Roster Building XXVI: Picking Our Teeth Off the Ice

[bleedgreen]

I think the door shut on Robinson after the hall trade and extension and the Jankowksi trade. This will be Robinson’s chance to get a decent payday. Earlier before the Hall trade they were apparently close to a extension but I think it’s unlikely now

There was talk early they were trying to reup Robinson. When he blew up a bit early maybe that’s why they were paused, but we thought the Hall talks were paused and they ended up happening. I could see Robinson staying, he’s a great bottom six fit that occasionally can bring something to a higher role. Roslovic is gone imo.

 

[cptjeff]

With the cap going up I don't think there will be a lot of cap casualties and there will be some even stupider than usual ufa contracts. *duh* I think even less so since Utah is better funded now.

I'm fully expecting Utah to sell UFAs on how convenient amenities like skiing and rock climbing are to the city, then have a $15M UFA promptly take themselves out for a year doing said activities.

 

[spockBokk]

I doubt Brock Nelson re-ups in Colorado now. He’d seem like a prime target for a short term, high aav type deal, a la Orlov.

He’d certainly beef up the top 6 and seems like he’s automatic for 25g plus a likely ready-made fit for RBA hockey.

 

[AD Skinner]

I doubt Brock Nelson re-ups in Colorado now. He’d seem like a prime target for a short term, high aav type deal, a la Orlov.

He’d certainly beef up the top 6 and seems like he’s automatic for 25g plus a likely ready-made fit for RBA hockey.

I was really hoping back before the rantanen thing happened that he’d be someone they looked at at the deadline, I agree he’d be a great cane

 

[spockBokk]

Svechnikov-Aho-Blake
UFA/trade-Nelson-Jarvis
Hall-Kotkaniemi-Stankoven
Martinook-Staal-Carrier
Jankowski

Seems like a pretty decent forward group. With $29-30M to spend, they should be able to easily afford whatever Nelson may want (only sticking point could be term, but maybe the higher aav could persuade him). Still plenty left over for a big UFA splash in chasing after a Marner or Ehlers, some wiggle room to add an RD or another goalie too if they really wanted to. Even after all that, I’d think they’d probably have $4-5M in space to bank throughout the season to use at the trade deadline.

And yes, we all know Staal won’t be a 4th liner

 

[bleedgreen]

I'm fully expecting Utah to sell UFAs on how convenient amenities like skiing and rock climbing are to the city, then have a $15M UFA promptly take themselves out for a year doing said activities.

I mean, I do the same thing sans the 15 million.

 

[bleedgreen]

I doubt Brock Nelson re-ups in Colorado now. He’d seem like a prime target for a short term, high aav type deal, a la Orlov.

He’d certainly beef up the top 6 and seems like he’s automatic for 25g plus a likely ready-made fit for RBA hockey.

They are gonna have to do some salary dap tap dancing as is. I think they’d love to keep him, he played great during his time there. I don’t think management would let the playoffs reflect poorly on him. They needed more defense than two good centers at the deadline though. Lindgren didn’t look good and he’s the culprit on the highlight reel Rants goal.

I don’t blame the coach generally and I’ve already been defending Bednar but I don’t know how you have Lindgren matched with Girard on the pk for that play. Girard has fallen off a cliff and can’t be trusted defensively. If you’re in a place where that’s your best option on a team with cup expectations you should probably punch your gm in the face.

 

[User13452]

I’m not sure who it would be but we could really use a right handed centre that plays top 6

 

[SvechneJerk]

I’m not sure who it would be but we could really use a right handed centre that plays top 6

Say it with me....

Seth. Jarvis.

 

[bleedgreen]

I’m not sure who it would be but we could really use a right handed centre that plays top 6

Ironically per the topic today but Coyle would maybe be a 2C with us. One year left and the Avs are probably in cap trouble. They should just keep him of course but if they have to start dancing as free agency approaches you never know.

Coyle would’ve made sense for us in the first place.

 

[bleedgreen]

Say it with me....

Seth. Jarvis.

Has never struck me as a center. His game is all up and down the wing and forechecking. We’d still have to find more scoring wingers to replace him if we did it, but I don’t really think he’s the guy. I know we think he can do anything, and I’m sure he’d do his best but I don’t think it’s the best use of him. He’s good at what he’s doing right now.

 

[User13452]

Ironically per the topic today but Coyle would maybe be a 2C with us. One year left and the Avs are probably in cap trouble. They should just keep him of course but if they have to start dancing as free agency approaches you never know.

Coyle would’ve made sense for us in the first place.

Coyle isn’t a 2c anymore at his age now he’s best suited as a 3c and we don’t need anymore of those.

 

[bleedgreen]

Coyle isn’t a 2c anymore at his age now he’s best suited as a 3c and we don’t need anymore of those.

That's why i said he could be a 2C "for us"". 13 pts in 19 games with the Avs suggests with the right usage and line mates he still has something to offer. I don't consider him a great 2C league wide but he could probably do the job for a year with us. We could really use a righty. We might not need more 3C's but our coach would have no issues employing more. He'd be the best offensive player amongst our "3C's", is solid defensively so I think he'd still be an upgrade if we didn't find better.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

Kyle Connor is another name to keep an eye on this Summer. 2026 UFA. Winnipeg is not the organization that can afford to let a player like that play out his contract.

