

[Borsig]

I think teams are going to make bigger efforts to keep their ufa’s overall, but I’m not expecting us to be one of those teams.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

UFA signings.

The ones that have already told us they're going to hit the market and see what they're worth? Which doesn't happen until the 1st?

 

[Borsig]

The ones that have already told us they're going to hit the market and see what they're worth? Which doesn't happen until the 1st?

minds can be changed.

But not with the offers we tend to make.

 

[MinJaBen]

I feel like Martinook is a major regression risk considering his style of play. He just has the feeling of a player who's going to strongly cash in on the back of the usual NHL GM desires for gritty postseason players and decline soon after. I'd rather re-tool that third line with a young defensive center like Drury or KK transitioning to wing next to Staal.

Martinook to Columbus feels right to me. Don probably has the leaway to offer more than we do and sees what an important influence he can be in a locker room.

 

[robbieberns]

This summer is our last chance to buyout KK at near league minimum hit as well as the last summer before his 10 team NTC kicks in. We all know the holes we need to fill and the raises that are due. Anyone thinking KK will be back next year has unfortunately succumbed to the sweet allure of that Raleigh meth.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

This summer is our last chance to buyout KK at near league minimum hit as well as the last summer before his 10 team NTC kicks in. We all know the holes we need to fill and the raises that are due. Anyone thinking KK will be back next year has unfortunately succumbed to the sweet allure of that Raleigh meth.

Actually, no. Two years from now is our last shot at a 1/3rds buyout. Remember, the buyout is under-26. KK does not turn 26 until July 6, 2026.

 

[LakeLivin]

uh oh.... the spreadsheet came out to see how much money we really have against the cap to fill out the roster... seeing too many options that dont seem to add up in terms of the math and the hard cap....

current under contract players that they or equivalent contract dollar players will fill those roles on a final team:

FORWARDS	2024-25
Aho, Sebastian	$9,750,000​
Svechnikov, Andrei	$7,750,000​
Kotkaniemi, Jesperi	$4,820,000​
Kuznetsov, Evegeny	$3,900,000​
Staal, Jordan "C"	$2,900,000​
Fast, Jesper	$2,400,000​
Unger Sörum, Felix	$831,667​
Lemieux, Brendan	$775,000​
Comtois, Maxime	RFA
Jarvis, Seth	RFA
Martinook, Jordan "A"	UFA
Drury, Jack	RFA
Necas, Martin	Arbitration EligibleRFA
Total	$33,126,667​
DEFENSE	2024-25
Orlov, Dmitri	$7,750,000​
Slavin, Jaccob "A"	$5,300,000​
Burns, Brent	$5,280,000​
Chatfield, Jalen	$3,000,000​
Morrow, Scott	$916,667​
#5 left dman	$0​
#7 dman - Smith or league min equiv.	$775,000​
Total	$23,021,667​
GOALIES	2024-25
Andersen, Frederik	$3,400,000​
Kochetkov, Pyotr **	$2,000,000​
Martin, Spencer	$775,000​
Total	$6,175,000​
Grand Total Salary Cap for all Players	$62,323,334​
Salary Cap for 2024 - 2025 Season	$88,000,000​
Current Salary Cap Space	$25,676,666​

assumes:

- Unger Sorum on the team kind of in new entry level deal version of Turbo kind of role given sizes of the two player and skill set of more playmaking than sniper...

- Lemieux as the 13th extra forward doing injury fill in and change up the roster for a game or two depending on team performances...

- this assumes Morrow stays with big club as inexpensive entry level contract in 3rd pair 5v5 role and some PP time... but Im not convinced of this and instead think the morrow spot should be labelled "cheap vet dman" as we need someone about the league min level price wise to make the cap work overall... Morrow just did not look ready to just jump into a full time NHL d spot based on how he was playing in college this past season... he looked a lot more like he did in Morrow's last game with the many brain cramps and goals against rather than the decent play he had in his first game with us in his debut...

- Smith or an equivalent league min guy is the extra 7th dman almost purely due to their salary cap hit... we wont have a 7th dmen costing $4M per year sitting in the press box all season...

- I left Martin on the active roster counting against the cap in all scenarios because the last few seasons have proven we almost always need 3 goalies across the entire season due to injury issues with all our goalies... we might send him down for some short stretches but I expect 80% of the season will have 3 goalies counting against the cap and we can do that because of how inexpensive our total cost for all 3 goalies are compared to other teams.

So $25.7M left after accounting for 8 of 13 forwards, 6 of 7 dmen and the goalies. Still have to pay Jarvis, resolve the Necas situation and then fill a couple open spots either by re-signing our UFAs before they hit the market, or get equivalent guys in free agency..

