Roster Building XXIV: Our Hearts Go Pitter Pattersson

[A Star is Burns]

It's like Tulsky says, you keep looking for talent and every improvement you can in pursuit of that impossible goal of the perfect 20. If you manage to land another big time D in addition to Slavin, Morrow and Nikishin are ready, and you have guys good middle tier guys like Chat, Walker, and Ghost, that's not a bad problem to have. You end up with the eff you blue line like we had last season and trade the excess for assets or to fill ohter holes. That's a great outcome.

 

[spockBokk]

2 rookies on the blueline is a little unnerving, however, I think Nikishin is not an ordinary rookie. He’ll be 24 and played against men for the past 4-5yrs. I don’t expect him to be an instant Norris contender, but I do think it’s reasonable to expect him to immediately fill a top 4 role competently.

Morrow will have a year of pro hockey under his belt next season, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect him to be ready for 3rd pair minutes next season. Problem will be there is not really a suitable partner for Morrow outside of Slavin under contract for next year. Personally, I think Morrow is either a shoe-in for a roster spot next year or he’s traded this summer for a more defensively-minded RD. I don’t think they’ll end up trading him though and also think a priority signing will be a 6-7D type who can play the right side to fill in for Morrow if he’s not truly ready.

Also keep in mind the contracts of Chatfileld, Gostisbehere and Walker are very tradeable, so they could offload one of them in a package for a better D as well if need be. (Maybe with the exception of Walker, think he may have a NTC)

I have wondered if they’d maybe want to keep Orlov around on another short-term deal, to help mentor Nikishin and insulate the risk with Morrow. I believe Orlov can play both sides as well. I’d hope they’d consider re-upping Orlov before Burns at any rate.

 

[Discipline Daddy]

With Morrow looking really good in the AHL, we don't exactly need the moon-and-the-stars at RD. We still have to be careful with cap spending, Rantanen aside, because we want the next wave of young guys on our club long-term as well, especially Nikishin. That youth succession backbone is something that not a lot of contenders have besides us and Dallas.

Completely agree. I think in a few years guys like Morrow, Blake, Nadeau coming off their ELCs could be seeing $7M as just regular deals, not as 8-year max extensions for Jarvis-type players. It's tempting to want to sign everyone when you're seeing dollar signs. But I think exercising some prudence in the face of excess is a hallmark of great management.

I also am leaning more towards re-signing Andersen for 2 years. Even in his bad games, the shots that go in are usually really well placed lasers. He makes way fewer miscues than Kochetkov. The fact he gets hurt annually is way less of a burden for a contending team like us that doesn't rely on its goalies. We don't need Andersen playing 50 games in the regular season. We need him healthy for the playoffs. Honestly, at this point in his career, Andersen probably wants that too. Waiting on the thinner and thinner crop of UFA goalies this year is a really risky proposition of playing musical chairs and you get left with no chairs.

Locking in Marner seems completely unnecessarily risky, unless it's Marner in Rantanen out. Adding two $13M wingers to a team that really didn't need much on wing feels like bad cap management. And adding too many max 3rd contract guys can really bite teams in the butt historically for not getting the most motivated group of players. I prefer our "zag" cap spending approach of unearthing cheap UFA gems and taking on contracts from other teams like Burns. That was the perfect fit for our culture and in getting an old guy who will not take a shift off.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

I was just thinking about Pietrangelo. He only has two seasons remaining and is still playing great hockey at 35. Vegas likes to move around players via trade to keep their roster fresh. Maybe he's the guy to bridge Burns and Morrow for a couple of years.

 

[Borsig]

Shoulda kept pesh. But cap space, rantanen and that ship is gone.

 

[mikeyfan]

What about Cody Ceci as the right. "D". Maybe he could be had before the trade Deadline too. Say a. 3rd or a 4th. this year. or next?