Speculation: Speculation: Roster Building Thread - Part XXV

[haohmaru]

I think Hajek gets claimed if he's sent down. We'll see.

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

Can we package Bern in a Gauthier deal?

 

[Lays]

I think there will be a trade before the season. Minor. But (At least) one guy gets moved out. We will see.

Has to be Goat, no? As much as I would hate to see it happen as I think he can really flourish with the right opportunity. Right now he won’t get top 9 time here as the top 9 is 100% set, and he’s not a 4th line player. Needs to be playing with guys who can dish him the puck. A team like Calgary who has been missing a RHS RW would certainly be interested. He would immediately be on a line with either Gaudreau or Tkachuk for them. Unfortunately the most we can get is probably a conditional 4th that becomes a 3rd if he plays a certain amount of games, don’t really see any potential 1 for 1 swaps out there

 

[Lays]

Yes, Derek Armstrong, he of 200+ points over 470+ NHL games, was not an NHLer.



Come on, man. I understand your point, but at least in Libor Hajek's case there's a very good chance the guy sticks around long enough to play a couple hundred NHL games. That's exponentially more than most drafted players. He's an NHL player. Not a good one, but he is. Maybe he ends up going overseas after this year or something, but until that door shuts, he's an NHL player.

Gauthier I'm a little more iffy on, but he still spent the whole year on the NHL roster and still has a chance to stick on the NHL roster this year. He was an NHL player last year in some capacity and could be again this year.

Libor Hajek is not an NHL player because he’s played NHL games for the team that was desperate to make him work out because he was a key piece in the McDonagh trade and the team publicly said they believed he would become a “top defenseman in the league”

Other teams won’t give him the chances we did.




He doesn’t have any ability that a team would value. I would somewhat get it if he was physical, but he gets crushed on ice more than anyone on the team and is afraid of contact. It’s too late for him to fix this as well as he is 24 years old and is at near-peak level physical ability. This is a guy who was scratched in the Czech league last season, and was outperformed by Jack Johnson on all accounts

 

[McRanger92]

I think there will be a trade before the season. Minor. But (At least) one guy gets moved out. We will see.

Agreed. Too many bodies. Hajek/Gauthier most likely, but wouldnt rule out Georgiev. I thought that Strome had a chance to be moved but Chytil/Barron havent really grabbed the bull by the horns yet.

 

[jay from jersey]

I could see something like Gauthier for a 4th or 5th. This team has too much depth right now for him to get a real shot. It’s a shame he didn’t get more of a chance last year. If he’s got a chance (I’m not overly optimistic), then he needs middle six minutes, so Seattle, AZ, etc... would make sense.

Even if he somehow cracked this team as a 13th or 14th forward, he’s not going to get anything going playing on the 4th line every 4th or 5th game. If he’s not playing special teams he’s not likely to be effective in any capacity here anyway.

I’m not sure. Other GMs aren’t stupid. They are going to know our situation and know Hajek and most likely Gauthier are both going to be waived, so there’s really no point in giving anything of value up for them, even a mid-late pick.
I like Gauthier and still think he has potential to be a solid 3rd liner in the right situation, it’s just clear it’s not going to be with us.
Hajek is the bigger question mark. A team might snag him cause he can play both sides and give him a shot on their 3rd pair if they have depth/injury problems. But imo, it’s less likely he hits his ceiling or stays around as a solid 3rd pair option.
Maybe he can be a journeyman 7th D option for some teams that lack depth, but I can’t see anyone giving anything of value back for him at this point

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

Agreed. Too many bodies. Hajek/Gauthier most likely, but wouldnt rule out Georgiev. I thought that Strome had a chance to be moved but Chytil/Barron havent really grabbed the bull by the horns yet.

Edmonton could find Gauthier and Georgiev helpful, we can take Kostinen off their hands. What else do we add to get Holloway, someone like Robertson?

 

[jay from jersey]

Edmonton could find Gauthier and Georgiev helpful, we can take Kostinen off their hands. What else do we add to get Holloway, someone like Robertson?

