Roster Building XIX - Did we blow the deadline? Need to ask the magic 8-ball

[Big Daddy Cane]

Bold prediction: one of Vegas' LHS defenders will be paired with Morrow next season, be it Martinez as a free agent (Williams connection) or Hague/McNabb via trade.

I will bump this if I'm right and ignore it if I'm wrong.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Bold prediction: one of Vegas' LHS defenders will be paired with Morrow next season, be it Martinez as a free agent (Williams connection) or Hague/McNabb via trade.

I will bump this if I'm right and ignore it if I'm wrong.

I'd prefer a veteran without a Cup, personally. Brodie would be my choice.

I mentioned this on another board, but I have my own hot take for this offseason. I think Skjei and Pesce will stick together as a pairing long-term...for the new Utah team.

 

[CandyCanes]

Yeah, he seems like he would slot into TT spot in the lineup very well if we don’t keep Turbo.

Watching him in camp, his game reminded me exactly of Turbo’s.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Man how far Kapanen has fallen...from a solid 40pt guy to like 20pt guy @ $3M+. As soon as he moved away from being a complimentary guy to "elite" players I guess he struggles

I never saw that high end offense in hIm and way back, argued this with some leafs fans.

That said, I think he’s a player that might excel in a Martinook/Fast role in the Canes system. He’d have to be paid accordingly.

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

I never saw that high end offense in hIm and way back, argued this with some leafs fans.

That said, I think he’s a player that might excel in a Martinook/Fast role in the Canes system. He’d have to be paid accordingly.

Leaf’s fans hyped him and Johnsson up so much. Both of their careers didn’t turn out so well.

 

[spockBokk]

Leaf’s fans hyped him and Johnsson up so much. Both of their careers didn’t turn out so well.

I’ll never forget the Kapanen/Johnsson + Zaitsev for Pesce proposals.

To be fair, both Kapanen and Johnsson did have a good run or 2 in Toronto. But yeah, they were insanely overhyped. I still would like to see Kapanen in RBA’s system, but I don’t think that will ever happen.

 

[WreckingCrew]

I’ll never forget the Kapanen/Johnsson + Zaitsev for Pesce proposals.

To be fair, both Kapanen and Johnsson did have a good run or 2 in Toronto. But yeah, they were insanely overhyped. I still would like to see Kapanen in RBA’s system, but I don’t think that will ever happen.

I never saw that high end offense in hIm and way back, argued this with some leafs fans.

That said, I think he’s a player that might excel in a Martinook/Fast role in the Canes system. He’d have to be paid accordingly.

Leaf’s fans hyped him and Johnsson up so much. Both of their careers didn’t turn out so well.

Same I guess with guys like Pat Maroon, Coleman, Goodrow, Tlusty, etc...support players who have a sort of false "breakout" because they compliment 2 elite players who inflate their stats

 

[Justicebork]

Wrong thread eff everything

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Same I guess with guys like Pat Maroon, Coleman, Goodrow, Tlusty, etc...support players who have a sort of false "breakout" because they compliment 2 elite players who inflate their stats

The one guy that's sort of proved he's more than just a "normal" support player is Coleman, but he's a pretty rare case.

 

[Francis10]

Alright. Regular season over. Time for the real hockey to start. Front office has set up the team with unmatched depth up and down the line up since probably the Cup year. Let’s go do this!

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Alright. Regular season over. Time for the real hockey to start. Front office has set up the team with unmatched depth up and down the line up since probably the Cup year. Let’s go do this!

Lets hope someone emerges as a 2c because so far no one wants the job. All 3 have been very underwhelming

 

[Francis10]

Lets hope someone emerges as a 2c because so far no one wants the job. All 3 have been very underwhelming

Agreed 1,000,000%. Just hoping playoff Kuzy shows up, cause have been very unimpressed with him lately.

 

[bleedgreen]

Lets hope someone emerges as a 2c because so far no one wants the job. All 3 have been very underwhelming

I’ve been pondering it a bit, now that someone with a much higher skill level is also struggling to make it work I wonder about the job itself a little. I’m a Necas guy but he’s clearly not easy to play with. Kuzy is the first guy I’ve seen actually get a little annoyed at Necas for not passing the puck a bit more. They had a moment some time this week where Necas was dancing all over the place through the neutral zone and Kuzy made a nice run through an obvious lane for him but Necas kept it….hesitated at the line then made another move taking the line after Kuzy had charged and it was way offsides due to the hesitation. They looked annoyed at each other. Kuzy was right and he’s the first one of the three choices that had enough clout to look at Necas and say “…..really?”.

