Speculation: Roster Building Thread XXXVII - 5 weeks until TDL

[Gardner McKay]

No interest in Scheifele. I like what has developed here in Strome.

Would much rather use assets to improve RW and strong depth.

I do to. I'd love to have a top 3 C of Zibby/Scheif/Strome.

That C depth, as well as having Fox + Igor... we can go toe to toe with any team for 7 games. Even the Florida/Carolina/Avs of the NHL.

 

[Rangers in 7]

I do to. I'd love to have a top 3 C of Zibby/Scheif/Strome.

That C depth, as well as having Fox + Igor... we can go toe to toe with any team for 7 games. Even the Florida/Carolina/Avs of the NHL.

Scheif is a stud I’d take him in a heartbeat

 

[jay from jersey]

Watching Canes-Panthers and now Avs-Knights, it's very clear that these teams are at another level of depth. Our D depth may be on the verge of being solved if we can just trust the rooks, but our forwards are a minimum of 2 players away from being able to match the depth of either team. Quite frankly, the team we match up best against is the Panthers and only because they're not quite as fast as the other teams. Knights, Canes and Avs are very fast up front. They attack with constant waves. They will simply dismantle us 5v5.

But not sure how much we should be willing to spend to fix the issue this season. I'd be open to moving some B prospects or picks, but if it's a pure rental -- def none of the 22 first round pick, Schneider, Jones, Robertson, Barron, Berard, Cullye, Lundkvist or Othmann. If we're trading for an top 9 player with term who can increase the overall skill, speed, forecheck of the team (and it can make cap sense) then i'd be more open to moving VK, Lundkvist, Robertson and possibly, the 22 1st. But I'm not moving any of those pieces outside VK for someone like Lehkonen. It would need to be a bigger asset.

That being said, if we plan to compete against the best in the POs -- we simply can't expect much if McKegg, Rooney and Gauthier are making up half of our bottom 6. Not when the other 3 (when Kakko comes back) are Chytil, Reaves and Goodrow.

I think one of Mckegg, Rooney and Gauth can be in the lineup but not all 3. So that means we're minimum 2 forwards away from matching depth. Next year, Blais comes back and we possibly add a rookie or two from Barron, Cullye and Berard and we're not that far off, really.

Agreed with 95% of this. But imo Kravy is a pretty time sensitive asset. He’s likely going at the TDL. If not then, for sure by summer. His KHL play def slightly improved his value but not by a lot.
No way they go into next season with him in the KHL for another year and risk his value plummeting if he has a bad start/season.
Also, whoever trades for him, likely wants him back in NA ASAP.
Imo OTT and MTL are both very good landing spots for him. Both are in a retooling/rebuilding stage and accommodate him with a top 9 spot playing with some talent.
That’s why I think either Lehkonen/Brown wind up a NYR at the deadline.
Both guys play a N/S style, both are signed beyond this season, and not too expensive.
The fit just makes sense.
The rangers move on from the soap opera, and get a player that helps them beyond this season. Whoever trades for him could get the better asset if he hits his ceiling, but only lose a solid 3rd liner at worst. It’s worth the gamble to them, even with Kravs baggage....
Even if a 2nd asset has to be added. It’s not going to be a 1st, and hopefully not a 2nd. But depending how teams view VK s value maybe like Krav+4th or something.

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

Possibly, I don’t watch him a ton but looking back at clips of him playing before he did move his neck forward more while skating. He has always been a pretty unorthodox skater though. Thought he might’ve just been taking it easy in practise but in that first period he did look every bit as “off” to me. It looks like he’s afraid of moving his neck and having it anything but completely upright

Yeah he does look a bit off. I would wager it's a confidence and timing issue. He hasn't played in a game in over a year and had major surgery in the interim so it's not surprising. Will be very interesting to see how he acclimates over the next few weeks for sure.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

Don't know if this was posted in here but just saw this on the trade board:

Today on The Daily Faceoff Podcast, Seravalli said that there have been "... a lot of rumblings that this could be Mark Scheifele's last season with the Winnipeg Jets."

