Speculation: Roster Building Frenzy Part XX

[jay from jersey]

I really think Chytil might end up better than him if we give him those middle 6 minutes.

That’s what I’d like to see. It’s not going to happen with strome as part of the equation though. I think a big thing as well is that Chytil is and has always been a scoring line player. I don’t know that the role of the 3rd line under Gallant is going to be just that. That’s why I think Barron might come away with the starting 3C job. I can see our 3rd line trying to mimic Tampa’s in a way.
To me, I would ride Chytil heavy minutes as a 2C. If they don’t like where he’s at or think he’s a fit, they will upgrade the position.
Moving strome out for futures would be the first step there.
I also think Dvorak is a perfect acquisition for this team. At best he takes off playing in a new environment with better players. He’s everything you want upgraded from strome except for points which are to be determined.
At worst he’s an excellent 3C in the mold of Gourde in making your 3rd line try to replicate what Tampa had.
The only down side of adding him would be that it likely knock Barron out of contention for 3C, at least for a couple of years anyway.
The price to acquire Dvorak isn’t likely astronomical either.

 

[IDvsEGO]

That’s what I’d like to see. It’s not going to happen with strome as part of the equation though. I think a big thing as well is that Chytil is and has always been a scoring line player. I don’t know that the role of the 3rd line under Gallant is going to be just that. That’s why I think Barron might come away with the starting 3C job. I can see our 3rd line trying to mimic Tampa’s in a way.
To me, I would ride Chytil heavy minutes as a 2C. If they don’t like where he’s at or think he’s a fit, they will upgrade the position.
Moving strome out for futures would be the first step there.
I also think Dvorak is a perfect acquisition for this team. At best he takes off playing in a new environment with better players. He’s everything you want upgraded from strome except for point which are to be determined.
At worst he’s an excellent 3C in the mold of Gourde in making your 3rd line try to replicate what Tampa had.
The only down side of adding him would be that it likely know Barron out of contention for 3C, at least for a couple of years anyway.

I dont think strome starts the year on the team.

 

[Blais to Win]

I dont think chytil is our 3c. Kreider on that third line doesnt make it a scoring line, he's got the skillset to play that grind role but add the occassional goal.

Wut.

 

[jay from jersey]

I dont think strome starts the year on the team.

I’m with you. I think it’s a matter of time before he’s moved for futures.
Would have no problem with Zibby-Chytil-Barron.
But if chytil falls on his face there’s no safety blanket.
They would be scrambling for an upgrade. Zibby-Dvorak-chytil is far more stable/safe as an option
If chytil passes him great, if not Dvorak is there. Perhaps Barron carved out a role as a 3C later if they decide to move on from chytil in a year or two.
I think we all know there’s still some sort of trade coming down soon. But this line up would be far better in my eyes
LaF-Zibby-Kakko
Panarin-Chytil-Blais/Kravtsov
Kreider-Dvorak-Goodrow
Hunt-Rooney-Reaves
That allows you to pump chytil with heavy minutes. If he fails, Dvorak steps in. Or Dvo shows immense chemistry with panarin in camp and starts at 2C.
In this situation Barron is in the AHL playing 1st line minutes for a year, which I’m not crazy about. There is also still a log jam at RW even with strome being moved, we’re still 1 too heavy.
I don’t think drury plans on playing Blais as a 4th liner, so he still has something he’s working on

 

[Blais to Win]

They are wrong.

I think some posters lofty expectations from Blais are based on him being part of the return for Buch.

Blais was on a deep team, but played in a system that favored forecheckers. He had opportunity in St. Louis. I think he made the most of it there, but he was still sat at times for tweeners, AHLers and vets on their way out like MacEachern, Joshua, de la Rose, Brouwer and Clifford. All of those are retired (Brouwer), retiring (Clifford), 13F (MacEachern) will be up and down from the AHL (Joshua), or are in Europe (de la Rose). Blais didn’t win the job from that pack.

