Kitchener Rangers 2023-24 Off-Season Thread (Part 1)

[Rangers True Blue]

Surprised at the size of McNeil. He's a big kid.

6' 2" and 170. He played very well last night. Looking forward to him in the lineup next season.

 

[bobber]

When people talk about dogs you hear them say they take on the personality of their owners. Going by that analogy we saw that in this series. Anyhow the season is over and one of the more positive gains was they played the hell out of some 07 rookies. It will be interesting going forward to see if the hockey execs at the Aud see a need for change. MM talks about taking a shot at hosting the Mem Cup. He will need to change his narrative to a more physical style of play on the ice. When it's the OHL's turn again other squads will be bidding and have teams ready. We'll see if MM earned that contract extention.

 

[Rangers True Blue]

This year's new crop. All D in Rangers top 8 picks were 6' or over. Cameron was the only forward 6' or over. Labrash at nearly 6.5 would be a great add to Fs. Camp in May will be fun to watch. Hoping that MM can talk Xu in showing up and signing.

 

[Ward Cornell]

Like asked earlier, when is Rookie Camp (hopefully after May 7). This few days is one of my enjoyable hockey times.
Also, I think this may have been placed on the backburner due to covid, but there was a tournament hosted at the Activa Arena with various Ontario teams with most high OHL picks on them. Is that happening again and is it here?

 

[Ranger77]

Like asked earlier, when is Rookie Camp (hopefully after May 7). This few days is one of my enjoyable hockey times.
Also, I think this may have been placed on the backburner due to covid, but there was a tournament hosted at the Activa Arena with various Ontario teams with most high OHL picks on them. Is that happening again and is it here?

The Rangers hosted the exhibition tournament early in September for a couple of years but it was a costly venture as they paid a lot of the costs for the visiting teams. They decided to drop it last September.

 

[I Mac 80]

The experience gained by the rookies will hopefully bode well for the future. Like a lot of other posters here I believe that it’s imperative that the gm finds some players with grit that bring a physicality to the lineup as skill alone only gets you so far. The Rangers are nice regular season team but the playoffs are a different style of game that currently constructed this roster is not built for. Finding the right mix of skilled guys and guys who have grit but still can play is crucial for this team to take that next step. I thought McNeil have a very good account of himself last night and am optimistic that between him and Dirracolo that they will bring a physical element that we need on the backend. Considering that I didn’t think we’d even make the playoffs this year I was fairly satisfied with how it went overall.

 

[bobber]

This year's new crop. All D in Rangers top 8 picks were 6' or over. Cameron was the only forward 6' or over. Labrash at nearly 6.5 would be a great add to Fs. Camp in May will be fun to watch. Hoping that MM can talk Xu in showing up and signing.

Watching Xu in videos he seems to make the simple play to get pucks out quick. Plays a physical game along the boards.
Similar to Ando. On a side note one of the biggest issues beside the physical play was the break out. Rangers for some reason keep throwing cross ice passes that get disrupted and lead to scoring chances on Parsons. Coaches never adjusted the break out despite it failing on a regular basis. Knights break out for the better part were fairly clean.

 

[robertmac43]

This might have been one of my favorite OA crops since, Cattenacci Sol and Big Rig randell

Same here. Great group, I'll be cheering them on where ever their careers take them next.

 

[bobber]

Like asked earlier, when is Rookie Camp (hopefully after May 7). This few days is one of my enjoyable hockey times.
Also, I think this may have been placed on the backburner due to covid, but there was a tournament hosted at the Activa Arena with various Ontario teams with most high OHL picks on them. Is that happening again and is it here?

That tournament was or is put on to decide the players picked for Team Ontario I believe. I think they make up 2 squads from Ontario. This leads to an invite to Team Canada down the road. I could be off on this. Great tournament. All the top drafted players are there.

 

[EvenSteven]

6' 2" and 170. He played very well last night. Looking forward to him in the lineup next season.

If not for us having four 07’s signed ahead of him (including two 1st rounders), no doubt he’d have played here all year. He was good enough to make the team in September.

 

[LDN]

FYI 41 Alumni played at least 1 NHL game

 

[bobber]

FYI 41 Alumni played at least 1 NHL game

Rangers?

