2018-19 Roster Speculation Pt. 3: Started from the bottom now we're here

[sabremike]

I'm honestly at the point where I don't think Tage would even be an above average AHL player right now. Him being on this roster is the best example I could give of the NHL having the absolute worst and dumbest executives and coaches of any major sport.

 

[Moskau]

Botterill is going to piss away a 10 game winning streak with his insistence of Thompson and Mittelstadt's trial by fire season and refusing to call up a forward from Rochester.

 

[DJN21]

I'm honestly at the point where I don't think Tage would even be an above average AHL player right now. Him being on this roster is the best example I could give of the NHL having the absolute worst and dumbest executives and coaches of any major sport.

He gave us about 3 games of belief then fell back to the norm...

There's been so many line combos but I'm curious about sheary playing off wing?

 

[darcyRegier]

Our current third line is poor and needs a shake up. Tage and Mitts were starting to show some nice chemistry together before Pominville and Sheary came back...

Skinner - Eichel - Erod
Tage - Mitts - Reinhart

Pommer can sit, he's done nothing since he was playing with Jack. He's actually been impressively invisible.

 

[Reddawg]

Botterill is going to piss away a 10 game winning streak with his insistence of Thompson and Mittelstadt's trial by fire season and refusing to call up a forward from Rochester.

What makes you think things would be any better with a Rochester forward? If Mitts and or Tage was in Rochester tearing apart the AHL we would all be clamoring for their promotion, just to watch them do what they’re doing. We don’t have anyone on the Amerks who is clearly SO good they shouldn’t be there, at least not since Pilut came up.

 

[itwasaforwardpass]

What makes you think things would be any better with a Rochester forward? If Mitts and or Tage was in Rochester tearing apart the AHL we would all be clamoring for their promotion, just to watch them do what they’re doing. We don’t have anyone on the Amerks who is clearly SO good they shouldn’t be there, at least not since Pilut came up.

Guys like Oloffson, Smith, Nylander, Pilut have played well enough to deserve an opportunity. Pilut has already seized his.

Maybe those forwards perform better than Tage and Sobotka (a very low bar), maybe they don't.

What's clear though is that it's not working with the guys they are putting out there in the middle six right now.

 

[Yatzhee]

Guys like Oloffson, Smith, Nylander, Pilut have played well enough to deserve an opportunity. Pilut has already seized his.

Maybe those forwards perform better than Tage and Sobotka (a very low bar), maybe they don't.

What's clear though is that it's not working with the guys they are putting out there in the middle six right now.

This.
Tradining Sobotka might be possible. But Pominville will most likely ride out his contract this year.
Once you look beyond those 2, you have Berglund, Okposo and Rodriguez, Middlestadt and Thompson.
Mitts and Erod may stay, but those Berglund and Okposo contracts are going to be difficult to move imo.

 

[Gordo21]

This.
Tradining Sobotka might be possible. But Pominville will most likely ride out his contract this year.
Once you look beyond those 2, you have Berglund, Okposo and Rodriguez, Middlestadt and Thompson.
Mitts and Erod may stay, but those Berglund and Okposo contracts are going to be difficult to move imo.

Move a first rounder, Guhle and Okposo for Patrick Kane. Sign Skinner, and we'll contend for 5 years!

 

[dortt]

Move a first rounder, Guhle and Okposo for Patrick Kane. Sign Skinner, and we'll contend for 5 years!

and how do we get under the salary cap? We'll have so much tied up in Eichel, Skinner, and Kane thatw e couldn't resign Reinhart and possibly Dahlin

 

[Gordo21]

Because if Skinner is smart, he won't take a king"s ransom to stay.

He's better on this team with Eichel, and money goes very far in this town!

And isn't the salary cap going up anyway?

 

[dortt]

Because if Skinner is smart, he won't take a king"s ransom to stay.

He's better on this team with Eichel, and money goes very far in this town!

And isn't the salary cap going up anyway?

saw recent projections of very little rise for next year due to poor attendance and a weak Canadian dollar

 

[Gabrielor]

Ridiculous. He's not lighting it up, but he's got 15 points and a 49% CF, which, relative to his teammates, is okay. He's a useful NHL player. If he's somewhat overpaid, so be it. The contract is what it is.

I mean, do you actually think that Okposo is a problem with this team? I guess I just don't understand why anyone would single him out, of all people (wait, hold on, maybe I do). This team has two forwards who step onto the ice every day and get ****ing crushed - ****ING CRUSHED - every game - EVERY GAME, without fail - and who have 11 points combined. Okposo isn't one of them. Take a look at those guys. Talk **** about them being "anchors."

The proof is on the tape. Go re-watch the game (I was there). The play dies on his stick, and has for maybe the last dozen games.

