Offseason Thread III: FA Frenzy (Are we going to be "too good" next year?)

[SteelCityCannon]

I know that sounds silly, but this is why the Jake trade doesn't make sense to me. Our rebuild on paper is off to a fantastic start. Everyone hates tanking, but getting a high pick on top of Chicago's pick in 2022 could really accelerate our success. After looking at our D pair and top wings, I don't see us making playoffs but I don't feel we'll be a bottom feeder either.

Id hate to see Columbus in the all too familiar 10-15 pick purgatory again. If Tex, Bemstrom, and Jack improve will we be too good for the true rebuild?

Laine-X-Voracek
Gus-X-Bjork

Z
Bov
Gavrikov
Bean
Peeke
Kukan

Click to read more...

 

[Finner]

Playoffs are possible. Team looks already okay and im sure there is trade incoming.

Laine - X - Voracek
Gus - Roslovic - Bjorky
Jenner - Danforth - Hoffman
Foudy - Texier - Robinson

3rd and 4th doesnt matter which way they are.

Z - Gavrikov
Boqvist - Bean
Peeke - Kukan/Lehtonen

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Its still too early to say how good or bad we will be, FA hasn't even started yet, but no I don't think we will be very good for a variety of reasons.

1. The defense is a mess. Yeah, it has young potential with Boqvist coming in and Peeke (maybe?) becoming a regular. But that means growing pains. Werenski is going to be a TON of minutes, in all phases of the game, and we'll see how he handles that. Gavrikov will increase his workload as well. There is a lot of potential for this group to be good one day, and one day soon, but it will take time to get chemistry together and get their footing. And thats even if Werenski and Gavrikov decide to stay. This is also assuming no other moves are made to address the massive hole at top pairing RD.

2. We still have no centers. This is where the potential comes into play because this can be changed with one trade or UFA signing, but the much maligned group of centers from last years team are still here and in tact. In fact, its weaker than last year since Domi is out.

3. Lots of new faces and a new culture shock is in place. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but with new faces come lots of adjustment. Larsen is going to want to do things his way and with most of the leadership group of Torts' era jettisoned (more coming?) it'll take time to set in place the new culture and what they're wanting the locker room to be. The team is also really young, and got even younger so far this offseason.

4. I think the plan is to heavily rely on young players, which usually means a lot of losing. Are you a fan of Texier, Bemstrom, Peeke, Boqvist, Foudy, and maybe Chinakhov? Well get ready for a big diet of them because I think they'll be getting a ton of minutes. Jarmo is going to want to see development from the kids, and the way to get the most out of that development is to play them. And yeah, I know the NHL isn't supposed to be the league where you develop players, but most of these guys are too good for the AHL now and need an opportunity to grow or fail at the big leagues. No better time than now to give it to them.

On paper as of now I have us last in the Metro, barely losing out to Philadelphia and New Jersey for the honor. But there is still a lot of offseason left and I don't think we're done making moves. But all I know is Jarmo and JD seem hell bent on completely turning over the old guard into Larsen's team, and usually that comes with some pain. I don't think this will be a long rebuild, especially if Werenski stays and Laine rebounds, but I do think it will require another year or two of losing.

 

[majormajor]

Id hate to see Columbus in the all too familiar 10-15 pick purgatory again. If Tex, Bemstrom, and Jack improve will we be too good for the true rebuild?

I reject the premise.

You can't be "too good" if your kids are the reason you're too good to suck.

You also say "true rebuild" as if only rebuilds with top 3 picks count for that. We could go through a long list of teams that have gone on the upswing without having high picks. It's far more important to draft well than to draft high.

 

[ViD]

Is this some kind of a joke ? 10-15th pick purgatory? We’re a lottery team and nothing more, especially considering our division

 

[Jan]

I reject the premise.

You can't be "too good" if your kids are the reason you're too good to suck.

You also say "true rebuild" as if only rebuilds with top 3 picks count for that. We could go through a long list of teams that have gone on the upswing without having high picks. It's far more important to draft well than to draft high.

Not to mention EDM, that have have a toon of first over all over the years.

They has not done better than the Blue Jackets.
In many parts, you can put Toronto in that group of teams, that has done rebuild.

I think both teams window is closing, since their star player has become far too expensive, to be able to afford building the rest o the team around them.

I think people should look much more to why Vegas has done so well, especially the first season, with only scrap players.
THEY WERE A TEAM and that is what we should go for...
Become a team and have much less focus on the stars.

 

[MrBadguy]

Not to mention EDM, that have have a toon of first over all over the years.

