LindG1000

All of me is more interested in Dubois than Laine. Center - which we need. Clearly breaking out - again, a need. Physical with a bit of a nasty streak to him - again, a need. He and Lafreniere both have strong links to Rimouski (he grew up there, Laf played there, though I freely admit this sort of thing is overrated). He's on a two year deal with a QO of just around 7.3M - probably reasonable for a high end 24 year old fringe 1c. Columbus lacks defensive depth. We have it. We lack center depth. They have it. PLD to NYR makes a fuckton of sense if they're willing to take some amount of middling cap back (a Buchnevich or a Strome or someone in that price range)

I can see a path forward with Kreider and Laine ostensibly flipped on the cap chart. Laine probably can't command much more than another 750k-1m over his current salary barring a completely bonkers COVID season. What's the going rate for 30/30 wings in the flat cap world - 7M-ish? That's almost trivially different than Kreider. Obviously, he's young, so there's some room for him to just...go off, but I seriously doubt he's going to make more than that without the UFA designation. Shesterkin is going to be negotiating his next contract with, at best, a 60 game body of work. I can't see that being a massive deal, and I have to imagine that the Rangers will push for - and get - multiple years on it. Not to be a dick to him or something, but even with his KHL resume it's kinda hard to open the vault on him. Laf is worrisome, if only because we're already committed to 1/3 of the expected cap in his contract year - that's before Zib, before Fox, before Kakko, and assuming we've basically flipped Kreider and Laine - and he could command 8+ if he's all he's cracked up to be. I'm not worrying about Kakko until he gives cause to worry. He's 19, so again, runway for years, but I'm completely in the dark on what he gets in two years. If he performs to his draft pedigree, he might be getting around 5.5-6. A lot of this is uncertain territory - very "two birds in the bush" stuff. Also, I'm guessing there's going to be some pressure on the NHL and the NHLPA to alter the cap system over the next few years, either through compliance buyouts, maintaining the taxi squad concept, or the introduction of a luxury tax, because there are far too many contracts that were signed with the assumption of at least some cap growth that will absolutely hamstring key teams. Either that, or as Pete said - this generation is just going to have to eat it for a while on under-market contracts and bridge deals.

I get that our RW depth is kind of mystery box-y ("Kravtsov/Kakko could be anything! They could even be Laine!"), but the cap implications of acquiring Laine are almost crippling without sending Kreider over. And, let's face it - Kreider isn't waiving that NMC for Winnipeg. Keep playing the dominoes game and you start to recognize that acquiring Laine costs us Zibanejad or Trouba. Which would be fine...if Trouba were even remotely moveable.

https://theathletic.com/2291511/2021/01/04/new-york-rangers-2020-21-season-preview/ For those of you behind the paywall - the basic gist of the deep-dive is that the Rangers have as much elite talent as they have detriment, and could pretty much land anywhere because young talent could explode and cover the gap...or not. There was also appropriate hyping of how ridiculously good Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox were and will be.

Yeah. I'd wager Kravtsov's ETA is probably St Patrick's Day, plus quarantine period.

I'd join up. Haven't done fantasy hockey in a long time, but I'm game.

This has been brewing for a while. Roslovic asked to be traded last year too. He was drafted as a center, but he's more of a wing at the NHL level. The read on him is either that he's a bottom 6 winger thinking he's a top 6 winger, or a guy buried behind Winnipeg's incredible RW depth and can't break past Wheeler and Connor. And, to be fair, it would take a lot to get past Connor or Wheeler on that team. He thinks he's the latter. Winnipeg thinks he's the former.

CBJ wins their division.

Rangers players take home two individual trophies.

Just three weeks to puck drop, ladies and gentlemen!

I think the NHL just needs to be comfortable with a potentially greater lack of parity for a while. If you want to lift all boats, you probably need a mechanism that makes your very big market teams comfortable spending more than your small market teams. The soft cap/luxury tax idea is great; the big 5 teams will almost assuredly spend enough to bridge the bottom 10 or so back to relevance.