 

[chaz4hockey]

That's why i said he could be a 2C "for us"". 13 pts in 19 games with the Avs suggests with the right usage and line mates he still has something to offer. I don't consider him a great 2C league wide but he could probably do the job for a year with us. We could really use a righty. We might not need more 3C's but our coach would have no issues employing more. He'd be the best offensive player amongst our "3C's", is solid defensively so I think he'd still be an upgrade if we didn't find better.

Avs fans probably smarting from the loss but a number of them were very negative on Coyle and Nelson.

 

[bleedgreen]

Avs fans probably smarting from the loss but a number of them were very negative on Coyle and Nelson.

I live with these people. I would take all that with a grain a salt. Everyone was great until the playoffs, and that obviously didn’t go well. Avs fans think they’re cup favorites every year so they lose it like they’re Toronto fans. Those two guys played less than thirty games for them, Avs fans barely know them. Most people I talk to didn’t know who either of them were before the trades.

Either guy makes sense for us shorter term.

 

[Daeavorn]

So I'm hearing Tampa fans talk on Reddit about how they want to aggressively retool this year and they want to explore their options trading Point and or Kucherov.

If this is true we need to be all over Point.

 

[WreckingCrew]

So I'm hearing Tampa fans talk on Reddit about how they want to aggressively retool this year and they want to explore their options trading Point and or Kucherov.

If this is true we need to be all over Point.

That would be a rebuild, not a retool?

 

[Daeavorn]

That would be a rebuild, not a retool?

I honestly don't know the difference so I'm just going to say yes.

 

[TheBigLetowski]

I honestly don't know the difference so I'm just going to say yes.

Point doesn’t go anywhere without Jarvis/Svech ++

 

[Borsig]

lets not do dumb things. Necas was not a fit. Thats why he was expendable for Stank + firsts and thirds etc.

 

[Discipline Daddy]

Moving the Toronto cap discussion here. Doesn't make sense in a GDT.



Next year, Toronto has $26.9M in space and needs to sign 5-6 forwards.

If Knies costs $9.35M (someone recommended offering him for 1st+2nd+3rd compensation), they're down to $17.55M for 4-5 forwards. That's plenty of space, but it would be problematic if they want to also re-up Tavares and Marner. Marner will cost let's say $13.5M and Tavares probably $7-9M depending on the length of his deal.

Assuming Marner will re-sign, I see them doing something like this:

Marner - $13.5M x 8 years
Knies - $7.75M x 4 years
Tavares - $7.5M x 6 years (lower caphit with long term)

However, that puts them at $2M over the cap with 1 more forward to sign. I think their best case scenario is to get the contracts above and then dump David Kampf or Jarnkrok, perhaps with a mild sweetener. They can also waive Benoit or Myers and go 12F-6D-2G bare minimum roster.


Now that I play that scenario out, you can see why Knies puts them in a tricky situation. They can precariously get all 3 guys but sacrifices at forward or defensive depth will need to be made. They may elect to lose one of Tavares or Marner, then they'll have lots of wiggle room, but at a cost of a lot of offense. If you didn't know, Tavares scored 38G & 74P, while Marner had 27G & 102P. Tavares has 7P in 10 playoff games, while Marner has 12P in 10GP. They're both essential to Toronto's offense.


Other teams that could be pinched:

Dallas - already discussed - clearly in cap hell
NYR - $8M to re-sign Cuylle, Kaliyev, K'Andre, Rempe
Colorado - $9M to re-sign Brock Nelson, Drouin, and two defensemen
Edmonton - ~$11M to re-sign Evan Bouchard and four forwards

 

[Stickpucker]

Stickpuckers plan for the offseason:
+Trade a package around Morrow++ for Dobson
+Revisit the EP for Kotkaniemi ++ discussion
+Offer sheet Peterka to free him from Buffalo.
+other OS targets: Dylan Guenther or Marco Rossi.

 

[Stanky and Janky]

Stanky and Janky's plan for the offseason:

Let Eric Tulsky cook.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

My thoughts on this will surely change before the summer but right now here would be my ideal offseason:

- Trade Morrow + picks for Dobson
- Sign Nelson to 2 year deal as 2C stopgap option
- Keep Orlov 1 year big cap hit with a handshake agreement for another 2 year deal for dirt cheap to play 3rd pair for us after that if he would go for it and wants to stay here
- Trade Ghost for picks
- Get Blake and Stank locked up to medium or long term sweetheart deals either to keep around or to use as trade bait for big top 6 upgrades.
- With any extra cap space we have, take on cap dumps for more picks
- Stick to the plan UNLESS some legit top 6 C or superstar forward or D other than Dobson comes available. If Tampa decides to rebuild and any of their studs are available we should be all in.


Svech - Aho - Blake
Hall - Nelson - Jarvis
Nadeau - Koko - Stank
Martinook - Staal - Carrier

Slavin - Dobson
Orlov - Chatfield
Nikishin - Walker

Spread those 5v5 D minutes completely equally and any of those guys except Dobson can play PK. Dobson and Nikishin on PP units. That's a pretty big upgrade on this year's group (which is already knocking on the door of a ECF appearance) while still keeping us set up incredibly well long term to continue to contend year in and year out AND keeping our asset pool stocked for opportunistic upgrades/option of going "all in" on big trade(s) in the near future if we want to do that.

Haven't crunched numbers but I think we could fit that all in for next year