 

[LDN]

Rangers?

Sorry the wrong thread! 12 Rangers have played at least 1 NHL game this year

 

[EvenSteven]

Interesting / odd that except for a few words from Martin, there were no post game interviews from anyone from the team. Players or staff.

 

[robertmac43]

Interesting / odd that except for a few words from Martin, there were no post game interviews from anyone from the team. Players or staff.

I was thinking the same thing. Especially since we get all 3 OA's most years.

 

[EvenSteven]

I was thinking the same thing. Especially since we get all 3 OA's most years.

And the coach.

 

[Knights Watcher]

Hindsight being 20/20, but not really, the correct direction to go in at the deadline was a soft cell based on the prices. What MM did at the 2022 trade deadline was what we needed to do this year. He sold off a couple veterans (Xhekaj, MacDonnell) for good return, and still gave us a chance to be competitive in the playoffs. That is what should’ve been done at this year‘s deadline. Many on here, early in the season, myself included, were in favour of an all out sell off. But once December 1 rolled around, many of us swung into the buy mode. That being said, a soft sell was the only thing that would’ve made sense considering we couldn’t fill all our needs with the assets that MM was willing to move at the deadline.
Three targets that would, or should have been moved in a soft sell, would’ve been Sop, Brzustewicz, and Mesar. Theoretically, we could have moved two or all three, also done the Sale/Savard trade, and still got past Erie in round one. Maybe. But the future would have been much brighter. (We have no picks in the next three drafts in rounds 2 thru 5. None).

I am 100% adamant that MM has to go into a hard sell beginning this off-season. Any graduating player has to be on the table. As was said, there’s no way he can hedge his bets again this year and expect to contend truly in 2026 and 2027. I say 2026 because if our 07 group is as good as it looks to be, and the 08 group as good as it better be, we’ll be a pretty good team who’ll have moved back up into home ice advantage mode. We’d still do a soft sell that year but still be a pretty good team (think this year’s version of the Bulldogs).

For me, Rehkopf, Andonovski and Sale, have to be the prime trade targets. But I’m afraid after this postseason, the value of our OA candidates who would be desirable OA’s in trade next year may have dropped a little (Swick), somewhat (Parsons) and totally (Miseljevic).

Much of the time, Swick hasn’t been much more than an afterthought this post season, especially in this series against London. Parsons, though having had good stretches, has let in a lot of goals, and has stolen no games for us. To beat London, he was gonna have to steal a couple of games. That didn’t happen. The bottom dropped out of Miseljevic’s game after Jan 1. He pretty much reverted back to the guy he was last year.

Using the last couple of trade deadlines, we know Rehkopf and Andonovski and Sale will bring very good return. I don’t think this year‘s postseason will affect any of their return. I mean, if you put Rehkopf with a couple of players with some jam, that would open up a lot of ice for him, and I think his totals would soar. Sale was one of our best forwards this post season and he’ll only get better. Andonovski is a bull back there period. There will be a big demand for his services no question.

I hold with my earlier position of dealing Parsons if there’s a market for him and going with Malboeuf as the third OA. Miseljevic, for me, has reverted to what he was last year. He had a great 1st half this year but has pretty much crashed since the new year to the point where he isn’t a threat to put up points and therefore, not in demand on the trade front. We likely start the season with four OA’s. A goalie along with Swick, Miseljevic and Pugliese. It won’t be that awkward especially if Malboeuf is the goalie because half the time Edwards would be the starter which would allow all three skaters to dress. If Swick resumes his goal scoring pace of this year, his market will soar. Getting good return for him and going with an OA group of Pugliese, Miseljevic and a goalie is decent in a rebuilding year.

Very good analysis. We would gladly take Bruiser, Rehkopf and possible Sale off your hands, but I don't think MM would deal with us right now.

Can someone get KWatcher MM’s cell#?

I'd gladly call him and offer up a package for, say, Bruiser and Rehkopf?

 

[EvenSteven]

….. but I don't think MM would deal with us right now.