Seravalli: Trade Deadline War Room - Central Division

 

[Lgrsean]

They were literally an inch away from winning tonight.

The Rangers were up in the last 5 mins against Vegas in our 5 game stretch with Georgie in net and it came down to the 3rd round of the shootout.

A loss is a loss though, right?

 

[bbny]

I have concern about Scheifele's defensive game, but for the right deal we would be crazy not to take him over Strome at 2C for the next couple of seasons. The guy shows up for the playoffs, at least when he's not suspended. He might be a 85-90 point guy playing with Panarin. If you could even get a little retention on there, it would be fantastic.

 

[bobbop]

Hasn't that always been Eichel's skating posture? I feel like he always skates with his upper body very straight and upright.

Reminds me of Pierre Larouche

 

[bbny]

I will say if the Rangers make a trade for a player/center with term, I do wonder what that does to the locker room. Strome would know it means he's gone after the season. Maybe more importantly, Panarin would know it means Strome is gone after the season lol. They're professionals, but they're also humans. Seems like it would introduce a bit of tension rest of season at least.

 

[McRanger92]

I will say if the Rangers make a trade for a player/center with term, I do wonder what that does to the locker room. Strome would know it means he's gone after the season. Maybe more importantly, Panarin would know it means Strome is gone after the season lol. They're professionals, but they're also humans. Seems like it would introduce a bit of tension rest of season at least.

I think for this reason Drury kicks the decision to the summer, less of a blow to the room than it would be in season

 

[jay from jersey]

I will say if the Rangers make a trade for a player/center with term, I do wonder what that does to the locker room. Strome would know it means he's gone after the season. Maybe more importantly, Panarin would know it means Strome is gone after the season lol. They're professionals, but they're also humans. Seems like it would introduce a bit of tension rest of season at least.

This is a real possibility. That’s why I think the long term 2C issue is solved in the offseason/draft unless the guy they add is a UFA like Copp.
They have to keep talking contract ext with strome, even if they don’t even really mean it to keep a happy shop.
It will keep strome playing to the best of his ability and Panarin happy that they are talking ext with his bestie.
I think the ship has sailed on landing a 2C at the TDL, and moving strome to RW.
I doubt that’s even a possibility at this point.
They are resigned to the fact that
Kreider-Zibby-?
Panarin-Strome-?
Goodrow- chytil -?
Hunt-Rooney-Reaves

is going to be the fwd core going into the playoffs.
You figure 2 of those ? Are filled by kakko and LaF unless Kakko is out long term.
The only player I see them truly upgrading upon for sure Is Gauthier so they could drop him down in the 4th line rotation
For a Lehkonen/Brown/Jarnkrok type of player.

 

[Alluckks]

I do to. I'd love to have a top 3 C of Zibby/Scheif/Strome.

That C depth, as well as having Fox + Igor... we can go toe to toe with any team for 7 games. Even the Florida/Carolina/Avs of the NHL.

Unless they retained on Scheifele I don't see how this doesn't make Strome a rental. It would be essentially paying the Scheifele price plus but for the sake of now Strome being a self rental.

I thought the idea was to not pay significant amounts for rentals at this time in the build.

 

[Savant]

The Rangers were up in the last 5 mins against Vegas in our 5 game stretch with Georgie in net and it came down to the 3rd round of the shootout.

A loss is a loss though, right?

Sure but it was literally an inch not figuratively. Puck rolled away an empty net at the last second. That goes in and result is different. Those are the breaks though

 

[Lgrsean]

Sure but it was literally an inch not figuratively. Puck rolled away an empty net at the last second. That goes in and result is different. Those are the breaks though

And I don't mean to say that the Rangers are a better team than the Hurricanes, but going into February, they were 2 points up with 4 games in hand. Now it's 2 points up with 1 game in hand.

With Igor in net, the Rangers have lost 3 times since November 7th, with 1 loss at home since October 25th. All but 2 of our losses with Igor have been by 1 goal.

 

[Paulie Walnutz]

Watching the Vegas/Colorado game I had no idea how fast Dadonov is. He had a few good chances using his speed. Yeah at 5 million a year it’s too much but with Vegas eventually trying to shed cap what if they ate some of it?

