Ronnie's Roulette - Year two TDL Edition

[RainyCityHockey]

Klingberg is terrible.

If we were to make another trade I'd rather Ron go for a center that might win a faceoff.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Klingberg is terrible.

I think Klingberg would make sense on the 3rd pairing to add a puck mover but it would be at the cost of Soucy or Borgen losing a spot. I don't think Klingberg moves the needle for us much.

Dunn-Larason
Schultz-Oleksiak
Klingberg-Soucy/Borgen
Megna

Would be pretty good depth for the playoffs and also give us a puck moving D-man on every pairing. That being said, I don't think I would even want to give up a 2nd round pick for him. Francis has done an amazing job in rounds 1 and 2 both of our drafts. Would rather just use all 4 of our picks unless we are getting someone beyond a rental.

 

[gstommylee]

klingberg isn't the dman seattle needs.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Ottawa just got Chychrun for a 1st and a 2nd.
At least unless they make it to the ECF this year, cause the 2nd would turn into a 1st thanks to that.

If Ron would've wanted he could've done that and would've also taken pressure of those negotiations with Dunn.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Ottawa just got Chychrun for a 1st and a 2nd.
At least unless they make it to the ECF this year, cause the 2nd would turn into a 1st thanks to that.

If Ron would've wanted he could've done that and would've also taken pressure of those negotiations with Dunn.

I don't think Francis thinks we are good enough to justify moving our 1sts or maybe even 2nds yet. I have said earlier that our main competition to make the playoffs is Calgary. And while I understand that Francis may not be confident enough in this team to move higher picks, getting the team more help should be something he should definitely be looking at.

This year is basically an "easy" path to the playoffs for us, with how bad the West is. If we fail to make the playoffs by a couple of points, I will be left wondering if Francis should have done more at the TDL instead of getting Megna, who is basically our 7D at this point.

 

[Irie]

I don't think Francis thinks we are good enough to justify moving our 1sts or maybe even 2nds yet.

I think Francis is smart.

What I wonder about is what is in store for Fleury.

He has played well enough to deserve a shot somewhere in a sixth D role. I think he is better than the 6th defender on likely a dozen teams in the league. He is also a RFA.

I am assuming Megna fills Soucy's LHD spot on the third pair next year. Is the plan to keep Fleury as a cheap 7th D again and see if he can't grow into a regular spot the following year when Schultz is up? Or maybe insurance in case Borgen gets too much via arbitration?

Or is he just depth that will be discarded when/if a bigger upgrade is brought in and pushes everyone down a spot?

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

I think Francis is smart.

What I wonder about is what is in store for Fleury.

He has played well enough to deserve a shot somewhere in a sixth D role. I think he is better than the 6th defender on likely a dozen teams in the league. He is also a RFA.

I am assuming Megna fills Soucy's LHD spot on the third pair next year. Is the plan to keep Fleury as a cheap 7th D again and see if he can't grow into a regular spot the following year when Schultz is up? Or maybe insurance in case Borgen gets too much via arbitration?

Or is he just depth that will be discarded when/if a bigger upgrade is brought in and pushes everyone down a spot?

I think Fleury should be given a chance elsewhere. While I don't expect Nelson to be NHL ready next year, I certainly think Evans will be. Even if it is in a 7D capacity.

Dunn-Larsson
Schultz-Oleksiak
Megna-Borgen
Evans

I would not be surprised if Evans actually beats out Megna for the 3rd pairing job next season.

The thing I am genuinely curious about is how Francis approaches the roster building next season. The obvious start would be re-signing Dunn and Borgen. That rounds off our top-10 F and top-6 D.

Bura-Beniers-Eberle
Schwartz-Wennberg-McCann
Tolvanen-Gourde-Bjorkstrand
Tanev-?-?

Dunn-Larsson
Schultz-Oleksiak
Megna-Borgen

We could re-sign Donato and Geekie to round this off. Keep spots for Wright and Evans. But the only way we are actually a better team is IF both Wright and Evans step into the team full time by outplaying the competition. And that is far from a guarantee.

The option would obviously be improving that top-4 D somehow and shoving Megna to 7D or adding a more skilled forward again forcing to move Eberle or Schwartz down to the bottom-6. Man, I am just torn on what we should do next season.

 

[majormajor]

Ottawa just got Chychrun for a 1st and a 2nd.
At least unless they make it to the ECF this year, cause the 2nd would turn into a 1st thanks to that.

If Ron would've wanted he could've done that and would've also taken pressure of those negotiations with Dunn.

I think Ron should have offered at least that much.

If it doesn't work out I think you can move Chychrun at either of the next two deadlines and get the 1st back. And if it does work out he might be a cornerstone piece for a lot of years.

Oh well.

 

[Irie]

I think Ron should have offered at least that much.

If it doesn't work out I think you can move Chychrun at either of the next two deadlines and get the 1st back. And if it does work out he might be a cornerstone piece for a lot of years.

Oh well.

As it currently stands, Ottawa's first probably had a bit more value with them being in the east.

I am not saying Ottawa won't finish ahead of Seattle, but I feel the impression of value league wide is that the Pacific is so wide open, that another hot streak and Seattle could win it and the pick could be in the 20s.

Ottawa's pick this week felt like it was more likely to be around 12-14 range. I think it would have taken another asset to convince Armstrong. LA like was facing the same price Seattle would have and ultimately balked at the price. Makes me think it was heavier. But who really knows.