He’s got an opportunity here too. I imagine he will make the most of it once again. I doubt he’ll be a mainstay in the top six. I doubt he’ll hit 10G or 30Pts.

The 2nd rounder was the main piece of the Buch return. Everyone needs to let that sink in, because Blais isn’t changing that.

Interesting. I don’t know much about the guy. Keeping my mind open with the expectation that the fo sees something in him. Thanks though.

 

[IDvsEGO]

Wut.

Im saying if kreider is on the third line, it doesnt make it a scoring line. While he does score, he should be capable of playing the appropriate heavy game needed for a line that grinds things out.

 

[Blais to Win]

Im saying if kreider is on the third line, it doesnt make it a scoring line. While he does score, he should be capable of playing the appropriate heavy game needed for a line that grinds things out.

Wait a sec. you said: “Based on roster composition at the moment we're going to have 2 scoring lines.” But at the moment Chytil is 3rd center with Kreider as l wing. The RW is unknown. Presumably Kakko or Kravtsov, if rumors about Blais (or Goodrow) slated to be playing w Panarin are correct. I think #20 and #72 alone make the current 3rd line more of a scoring line than anything else, never mind adding #24 or #74. If you want to argue that Kreider is not a scorer just please don’t.

 

[Tob]

If Lias hadn't busted, we'd all be chilling around a outdoor BBQ patio in a rented summer house in the Malibus sipping fruity drinks having a time chatting about how amazing our center depth is but instead here we are.

 

[IDvsEGO]

Wait a sec. you said: “Based on roster composition at the moment we're going to have 2 scoring lines.” But at the moment Chytil is 3rd center with Kreider as l wing. The RW is unknown. Presumably Kakko or Kravtsov, if rumors about Blais (or Goodrow) slated to be playing w Panarin are correct. I think #20 and #72 alone make the current 3rd line more of a scoring line than anything else, never mind adding #24 or #74. If you want to argue that Kreider is not a scorer just please don’t.

I dont think blais is on the 2nd line.
Chytil is currently our 3c, but I dont believe strome starts the year on the team. He's a pending UFA, and it makes no sense to start the year and then be forced to trade him even if we're in playoff position because we know he's not the 2c we need in the playoffs.

The acquisitions of blais,goodrow, reaves, show that the team wants to have 2 high powered scoring lines, and then 2 heavy lines, 1 of which can produce some offense when needed.

 

[EdJovanovski]

If Lias hadn't busted, we'd all be chilling around a outdoor BBQ patio in a rented summer house in the Malibus sipping fruity drinks having a time chatting about how amazing our center depth is but instead here we are.

 

[rangers1314]

These are truly the dog days of summer

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

I’d be perfectly happy with a Kreider - Chytil - Goodrow line.

It would be a heavy line that I’d think would do some damage on the forecheck and be pretty effective actually.

I think Goodrow and Chytil could be interchangeable in the middle and I think Gallant could have them go up against the top lines on the road if he can mold Chytil into that role.

Maybe even Kreider - Goodrow - Kakko. I think defensively you are looking at a really good line there. We will see. There are a lot of options.

Kredier - Goodrow - Blais? Just so you could have a K-G-B line in honor of your fallen comrade

 

[Doctyl]

If we decide that we're out, I'd rather help the Rangers than spite Buffalo.

Not for 5 years of dead cap space

 

[Thirty One]

Not for 5 years of dead cap space

I think the scenario he presented was taking on a contract from the acquiring team, not eating part of Eichel's salary. For example, taking on Rask from Minnesota.

 

[smoneil]

Only one of those teams win the cup each year and they have better options than Chytil in the top 6. Its perfectly adequate yes, to win a cup....not a chance. People forget why we did the rebuild, the mediocre players we had in the top 6 yielded mediocre results. chytil if he ever gets to Hayes level would be a boom, i don't see it yet, he is missing a lot to his game for that to be true, there is still the thought that he might not even be a center in the nhl let alone a top 6 one. As i said, i like the player, i like the pick then and now but he's a 3c on a cup team.

