Future

I think there's a pretty real scenario where ADA and Fox are both ahead of him on the PP. If that's the case, he's a 25-point player. Maybe not this year, but Trouba isn't so talented offensively that he should just be given that spot, especially with the offensive talent of those other guys.

Nonsense. The contract is a bet that Trouba becomes something he never has been before, a #1D. In other words, it's assuming he'll grow as a player. ADA has shown capable of being responsible enough to play in a top-4, if he's given "advantageous positions." Also, Trouba was not that good when Buff was out. The idea that he showed himself to be a #1 in that time is a myth. In 39 games from Jan 1 to March 30,: TOI: 23:48 +/-: -3 EV points: 12 (3rd among WPG D) SAT%: 47.19 (2nd) - OZS: 49.41 PP points - 17 (2 G, 10 secondary assists) On that team, nobody should be impressed by those numbers. The guy hasn't shown anything to be a top-pair play driver, and that's what he's paid to be and what he has to develop into. If "he is what he is," NYR just gave $8 million to a 2nd-pair D. Right now, he's Ryan Ellis, not Roman Josi, but they're paying him as the latter.

Why? This logic didn't apply to Trouba.

Sure. But the reality is that WPG has exactly 2 RHD on their roster right now. So even if Pionk is bad, he's going to get his opportunities. Unless they decide to give Morrissey a lot more PP time, Pionk is probably still in line to run the second unit already.

For Panarin it depends on how good the winger opposite him ends up being - and whether or not Quinn ever splits he and Zib up to balance out scoring. If Kakko, Kravstov or Kytil is good on the other wing, Panarin and Zib can both be PPG players. Trouba's scoring is grossly overvalued, but he might come close to 50 just based on volume. He might get PP1 time and rack up some points, but he's not really a PP1 player, and not really a 50-point player. If Buff gets hurt again, Pionk will put up similar scoring numbers.

Probably retained. The article is explicitly about buying out both.

I don't think you're understanding. We aren't talking about options. We are talking about them having to buy out both Smtih and Shatty. Yes, there are 500 more helpful alternatives.

The whole context of this conversation is that you have to buyout Smith and Shatty because they can't trade Strome and Namest. Sure, it's easier if you can trade Smtih with no retention.

Ah, ok. That doesn't have the Smith buyout. So take $3m off. You don't have a backup goalie (Georgiev) signed, take $2m. You have 9 F and 6 D signed, so you need to add another 5 players. If they're all $1m, that's another $5m. Now you're down to $6m, best-case scenario, without bonus payouts.

Yea I misread your link at first. But the team you put together isn't for 2020-21, because it has a bunch of players (Kreider, Fast, Namest, Strome) who are pending UFAs and Georgiev on an ELC. It also has a cap hit of 78.7. I'm really not sure where you're getting $16m from.

We're talking about buying out BOTH Smith and Shatty. For next year, without signing Trouba, ADA, Buch, Lemieux, or Georgiev, you're already at a $63m committment. Assuming an $84m cap: Trouba - 8 ADA - 1.5 Buch - 3 Lemieux - 1 Georgiev - 2 Shatty/Smith Buyout - 9 You're at $76.5m...subtract the ~2m savings from the buyout, and you've got just over $10m with only 9 forwards signed and needing room for potential bonus payouts. If your 10-13 forwards only cost you $4m and you pay half the bonuses ($2m), you've only got $4m left to play with.

It's not about need, or long term. The second you signed Panarin, it became a win-now team. If they are a playoff team this year, and struggle to score, they could very easily say "we need scoring depth at the wing." It doesn't matter what the ELC guys might be in 2023.

Well no it doesn't, but also, so what? The buyouts can be restrictive if the Rangers want to have the flexibility to do anything next offseason.

Yes - last spring. I would ride a bus for $3 million for two years if it meant knowing my kid was taken care of.

Hoffman, Dadonov, Pietro, B Schenn. And that's not even considering possible trades from sellers. If CBJ sucks, it's not impossible that Cam Atkinson becomes available. If Henrik Borgstrom is a top-6 player, maybe Florida will part ways with Trochek. There are a million players who could/might become available, but again, the point isn't "who." It's that, if you're against the cap, you're limiting your ability to take advantage of any opportunities that do present themselves.

Said that about JT and Panarin too. The point is, though, that what the buyouts do is make it so the Rangers can't be aggressive next offseason.

Taylor Hall.

Well, this is why I say it's too early. What if Raymond is a .5-.6 PPG player in the SHL at 17? Anton Lundell was a .5 ppg player last year in Liiga (kappo .84), what if he makes a jump? Byfield could score 100+ points as a 17 y.o. There's no 1-1 comparison to Hughes because there are no US players at the top of the draft, but I don't buy that Kakko/Hughes are in a tier ahead of those guys, based on where they are right now.

Sure. But this has absolutely nothing to do with what I was talking about.

I wouldn't include Namestnikov there, but this has been my concern. Panarin is way more impactful if Kreider is there on the second line.

I mean that's fine, but if they go into the playoffs and only have one scoring line, I don't think leadership is going to view it that way. They're going to want to be players. But regardless, they aren't going to have a choice, and that's never a good position to be in, especially when you have those young guys on ELCs. K'andre? It's pretty wishful thinking to expect a rookie D to come in and make that kind of difference.

So an entire 4th line and a 13th is 4. If Chytil isnt effective at 2c or you don't have enough scoring on the wing, it's 5, and that 5th guy is going to be expensive. You literally have 2 proven NHL scorers in this lineup lol

No, but it means you are basically rolling with the same team you have this year, because, depending on the cap, they'd only have like $8m in space and 4-5 empty forward spots + Georgiev. That's pretty tight. So no, the cap hit next year won't cost you anybody, but it makes any significant improvement all but impossible.

I never think it's likely that a player walks away from 6-8 million dollars to move to Europe when they have a wife and young child.

Well first of all, Kreider is just one small piece of why I say they have no plan, not the entire thing. Several plans pretty much just means no plan. They flat out said that they don't want to go into this season with players on expiring contracts like they did last year, so they aren't going to try to view Kreider as a rental. State of the team is the same it was then. When that season started, they said they were trying to "rebuild on the fly" or whatever, and were still positioning themselves as a playoff team - especially when they signed Shatty. If they played better and didn't have the injuries, they probably don't send the letter. This year it's the same thing with Panarin and Trouba. They might end up being bad, but the expectations are absolutely raised.