They has not done better than the Blue Jackets.
In many parts, you can put Toronto in that group of teams, that has done rebuild.

I think both teams window is closing, since their star player has become far too expensive, to be able to afford building the rest o the team around them.

I think people should look much more to why Vegas has done so well, especially the first season, with only scrap players.
THEY WERE A TEAM and that is what we should go for...
Become a team and have much less focus on the stars.

Yeah, we need to be a team and we need some personality & physicality...

 

[EspenK]

Great post CBJW8

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

Playoffs are possible. Team looks already okay and im sure there is trade incoming.

Laine - X - Voracek
Gus - Roslovic - Bjorky
Jenner - Danforth - Hoffman
Foudy - Texier - Robinson

3rd and 4th doesnt matter which way they are.

Z - Gavrikov
Boqvist - Bean
Peeke - Kukan/Lehtonen

Unlikely to see that X fill itself without some good players leaving. Danault is basically the only option.

 

[NotTooWideArena]

It's far more important to draft well than to draft high.

This! It doesn't matter where a guy is drafted if he can't play at an NHL level (or if he can play significantly above his draft capital). I also believe it's *very* important how an organization helps its assets develop, and how it assembles a team out of those assets.

I think the Voracek trade shows the CBJ is trying to do a near-total rebuild, but at warp speed. Yeah, there are a lot of unproven pieces in the puzzle right now, both on and off the ice. I don't think the current roster sucks at the lottery-pick level, but it's not impossile.

One or two additions could make this team look very different. (Anybody have favorite UFA centers they want to campaign for? I am thinking about registering DavidSavardPleaseComeBack.com, maybe do a Kickstarter ....)

I still think a goalie gets moved, there are free agents available, and prospects who may (or may-not) come over from Europe. Trades happen. The next round of activity starts the 28th. I suspect/hope we'll see more changes as summer unfolds. Training camp should be a lot of fun.

For the moment, I think they've done a good job of bringing young NHL talent and prospects into the system. Not a perfect job, not awe-inspiring. But not too shabby.

 

[Fro]

The defense will be interesting, but not exactly terrible...some growing pains as mentioned, but not bad enough that gets us top 5 I think. Sorta addition by subtraction

I believe we also have the capital and depth in place to make a run at a C...whether that is trading for Eichel when Buffalo lowers their demand that no one was ever going to give, or my preference, which is to OS Pettersson.

Getting Chicago's 1st I believe makes it more palatable to move a 1st in a deal this offseason. The 2 1sts, 2nd, 3rd range may work for us.

 

[JacketsDavid]

At best we would be the #8 seed.
I think it's more like last season. The defense will be worse (we have 3 of the top 6 dmen who are offense first guys) and outside of Jake and Roslovic you can't bank on much offense.

Now I think the future is much brighter but 2021-22 there is probably a 35% chance of being bottom 5 (overall), 10% change of being a playoff team, and 55% chance of being somewhere in between. SO in my mind odds are not good that we will be in the playoffs.

 

[JacketsDavid]

Also keep in mind we're projected to have about $25M in cap space so there will be other moves:

1 Maybe taking on salary for picks and prospects as we've all speculated
2. Sgning some guys long term - Roslovic, Robinson, Tex to start with. Zach W is the big ?. But also interesting if the CBJ would roll the dice on signing for multi year for Bean or Boquist.
3. I think if a C or stay at home D man is standing near the start of the season they may add. Again I think that option is out there just because so many teams have no cash to spend, and if other teams aren't spending money we may be able to sign a guy or two on pillow deals for this year. Now I don't want to slow development, but at same time if you could get a guy to slot into 1C just to leave Roslovic/Tex/Jenner it could be good. Again it won't be a sexy pickup but a chance a guy may slide.

 

[EspenK]

 

[BluejacketNut]

I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Jake flipped

 

[NotCommitted]

I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Jake flipped

My gut feeling says he's here to play. He seems the kind of player you'd want in that line up to help you get over the hump without totally sucking.

I don't like tanking, there's no guarantee you can turn the ship around when the time comes, just look at teams like Buffalo, or to a lesser degree Edmonton. Edmonton has had a ton of high picks, including several firsts and while they are somewhat competitive now, it's not like they are some perennial contender, far from it.

On the other hand Jarmo has shown he's not afraid to make moves and he doesn't seem the kind of guy to do Lucic type signings, so in that sense CBJ might have better odds than some to rebound after a tank, but I wouldn't like to see it.