Necas does do well straight line players with little creativity in open ice as they go to obvious places and allow him to do all the creating. Drury and Noesen make pretty good linemates for Necas. So you’ve either dropped Necas to the fourth or Kuzy. If we’re rolling four I don’t know that it matters much. Kuzy can make the most of his linemates better than Necas can by a significant margin.

I agree we don’t have a clear second line imo, other than Necas is the next likely guy past the first line you’d expect to create something. This is part of why I think Necas is just done here. We’re going to miss all the good things he brings and we won’t replace them easily but I think he’s as frustrated as everyone is with him. I could see his agent making it hard knowing the team won’t pay and everyone just washes their hands of it and starts over. It feels like Skinner’s last year in a way.

Anyways we seem like a very strong team, and the moves were good but I’m a little torn on our chances. We now have a great first line but first lines can be nullified in the playoffs. The third line doesn’t seem as productive as other years and the grind doesn’t seem quite as strong. All season its seemed like the second and fourth lines are interchangeable. I like the defense. Freddie will have to finally prove himself a playoff goalie or Koochie has to take a big step.

I’d bet there’s a combo of players that would work well with Kuzy, but it’s tough to find when we’re trying to find Necas linemates.

 

[raynman]

I’ve been pondering it a bit, now that someone with a much higher skill level is also struggling to make it work I wonder about the job itself a little. I’m a Necas guy but he’s clearly not easy to play with. Kuzy is the first guy I’ve seen actually get a little annoyed at Necas for not passing the puck a bit more. They had a moment some time this week where Necas was dancing all over the place through the neutral zone and Kuzy made a nice run through an obvious lane for him but Necas kept it….hesitated at the line then made another move taking the line after Kuzy had charged and it was way offsides due to the hesitation. They looked annoyed at each other. Kuzy was right and he’s the first one of the three choices that had enough clout to look at Necas and say “…..really?”.

Necas does do well straight line players with little creativity in open ice as they go to obvious places and allow him to do all the creating. Drury and Noesen make pretty good linemates for Necas. So you’ve either dropped Necas to the fourth or Kuzy. If we’re rolling four I don’t know that it matters much. Kuzy can make the most of his linemates better than Necas can by a significant margin.

I agree we don’t have a clear second line imo, other than Necas is the next likely guy past the first line you’d expect to create something. This is part of why I think Necas is just done here. We’re going to miss all the good things he brings and we won’t replace them easily but I think he’s as frustrated as everyone is with him. I could see his agent making it hard knowing the team won’t pay and everyone just washes their hands of it and starts over. It feels like Skinner’s last year in a way.

Anyways we seem like a very strong team, and the moves were good but I’m a little torn on our chances. We now have a great first line but first lines can be nullified in the playoffs. The third line doesn’t seem as productive as other years and the grind doesn’t seem quite as strong. All season its seemed like the second and fourth lines are interchangeable. I like the defense. Freddie will have to finally prove himself a playoff goalie or Koochie has to take a big step.

I’d bet there’s a combo of players that would work well with Kuzy, but it’s tough to find when we’re trying to find Necas linemates.

Noticed the annoyed looks from Kuznetsov more than once the last couple weeks. Last night he got into some open space in the neutral zone and was the obvious play, seemed like Necas shook him off and I want to say they lost possession at the blue line or gave it up with a dump in.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

I’ve been pondering it a bit, now that someone with a much higher skill level is also struggling to make it work I wonder about the job itself a little. I’m a Necas guy but he’s clearly not easy to play with. Kuzy is the first guy I’ve seen actually get a little annoyed at Necas for not passing the puck a bit more. They had a moment some time this week where Necas was dancing all over the place through the neutral zone and Kuzy made a nice run through an obvious lane for him but Necas kept it….hesitated at the line then made another move taking the line after Kuzy had charged and it was way offsides due to the hesitation. They looked annoyed at each other. Kuzy was right and he’s the first one of the three choices that had enough clout to look at Necas and say “…..really?”.

Necas does do well straight line players with little creativity in open ice as they go to obvious places and allow him to do all the creating. Drury and Noesen make pretty good linemates for Necas. So you’ve either dropped Necas to the fourth or Kuzy. If we’re rolling four I don’t know that it matters much. Kuzy can make the most of his linemates better than Necas can by a significant margin.

I agree we don’t have a clear second line imo, other than Necas is the next likely guy past the first line you’d expect to create something. This is part of why I think Necas is just done here. We’re going to miss all the good things he brings and we won’t replace them easily but I think he’s as frustrated as everyone is with him. I could see his agent making it hard knowing the team won’t pay and everyone just washes their hands of it and starts over. It feels like Skinner’s last year in a way.

