Speculation: Roster Building Thread: Part LIII

[Avery16]

Just tell Hank if he is coming back we are sending him to Hartford. He will retire then. If not we will save 900k instead of 3 mill on the buyout but we save 5 million on wasted cap space next season.

NMC.

 

[Cag29]

Counterpoint: why wouldn't you be willing to take a chance on a guy like Virtanen, especially if the cost going the other way is a similarly stalled prospect in our system?

Andersson?

 

[TominNC]

He's got a no move clause, he literately can't be sent to Hartford

Somehow people don't realize that the Rangers agreed on this contract with Hank. They are required to pay him. They can't MAKE him do
anything without giving the man the money they agreed to.

 

[Leetch3]

also its $1.5 mil of dead space next year, not $5 mil so literally every word of that post is wrong

 

[Cag29]

How far away is Pajuniemi? He’s a winger seems highly skilled. He had an excellent season last year.

 

[Machinehead]

Nobody said we are set at forward, but if I'm trading for someone they should probably be better than the players they would have to replace to get a roster spot.

I guarantee you by game 25 Virtanen is better than everyone on our 4th line.

 

[AIexisLafreniereNYR]

Sweet sauce coming from Panarin or Mika or Lafreniere? I think he’ll be fine. Again he’s played there on multiple occasions. Quinn has loaded up that line at times most recently.

Laf has a very high IQ. Why not develop him as a center?

 

[Cag29]

Because Greg McKegg is what we have already.

We will need some cheaper vets for the 4th line until the cap goes up into the 90’s. I didn’t mind Mckegg on the 4th line.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

I guarantee you by game 25 Virtanen is better than everyone on our 4th line.

You can say that about 90% of guys in the league though. It depends what the price is to get him. I'm not going to turn him down but he's not a guy i really covet.

 

[Leetch3]

How far away is Pajuniemi? He’s a winger seems highly skilled. He had an excellent season last year.

gonna guess 2 years...he busted out offensively last year and has a great shot but he needs to develop and improve his overall game

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

Andersson?

That was the earlier speculation.

 

[D713B]

the cap will a disaster if the Rangers don’t budget this well. A year ago the team basically only had Zibby and Kreider. Kreider who they may have traded. Now they have Kreider, Zibby coming up, Trouba and Panarin. They did luck out for Kappo so now they can anticipate him getting quite a bit down the road. Whoa, now they win the lottery so Laf might be the highest paid in a few years. Add in Fox and what about ADA?

Flat cap the money will go fast. Just ask the Blackhawks

Smart management plans accordingly. I fail to see where Gorton has proven he isn't accounting for the future properly. Everyone loves to point to the teams that end up in cap hell. The Blackhawks have three recent cups. I don't think they regret the tough decisions they've had to make over the years. (Buff, Sharp etc.) How many years have the Bruins been competitive in the cap era? Seems like forever. Sharks are similar minus closing the deal. They were loaded to the gills against the cap for years and competitive.

For the record I never mentioned Virtanen directly. I said marginal players. Yes, he falls in that category either way. It was a blanket statement by someone who's lingered here and been amused by the various random players we've discussed for 15ish years. It wasn't intended to get anyone up in arms over Virtanen.

 

[Leetch3]

Smart management plans accordingly. I fail to see where Gorton has proven he isn't accounting for the future properly. Everyone loves to point to the teams that end up in cap hell. The Blackhawks have three recent cups. I don't think they regret the tough decisions they've had to make over the years. (Buff, Sharp etc.) How many years have the Bruins been competitive in the cap era? Seems like forever. Sharks are similar minus closing the deal. They were loaded to the gills against the cap for years and competitive.

For the record I never mentioned Virtanen directly. I said marginal players. Yes, he falls in that category either way. It was a blanket statement by someone who's lingered here and been amused by the various random players we've discussed for 15ish years. It wasn't intended to get anyone up in arms over Virtanen.

if anything I think the cap situation proves that gorton does plan ahead. we have almost a clean sheet after next year. right now the only players under contract (excluding ELCs) beyong 20-21 are Mika (final year), Trouba, Kreider and Panarin (and all 3 were signed in the last year). we could get into trouble in a hurry if we are dumb about things, but right now we couldn't be setup better in terms of the cap post rebuild.

 

[Tob]

Nobody is obsessed with Virtanen.

Edjovo and I are

 

[Mikos87]

Edjovo and I are

Would be curious to learn more. What do you and @EdJovanovski think of Virtanen?

 

[Shesterkybomb]

I guarantee you by game 25 Virtanen is better than everyone on our 4th line.