That SCF team beat two teams with top centers (Philly with Couturier and Giroux, and Pittsburgh with Crosby and Malkin) as well as Montreal in order to get to that SCF. They then played a Kings lineup that had 3 centers that would have been top line for us (Kopitar, Carter, Richards) and largely neutralized all three (2 points apiece in the series from Kopitar and Richards, three points for Carter). They pretty much did the same to our top 3 centers (Stepan had two points in the series, Brassard had 3, and Richards had 1 point). For the most part, the top players on both teams neutralized each other, and LA's depth was able to step up in a way that ours wasn't.

The Kings, by the way, beat San Jose (who had Pavelski, Thornton, Marleau, and Couture--also their top four scorers that year and one of the best teams in the league in terms of high end center depth that year), Anaheim (Getzlaf, Bonino, Koivu, and Cogliano--decent C depth and a ppg+ elite top center in Getz), and Chicago (a team built to have an elite top 6 with little else--they had Toews as an elite C, and Sharp, Kane, and Hossa riding shotgun).

Also, Hayes wasn't on the team for the SCF run. He didn't join the team until the following season. To win a Cup, you need luck, game-breaking talent, and depth. There is no rule at all that the game-breaking talent has to play center.

 

[mas0764]

I really can’t believe some people think we don’t need substantial improvement at center before competing long term.

 

[tomobson]

I really can’t believe some people think we don’t need substantial improvement at center before competing long term.

If we need a substantial upgrade at center I'd rather the rangers figure that out next year. We have a Strome trade we're waiting on and I think that's about it for moves this offseason.

 

[bbny]

I really can’t believe some people think we don’t need substantial improvement at center before competing long term.

Define "improvement". In a vacuum, Strome at 65-70 points is a valuable center. We probably just need to convert that currency to someone else who is better at certain things than Zibanejad and Strome, but will probably not be as good of an offensive player either. This is why many wanted Danault.

 

[egelband]

If you're the Devils, why would you care about his playoff resume?

Haha!

 

[egelband]

Elliotte Friedman wrote flat cap for 5 years a few months ago. Last week, he said three years. This season and just two more. Five years sucks. That's awful.

Yeah, really. What a drag. If the NHL can’t turn a profit, maybe they should try another direction…like protecting the players and promoting the skill and personalities. Rather than brain damage and censorship. Gary Bettman is a huge flop if this beautiful sport can’t run in the black.

 

[egelband]

Mika Polygajad

3-ka

 

[egelband]

4.5 per year? That’s outrageous.

 

[Ola]

Not really interested in trading for another team's prospects and expecting them to have big roles here immediately. Theres also probably a reason why LA went out and got Danault, clearly they werent in love with their center depth

Very good point. I think that we have been saying that it’s a hard league to play in for kids for a long time, but now we are seing it, many of these drafts could look very bleak in a few years time. We saw it in the later 90s when some first rounds only had like 3-4 players you really would like to have.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

3-ka

PolygaMika

 

[bobbop]

That’s what I’d like to see. It’s not going to happen with strome as part of the equation though. I think a big thing as well is that Chytil is and has always been a scoring line player. I don’t know that the role of the 3rd line under Gallant is going to be just that. That’s why I think Barron might come away with the starting 3C job. I can see our 3rd line trying to mimic Tampa’s in a way.
To me, I would ride Chytil heavy minutes as a 2C. If they don’t like where he’s at or think he’s a fit, they will upgrade the position.
Moving strome out for futures would be the first step there.
I also think Dvorak is a perfect acquisition for this team. At best he takes off playing in a new environment with better players. He’s everything you want upgraded from strome except for points which are to be determined.
At worst he’s an excellent 3C in the mold of Gourde in making your 3rd line try to replicate what Tampa had.
The only down side of adding him would be that it likely knock Barron out of contention for 3C, at least for a couple of years anyway.
The price to acquire Dvorak isn’t likely astronomical either.

You are right about everything except the price. It won’t be Eichel level but it won’t be cheap.