Anyways we seem like a very strong team, and the moves were good but I’m a little torn on our chances. We now have a great first line but first lines can be nullified in the playoffs. The third line doesn’t seem as productive as other years and the grind doesn’t seem quite as strong. All season its seemed like the second and fourth lines are interchangeable. I like the defense. Freddie will have to finally prove himself a playoff goalie or Koochie has to take a big step.

I’d bet there’s a combo of players that would work well with Kuzy, but it’s tough to find when we’re trying to find Necas linemates.

Kuzy was a colossal reach at the deadline and i still don’t understand the trade because of the 2nd year on the deal. Kuzy is Necas like. Outside players who dangle the puck and can make great passes. The main difference is the effort level Necas level gives on defense is the difference in Kuzy’s passing abilities.

Yea necas hasn’t had long term success with any linemates so far. We’ve had brief success with KK-svech and noesen-drury. Necas needs to realize he has better success without the puck than trying to create everything himself. Im sure that those few crazy moments where he dangles and then fires off a shot into the net keeps him wanting more of that.

Necas is likely gone. Jarvis is likely our 2C of the future. We don’t have much in line of centers in the pipeline.

 

[chaz4hockey]

I’ve been pondering it a bit, now that someone with a much higher skill level is also struggling to make it work I wonder about the job itself a little. I’m a Necas guy but he’s clearly not easy to play with. Kuzy is the first guy I’ve seen actually get a little annoyed at Necas for not passing the puck a bit more. They had a moment some time this week where Necas was dancing all over the place through the neutral zone and Kuzy made a nice run through an obvious lane for him but Necas kept it….hesitated at the line then made another move taking the line after Kuzy had charged and it was way offsides due to the hesitation. They looked annoyed at each other. Kuzy was right and he’s the first one of the three choices that had enough clout to look at Necas and say “…..really?”.

Necas does do well straight line players with little creativity in open ice as they go to obvious places and allow him to do all the creating. Drury and Noesen make pretty good linemates for Necas. So you’ve either dropped Necas to the fourth or Kuzy. If we’re rolling four I don’t know that it matters much. Kuzy can make the most of his linemates better than Necas can by a significant margin.

I agree we don’t have a clear second line imo, other than Necas is the next likely guy past the first line you’d expect to create something. This is part of why I think Necas is just done here. We’re going to miss all the good things he brings and we won’t replace them easily but I think he’s as frustrated as everyone is with him. I could see his agent making it hard knowing the team won’t pay and everyone just washes their hands of it and starts over. It feels like Skinner’s last year in a way.

Anyways we seem like a very strong team, and the moves were good but I’m a little torn on our chances. We now have a great first line but first lines can be nullified in the playoffs. The third line doesn’t seem as productive as other years and the grind doesn’t seem quite as strong. All season its seemed like the second and fourth lines are interchangeable. I like the defense. Freddie will have to finally prove himself a playoff goalie or Koochie has to take a big step.

I’d bet there’s a combo of players that would work well with Kuzy, but it’s tough to find when we’re trying to find Necas linemates.

Solid post.

I’d actually lean towards Drury for 2C given his faceoff % and willingness to play d/play hard. I just don’t see it with KK nor Kuzy and agree with your worry.

 

[WreckingCrew]

I’ve been pondering it a bit, now that someone with a much higher skill level is also struggling to make it work I wonder about the job itself a little. I’m a Necas guy but he’s clearly not easy to play with. Kuzy is the first guy I’ve seen actually get a little annoyed at Necas for not passing the puck a bit more. They had a moment some time this week where Necas was dancing all over the place through the neutral zone and Kuzy made a nice run through an obvious lane for him but Necas kept it….hesitated at the line then made another move taking the line after Kuzy had charged and it was way offsides due to the hesitation. They looked annoyed at each other. Kuzy was right and he’s the first one of the three choices that had enough clout to look at Necas and say “…..really?”.

Necas does do well straight line players with little creativity in open ice as they go to obvious places and allow him to do all the creating. Drury and Noesen make pretty good linemates for Necas. So you’ve either dropped Necas to the fourth or Kuzy. If we’re rolling four I don’t know that it matters much. Kuzy can make the most of his linemates better than Necas can by a significant margin.

I agree we don’t have a clear second line imo, other than Necas is the next likely guy past the first line you’d expect to create something. This is part of why I think Necas is just done here. We’re going to miss all the good things he brings and we won’t replace them easily but I think he’s as frustrated as everyone is with him. I could see his agent making it hard knowing the team won’t pay and everyone just washes their hands of it and starts over. It feels like Skinner’s last year in a way.

