The Case for Ryan Strome

[The Crypto Guy]

You do the Zibanjad type trade again and never look back. Trade while his value is high for a good young center. I dont want Strome long term.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

You do the Zibanjad type trade again and never look back. Trade while his value is high for a good young center. I dont want Strome long term.

Cody Glass is to Zibanejad as Ryan Strome is to Derick Brassard?

 

[HFBS]

Wonder what happens to his numbers when he is no longer on PP1 duty? His spot is better served by Laf, Chytil or Kaako in the future.

So you'd get rid of a guy who's playing great and replace him with someone who right now can't get out of his own way? Especially Lafreniere. And then blame the GM?

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Strome has been better this year than he was last year but I’d really caution anyone against using “he was great with out Panarin” as a convincer.

I’m not banking a significant contract based off of 9 games.

 

[aufheben]

You do the Zibanjad type trade again and never look back. Trade while his value is high for a good young center. I dont want Strome long term.

Yeah but the question is whether or not Strome is the Zibanejad or the Brassard here?

Edit: nvm I didn’t realize Strome is essentially 28 years old already.

Edit v2.0: Strome does have a couple similarities with Brassard though: former top-5-pick who didn’t really hit it until joining the Rangers at ~26-years-old.

...still, trading an NHL center right now with our organization’s awful center depth shouldn’t be rash decision.

 

[darko]

If he's willing to accept 4 or 5 year deal I'm all for it. Nothing longer than 5.

 

[Trxjw]

If he can keep playing like this through the rest of the season and into next year, he's almost certainly going to price himself out of the Rangers plans. If the Rangers want to keep him, betting on him this summer with an extension might be the way to save some money. It's a big gamble but it could pay off if they're right.

 

[jay from jersey]

Much of the conversation on the Boards is how the Rangers need to upgrade the second line center position. The working supposition is that Mika Zibanajad in the prohibitive number one center now and in the future and whil that could always change but let’s assume Mike continues here or is replaced with an equal/comparable player.

I’d like to pose the question; don’t the Rangers already have a very competent number two center under contract at a very reasonable rate?

In 2019-20, Ryan Strome had a breakout year scoring 21-48-69 (prorated for 82 games) and +21 (not prorated) He still had some warts in his game starting with 48 PIM (not prorated) that included many unnecessary offensive zone penalties. Yes he was stapled to the Bread Man and that certainly helped his production but Panarin also had the best season of his career paired with Strome.

This year Strome has been even better. He’s currently scoring at a rate (prorated for 82 games) of 27-51-78 which would place him among the best second line centers in the league. He has improved his discipline with fewer bad penalties -- 14 PIM (not prorated) and he is a +5 to this point. More importantly he did this without Panarin for 10 games and being moved up and down in the lineup to help buttress the offense while Mika struggled. On top of everything else, he appears to have emerged as one of the team leaders during some difficult times.

It is not uncommon for players to struggle at a younger age and break out when they are in their mid 20’s. That’s exactly what appears to be happing here.

Like everyone else, I would love to have a Malkin/Crosby combination in the middle but given the salary cap constraints, the money invested on the wings and the flat cap, aren’t we looking past what is actually a pretty good situation up the middle?

The Rangers real problems right now are a very young third line that can’t score, a defensive fourth line that isn’t very good and a third defensive pair that’s on the clock to be replaced next year. I’d prefer that we focus on fixing those problems by developing the young players and by adding 1-2 veterans next year and take heart that we already have a pretty good 1-2 punch up the middle.

the question really is do you see strome as a 2nd line center on a team that can bring us the cup?? If not, why would they lock him up long term for major dollars. On a 2 year deal, great. And he’s played admirably. He’s gelled with bread man and resurrected his career. However, there are many holes in his game as well. Honestly, my opinion I would rather give Chytil the strome minutes and PP time. He was doing really well before he got hurt with his increased ice time and his increased role

 

[WojtekWolski86]

So you'd get rid of a guy who's playing great and replace him with someone who right now can't get out of his own way? Especially Lafreniere. And then blame the GM?

I'm talking about a 2+ years from now if you expect to resign strome.

 

[smoneil]

Chytil seems a ways off from being able to do what Strome can, unfortunately. It seems he has regressed a little after showing a lot of promise and evidence of being on the brink of a breakout.

Chytil's production per 60 minutes is actually quite a bit better than last season. He's just getting little in the way of opportunity. His TOI/G has gone down by nearly a minute and a half, and he's never on the PP this season. That was my initial concern with re-signing Strome. Zib would always get his minutes, and with Strome attached to Panarin, he'd get the rest of the minutes. That only really left the scraps for Chytil, regardless of HOW well he played. If Chytil had that 2nd line spot from the beginning of the season and time on PP1? I don't think we're worried about him at all.