Count Arizona And Buffalo in on Geo if we move him. Those teams goaltending depth is atrocious

 

[bigdog16]

Edmonton could find Gauthier and Georgiev helpful, we can take Kostinen off their hands. What else do we add to get Holloway, someone like Robertson?

You could add Krav on top of Robertson, Gauthier and Georgiev for Holloway and Edm still probably says no. Holloway is a great prospect who Edm has zero intentions of moving

 

[IDvsEGO]

You could add Krav on top of Robertson, Gauthier and Georgiev for Holloway and Edm still probably says no. Holloway is a great prospect who Edm has zero intentions of moving

I mean kratsov for holloway 1:1 might have them pausing.
Holloway is a few years away. And while holloway plays the more coveted position, Kratsov I think has a higher ceiling and is ready now.

 

[Ola]

Libor Hajek is not an NHL player because he’s played NHL games for the team that was desperate to make him work out because he was a key piece in the McDonagh trade and the team publicly said they believed he would become a “top defenseman in the league”

Other teams won’t give him the chances we did.




He doesn’t have any ability that a team would value. I would somewhat get it if he was physical, but he gets crushed on ice more than anyone on the team and is afraid of contact. It’s too late for him to fix this as well as he is 24 years old and is at near-peak level physical ability. This is a guy who was scratched in the Czech league last season, and was outperformed by Jack Johnson on all accounts

Biggest issue is that he played next to a leftie on the right side. That pairing was a total mess every shift, you can’t keep it simple. All opposing teams know it and just keeps hammering away at it weakness by dumping the puck in on the right side.

 

[nyr2k2]

Libor Hajek is not an NHL player because he’s played NHL games for the team that was desperate to make him work out because he was a key piece in the McDonagh trade and the team publicly said they believed he would become a “top defenseman in the league”

Other teams won’t give him the chances we did.




He doesn’t have any ability that a team would value. I would somewhat get it if he was physical, but he gets crushed on ice more than anyone on the team and is afraid of contact. It’s too late for him to fix this as well as he is 24 years old and is at near-peak level physical ability. This is a guy who was scratched in the Czech league last season, and was outperformed by Jack Johnson on all accounts

I don't know why a couple of you are having such a hard time with this. I never said Hajek was a good player. I know all about what he did last year with Brno and I'd post about it in the prospects thread. I once voted for him in our three stars poll because I said he managed to not be awful that night. I get it--to this point he has sucked.

Sport teams employ bad players. Bad teams employ bad players and sometimes good teams employ bad players. For a variety of reasons. Maybe the Rangers played Hajek because they were trying to justify the trade or maybe they just made shitty personnel decisions and thought he was a better option than Reunanen or whatever waiver-wire fodder was out there. Who knows.

And yet, he played the whole year in the NHL, like any number of other bad NHL players. He could be out of the league next year as I said, or spend all year in Hartford, but until that happens his current status is a guy who spent all of last season and half of the prior season in the NHL. To me, that's an NHL player. You can tell me he's awful, will never play in the NHL again, whatever. He is until he isn't.

 

[bigdog16]

I mean kratsov for holloway 1:1 might have them pausing.
Holloway is a few years away. And while holloway plays the more coveted position, Kratsov I think has a higher ceiling and is ready now.

Unfortunately Ranger fans are the only people who believe in Krav. He didn’t exactly light the world on fire last year, and showed little progression from Year 1 to Year 2 in the KHL.

Theres no chance they even consider a 1 for 1 here

 

[EdJovanovski]

Unfortunately Ranger fans are the only people who believe in Krav. He didn’t exactly light the world on fire last year, and showed little progression from Year 1 to Year 2 in the KHL.

Theres no chance they even consider a 1 for 1 here

He was the leading goal scorer on a KHL team while missing nearly a quarter of the season, as a 20 year old. Just turning 21 near the end.

 

[IDvsEGO]

Unfortunately Ranger fans are the only people who believe in Krav. He didn’t exactly light the world on fire last year, and showed little progression from Year 1 to Year 2 in the KHL.

Theres no chance they even consider a 1 for 1 here

But then in y3 he did. And his time in the nhl he got shit for ice time, but clearly showed high end skill plus defensive awareness.
I doubt scouts are sleeping on him.

