[brooks] Versatile Veteran Strome Looking to be Part of the Rangers? Core

[Phil]

Well, tag + term, but yeah. It's not Strome, the player, I'm saying no to. It's Strome the player at mid-millions + years.

[Gravesy]

50 points is 2nd line production on good teams. Strome averaged 40 on bad teams.

You keep saying this but his average is 32 points. I guess you’re not counting his rookie season to get to 40, which is fair. You should also remove the complete outlier that is his 50 point season riding shotgun with Tavares. That leaves you with a guy averaging around 30 points, which is about right for a bottom six utility player like he is.

If they come to terms reflective of that ability then sure, why not.

[RJWantsTheCup]

Per 82 games Strome averages 37.798 points.

[BrooksBurner]

Per 82 games Strome averages 37.798 points.

 

Also after subtracting his single best and worst seasons to remove outliers, it's 35.4.

[Gravesy]

Last 4 seasons it’s 31,75. In actual points.

[Pete]

Sure, let's fudge numbers to make it all work for us. :)

[Future]

You keep saying this but his average is 32 points. I guess you’re not counting his rookie season to get to 40, which is fair. You should also remove the complete outlier that is his 50 point season riding shotgun with Tavares. That leaves you with a guy averaging around 30 points, which is about right for a bottom six utility player like he is.

If they come to terms reflective of that ability then sure, why not.

He didn't really play with Tavares much, to be fair. JT only had a point on 12 of Strome's 50.

[Gravesy]

Sure, let's fudge numbers to make it all work for us. :)

Oh come on. You said 40, which is incorrect whichever way you look at it. :)

[Gravesy]

He didn't really play with Tavares much, to be fair. JT only had a point on 12 of Strome's 50.

 

I didn’t know that. I was under the impression they were on the same line for most of that season.

I stand corrected if that’s not the case.

 

Still, 31.75 average over the last 4 seasons is a fair reflection of where he is as a player in my book.

[Pete]

Oh come on. You said 40, which is incorrect whichever way you look at it. :)

 

If you're going to nitpick on 38 vs 40 then we've really hit rock bottom. ;)

[Future]

I didn’t know that. I was under the impression they were on the same line for most of that season.

I stand corrected if that’s not the case.

 

Still, 31.75 average over the last 4 seasons is a fair reflection of where he is as a player in my book.

Lol, I thought the same thing too. That's the only reason I looked.

[Gravesy]

Well, you can call him a 40 point player if you want. But he’s been over 40 once, in what is an outlier season for him, and to get the 38 average you’re extrapolating the numbers from his rookie season where he played less than half a season.

In his last 4 seasons he’s averaging 31,75.

I’m going to go with that as my evaluation of him as a player if it’s all the same to you.

[Phil]

Even if we use a 40-point framework, and even if we go with the old ten points per million scale, I'm still not comfortable locking him up for years. For all the same reasons I wasn't at $5 million a year for 50 points. I just don't think he's the kind of player you marry. Period. Get what you can out of him, let him walk, and backfill with the centers you already have. I'm pretty sure Andersson can be a 35-point center, too, if he's given the same ice time and opportunity. At a fraction of the price, no less.

[josh]

Howden will be their Strome in the future. 3 points in 1 game, looking like a stud... then disappears for 15-30 games.

 

I think Strome could be a good player... for now, he's a stop-gap. I think he'd need an incredibly productive season for me to entertain signing him for anything relevant.

[Scott]

I'm firmly on the stop gap train. No more no less for me.

[The Dude]

Brian Boyle's contracts have been between 1.7 and 2.6M per year. If Strome wants to sign in that range, I'd consider it good value.

 

To pay a 4th line PK specialist almost 3 million, is ok? But a middle 6, 50 point guy getting 5 mill is too much?

[The Dude]

I think branding Strome a "middle six guy" is pretty damn generous. He's in that role because the Rangers have virtually no depth at the center position, but he is never a middle six guy for a contending team bar being able to do a job in a pinch. Put it another way, if Strome is playing meaningful minutes on the Rangers second line in two years time it's highly doubtful this rebuild went as planned.

