BrooksBurner

They made it to the SC Finals their first three years in existence, and got swept all three times, then didn't get back to the Finals until this year. It's very odd.

That makes it even crazier. What a wierd franchise. They've also squandered many opportunities with pretty great teams over the last 10 year span or so. Firmly in that Predator/Rangers bracket of close but not good enough.

The fan base deserves a Cup. Hope they can prove my prediction wrong and get it. Keep it out of Boston.

It was a bad bet. That was obvious from the start. “1 season”. No, I’m 3 seasons, he’s had maybe a half of a good season... and like I said last summer, that was playing extremely sheltered 3rd pair minutes and matchups. And that’s fine, just not on that contract.

Bingo.

The angst about Skjei's contract is quite overblown. He's got plenty of time to turn his game around, especially with Ruff gone.

It's not about that. He didn't earn the contract to begin with and he certainly hasn't shown to be worth it one year in. All of this points to the fact he could have been on a much cheaper bridge deal or you should have been able to lock him down for cheaper if he didn't want a bridge. They overpaid on that one in the moment.

I’ve been pushing for a 1 year contract for Buchnevich so he can prove just that. I’d rather him put up 50 points and pay him 5x5 next offseason than pay 4.5 now and he goes back to being a regular scratch/4th liner for 5 seasons. I’d love to see him be that guy, but my mind is wandering

Absolutely. I don't want another Skjei contract where we hold our breath and hope he earns the money.

Panarin - Zibanejad - Kakko

Buchnevich/Kreider - Chytil - Kravtsov

Lemieux - Andersson - ______

_____ - Howden - ________

 

Miller - Fox

H?jek - DeAngelo

Rykov - Lundkvist

Reunanen - Lindgren

Skjei

 

1.) not worried about the bottom 6. If any player projection doesn’t pan out, they can play a bottom 6 role.

2.) barring two drastic improvements, Buchnevich and Kreider can not Ben expected to Ben top line wingers on a competitive team moving forward. A 1-time 70-point center flanked by a 50- and 40-point winger doesn’t scream success.

3.) you have to pencil in Kakko or Kravtsov as a top line player. Andersson isn’t projecting to be one, and the Rangers can’t afford another top 10 (or the #2) to not meet expectations. And one should be a top 6 winger.

4.) The Hole. 2nd line ... wing? Time to see if Chytil can eventually be that #2 C. Try now, to determine the need to find a capable 2C for the foreseeable future. Chytil can shift to 2nd line wing.

5.) Panarin rounds out the top 6. He allows Kreider or Buchnevich a better spot on the second line. You can anticipate a line of Panarin - Zibanejad- Kakko to push PPG, reasonably. 2nd line being mid 50s - 70point guys . 3rd liners getting near 50.

6.) defense looks good. Still might be missing that true #1, but a great mix of skill, athleticism, scoring and physical

Play.

7.) with the #20 pick, I’d still target a highly skilled forward. A replacement for kreider/Buchnevich can aid the offense, push Kreider/Buchnevich to third or move them for a defender

I presume this is the vision 2-3 years from now and what the lineup may look like. A lot rides on those defensive prospects panning out.

One thing I'll point out with regards to Buchnevich is that even though I was disappointed with his season as a whole last year given that I thought he was ready to explode into a top 6 forward, he did finish strong. I still think he has a lot more potential than the production we've seen from him thus far. I hope Quinn began to unlock that potential towards the end of last year. 22 points in his last 31 games. I think it's still a reasonable possibility we haven't seen Buch anywhere near his peak.

I’d bet the Panarin-Duchene cap hits are within 1.5m of eachother

It isn't out of the question. You could make an easy argument for him using Mark Stone's contract at 9.5 per, but I'll go slightly less. Maybe 8.5-9M. Panarin 10.5-11M.

Rep bet, because I think you're completely off on that number and I'm just going to either get you to eat crow or eat my own.

 

I'm taking the under on 12m for Panarin and I'm taking the under on 7 years for Panarin. Ill do one rep on each.

 

In?

12M is an exaggerated number to make the argument sound better for not getting him. 11M tops. 7 years seems likely though. It's the going length for guys like Panarin.

Basically, in order to sign someone, it has to make sense on a number of different levels. He mentioned avoiding players with nagging injuries and avoiding players who are too far out of the preferred age range -- saying it's not going to be a good experience for either that player or the team.

 

Maybe it's stating the obvious, but he specifically said multiple times that they will have to do their homework on each and every player in consideration. They need to be good personalities and good people beyond just good players.

 

Also mentioned Kravstov was already in NYC and was impressed with his level of dedication.

 

Mentioned talking to Hank in the coming weeks. Mentioned talking to Messier for a potential job in the organization.

 

I'm projecting here, but I don't get the sense that he's excited to bring in Panarin or Karlsson for max dollars and/or term.

Not sure I get a read on Panarin from JD yet. Depends if he thinks 28 is young enough or not. It's a stone cold no for Karlsson based on his words in the interview.

John Davidson interview with Michael Kay:

you can keep having this conversation with yourself, if it makes you feel good.

No need. Glad we agree on Tavares based on your definition of elite.

LOL. OK.

 

Time to walk back from the rabbit hole.

 

Panarin isn't elite. That's the point.

Right. Neither is Tavares. That's the point. They are both in the tier just below.

Sure. With Barzal.

 

You wanna sign him to play with Howden? Let's revisit the Lee topic, this time next year?

Barzal scored 62 points. He doesn't elevate players that much lol.

Yea. Those Hawks teams were good.

 

While Tavares was making Moulson and Lee relevant.

Well Anders Lee just scored 28 goals without Tavares so I guess he's actually a decent hockey player.

In a class by himself in a scoring or ability category. MacKinnon elite speed and shot, same with mcDavid. Ovechkin/Stammer elite shot. Crosby plays the entire game on his backhand. Kucherov elite offensive package.

 

There are like 15 players giving you Panarin's level. Kane, Goudreau, Pasta, Marner, Seguin, Giroux, Hall, Raantanen.

 

He's just not the best at any one thing, or at all things.

This is fair. But you insinuated that Tavares is elite and Panarin is not. Josh just covered the case I was going to make.

No elite talent makes UFA these days.

 

Tavares, but that's a special situation. Panarin isn't elite. Neither is Karlsson, now.

Define elite.

Lindgren - Howden - Kravtsov

He's going to beat out Brendan Smith?