Roster Building XXII: Too Many Forwards, Hopefully One Cup

[cptjeff]

5 years ago Gardiner was ours...

[dislike button]

 

[SlavinAway]

[dislike button]

Don't be sad we had him, be happy he's gone!

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

6 offseasons in and Gardiner is their worst player acquisition. That's pretty good.

(I'll give Kotkaniemi another year before arguing that he dethrones him).

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

6 offseasons in and Gardiner is their worst player acquisition. That's pretty good.

(I'll give Kotkaniemi another year before arguing that he dethrones him).

That whole offseason was a bust

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

6 offseasons in and Gardiner is their worst player acquisition. That's pretty good.

(I'll give Kotkaniemi another year before arguing that he dethrones him).

And Gardiner was, in all honesty, an injury issue that was LTIRetired pretty quickly. Beyond that, they've never signed any UFA contract that they couldn't easily clean their hands off of if they didn't like the fit for whatever reason.

Also, the under-26 nature of Kotkaniemi adds uncertainty to the outcome. A rebound this year would add more confidence to his projection. I still think he's ideally slotted as a defensive 3C with a splash of offense. When Staal hangs up his skates, we'll finally see what that looks like.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

That whole offseason was a bust

Well, maybe, but simultaneously, with no real long-term repercussions (no draft compensation or buyouts were ever needed to clean their hands off of any of the contracts signed that year).

 

[tarheelhockey]

And Gardiner was, in all honesty, an injury issue that was LTIRetired pretty quickly. Beyond that, they've never signed any UFA contract that they couldn't easily clean their hands off of if they didn't like the fit for whatever reason.

Yeah I don’t think Gardiner was a bad acquisition per se, he just was a known injury risk and it went the wrong way for us. It was like Pacioretty, if the medical situation had cleared up we’d be calling it the best move they’ve made.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Speaking of our roster, it'll be interesting to see which rookie bites at the opportunity on that top-6 spot on the left. I still think Nadeau is the favorite, but I could easily see any one of Suzuki, FUS, or Trikozov surprising their way onto the roster.

 

[Svechhammer]

And Gardiner was, in all honesty, an injury issue that was LTIRetired pretty quickly. Beyond that, they've never signed any UFA contract that they couldn't easily clean their hands off of if they didn't like the fit for whatever reason.

Also, the under-26 nature of Kotkaniemi adds uncertainty to the outcome. A rebound this year would add more confidence to his projection. I still think he's ideally slotted as a defensive 3C with a splash of offense. When Staal hangs up his skates, we'll finally see what that looks like.

Honestly, not sure Gardiner (or even Patches, as thh mentioned as well) would have been available if not for the injury history. Probably would have extended in Toronto before FA.

Sometimes assets are distressed for a reason

 

[AD Skinner]

I remember gardiner being pretty good like his first 3 or 4 games here. But just like Pacioretty he couldn’t stay healthy and thems the breaks

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

That whole offseason was a bust

That offseason will be remembered for the Marleau trade primarily. That’s turned into such a monumental home run that the strikeouts feel like nitpicking.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

That offseason will be remembered for the Marleau trade primarily. That’s turned into such a monumental home run that the strikeouts feel like nitpicking.

Especially because, like I previously stated, there were basically no repercussions from any of the strikeouts outside of a short-term lack of trade deadline space from LTIRetirement that cleared up in a reasonably short amount of time. In the long-term, no salary dump w/ sweetener trade or buyout was needed to wash their hands off of any of it.

 

[LostInaLostWorld]

We go into this season with this eval

Who is the best player we can get to make the biggest impact to the roster?

Brad Malone

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Especially because, like I previously stated, there were basically no repercussions from any of the strikeouts outside of a short-term lack of trade deadline space from LTIRetirement that cleared up in a reasonably short amount of time. In the long-term, no salary dump w/ sweetener trade or buyout was needed to wash their hands off of any of it.

yes and no. We missed out on cap space the next season as Gardiner wasnt on LTIR yet. in fact he played under 30 games his 2nd season. While the contract was short Dzingel's cap drag made things harder in the 2020 offseason to do anything. The faulk trade was a big flop.

That bad almost 7+ million a year definitely hurt us for that offseason and likely left us short in the Markstrom and Toffoli arms race.

 

[Svechhammer]

That offseason will be remembered for the Marleau trade primarily. That’s turned into such a monumental home run that the strikeouts feel like nitpicking.

I mean we weaponized our cap space to buy a 1st round pick. That was a move that was always going to end well for us (though, Jarvis was a particularly good ending). I will always vouch for doing that if you have the chance. Give this team 2 1st rounders in a given draft and I would feel good that we would come away with something good from it.

I'm actually surprised that teams don't just straight up buy draft picks for cap space like that from teams in Cap Hell more often.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Brad Malone

One day too late.

 

[cptjeff]

I'll always remember Malone and his time here for... uh... ending Faulk's season in practice?

Can't really fairly hold that against him, you want them to practice hard, but it's kinda hard to forget that.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Bard Mullen

 

[LostInaLostWorld]

One day too late.

And always a dollar short.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

I'll always remember Malone and his time here for... uh... ending Faulk's season in practice?

Can't really fairly hold that against him, you want them to practice hard, but it's kinda hard to forget that.

It can’t be too hard, because I completely forgot that happened.

 

[DaveG]

Brad Malone

 

[To Be Determined]

I can't believe no one has pointed out this butterfly effect...

No gardiner means we don't waive forsling!!!1

(Maybe - or we got someone else in the 2019 offseason that also blocks him. And this ignores fleury and bean and ...)

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

Slavin - Ghost
Slavin fills in the defensive gaps in Ghosts game

Orlov - Walker
High potential 2nd pairing

Chatty - Burns
Chatty speed covers Burns aging decline, reduces Burns TOI

PP1:
Orlov

PP2:
Ghost

PK1:
Slavin - Burns

PK2
Walker - Chatfield

I think those pairings would be rocking the boat a bit... but I like it. Obviously don't LOVE Ghost on first pairing but if it can be like a Slavin - TDA type situation then I'm good with that. Agree that Burns jut needs to be sheltered a bit more.

What are we thinking the forwards look like now and the rest of the PP and PK teams?

 

[TheBigLetowski]

Why?

 

[SlavinAway]

I think those pairings would be rocking the boat a bit... but I like it. Obviously don't LOVE Ghost on first pairing but if it can be like a Slavin - TDA type situation then I'm good with that. Agree that Burns jut needs to be sheltered a bit more.

What are we thinking the forwards look like now and the rest of the PP and PK teams?

If Burns struggle I think they might go Slavin - Walker and make that the shut down pair.