If he does well this year I would consider signing him to terms reflective of what you'd typically pay a bottom six utility player, but that's it.

 

This is all contingent on him putting up 50 points this season. If he's putting up those numbers, he is likely in a middle 6 role.

 

Yes he's in that role right now because Chytil couldn't get his ass going in preseason. But if he can run with that job? Do you just dump him or sign him to market value and prepare to slide him down the roster if they have to?

 

IF HE PRODUCES, he's quite a good saftey net, in case the kids can't do it.

[The Dude]

Multiple roles? He has roster flexibility, I'll give you that, but "multiple roles" isn't a very accurate description. He can be used on a second PK unit. Like most players. Outside of that he's been, to this point, your average, run-of-the-mill middle-six player who can't produce big points or excel in a checking role, so he's just kind of there.

 

We literally just lived through this with Namestnikov and Spooner. Vesey, too, to some extent. Why are we in such a hurry to give $5 million dollars to a guy who could just as easily end up the league's most expensive fourth-line center as he could a quality third-line center? Moreover, why are we in a hurry, period, to sign third-liners to long-term deals? It's like we're in Groundhog's Day with this stuff. Callahan, Dubinsky, Vesey, Namestnikov, Spooner, Strome. Soon it'll be Lemieux. None of these are the types of players you should be marrying. Get what you can out of them, let them go in free agency, and backfill with whoever you took in the second- and third-rounds two drafts ago. Rinse, repeat.

 

Who's rushing? If he produces this year, he will be worth 4-5 mill. Especially if the kids can't get it together.

 

If he produces, and walks and the kids don't work out or take huge strides, you know what the next step is.. Overpayment on a guy that is slightly better than Strome, whom you are gambling on being able to play in NY...

 

There are a few variables in me wanting to resign Strome. I'm not going to repeat them.

[BrooksBurner]

To pay a 4th line PK specialist almost 3 million, is ok? But a middle 6, 50 point guy getting 5 mill is too much?

 

Woah. Back up. I never said Boyle was worth 2.6M. I wouldn't want Boyle for that, but Strome is better.

 

Strome's production aligns with that of a 3rd line player. Not a middle sixer. Not a 4th line player. A good season and 50 points doesn't convert him to a guaranteed 2nd line player. It means he probably just had a career year and I don't want to risk paying him for it, just to watch him regress back to 35 points. Even as a 3rd line player, circumstances matter. I'd rather take the cash and spend it elsewhere (top 6 F, top 4 D), letting a guy like Howden or Andersson take the role for pennies on the dollar.

[josh]

No Brian Boyle talk, guys. ‘gainst the rules.

[Future]

To pay a 4th line PK specialist almost 3 million, is ok? But a middle 6, 50 point guy getting 5 mill is too much?

This is disingenuous, because the 50-point "middle 6" player is essentially nonexistent. At a 50-point pace, you're either a top-6 player, or on a short-term deal b/c you're not a 5v5 play driver. Two players in the league last year scored 50+ points and played less than 16:00 - Jumbo and Labanc. Both scored nearly half their points on the PP, and they were on the same line. Labanc had 56 points and the Sharks gave him 1x$1, b/c he's not really a top-6 player.

 

And no, paying Boyle $2.75 isn't ok. The Devils traded him. But you can make the argument that what a guy like Boyle provides at $3m and 25 poitns is a lot more beneficial to winning than a guy like Strome at $4m and 50 points, because it can give you an advantage at 5v5 when the 4th line is on and a strong PK, whereas you're getting production, but an overall weak spot in the top 6 otherwise.

[Slobberknocker]

C'mon. Big Game Boyle...

 

would love to see Anderson's game improve for him to claim the no.2. That would be a big help to settling everything.

[RJWantsTheCup]

I think the plan was to play Chytil at 2C until he had a poor camp.

Wouldn't be surprised to see him up in the near future if he plays well at Hartford and the 2nd line continues to struggle.