Roster Building XXVI: Picking Our Teeth Off the Ice

[QuebeCaniac]

or, hear me out, we could complete our retool - after trading away Necas - and trade Aho to Montreal for Hage and two first round picks. Montreal needs another center... That was seriously suggested and discussed in a serious podcast/radio show in Montreal.

This is quite ridiculous, but it also is an indication that many other teams (with space under the cap) will be looking for a center this summer... it won't be easy

 

[Chan790]

or, hear me out, we could complete our retool - after trading away Necas - and trade Aho to Montreal for Hage and two first round picks. Montreal needs another center... That was seriously suggested and discussed in a serious podcast/radio show in Montreal.

This is quite ridiculous, but it also is an indication that many other teams (with space under the cap) will be looking for a center this summer... it won't be easy

This is kind of why I suggested after the Rantanen trade we may have to face the reality that our solution to finding a long-term, big superstar scorer, ideally maybe a C who can push Aho to 2C, might have to come homegrown. There are too many buyers and too few things worth buying with the expected cap increases.

I know we have a lot of assets and cap space right now, but the worst thing we can do is chase sub-ideal solutions for the sake of immediacy and spend money just because we have it.

I'd like to see us use these assets we already have (mainly picks and unwanted assets we can flip for picks) to take a shot at a top-end of the draft spec if we can find a partner instead looking to add a lot of specs to a barren system.

We have a deep system. Deep enough that good prospects might never see the ice for us. We can afford to buy our way into a top-5 and have a short draft.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

This is kind of why I suggested after the Rantanen trade we may have to face the reality that our solution to finding a long-term, big superstar scorer, ideally maybe a C who can push Aho to 2C, might have to come homegrown. There are too many buyers and too few things worth buying with the expected cap increases.

I know we have a lot of assets and cap space right now, but the worst thing we can do is chase sub-ideal solutions for the sake of immediacy and spend money just because we have it.

I'd like to see us use these assets we already have (mainly picks and unwanted assets we can flip for picks) to take a shot at a top-end of the draft spec if we can find a partner instead looking to add a lot of specs to a barren system.

We have a deep system. Deep enough that good prospects might never see the ice for us. We can afford to buy our way into a top-5 and have a short draft.

This is why I threw out the idea of large 1 year contracts a few days ago to lure the upper tier of free agents as a short-term play. Considering our record, our team is a pretty desirable place to play for most free agents (Rantanen is one exception).

 

[NotOpie]

We have 3 good to very good LW Russian prospects: Artamanov, Krutov, and Rykov. Realistically, at least one of those guys has a shot at making the show.

Where our system is very thin is at center. Robidas, Suzuki, and Mercuri (who I'm pretty high on as a bottom 6 option; he has size as well).

On the back end we are also in very good shape with: Legault, Badinka (still a ways away IMO), Forsmark, and Nystrom. We have a slew of Russians as well. I just don't see Fensore or Seeley making the bigs.

We are lacking size as well....okay, a lot. So from a draft strategy perspective, I'd be targeting centers with size, perhaps RWs with size, and goalies.

What concerns me is that we have a lot of "unknowns" and what appears to be underperformers in our system, especially a few of the Russian darts that were supposed to have significant potential. It's too early to be overly concerned, but I'd mix in a few more, "I'm pretty sure this is a top 6 NHLer" in our next draft.

Lastly, I wonder if we'd be interested in targeting Troy Terry from Anaheim. He's at the older end of the spectrum for what appears to be their window (opening in the next couple of years) and has 3 more years after this one at $7 million. He's a right shot, he can play both center and wing. He's somebody I'd consider moving Stankoven with ++ for or maybe Nadeau with an add as well. I just think we'd regret moving Nadeau prior to seeing what he can bring in the bigs. Anaheim is chock full of high end offensive prospects, so we may be giving up some of our defensive futures should this deal come to fruition.

 

[Justicebork]

Leaf fans like to talk about Marner's playoff performances in the same way that we like to talk about Necas's playoff performances

 

[WreckingCrew]

We have 3 good to very good LW Russian prospects: Artamanov, Krutov, and Rykov. Realistically, at least one of those guys has a shot at making the show.

