Speculation: Armchair GM - 2023 Off-Season Thread

[GoJackets1]

Duchene played some of, if not the best hockey of his career when he was paired with a better player (Panarin). I do wonder if Johnny could have a similar effect on his play. He's not the main driver of a line at this point in his career but he's still effective and I think could be pretty decent between Johnny and Marchenko.

If you could move Jack and grab him for 2 years max in the $4/5m range I say why not. He'd at least be better than Jack.

 

[Sdrawkcab321]

Noooooo. I stopped watching the Jets because of him. Keep him away!

Why?

 

[Toe Pick]

Nashville is really cleaning house. Curious to see where things go for them.

That said I would check in with the Duchene camp to see if there's any interest in a short term deal.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

There's a lot of prospects who need that ice time

All of those guys are too expensive imo. Let the logjam figure itself out. Either guys are gonna get moved and we look to figure it out that way or we go into camp and start the season with what we have and make moves in the season if need be.

You're not wrong but it feels like we're gonna lose that entire middle tier of guys this offseason. I'd like to have prospects always getting that Cleveland ice time instead of riding the call-up train. Yeah there's not room for all of them but I'd feel a lot better if it was otherwise.

 

[CBJx614]

You're not wrong but it feels like we're gonna lose that entire middle tier of guys this offseason. I'd like to have prospects always getting that Cleveland ice time instead of riding the call-up train. Yeah there's not room for all of them but I'd feel a lot better if it was otherwise.

Jarmo also made a point that you usually see a few injuries in camp or preseason that linger into the start of the season and it's nice to have a few extra bodies. I really don't think we're in a rush to make a move. We have until the TDL to figure out any potential issues

 

[Marioesque]

Why?

He's not good. He was very entitled in Jets and basically dictated his own ice time (that's on Maurice of course to allow it). Will snap at reporters for fair questions. He's bad defensively and only gotten worse all around now that he has lost steps. His numbers have been inflated for years and years by playing in ALL favorable situations even when his play did not warrant any of it. He is a very good passer, but has been playing way too many minutes for what he actually contributes. Below average shot.

There's a reason why he was stripped off captaincy and why they bought his contract out. I predicted the buy out the day they extended him to that ridiculous contract. Truly an example of small market cult status sinking a franchise by holding onto a rotten asset for way too long for way too much money.

Jackets should be thankful for him though because he's probably the single biggest reason why Laine landed in Columbus.

 

[GoJackets1]

Why?

If I'm not mistaken, Wheeler is kind of a huge asshole who was a large (main?) part of the problem with the locker room culture in Winnipeg.

 

[Sdrawkcab321]

Duchene played some of, if not the best hockey of his career when he was paired with a better player (Panarin). I do wonder if Johnny could have a similar effect on his play. He's not the main driver of a line at this point in his career but he's still effective and I think could be pretty decent between Johnny and Marchenko.

If you could move Jack and grab him for 2 years max in the $4/5m range I say why not. He'd at least be better than Jack.

From what I remember jarmo didn’t even offer him an extension after the 2019 season. I wonder if he wouldn’t want to come here because of that. Or if jarmo doesn’t even want him.

 

[stevo61]

From what I remember jarmo didn’t even offer him an extension after the 2019 season. I wonder if he wouldn’t want to come here because of that. Or if jarmo doesn’t even want him.

Probably depends on the caphit but he did have some of his best success as a player here. Might be an option but everyone knew where he had his sights in terms of where he was signing. I dont think Jarmo will rush to offer big money by any means though

 

[Viqsi]

We don’t have the money for duchene. Wheeler would be a nice vet addition though.

Wheeler would be terrible; he's why Winnipeg's culture has been a toxic wasteland (Scheifele just backed him up). Last player in the world we should consider acquiring.

 

[VT]

My opinions of Laine have NOTHING to do with his time with Winnipeg, or anything 5+ years ago.

All I care about is his time and play with the CBJ, and there’s no coincidence that other than some of the very worst years just after expansion, that the Laine years have been the worst in franchise history.

I think many still are somewhat downplaying just HOW BAD the team has looked for the VAST majority of the last 3 years, and others are downplaying how much of an impact Laine has on the team playing, and simply being, just so bad.

Fascinating how we hear so much about those games that Laine played center, but, all those games with weakened lineups, and without Laine, where the team looked and played better without Laine consistently, gets passed over, forgotten, or looked at as “luck”.

I honestly wonder his TRUE trade value around the league. I think some would be blown away at his current 1 for 1 trade value. That said, I personally WOULD “dump” him for cap space, opening up a roster spot, getting his mindset and play style away from the team altogether, and possibly taking a shot at a LEGIT “two way” center with potential.

Laine+Peeke
Laine+Boqvist/Ceulemans/Svozil
Laine+Sillinger/Chinakhov/Marchenko

I don’t want to trade Sillinger/Chinakhov/Marchenko, as I essentially want to move Laine to “make room” for them, however, I already see a “logjam” of these same type of guys and it’s only going to get worse, imo.

Maybe Fantill, Texier, Sillinger, Marchenko bring enough “toughness” moving forward, high in the lineup, I’m not sure. Even Jenner, especially at his current age, isn’t really a “mean”, or extremely aggressive player, especially playing center and having to focus on defense. Throw in Johnson/Gaudreau, who are what they are, and the “top 9” has filled up quickly, with Voronkov as probably the only other option to jump in and add that “edge”. And while most seemingly expect him to jump in immediately and make a physical impact along with many believing he can play center also, I think the expectations should be tempered quite a bit, at least to start.