That said, Strome has been better than I ever thought he could be. He's cut down on the lazy penalties and he put up numbers away from Panarin. If I were coaching the team, as soon as it became clear that the post-season wasn't happening, I'd swap Chytil and Strome. See how Strome does with Laf and Gaut. See how Chytil does with Bread and Kakko. The results would then determine which moves to make.

Ultimately though, a lot of it will be up to the players. If guys like Strome, Buchnevich, and even Zib want to go top dollar contract hunting, Gorts needs to know now, so he can deal them for a good return. If they are willing to sign for a deal that is still within the realm of fair but with a bit of flexibility? That's a different situation. I think Zib and Buchnevich need to get done first, though. Strome's probable replacement is already on the team in Chytil. Zib and Buch don't really have any obvious replacements and are the more important keeps, in my opinion.

 

[Crease]

I think it’s time for fans to rally around Ryan Strome. Former top pick that bounced around the league before putting it together as a Ranger. 124 points in 167 games. All he does is rack up points. And he loves being here.

Are his stats inflated by Panarin? Yes, but so are the stats of everyone who lines up with a superstar.

Is he perfect? No, but he’s not paid to be perfect.

He’s made me a fan.

 

[The New Russian Five]

Remember when we traded Spooner for Strome, and Spooner soon bounced out of the league and Strome became essentially a point per game player? Good times.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Remember when we traded Spooner for Strome, and Spooner soon bounced out of the league and Strome became essentially a point per game player? Good times.

I remember when Spooner was killing it after we traded for him. I wonder if we would have gotten Strome if not for that tiny sample of games. Hell, he wasn't good the next season. I felt left out in terms of teams in this area burning the Oilers in a trade. But now we're added to the Devils and Islanders.

 

[will1066]

I almost want to start a thread, The Case Against Ryan Strome, but after that pass to Kakko tonight, the thread will now be The Case For Ryan Strome For President Of Children's Aid Society

 

[LyNX27]

I feel he could round out his career as a cerebral 2nd line C for a great team, but I'm not sure if that's for the Rangers.

It's worth reading his scouting report - Ryan Strome at eliteprospects.com and going through this thread to see how things have changed in 2 years since the trade for Spooner - Confirmed Trade: - [EDM/NYR] Ryan Strome for Ryan Spooner ($900k retained) ... Shoutout to the Rangers for even considering the trade given what the boards thought and how things turned out.

Strome has grown beyond most optimistic fans projections and we have a great "issue" where they have maximized him as an asset and now need to decide if he can help the team for a deep play-off push or if he can be used to reel an even bigger fish in. Based on his scouting report I think he finally got used to the pace of the NHL and things are really coming together.

It's a good problem to have.

 

[smoneil]

I feel he could round out his career as a cerebral 2nd line C for a great team, but I'm not sure if that's for the Rangers.

It's worth reading his scouting report - Ryan Strome at eliteprospects.com and going through this thread to see how things have changed in 2 years since the trade for Spooner - Confirmed Trade: - [EDM/NYR] Ryan Strome for Ryan Spooner ($900k retained) ... Shoutout to the Rangers for even considering the trade given what the boards thought and how things turned out.

Strome has grown beyond most optimistic fans projections and we have a great "issue" where they have maximized him as an asset and now need to decide if he can help the team for a deep play-off push or if he can be used to reel an even bigger fish in. Based on his scouting report I think he finally got used to the pace of the NHL and things are really coming together.

It's a good problem to have.

I was one of the louder folks against bringing Strome back. His play this season shut me up. I'm less surprised at his offense, but more pleasantly surprised by his improvement re: those offensive zone penalties.

Also, that Strome/Spooner thread is a whole lot of yikes.

Confirmed Trade: - [EDM/NYR] Ryan Strome for Ryan Spooner ($900k retained)

Hey @One Winged Angel , do you happen to have next week's lotto numbers lying around?

 

[Rempe73]

It’s really tough. I love Strome, and he has turned me into a fan, but I just can’t see him as a 2C on a Cup-winning team, no matter how much I try. The solution for me is simple. Unless we get someone like Cirelli or another very good young center for him, I say keep him. To me it makes no sense to trade him for a couple of meh futures (2nd round picks, 3rd round picks, and/or B prospects).

