BrooksBurner

We really just need to wait and see what Gaudreau signs for. He’s probably the closest UFA wing comparable to Panarin since Panarin signed his contract. If he has ties to Calgary he may take a discount, but if he leaves it’s probably for max dollar or close to it.

Detestable comment. Udderly detestable.

I’m not -against- the idea of Toews like many are, but he’s not slotting in over Chytil for me, so if you get him you pretty much slot him at 3C over Goodrow. That’s fine, but it’s not necessary either Kane would soothe the loss of Strome for Panarin and it doesn’t cap hamstring the team long term

I'm just gonna go ahead and say it. Patty Kane to the Rangers half-retained (Kravtsov, Lundkvist, Nemeth). Zib/Chytil/Goodrow will be your centers down the middle. Lafreniere - Zibanejad - Kreider Panarin - Chytil - Kane Blais/Cuylle - Goodrow - Kakko Chytil tells the haters to suck his big ol' peen.

Considering we got Braun for a 3rd and Vatrano for a 4th this past deadline, getting that 3rd next year is an excellent grab.

Can’t decide between bullseye or laughing emoji

Who’s more reputable? Larry Brooks, or Kyle on Twitter?

There are multiple teams in the Metro who should be all over trying to acuire Tkachuk. Namely the Devils.

And he still got 8 years at 5.1

Bad choice

Ryan Nugent Hopkins

Even at 8 years he’d get more than 4 no? Are you Arthur Staple?

Rangersland is going to flip their shit when, after all the smoke, Strome re-signs for 5.5M x 6 years

You’re just not thinking about the matchups Kreider can get on the 4th line

Let’s be a trend setter. Either we can push building down the wings OR push positionless hockey!

per Pierre Lebrun in his latest Athletic article. I would almost…almost say fuck a center to just go ahead, trade for Tkachuk, and put fucking Greg McKegg at 2C

Doesn’t make enough sense to me to pay the trade cost for a JT Miller rather than just wait one year to get him in UFA…or even just 6 months and get him as a trade deadline target if the team is a contender. PLD, on the other hand, is worth the sacrifice because he is young and only attainable via trade for the next 2 years. Even Scheifelle with 2 years left makes more sense than Miller, but still not nearly as much sense as PLD.

The first window is already partially open now through the rest of Shesterkin’s contract (3 more years). It’s ultimately just down to timing now for when to make a major move to maximize how open that window gets. It could be this upcoming year, but the team is probably better situated to do so the following year. The window is shortened to 2 years by waiting a year though.

Not sure that’s true. If Drury shedded Kakko (~$2.3), Chytil ($2.3), and Nemeth (2.5), that’s the bulk of Miller’s extended salary (assuming $8.5M extended). That doesn’t take into account a raise for Chytil next summer either, which I would assume he’s in the $3s or $4s based on production. So…it can work if Drury wants it to, but should he want to do that for a 30 year old center?

Yes. My initial question was phrased poorly. What I was really trying to drive at was why should the Rangers in a cap crunch pay Motte more when they should be able to find comparable veteran options for less. They aren’t really in a position to be throwing chunks of money at 4th liners.

In the regular season he played on the Zib line the most of any line last year.

Pending 30 y.o. UFAs coming off a career year (by far), don’t typically cost 23 y.o. cost controlled stud defensemen who have shown it at the NHL level. That would be a monumental fuck up by Drury.

Many different routes have been suggested. I think this offseason is much worse of a cap crunch than next offseason, and we all knew this summer's crunch was coming. The Rangers will probably just have to weather the storm for a year before being able to improve on the things they need to improve on. Cross that bridge when and, more importantly, if it even comes. If they don't commit any money to UFAs/RFAs past this season, other than to Kakko for about ~$2.5M, they will have plenty of cap to take care of who they need to take care of amongst Lafreniere, Miller, Kravtsov, Chytil, and even Blais, along with filling out the last few players in the bottom 6 and a backup goalie. They have at least two cheap forward recruitments on the way at that point (Othmann, Cuylle). They can also free up another $2.5M by dumping Nemeth, which is even easier to do (buyout or cheaper cap dump trade) if they deal with him on the roster for one more year. This is not that dire of a situation, unless they do something batshit stupid like sign Kadri to $8.5M and wiggle around to make it work this season. Nah. The veteran core has plenty of gas in the tank to be a serious Cup contender over the next 3 years. There will probably be a step back next season due to the cap squeeze as everyone has been saying, but there should be high hopes the following year with the veteran core supplemented by the kids who have progressed. And the kids who have not progressed get traded and filled with useful players to fill the gaps. Not all of these kids are taking a step forward so big next year that they all will command high $. It's just not happening. And if it does, that's amazing and the Rangers will probably trade one of them for a high price. It's not realistic to expect all of the kids to be here long term. If you haven't acknowledged that, you should probably start so it's easier to take when one or more of them are traded. It might even be this offseason. Well, in the scenario you paint, Chytil is among the guys who blows up and needs a lot of money next summer, so maybe that's how? Or they trade a kid (and their future salary) for a young 2C like PLD.

Kakko's problem isn't with linemates. He had last season almost entirely with the top 2 lines and he still didn't produce.

Should the Rangers pay a 4th liner more money because they are younger, or should they find an older equivalent like Cogliano for less money?