 

[CalBuckeyeRob]

I believe the plan was and is to tear it down. That means more deals are coming. I think they will move a goalie before the season, just the tragic death means they slowed it down to get a backup. Voracek will be moved by the trade deadline. Laine is the guy of immediate interest. I tend to think they want to extend him, but if he won't extend for the price they want to pay he will be gone soon because you can't lose a UFA in a rebuild. Werenski is the big prize. I think he is gone by this time next year but wouldn't be shocked if he is gone by mid season. So I am not really expecting that they will be good.

 

[DJA]

I believe the plan was and is to tear it down. That means more deals are coming. I think they will move a goalie before the season, just the tragic death means they slowed it down to get a backup. Voracek will be moved by the trade deadline. Laine is the guy of immediate interest. I tend to think they want to extend him, but if he won't extend for the price they want to pay he will be gone soon because you can't lose a UFA in a rebuild. Werenski is the big prize. I think he is gone by this time next year but wouldn't be shocked if he is gone by mid season. So I am not really expecting that they will be good.

why are we moving Voracek at the trade deadline when he’s signed for 3 more years? Laine will sign his QO for $7.5M or go to arbitration where he’d likely get less, so he will sign for what we want to pay. Then next year you start the process of extending him or exploring a trade after you see what he really is in a non-Covid year. Werenski will play this season then we’ll go through more Seth-type drama with him next offseason (if he’s not part of a deal for a #1C which is unlikely).
So I think we will be better than expected but this “too good” stuff is hilarious.

 

[Youngguns80]

With upcoming Free Agency - what possible trades, offer sheets or signings garner the CBJ a starting 1RD and/or starting center?

Then what does the lineup look like?

Offer Sheet - Elias Pettersson 8.2 for 5 years

Line 1	LW - Laine	C - Pettersson	RW - Voracek
Line 2	LW - Nyquist	C - Roslovic	RW - Bjorkstrand
Line 3	LW - Robinson	C - Texier	RW - Foudy
Line 4	LW - Hoffman	C - Jenner	RW - Bemstrom

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Line 1	LD - Werenski	RD - ?
Line 2	LD - Gavrikov	RD - Boqvist
Line 3	LD - Bean	RD - Kukan
Line 4	LD - Harrington	RD - Peeke

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Goalies - Merzlikins, Korpisalo

Domi is out until December

 

[VT]

if without new trades, injured Domi and players from this draft:

Laine--Texier--Voracek
Tex is skill, speed, with good forchecking and defense, he`ll fight around the board.
Nyquist--Roslovic--Bjorkstrand
Bjork isn`t a classical sniper, rather playdriver, Jack isn`t a classical playmaker. Gus could ideally complement them.
Robinson--Danforth--Foudy
extremaly speed line with great forchecking, wingers are very good in defense, around the boards too.
Chinakhov--Jenner--Bemstrom
Boone can be this boy thanks to him Bemmer and Yegor would progress. Yegor - LW, he`s young and one can learn play on both wings.

I really don`t know where Hofmann.

Werenski, xxx1
Gavrikov, Boqvist
xxx2, xxx3

xxx1/xxx2/xxx3 - many different combinations

Merzlikins/Korpisalo/Tarasov

 

[cslebn]

I feel like if we could get a center for Laine-Voracek (I see Danault as a Bjorkstrand C) and a Methot RD for Werenski then this team could actually be fun to watch. If we take on Johnson from Tampa could we get Cernak lol?

Whether that's worth the cost, I dunno. I wish that C could be Hertl but that won't happen. Arizona seems to be hemorrhaging players. We still have a lot of unknowns with Tex, Bemm, Danforth, Hofmann, Foudy, Domi, Laine and nyquist to an extent.

 

[stevo61]

The team is going to struggle defending so no I dont think theyll be "too good". There are worse teams who will have better odds at Wright but I dont see this team pushing for the playoffs. It should atleast be more fun to watch, maybe see some offensive growth and players looking like they enjoy the game of hockey

 

[Madifer]

Is this some kind of a joke ? 10-15th pick purgatory? We’re a lottery team and nothing more, especially considering our division

This. And its fine, the only way is up from here and thats why its exciting as every new beginning out there.

It would only be frustrating to see the team become Buffalo or Detroit like for years without a light at the end of the tunnel. But that wont happen right?

 

[ThisIsMyAlibi]

Lol no. They’re gonna be awful.

 

[EspenK]

I like the offer sheet for Pettersson.I think Vancouver matches although they are in a bind with also having to sign Hughes and now Garland plus 3 D in addition to Hughes. Would definitely accelerate the rebuild if he accepted.

Sign Hamilton as a UFA and rebuild is complete.

We can dream. And don't worry about future cap issues.