Zone starts: 11-3 for the Offensive
Shots: 0
Goals Against 2

I single him out because of how many times he turned open space with the puck into nothing last night. He was the most visible person on that line who did that.

 

[TehDoak]

I'm honestly at the point where I don't think Tage would even be an above average AHL player right now. Him being on this roster is the best example I could give of the NHL having the absolute worst and dumbest executives and coaches of any major sport.

I think there is a bit of stubbornness about this i don't quite understand. I didn't think he should have made the team out of camp and he consistently makes bad decisions with the puck. Nobody is he denying he's skilled, but he seems like a "all tools no toolbox" kind of player.

Because if Skinner is smart, he won't take a king"s ransom to stay.

He's better on this team with Eichel, and money goes very far in this town!

And isn't the salary cap going up anyway?

We aren't the Blackhawks coming off our 3rd cup win. Why would anyone take a substantial paycut to play here? No playoff round won since 2007. The only UFA I can think of in recent history to take substantially less than Market was Stamkos. And we are no where near the position Tampa was in when he signed. And we don't have 0% state tax.

 

[ZZamboni]

Because if Skinner is smart, he won't take a king"s ransom to stay.

He's better on this team with Eichel, and money goes very far in this town!

And isn't the salary cap going up anyway?

That’s cute. Skinner will demand and get from some team max or near max term. And get 8.5-9.5 per

 

[HaNotsri]

Time to send Thompson down, he has improved but AHL is the place for him.
Try Nylander or Olofsson with one of the top 2 lines. Smith might be an option for the third line.

We will still need a legit 3C but I don’t think Botts wants to trade any premium futures and I have a really hard time coming up with a cheap option.

Skinner-Eichel-Nylander
Sheary-Mittelstadt-Reinhart
Girgensons-Larsson-Okposo
Berglund-Sobotka-Rodrigues
Pominville

 

[42]

Could Pilut with Dahlin on the top PP work? Pilut seems to be really good at finding open lanes and making accurate passes.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

I'm fine with putting the three worst FWs out on a line together, but assuming around 48 mins of even strength time, this is about how I'd run them...

Skinner-Eichel-Pominville - 16
Sheary-Mittelstadt-Reinhart - 14
Thompson-Rodrigues/Sobotka-Okposo - 6
Berglund-Larsson-Girgensons - 12

Pominville and Okposo can flip depending on who's skating better. IMO the best way to mitigate the 3-4 worst skaters is to let them get stiff on the bench. The season is a grind though and the reality is that maybe this can't happen until March. I'm all for Smith and Olofsson getting called up (maybe Nylander too) but moves have to be made to open roster spots, since there's about no cap room to play with.

 

[Onslow]

Berglund-Larsson-Girgensons - 12

Anyone remember why this line was broken up? It was pretty dominant for a while and I’d like to see it reunited.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

Anyone remember why this line was broken up? It was pretty dominant for a while and I’d like to see it reunited.

Berglund got hurt, then Girgensons was benched, then Berglund was sick last night.

 

[HaNotsri]

Could Pilut with Dahlin on the top PP work? Pilut seems to be really good at finding open lanes and making accurate passes.

Absolutely. Especially if we start to change positions a lot more and move around on the powerplay. Pilut is great when it comes to setting up deflections but his shot isn’t a threat from far away in the NHL.

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

Reinhart has turned Sobotka into a serviceable linemate and Mittelstadt can’t play full time second scoring line minutes.

Also not sure if the team can withstand a vestigial line when the winning streak picked up an extra game or three by being able to roll 4 lines.

Skinner-Eichel-Poms
Rodrigues-Sobotka-Reinhart
Sheary-Mitts-Okposo
Checking line

The obvious fix is ERod to center and an AHLer to the depth scoring mix, but that involves admitting Sobotka and Thompson aren’t NHL players.

 

[Goathead]

That’s cute. Skinner will demand and get from some team max or near max term. And get 8.5-9.5 per

Let him take it from some other team then. He’s not worth more than 7.

 

[Gordo21]

That’s cute. Skinner will demand and get from some team max or near max term. And get 8.5-9.5 per

Skinner isn't the straw that stirs the drink in any situation.

Some team will get f***ed then.

 

[Reddawg]

Let him take it from some other team then. He’s not worth more than 7.

He's worth considerably more than Evander got...which is 7.

 

[Jim Bob]

Skinner isn't the straw that stirs the drink in any situation.

Some team will get ****ed then.

Plenty of GMs are going to hand out cringeworthy contracts on 7/1/2019 if the even half of the high end UFAs-to-be hit the market.

Browse - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

There are multiple #1 goalies that could hit the market including one multiple Vezina winner.

Browse - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Multiple forwards that are at a PPG or higher so far this season.

Multiple forwards that have already potted 20 goals this season.

Browse - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

The D crop isn't that deep. But, if EK65 hits the market...