Anyways we seem like a very strong team, and the moves were good but I’m a little torn on our chances. We now have a great first line but first lines can be nullified in the playoffs. The third line doesn’t seem as productive as other years and the grind doesn’t seem quite as strong. All season its seemed like the second and fourth lines are interchangeable. I like the defense. Freddie will have to finally prove himself a playoff goalie or Koochie has to take a big step.

I’d bet there’s a combo of players that would work well with Kuzy, but it’s tough to find when we’re trying to find Necas linemates.

Honestly I think we need to try a 2nd line of
Svech - Kuzy/KK - TT

Drop Necas to the 3rd line with MartyParty & Staal. Let them do the grunt work in the corners and let Necas roam around looking for open ice, if nothing's available dump it back in the corner and let Staal/Nookie grind and move it around until he can get open again

 

[chaz4hockey]

Honestly I think we need to try a 2nd line of
Svech - Kuzy/KK - TT

Drop Necas to the 3rd line with MartyParty & Staal. Let them do the grunt work in the corners and let Necas roam around looking for open ice, if nothing's available dump it back in the corner and let Staal/Nookie grind and move it around until he can get open again

I wonder if RBA will move Svetch off 3rd line given his better play? Challenge with placing Necas on the 3rd line is that the line no longer has that 3rd guy to be a shutdown effective unit. Necas is the square peg looking to fit in the round hole for most of Canes lines.

RBA has some tough decisions to make....

 

[Blueline Bomber]

The RBA effect. Defense goes up, finishing goes down.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

And just for completion's sake:

 

[MinJaBen]

I wonder if RBA will move Svetch off 3rd line given his better play? Challenge with placing Necas on the 3rd line is that the line no longer has that 3rd guy to be a shutdown effective unit. Necas is the square peg looking to fit in the round hole for most of Canes lines.

RBA has some tough decisions to make....

Given the way Necas plays, and who we have available for wingers and centers, I think I would try this combination to "wake-up" the 2nd line:

Jake - Aho - Jarvis
Svech - Kuzy - TT
Nookie - Captain - Fast
Noesen - Drury - Nachos
KK

At least at home, you are getting offense from lines one, two and four, and good defense from all four lines I think.

 

[chaz4hockey]

RBA discussion on Marek show again, this time re: Buffalo opportunity. Friedman still suggests a deal has been done and he will return (presuming his assistants have been taken care of)

 

[Svechhammer]

RBA discussion on Marek show again, this time re: Buffalo opportunity. Friedman still suggests a deal has been done and he will return (presuming his assistants have been taken care of)

I mean I've heard from very reliable sources that there is absolutely no worry about Brindy extending.

 

[bleedgreen]

Honestly I think we need to try a 2nd line of
Svech - Kuzy/KK - TT

Drop Necas to the 3rd line with MartyParty & Staal. Let them do the grunt work in the corners and let Necas roam around looking for open ice, if nothing's available dump it back in the corner and let Staal/Nookie grind and move it around until he can get open again

I don’t think I disagree much other than Necas. I’d play him with Drury and Noesen and see if you can get them enough minutes so you’re not limiting Necas too much. Basically make the 2 and 4 as interchangeable as they’ve seemed all season. If one is hotter one game or period you ride them more.

I think the third just has to be the classic Marty/Staal/Fast. They’re built to be a solid playoff line. I think Kuzy and TT work pretty well together, Svech just has to work himself out of it. He’s a shooter they can pass better than anyone. I didn’t initially like TT and Kuzy when they first tried it post deadline but I’ve come around on it. Neither get intimidated by the playoffs and they play like they’ve got the slowest pulses on the rink in the offensive zone.

 

[WreckingCrew]

I don’t think I disagree much other than Necas. I’d play him with Drury and Noesen and see if you can get them enough minutes so you’re not limiting Necas too much. Basically make the 2 and 4 as interchangeable as they’ve seemed all season. If one is hotter one game or period you ride them more.

I think the third just has to be the classic Marty/Staal/Fast. They’re built to be a solid playoff line. I think Kuzy and TT work pretty well together, Svech just has to work himself out of it. He’s a shooter they can pass better than anyone. I didn’t initially like TT and Kuzy when they first tried it post deadline but I’ve come around on it. Neither get intimidated by the playoffs and they play like they’ve got the slowest pulses on the rink in the offensive zone.

Wonder what Victor Rask is up to these days? They can feed off each others joy and exhilaration after scoring