 

[LyNX27]

I was one of the louder folks against bringing Strome back. His play this season shut me up. I'm less surprised at his offense, but more pleasantly surprised by his improvement re: those offensive zone penalties.

Also, that Strome/Spooner thread is a whole lot of yikes.

Confirmed Trade: - [EDM/NYR] Ryan Strome for Ryan Spooner ($900k retained)

Hey @One Winged Angel , do you happen to have next week's lotto numbers lying around?

Great point, I figured he would put up points based on previous production but I didn't think he would eventually turn his patience into a positive attribute for his game.

He seemed to not play at the NHL level, but it looks like things just clicked. Not just with Panarin, but with the Ranger system.

 

[MysticLeviathan]

I was happy with the deal he made in the offseason as it gives us some flexibility and isn't too expensive. He's more than earning his contract this season. He seems to have solid chemistry with his teammates and his deficits are becoming less noticeable. Defensively he's kinda a blob, but he's not taking all these dumb penalties and is a point magnet. I like him, but he'll ask for a lot, which isn't unwarranted with how he's played, and I don't know if we can afford it. We're gonna have a lot of contracts coming up...

 

[EdJovanovski]

If his name was Rasmus Ströme a lot of people who bash him would think re-signing him is a must.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Contributions to Strome's 33 points:

15: Panarin
13: Fox
9: Kreider
6: Buchnevich, Zibanejad
4: Kakko
3: Blackwell
2: Lindgren
1: Trouba, Reunanen, Miller, Lafrenière, Smith, Howden

 

[kovazub94]

Much of the conversation on the Boards is how the Rangers need to upgrade the second line center position. The working supposition is that Mika Zibanajad in the prohibitive number one center now and in the future and whil that could always change but let’s assume Mike continues here or is replaced with an equal/comparable player.

I’d like to pose the question; don’t the Rangers already have a very competent number two center under contract at a very reasonable rate?

In 2019-20, Ryan Strome had a breakout year scoring 21-48-69 (prorated for 82 games) and +21 (not prorated) He still had some warts in his game starting with 48 PIM (not prorated) that included many unnecessary offensive zone penalties. Yes he was stapled to the Bread Man and that certainly helped his production but Panarin also had the best season of his career paired with Strome.

This year Strome has been even better. He’s currently scoring at a rate (prorated for 82 games) of 27-51-78 which would place him among the best second line centers in the league. He has improved his discipline with fewer bad penalties -- 14 PIM (not prorated) and he is a +5 to this point. More importantly he did this without Panarin for 10 games and being moved up and down in the lineup to help buttress the offense while Mika struggled. On top of everything else, he appears to have emerged as one of the team leaders during some difficult times.

It is not uncommon for players to struggle at a younger age and break out when they are in their mid 20’s. That’s exactly what appears to be happing here.

Like everyone else, I would love to have a Malkin/Crosby combination in the middle but given the salary cap constraints, the money invested on the wings and the flat cap, aren’t we looking past what is actually a pretty good situation up the middle?

The Rangers real problems right now are a very young third line that can’t score, a defensive fourth line that isn’t very good and a third defensive pair that’s on the clock to be replaced next year. I’d prefer that we focus on fixing those problems by developing the young players and by adding 1-2 veterans next year and take heart that we already have a pretty good 1-2 punch up the middle.

Yup, while I’ve been Strome’s defender on the board for a long time, one of our arguments has been the fact that he’s a buffer and a short-term insurance to insulate our prospects (ie Chytil while he’s still developing). Like the player this argument is evolving into how the Rangers can find the way to keep / afford Strome beyond next season.

 

[NYRFANMANI]

I may jump to conclusion but the way he celebrates with his teammates, makes me think he's great for the locker room too.

5th OV pick, he has the offensive skill and it shows. He can work on other areas and become even more valuable to us.

Just another tricky situation.

 

[One Winged Angel]

I was one of the louder folks against bringing Strome back. His play this season shut me up. I'm less surprised at his offense, but more pleasantly surprised by his improvement re: those offensive zone penalties.

Also, that Strome/Spooner thread is a whole lot of yikes.

Confirmed Trade: - [EDM/NYR] Ryan Strome for Ryan Spooner ($900k retained)

Hey @One Winged Angel , do you happen to have next week's lotto numbers lying around?

It just didn’t make sense to me otherwise lol.

Reading that thread and oiler fans sticking up for garbage like Russell and Lucic gave me a headache.

 

[will1066]

If his name was Rasmus Ströme a lot of people who bash him would think re-signing him is a must.

The umlaut is the chef's kiss.