I'm responding to something completely different, see above. You can prove the others. That is - comparing opponents, lineups, being specific about how Laine makes the team play worse, etc.

 

[Viqsi]

From what I remember jarmo didn’t even offer him an extension after the 2019 season.

Doing so would have cost us a 1st.

If he's willing to play for a one-year prove-it deal I'd say "sure, give it a shot", but given how productive he's still been on the wing I kind of doubt it.

 

[VT]

We don’t have the money for duchene. Wheeler would be a nice vet addition though.

Just don't. Do you think Bowness was just complaining about him and Scheifele?

 

[Monk]

I said production, not perception.

Right, that's why I included the caveat at the beginning of my post. That being said, it says something if HFB's perception is that Laine is not a top 30 winger in the league. You can interpret that how you want, or toss it out entirely like you're doing.

 

[VT]

K Elvis. Admittedly I'm not a fan of his, but come to think of it, everyone deserves a chance. Him too.

 

[Marioesque]

Right, that's why I included the caveat at the beginning of my post. That being said, it says something if HFB's perception is that Laine is not a top 30 winger in the league. You can interpret that how you want, or toss it out entirely like you're doing.

Fair enough on the caveat. It does say something, more about recency bias and confirmation bias.

You can't expect for example a Minnesota Wild fan to actually follow Laine extensively for them to form an educated opinion based on his on ice performance in a large sample. So they'll have to go with "popular narratives" when forming opinion on a player. People still love to have opinions, even if their exposure to the topic is very limited. Unfortunately, the popular narrative around Laine has always been somewhat tainted, the player on the ice doesn't resemble the narrative around the player.

It really is unfortunate that he hasn't had a full healthy season yet, and has missed so many games especially in Jackets. I don't know if the trend will continue. But what I do know from watching him play hundreds of games is that when he is healthy, he produces with the best forwards in the league. It's happened many times, but it's never lasted long enough for larger audience to notice. I mean, they've noticed but then he gets injured and is not showing up in the rocket race and people write him off thinking he's playing but just sucking. Probably playing too much PS5.

I know what I see, I know what the stats see. But the reality of who Laine is has been obscured by all the set backs. I really hope he stays healthy so everyone finally gets to experience it when he IS healthy and IS clicking with good players around him.

 

[Crede777]

Unless Duchene is done (his numbers from last year suggest otherwise) I think it'd be worth it to toss him a 2-3 year contract offer.

If he takes it, great there's our 2nd line center. If not, that's fine.

 

[Viqsi]

Unless Duchene is done (his numbers from last year suggest otherwise) I think it'd be worth it to toss him a 2-3 year contract offer.

If he takes it, great there's our 2nd line center. If not, that's fine.

Again: Duchene is not a center anymore. Hasn't been for years.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Everyone wanted to blame Laine for being the locker room issue in Winnipeg but I think people realized it was Wheeler and Schiefele.

I'm all for Bringing back Duchene. He's getting 1.5 from Nashville for 6 more years. I think he would absolutely entertain coming back here for pretty cheap for a couple of years at 32 years old.

Again: Duchene is not a center anymore. Hasn't been for years.

Still wins over 50% of his faceoffs.

Matt Duchene Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Salary, Title | Hockey-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats of Matt Duchene. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, trade, draft, salary and more on Hockey-Reference.com

www.hockey-reference.com

 

[DangeRouss]

Hey buddies
Am I the only one who thinks that Jarmo should take advantage of the available goalkeeper market to improve this position as a priority ?
I know Elvis' contract is hard to move but I don't think he'll be the goalie to take the team far in the playoffs.

 

[Sdrawkcab321]

Hey buddies
Am I the only one who thinks that Jarmo should take advantage of the available goalkeeper market to improve this position as a priority ?
I know Elvis' contract is hard to move but I don't think he'll be the goalie to take the team far in the playoffs.

If there’s an upgrade that can be made it should be made.

 

[MAHJ71]

 

[squashmaple]

Everyone wanted to blame Laine for being the locker room issue in Winnipeg but I think people realized it was Wheeler and Schiefele.

I'm all for Bringing back Duchene. He's getting 1.5 from Nashville for 6 more years. I think he would absolutely entertain coming back here for pretty cheap for a couple of years at 32 years old.


Still wins over 50% of his faceoffs.

Matt Duchene Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Salary, Title | Hockey-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats of Matt Duchene. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, trade, draft, salary and more on Hockey-Reference.com

www.hockey-reference.com

I wonder if Duchene would be a good line partner for KJ. He can take the faceoffs, but KJ can handle the other center responsibilities. Sort of how the Avalanche used Landeskog, who's great at faceoffs but not a great center.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Hey buddies
Am I the only one who thinks that Jarmo should take advantage of the available goalkeeper market to improve this position as a priority ?
I know Elvis' contract is hard to move but I don't think he'll be the goalie to take the team far in the playoffs.

I think we need goaltender depth but I think Elvis deserves an opportunity to play behind a team with a semblance of defensive structure before he gets throw to the wolves. We know what he is capable of being but last year was a disaster for many people.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

I wonder if Duchene would be a good line partner for KJ. He can take the faceoffs, but KJ can handle the other center responsibilities. Sort of how the Avalanche used Landeskog, who's great at faceoffs but not a great center.

possibly. I think Duchene still has value as a playmaker. Boone was the only faceoff taker over 50%. We desperately need someone who can actually win them and Duchene has been one of the best.

He may not have played center for Nashville recently but it doesn't mean he's not still a center with the skills we need.