Wanted to grab these two posts because they say some interesting things about youth - in no small part because many of our long term spots are quite well spoken for - especially on the wings and on defense. I think when it comes to having the volume of youth we have, a good GM balances expectations, perceptions, and reality. A really good example of this is someone like Filip Chytil; he's probably exceeded expectations thus far (yes, seriously - he's just barely able to drink and he's basically been playing third line minutes in the NHL for his whole career with little special teams), he's rather highly regarded, and he's expected to make the leap to a true top 6 center role this season. The reality of Chytil's situation is that if he cannot play the 2C role for us, there's probably not a long term fit. He's either our 3C (which might be great if he finds a running mate, but much more likely that if he can't outperform Strome, it's a problem), he's a top 6 wing (which on this team, he just isn't. He'd be a LW, and he'd be our 4LW immediately), or he's simply not a fit for the Rangers. He probably doesn't have the Howden option, where if he can't do the offense, people still think he's good defensively and can become a 4C/PK specialist (whether or not that's true). There are three scenarios here where Chytil is a very valuable trade chip because his value exceeds his performance ability on this team, and one where he is a key cog. This is a big year for him because this is generally where a center like him starts to make the jump, and he's due a new deal. That's the balance. If Chytil can't be the 2C, and you can make a deal involving Chytil for someone who clearly can be...you have to think about selling high, especially given the current financial situation of so many teams for the foreseeable future. It's not necessarily "put up or shut up" so much as it is a true numbers game - if Chytil can't be the 2C, he should be dealt. That same numbers game will probably claim Tony DeAngelo within a year or two (he's gotta go LD, or he's probably gotta go), will probably claim Strome (when we eventually figure out 2C, he isn't the guy), will claim Buchnevich or Kravtsov (2 top 6 spots for 3 top 6 RWs, no opportunity to change sides, none of them play center), and will almost assuredly claim all but two of Lundkvist, Rykov, Miller, Robertson, Hajek, Reunanen, and Schneider. Learning to sell high on youth helps you vault into competition and stay competitive, and it's a skill Gorton is going to need to master to simultaneously move into the competitive window and stay competitive. As for rushing prospects, I'm not too sure that's the case. True for Lias, for sure, but not for Chytil or Kravtsov or Kakko. I think when the hype doesn't match the initial output, folks get disappointed and it feels that way. Kakko was already running the Finnish men's league - he was the third highest scorer in the Finnish league as a 17 year old, and Chytil basically played .75 PPG as an 18 year old in Hartford. There's an argument for Kakko to have been in Hartford for a bit, I guess, but it's hard to look at the stats and think they weren't ready for a next step. Kravtsov is moving at his own pace right now, and when he finds consistency, he'll be ready for the jump too. It's something that they're really concerned with, as they've invested heavily in personnel to help ease that transition (Tanner Glass, Tuomo Ruutu, and a few others).

I'm so excited for him to make the club. Probably not going to be an offensive dynamo, but might be near impossible for opposing forwards. 6'5 230 and that skating? Good luck.

Agreed. This is not a year to be pushing the chips all-in - it's another growth year, especially given the cash situation. The Rangers should be positioning themselves to leverage their liquid cash, the expansion draft, and next years FA period for the next few key pieces. They're holding a ton of the cards right now and there's no good reason to play the hand before they have to, especially with some teams likely needing to get out of some good, higher cash deals. Just strike at the right time.

https://theathletic.com/2260364/2020/12/16/new-york-rangers-expectations-contenders/ A lot of what we already know, but a very interesting read for those of you who subscribe to The Athletic. A few of the more interesting points made include: -Few if any teams have ever had their future 1D, 1G, and 1W on ELCs all at once (referencing Fox, Shesterkin, Lafreniere) -The financial realities of the NHL, the Rangers now-and-future ELCs, and the huge amount of cap coming off next season position the Rangers to flex their financial muscle -With a little good luck, 2021-22 could open the Rangers' contention window

See, that's how you get back into the making money game. Enough dicking around with secondary sports networks. Get the heavy hitter behind you.