That’s another thing. I am of the belief that you take the best return possible in any trade. Especially at this level. To forgo a better return on a player because you don’t want to trade him to a rival is idiocy in my view. This is not like the NHL, where a player could come back to “haunt” you for years to come. At this level, you’re only looking at a short timeframe.

So, in my opinion, as much as I would not like to see players that I am trading away, wearing London green, if they provide the best return, that’s who I’m doing the deal with.

 

[bobber]

When you look at play off stats the best plus/minus where Ranger rookies. All found on the 2nd page. Not many vets up in the point stats with the exception of Mesar. Bottom lines never contributed much on the score sheet. Parsons was at 12th in one category and 13th in the other. In reality Rangers probably did the best they could have considering the situation on defense and playing so many rookies. So called Big guns never made an impact. Decent midpack team that finished where they should have in the end.

 

[EvenSteven]

When you look at play off stats the best plus/minus where Ranger rookies. All found on the 2nd page. Not many vets up in the point stats with the exception of Mesar. Bottom lines never contributed much on the score sheet. Parsons was at 12th in one category and 13th in the other. In reality Rangers probably did the best they could have considering the situation on defense and playing so many rookies. So called Big guns never made an impact. Decent midpack team that finished where they should have in the end.

Mesar and Sale were our best forwards. Rehkopf was good but not at his regular season par. Swick as well. Sop was a disappointment in my view. Martin a fraction of his former self. Romano was a revelation in the post season. He was better than some of our older players.
The grind line didn’t provide the offence they did in the regular season. Not that they were to be depended on, but bottom six offensive contribution would have helped since our top line was virtually silent.

On D? What can you say? Andonovski, Motew and Brzustewicz were as good as they could be under the circumstances. Predictably, all three saw way more ice and punishment than they should have.

Parsons was top shelf at times but still allowed a lot of goals. Likely not all the blame goes to him considering our overtaxed D.

 

[K2]

So, in my opinion, as much as I would not like to see players that I am trading away, wearing London green, if they provide the best return, that’s who I’m doing the deal with.

Agreed, though I suspect they're most likely looking to shrewdly lowball and Leroux us rather than willingly outbid any gaggle of spendy 'contenders'.

 

[EvenSteven]

Listened to Mike McKenzie with Farwell today on the radio. Among other things, he mentioned the need to change direction or something of that nature. I’m assuming he’s talking about the lack of grit and physicality on this team that was exposed in the post season.

Agreed, though I suspect they're most likely looking to shrewdly lowball and Leroux us rather than willingly outbid any gaggle of spendy 'contenders'.

Maybe so, but that embarrassment is on Murray Hiebert, not the Knights.

 

[rangersblues]

Mesar and Sale were our best forwards. Rehkopf was good but not at his regular season par. Swick as well. Sop was a disappointment in my view. Martin a fraction of his former self. Romano was a revelation in the post season. He was better than some of our older players.
The grind line didn’t provide the offence they did in the regular season. Not that they were to be depended on, but bottom six offensive contribution would have helped since our top line was virtually silent.

On D? What can you say? Andonovski, Motew and Brzustewicz were as good as they could be under the circumstances. Predictably, all three saw way more ice and punishment than they should have.

Parsons was top shelf at times but still allowed a lot of goals. Likely not all the blame goes to him considering our overtaxed D.

There were two different Rehkopf's in the regular season too. Pre WJC and post WJC. I don't think it was anything he did differently, which is part of the problem I guess. As it was becoming more apparent he was putting the puck in the net at an astronomical rate, the opposition focused on him and the checking got tighter. It carried over to the playoffs. I'm sure he'll learn to fight through it next season. Unfortunately (but hopefully) for another team..

 

[ohloutsider]

Rehkopf did not seem to have a " playoff gear" . I'm not sure that would be a player a GM would want in a go year at the deadline. Still an excellent player but needs to find the 2nd gear somehow when needed.

 

[rangersblues]

Agreed, though I suspect they're most likely looking to shrewdly lowball and Leroux us rather than willingly outbid any gaggle of spendy 'contenders'.

London rarely overpays for players which is part of the reason they're always near the top. Acquiring Gamel Smith from Owen Sound for Platzer and Centorame does come to mind though.