 

[Synergy27]

Did you watch the 1st period? What did you think? He looked every bit as “off” to me as he did in the practise videos. But I don’t see many people pointing it out lol

I did. He looked really weird. He has been out for a year though.

 

[RangerBoy]

Also the Knicks stink again. Time for Drury to go under the radar.

The Knicks don't stink. The Knicks suck. The Knicks have lost three straight games to Portland, OKC and the Nets. Portland traded their entire team. The Knicks blew a 20 point lead in that game. Josh Giddey did a dance on the Knicks at the Garden. SGA didn't play. It didn't matter. Triple double for the white boy from Australia. The Nets were playing with their backups and the Knicks blew another 20 point plus lead at home. Dolan will be preoccupied with that disaster.

 

[RangerBoy]

If NYR are going down the VK for Lekhonen route, they need to have a VERY good idea of what he’s looking for in his next deal.

The Rangers would need to find a very cheap goaltender. They can't afford a $2.4M back up goalie and have another $3M plus player in their bottom six. They still have one more season of Miller on his ELC. Schneider and Jones are ELC players.

Calgary traded a 3rd round pick in 2022 to the Bruins for Daniel Vladar. The Flames signed Vladar to a 2 year deal worth $750K per. Group II free agent. He has been OK/good for the Flames in his limited opportunities. His numbers are decent at 7-3-1 2.57 GAA and .911 save % in 11 games. Vladar is good for the Flames cap at $750K. It allows them to pay everyone else.

The Rangers have to get Nemeth off their cap. His buyout is cheap.

 

[bhamill]

Did you watch the 1st period? What did you think? He looked every bit as “off” to me as he did in the practise videos. But I don’t see many people pointing it out lol

Wouldn’t be surprised if it took him a few games to to loosen up. At the very least.

 

[Anthony5967]

Scheifele or Strome, guys. There is no cap space for all three. Schiefele behind Zibanejad is sick. 1st+Lundkvist+Othmann for his ayyyyyyce

 

[Blais to Win]

Watching Canes-Panthers and now Avs-Knights, it's very clear that these teams are at another level of depth. Our D depth may be on the verge of being solved if we can just trust the rooks, but our forwards are a minimum of 2 players away from being able to match the depth of either team. Quite frankly, the team we match up best against is the Panthers and only because they're not quite as fast as the other teams. Knights, Canes and Avs are very fast up front. They attack with constant waves. They will simply dismantle us 5v5.

2-0 against TB.
2-1 against TOR.
1-1 vs FLA.
1-1 vs VGK.
0-1 vs CAR.
0-2 vs COL.

? vs PIT.

Are you looking for perfect records against everyone? It’s not that bad. Actually, some may say it’s good, especially against eastern teams. And it’s been noted before that we dominated Carolina before the bubble and look what happened next.

 

[bhamill]

Trading Othmann, team captain, compete level off the charts, pro shot already, scoring about 1.5 points per game in his D+1, in a package for anyone who isn’t a Lundell type would be a bad gamble IMO. Not even Scheifele. He’s a hell of a hockey player, but he’s gone after 2.25 seasons and let’s face it: NYR won’t be a favorite to win the Cup until at least his last playoff run. Trade for him as a rental in ‘24. Won’t cost you anywhere near the assets for that playoff run where he might actually put this team over the top.

 

[Crease]

I will say if the Rangers make a trade for a player/center with term, I do wonder what that does to the locker room. Strome would know it means he's gone after the season. Maybe more importantly, Panarin would know it means Strome is gone after the season lol. They're professionals, but they're also humans. Seems like it would introduce a bit of tension rest of season at least.

Underrated point. Strome is very well-liked in the locker room.

 

[Crease]

Laf, Miller, Jones, Schneider are all on ELCs next season. That’s a lot of talent and potential production. There’s a cap squeeze for sure, but they can be very competitive next season if they make the right moves and the kids continue to develop.

 

[mas0764]

And? He was responsible for scouting, drafting AND trading him? Come on dude. Just hate Drury for the shit he is actually responsible for. Hahaha.

I said "assist," not sole responsibility.