Where our system is very thin is at center. Robidas, Suzuki, and Mercuri (who I'm pretty high on as a bottom 6 option; he has size as well).

On the back end we are also in very good shape with: Legault, Badinka (still a ways away IMO), Forsmark, and Nystrom. We have a slew of Russians as well. I just don't see Fensore or Seeley making the bigs.

We are lacking size as well....okay, a lot. So from a draft strategy perspective, I'd be targeting centers with size, perhaps RWs with size, and goalies.

What concerns me is that we have a lot of "unknowns" and what appears to be underperformers in our system, especially a few of the Russian darts that were supposed to have significant potential. It's too early to be overly concerned, but I'd mix in a few more, "I'm pretty sure this is a top 6 NHLer" in our next draft.

Lastly, I wonder if we'd be interested in targeting Troy Terry from Anaheim. He's at the older end of the spectrum for what appears to be their window (opening in the next couple of years) and has 3 more years after this one at $7 million. He's a right shot, he can play both center and wing. He's somebody I'd consider moving Stankoven with ++ for or maybe Nadeau with an add as well. I just think we'd regret moving Nadeau prior to seeing what he can bring in the bigs. Anaheim is chock full of high end offensive prospects, so we may be giving up some of our defensive futures should this deal come to fruition.

Easier said than done when you're at the tail-end of the first round and subsequent rounds are a crapshoot. Honestly the fact that we have any guys at all worth talking about from each draft is impressive...most of them won't make it, but we definitely have a lot of guys that give hope. I do think we need to start drafting some size though, undersized skilled Russians may be low risk high reward late in a draft, but if they don't turn into top 6 players you're pretty much SOL

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Easier said than done when you're at the tail-end of the first round and subsequent rounds are a crapshoot. Honestly the fact that we have any guys at all worth talking about from each draft is impressive...most of them won't make it, but we definitely have a lot of guys that give hope. I do think we need to start drafting some size though, undersized skilled Russians may be low risk high reward late in a draft, but if they don't turn into top 6 players you're pretty much SOL

The thing is that the bottom-6 is an area where the Canes frequently do find value in free agency. The draft is more their area of "who knows" and swinging for upside.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

The thing is that the bottom-6 is an area where the Canes frequently do find value in free agency. The draft is more their area of "who knows" and swinging for upside.

And this is evidently the cornerstone of their entire talent philosophy.

The fact is that very high end talent is rare, difficult to acquire, and expensive. And tanking, while seeming like an attractive option to talent starved fans, does nothing at all to ensure acquiring that talent, and even if you do, does not ensure winning. Svech was 2OA and could easily have been 1OA in other drafts. He's basically an underperforming role player; he hit 30 goals once four years ago, and may never hit that point again. The team succeeds anyway, because of thoughtful roster construction up and down the lineup. Look at Edmonton; McDavid is in his tenth season and Drai in his eleventh, and they reached the Cup final for the first time last year.

Which means that if you want to be competitive, year in and year out, you need a strong identity, you need a playing style that fits that identity, and you need to identify, acquire, and retain players that exemplify that identity, over and over again. I think the Hurricanes are the best in the league in those areas right now, and I don't think it's particularly close.

 

[WreckingCrew]

And this is evidently the cornerstone of their entire talent philosophy.

The fact is that very high end talent is rare, difficult to acquire, and expensive. And tanking, while seeming like an attractive option to talent starved fans, does nothing at all to ensure acquiring that talent, and even if you do, does not ensure winning. Svech was 2OA and could easily have been 1OA in other drafts. He's basically an underperforming role player; he hit 30 goals once four years ago, and may never hit that point again. The team succeeds anyway, because of thoughtful roster construction up and down the lineup. Look at Edmonton; McDavid is in his tenth season and Drai in his eleventh, and they reached the Cup final for the first time last year.

Which means that if you want to be competitive, year in and year out, you need a strong identity, you need a playing style that fits that identity, and you need to identify, acquire, and retain players that exemplify that identity, over and over again. I think the Hurricanes are the best in the league in those areas right now, and I don't think it's particularly close.

Not to mention they had like 8 top 3 picks in 10 years or something and somehow only came away with McDrai from that