You can't, this nonsense will never happen.

 

[haohmaru]

Just tell Bubba5 we're going to send him to the HFJR boards until he passes his contract and cap hit tests.

 

[Cag29]

Would be curious to learn more. What do you and @EdJovanovski think of Virtanen?

Is it a red flag that he was out of shape going into these playoffs? Or would you chalk it up to unusual circumstances due to COVID?

 

[D713B]

"youre obsessed with x" and "you hate x" are go-to attacks used by posters arguing without any substantive leg to stand on. Its basically an admission of their failure, so you should take it as a compliment.

2020 has some people wound tight, eh? Sorry to hear you might take that as an argument or that you may perceive this as an assessment of "failure".

It was a flippant comment directed at the countless 3rd/4th line players we've debated over the decade plus I've been around every off season. It was a joke about the doldrums of the off-season that we see every season.

Take a breath. It's all going to be fine....

 

[Leetch3]

Is it a red flag that he was out of shape going into these playoffs? Or would you chalk it up to unusual circumstances due to COVID?

we don't know his situation. I'm not sure we can judge anyone for how they came back from the shutdown

 

[Mikos87]

Is it a red flag that he was out of shape going into these playoffs? Or would you chalk it up to unusual circumstances due to COVID?

I would think it's a kid that needs a change, if anything that should lower his price. To me it's about expectations, and imo he's a Brett Connolly approaching his athletic peak. Maybe he's checked out a bit, whipping boys don't stick around for a while if you know what I mean.

He's physical. You've got to give him that, and I think in the right situation, he's a very useful forechecking forward. Still a bottom sixer, with tweener shifts here and there. But fitness has to be a priority with him, that's what he's good for, his athletic gifts. No one is going to pay a premium for him to try and process the game out there.

 

[EdJovanovski]

Would be curious to learn more. What do you and @EdJovanovski think of Virtanen?

Is it a red flag that he was out of shape going into these playoffs? Or would you chalk it up to unusual circumstances due to COVID?

I grew up in a similar social circle with Virtanen, we have mutual friends, and play in the same roller league. He is someone with all the tools in the world, he is Ovi-level of physical beast. He is as fast as McDavid (literally came within 0.001 second of his time while wearing a cape and he was hungover)


and he’s that fast while coming to camp out of shape every year because still lives around all his childhood friends and he grew up in a really bad area. Like over 20 kids from my grad class are already dead, this is like the Southside of Chicago of Canada. This city was once named the car theft capital of North America. He has really awful influences around him that cause him not to mature, all his issues are because of him going out and partying and getting in trouble to impress his dumb friends. I think if he leaves this area he will grow tremendously on and off the ice.

 

[Tob]

Would be curious to learn more. What do you and @EdJovanovski think of Virtanen?

Canucks fan base has been patiently waiting for Virtanen to break out for 4 years now but he's still wildly inconsistent as a player. Has a shot, doesn't use it well enough. Has power forward size and skating but doesn't apply it well. Some maturity issues off the ice but nothing major especially if he gets a change of scenery away from his home town team. Canucks fans always go to the fact that Ehlers and Nylander were both available but the Canucks drafted the hometown boy. I think he can deliver if he finds a focus with another team. Prime candidate for that kind of a breakout but probably not if he stays with the Canucks.

 

[Machinehead]

You can say that about 90% of guys in the league though. It depends what the price is to get him. I'm not going to turn him down but he's not a guy i really covet.

Not necessarily Lemiuex or Gauthier, though. But they have to be penciled in on the third line or the "too many forwards" bogeyman will come for us. And if they do become third liners, for f***s sake, let them actually beat somebody to that spot.

We had exactly the same discussion last year and traded Namestnikov because "we have enough depth." We had so little that we ended up playing a random defenseman at wing.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

I grew up in a similar social circle with Virtanen, we have mutual friends, and play in the same roller league. He is someone with all the tools in the world, he is Ovi-level of physical beast. He is as fast as McDavid (literally came within 0.001 second of his time while wearing a cape and he was hungover)


and he’s that fast while coming to camp out of shape every year because still lives around all his childhood friends and he grew up in a really bad area. Like over 20 kids from my grad class are already dead, this is like the Southside of Chicago of Canada. This city was once named the car theft capital of North America. He has really awful influences around him that cause him not to mature, all his issues are because of him going out and partying and getting in trouble to impress his dumb friends. I think if he leaves this area he will grow tremendously on and off the ice.

damn. After this inside scoop I change my mind. Get him !