 

[nyr2k2]

Unfortunately Ranger fans are the only people who believe in Krav. He didn’t exactly light the world on fire last year, and showed little progression from Year 1 to Year 2 in the KHL.

Theres no chance they even consider a 1 for 1 here

Kravtsov didn't have a ton of offensive progression last year but his overall game did develop quite well. He seemed to mature quite a bit, as well. I say this as someone who has always been a bit hard on him. I know "other fans" may not think much of him because they don't actually watch games and just rely on box scores, but from my understanding he's still a very well-regarded young player among those whose opinions actually matter.

That said, I can't imagine Edmonton being interested in a 1-1 with Holloway. I think there are enough question marks around Kravtsov that even for those front office types who do like him, they wouldn't want to give up a prospect of Holloway's caliber to get him.

 

[bigdog16]

He was the leading goal scorer on a KHL team while missing nearly a quarter of the season, as a 20 year old. Just turning 21 near the end.

Me and you have had this debate before. His team was terrible, it wasn't that great of an accomplishment. And to add on top of that, the KHL still gets a reputation of being a step below the NHL here. Its more like 5 steps below, and on par with the AHL as a whole

But then in y3 he did. And his time in the nhl he got shit for ice time, but clearly showed high end skill plus defensive awareness.
I doubt scouts are sleeping on him.

I doubt they are too but Holloway's stock is super high right now coming off a great year at Wisconsin. He plays a unique power skill game that can ultimately play in up and down the lineup. Krav is top 6 or bust. He has no redeeming qualities other than his skill

 

[IDvsEGO]

Me and you have had this debate before. His team was terrible, it wasn't that great of an accomplishment. And to add on top of that, the KHL still gets a reputation of being a step below the NHL here. Its more like 5 steps below, and on par with the AHL as a whole



I doubt they are too but Holloway's stock is super high right now coming off a great year at Wisconsin. He plays a unique power skill game that can ultimately play in up and down the lineup. Krav is top 6 or bust. He has no redeeming qualities other than his skill

holloway is 2 years away in my guess. And Edmonton is going for it. I think this is their big year. Adding Kratsov to that top 6 would be a huge boost.

 

[Zynbanejad]

Haven’t paid much attention outside of the last preseason game, but do we see any room for Barron?

 

[Avery16]

Gauthier's best chance was getting claimed by Seattle, but even they thought Blackwell was a better option.

Blackwell is a better option. They made the right choice.

 

[cwede]

Haven’t paid much attention outside of the last preseason game, but do we see any room for Barron?

opening night, probably not,
as it is, they likely waive McKegg to Pack, and keep Gauth and Hunt, as 13th/14th F's
but its no big deal if he plays all-situations for some months in AHL

 

[jay from jersey]

Haven’t paid much attention outside of the last preseason game, but do we see any room for Barron?

Not lighting it up. But he looks solid overall. He could start in the NHL straight out of camp and play, but with the amount of Fwds we have, it looks like he’ll go to Hartford and be first injury call up because he doesn’t have to clear waivers.
I’d like for him to stay with the Rangers out of camp, think it would be good for his development. I don’t expect him to go to Hartford and score a PPG. That’s not what he’s going to be at this level. He’s going to be a bottom 6 guy, big, with a good shot that can add some offense, play solid along the boards and down low, and throw his body around a bit. Hopefully he pans out as a good Pk option as well down the line.
I really don’t think there’s much more for him to work on besides his skating/positioning. That can be accomplished practicing with the big boys. He’s a very smart kid who looks like he picks up on things quickly.

 

[cwede]

 

[LOFIN]

Me and you have had this debate before. His team was terrible, it wasn't that great of an accomplishment. And to add on top of that, the KHL still gets a reputation of being a step below the NHL here.

Agreed

Its more like 5 steps below, and on par with the AHL as a whole

Disagreed. The bottom tier teams in the KHL are awful and would probably be spanked by most AHL teams. However, the good teams are massively ahead of AHL teams. Like it's not even close. The top teams in the KHL would run circles around Buffalo, Arizona and Detroit this year.

 

[cwede]

that Geertsen NOT waived with this group is a bit strange to me ...