 

[majormajor]

As it currently stands, Ottawa's first probably had a bit more value with them being in the east.

I am not saying Ottawa won't finish ahead of Seattle, but I feel the impression of value league wide is that the Pacific is so wide open, that another hot streak and Seattle could win it and the pick could be in the 20s.

Ottawa's pick this week felt like it was more likely to be around 12-14 range. I think it would have taken another asset to convince Armstrong. LA like was facing the same price Seattle would have and ultimately balked at the price. Makes me think it was heavier. But who really knows.

Yes I'm sure Ron would have to add because the 1st is a little later.

Though I'd be very curious where Ottawa's 1st ends up. They've looked really good lately and have a chance to get in.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Yes I'm sure Ron would have to add because the 1st is a little later.

Though I'd be very curious where Ottawa's 1st ends up. They've looked really good lately and have a chance to get in.

That is always interesting to see after a team acquires a good player at the TDL for their 1st. Ottawa should be much improved, on paper, with the addition of Chychrun.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

 

[majormajor]

That's surprising. I think he's good value, very good scorer (his last season totals were from the 4th line in both Columbus and Carolina).

But he's also a me-first kind of guy, which doesn't fit the Kraken m.o. Francis also passed on him in the expansion draft.

 

[kihei]

That's surprising. I think he's good value, very good scorer (his last season totals were from the 4th line in both Columbus and Carolina).

But he's also a me-first kind of guy, which doesn't fit the Kraken m.o. Francis also passed on him in the expansion draft.

Yeah, I don't think Domi fits the Kraken template at all, and I have enough reservations about Chychrun to be not disappointed how that turned out.

 

[gstommylee]

If he's hearing it from the 4th period then i'm not buying it. We do not need a locker room problem. There was reason why we didn't take domi when he was free.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

That's surprising. I think he's good value, very good scorer (his last season totals were from the 4th line in both Columbus and Carolina).

But he's also a me-first kind of guy, which doesn't fit the Kraken m.o. Francis also passed on him in the expansion draft.

Yeah. Domi doesn't really make sense. Klingberg makes more sense.

 

[UseYourHedman]

I'll give RF a one-time pass for standing pat, if that happens, this year. It's a unique year of team building when a playoff appearance is a good outcome. From next year onward I want to see either buying/selling every year

 

[gstommylee]

I'll give RF a one-time pass for standing pat, if that happens, this year. It's a unique year of team building when a playoff appearance is a good outcome. From next year onward I want to see either buying/selling every year

Seattle will make big deadline splashes when it makes sense to. Its dumb to throw away draft picks and prospects when you are trying to build it from ground up. Every year of buying and selling of getting rid of players, draft picks and prospects is not how you build a team to contend.

 

[UseYourHedman]

Seattle will make big deadline splashes when it makes sense to. Its dumb to throw away draft picks and prospects when you are trying to build it from ground up. Every year of buying and selling of getting rid of players, draft picks and prospects is not how you build a team to contend.

Sounds like we're saying the same thing

 

[gstommylee]

Sounds like we're saying the same thing

You said you want to see the team either buying or selling every year. I'm saying that isn't great way to build a consistent contending roster with chemistry if all you do is add and get rid of players and make it hard to have a foundation to support said roster if all we do is get rid of prospects.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Yeah. Domi doesn't really make sense. Klingberg makes more sense.

I don't think Klingberg makes any sense at all.
At least not as long as Schultz doesn't have major injury problems or completely falls of a cliff.

We could've had him last summer but decided to go anothe direction and his play in Anaheim(and his final year or so in Dallas) wasn't anything close to being good.

Domi does make some sense as he can play some center and has won .537 % of his faceoffs this year.

Though, I doubt either will be a Kraken this season and if we do something it's probably a center that can win faceoffs on a consistant basis.

 

[The Marquis]

Max Domi? That's a bit weird. We shall see. It's not like the guy isn't a good player. He's quite good. A lot of us had him on our Kraken Expansion Draft board. I think if the price was right, he could fit in just fine. I've never really understood where the Max Domi has a bad rep messaging comes from. I've never seen a damn thing other than a couple of dumb communication faux pas.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Don't have to worry about Domi.

 

[UseYourHedman]

You said you want to see the team either buying or selling every year. I'm saying that isn't great way to build a consistent contending roster with chemistry if all you do is add and get rid of players and make it hard to have a foundation to support said roster if all we do is get rid of prospects.

In the building phase I'm okay standing pat. I'd argue that the building phase will be over next year it should be a contending year considering the growth this year. I want to see meaningful acquisitions if a team is a contender. Look at my other team the TBL. They were fairly quiet at the deadline for years under Yzerman. JBB came in as GM and was aggressive. Obviously that worked out okay.
On the other side of the coin, almost all teams acquire prospects & picks when they're out of it and I assume GMRF will do the same. Messing around in the middle of the pack is not anything I feel like watching, i.e. the Mariners for all of the 2000s & 2010s.

Edit: And for the record, I would make minor SELLING deals this year. I wish the Kraken had an above average G, another top-4 D, and a bonafide finishing F because the west is so weak again this year. But they don't and I don't want to try to acquire those things at the trade deadline

 

[wewantyoursoul]

Remaining relatively flexible in regards to your wallet will become more valuable. I'm glad we're not going to limit ourselves due to a short-term rental. Internal growth and financial flexibility is a smart way to move forward.