Now throw in a couple guesses to see how much we really have to spend:

FORWARDS	2024-25
Aho, Sebastian	$9,750,000.00​
Jarvis, Seth	$7,775,000.00​
Svechnikov, Andrei	$7,750,000.00​
Necas, Martin	$7,000,000.00​
Kotkaniemi, Jesperi	$4,820,000.00​
Kuznetsov, Evegeny	$3,900,000.00​
Staal, Jordan "C"	$2,900,000.00​
Fast, Jesper	$2,400,000.00​
Martinook, Jordan "A"	$2,400,000.00​
Drury, Jack	$1,750,000.00​
Unger Sörum, Felix	$831,667.00​
Lemieux, Brendan	$775,000.00​
Comtois, Maxime	$775,000.00​
Total	$52,826,667​
DEFENSE	2024-25
Orlov, Dmitri	$7,750,000​
Slavin, Jaccob "A"	$5,300,000​
Burns, Brent	$5,280,000​
Chatfield, Jalen	$3,000,000​
Morrow, Scott	$916,667​
#5 left dman	$0​
#7 dman - Smith or league min equiv.	$775,000​
Total	$23,021,667​
GOALIES	2024-25
Andersen, Frederik	$3,400,000​
Kochetkov, Pyotr **	$2,000,000​
Martin, Spencer	$775,000​
Total	$6,175,000​
Grand Total Salary Cap for all Players	$82,023,334​
Salary Cap for 2023 - 2024 Season	$88,000,000​
Current Salary Cap Space	$5,976,666​

this version tries to bring back as many of the roster from last year as reasonably possible....

- Jarvis gets a reasonable Svech deal coming off entry level with no arb rights or anything....

- Martinook gets a slight raise and a 3 year deal to get him to come back... this might not actually happen as there is a lot of reporting out there that the Martinook like glue players that can play a bit more physically and forecheck and pop in a few will get paid a premium this off season... its why i didn't even include Noesen as he is not coming back here for league min compared to what he will be paid on the open market...

- Drury gets a bump on his expired entry deal by getting a 2 year bridge deal

- we ask Comtois to be the new Noesen by being league min and being the more physical 4th liner that will get a chance to be net front and get some garbage goals on the PP...

- finally, Necas (on a 2 year team forcd arb award to run him to UFA assuming we dont get enough in trade offers to make it worth giving up 2 years of his play on our forward roster)...

- both versions of the roster and the cap hits assume Orlov/Chatfield is the new second pair...

- still missing bottom pair dman and how we will strategize to handle that... the names may not actually be the players that fill #5,#6, and the #7 press box dman... but if we keep Necas and pay Jarvis, we likely can't go out and get a Roy or a DeMelo or high end UFA dman... both in the term and in teh dollars they will want... dont want to completely block teh path for Morrow and Nikishin past this year if we sign a 5 or 6 year deal with a high end UFA dman.... its partly why we are losing out current 2nd pairing of dmen.


biggest thing is that it is clear that there is just no salary cap room to pay Jarvis, bring back Guentzel or another high end, expensive forward and also hold onto Necas and have any hope of fitting it all under the salary cap without messing with the rest of the existing contracted players on the roster and creating even more turnover...

Anyone else notice that CapFriendly is kind of dissing Aho by not listing him as an alternate captain?

 

[Unsustainable]

Wonder what we could get OEL for? Might be a decent add

Anyone else notice that CapFriendly is kind of dissing Aho by not listing him as an alternate captain?

Caps are at already.

 

[robbieberns]

Actually, no. Two years from now is our last shot at a 1/3rds buyout. Remember, the buyout is under-26. KK does not turn 26 until July 6, 2026.

Don’t let facts get in the way of feelings here, mate.

 

[WreckingCrew]

The real problem is that either of KK-Drury would be fine as a 3C, neither are currently up to 2C, but we insist on cramming Staal in as 3C no matter the circumstances. Staal should be 4C. I think KK is fine as 3C, he shows some physicality and willingness to drop the gloves which is nice, and he has shown he can generate offense but damn what a cliff after the first 2 months last year. I'm not sure Drury has the size or physicality to be that 3C role, but maybe a W? Kuzy is the biggest ??? of all...he wasn't great as a 2C and he isn't defensively responsible enough for the bottom 6. Jarvy COULD be the future 2C, but then we've got like 6 guys who are Cs

Svech - Aho - Jarvis/????
??? - Jarvis/Kuzy/??? - Necas/???
Drury/KK - KK/Drury - Fast
Pepe/Comtois - Staal - ????
Kuzy???????

 

[Chrispy]

If they want to get back in Necas's good graces, my pitch would be open competition between Jarvis and Necas for 2C. The other gets 1RW.

Necas either gets to be the first line wing or center he wants.

Yes, it involves moving a couple of centers to make it work. I feel like Kuznetsov is here next year and could be part of that 2C competition if he takes on an RBA conditioning plan.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Maybe our big UFA target isn't Guentzel, but rather Lindholm. Remember, the Canes were also strongly interested in a rental of Lindholm this year before JR and Vancouver locked him in early. Would not shock me at all if the Canes did a quick switcheroo/de-facto UFA "trade" on July 1st if they can't get Guentzel locked up at the terms that they want.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Lindholm turning down all that money and being the best C available doesnt say Carolina would be interested.

 

[Svechhammer]

Lindholm would be fine here. Not sure he's the kind of talent that pushes us over the top, though. Maybe he is, but I would still prefer Guentzel over him if those were the options.

 

[MinJaBen]

Lindholm turning down all that money and being the best C available doesnt say Carolina would be interested competitive.