I don't particularly care if the Rangers end up with a Chase ad on their helmets or something. I'm not even terribly miffed if they do what the NBA has done and do the "inverse soccer" (with the ad on the right or left of the chest). As long as they don't have the Rangers shield in the corner and a giant "BANK WITH CHASE" on their chest.

I'm honestly not sure if I want to just sit back and enjoy this crazy ass ride the Giants are on, or actively understand that this team is currently playing better than the sum of its parts and is still so far from being true contenders.

Eh. I'd guess that they do "stay on your side" and "travel" chunks in the schedule. Having to do that five times in five months is rough though.

Honestly, most excited for Alfred Molina. He's such an awesome actor and Doc Ock is such a great villain.

I'm going to overthink this and get a little wild, but as the cap was a blessing in disguise for us, so too shall the spending limits and cap freeze that will almost assuredly come through. Our biggest contract and cap concerns moving forward really start after next year - and we all agree that this year is one where the goal is "make the playoffs". With the restrictions in place, and performance bonuses of any significance starting to wane off, we're going to be able to limit RFA spend and frankly, cap potential UFA spend. Zibanejad is amazing, but in this environment there's almost no way anyone in the league is paying him 10M. No matter how much better Kakko gets or how good Lafreniere is or how many Norris nominations Fox gets - they're also soft-capped. Shesterkin won't have the body of work to make a big claim on cap, and there's literally no advantage to kicking the can a year or two because there is no cap increase. We have a phenomenal collection of talent that we almost cannot overstep financial boundaries to retain. So long as the key youth players grow as expected, we're going to be a terrifying team for most of the next decade. Also, because the hockey gods are ironic, I'd bet on 2024 being the year. A giant circlejerk where we wheel out every septuagenarian and sexagenarian who played on the 1994 team, followed by the run.

Haven't heard details, but I'd imagine that the NBA getting started is going to put some pressure on. I'd also guess there might be some players worried that if COVID keeps going off like it has been in the states, they simply won't be able to get there.

Well let's start here - how do you plead "act of god" for NHL when you've got your NBA teams and your NFL teams and your MLS teams and your EPL teams (Kroenke owns the Avs and Arsenal FC) and your MLB teams, etc, etc playing? "Not play" is not an execution of a force majeure, it's a lockout. If owners think they're going to lose money not playing, the lawsuit the players will win is a straight up money toilet. Further, they just redid the CBA and agreed to it four months ago. The owners may have finally fucked up in their negotiations for the first time ever, but they codified a deal. However - in no small part due to the escrow system, taxes, and so on - the idea on the table is actually decent for the players, especially players with some longer-term deals or higher value contracts. It's really bad for new players and bottom 6 types, because they simply lack the financial security to benefit from the owners proposal and will have to deal with the financial commitments owners made prior to their contracts. Fox and Lafreniere, for example, are simply not going to be paid their worth for 7 more years. The players actually have the owners over a table here, and they should extract a pound of flesh in exchange for agreement. I'd imagine they players should ask for - at the absolute minimum - interest on the loan greater than annual return on sound investment.

The most interesting thing is how some of the owners - and there are quite a few (Dolan, Stan Kroenke, MLSE, Leonsis, the Pegulas) - who own multiple franchises could invoke a Force Majeure on the NHL when their other teams are playing. It's an almost comically bad legal argument. Regardless, this is the ultimate shot in the foot for the NHL if the owners go through with it. I believe Walsh is actually right here - this would be a massive legal case for the PA against the owners, and they'd probably win. Further, short term gain, sure, but fuckers, your TV contract is both horrible and up for renegotiation next year. Get your product out.

https://theathletic.com/1606480/2020/11/30/nhl-trade-value-rankings/ ADA gets an honorable mention here too. Oddly missing - Brendan Smith and Adam Fox.