Athletic Regression Candidate: Sammy Blais

[LindG1000]

3 hours ago, Pete said:

Lemieux is a shitty hockey player no matter who the coach is. On pace for a whopping 18 points over 82 games as a King. 

We need to stop referring to a ~55 point player who scored ~75 pace in a contract year as a "p/g player".

Buch is absolutely the type of player you walk away from. Career year in a contract year, cap is crunched, players ready to slot into his role, etc.

The only misstep was not getting a first back. 

It's totally this.

If the return was 1st and Blais - no complaints.

Even still, this feels like the Tikkanen trade in '93. We gave away the better asset, but may have gotten back the more important piece for us.

[shestYORKin]

44 minutes ago, CCCP said:

i still think this team is 3-4 years away from having their window

ok I need a drink  

[Albatrosss]

3 minutes ago, shestYORKin said:

ok I need a drink  

i'll be 50.  That's depressing

[Ozzy]

5 minutes ago, shestYORKin said:

ok I need a drink  

You're going to fit in nicely here!!!

[Ozzy]

3 minutes ago, CCCP said:

i'll be 50.  That's depressing

Oh Jesus, Simon!!!  I would drag my balls through 100 yards of broken glass, backward and forward to be 46!!!  LOL

...and by the way, where in the hell has your boy Dunny been??  ...need that guy back!!!

[Albatrosss]

27 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Oh Jesus, Simon!!!  I would drag my balls through 100 yards of broken glass, backward and forward to be 46!!!  LOL

...and by the way, where in the hell has your boy Dunny been??  ...need that guy back!!!

idk, we dont talk off the board.  but probably banned

[Sharpshooter]

35 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Oh Jesus, Simon!!!  I would drag my balls through 100 yards of broken glass, backward and forward to be 46!!!  LOL

...and by the way, where in the hell has your boy Dunny been??  ...need that guy back!!!

If you were in a Saw movie, that would be your scenario.

[LindG1000]

1 minute ago, Sharpshooter said:

If you were in a Saw movie, that would be your scenario.

Your assumption that Ozzy still even feels his balls and has pain response in that beansack is your downfall.

[Sharpshooter]

Perhaps his nut sacks merely resemble two pieces of sun-dried tomatoes.

[LindG1000]

7 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

Perhaps his nut sacks merely resemble two pieces of sun-dried tomatoes.

More like a leatherback turtle. 

[Albatrosss]

very disturbing convo, you two

[Ozzy]

46 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

Perhaps his nut sacks merely resemble two pieces of sun-dried tomatoes.

 

38 minutes ago, G1000 said:

More like a leatherback turtle. 

Raisinettes!!! 

[Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc]

I think its time to close the thread when you guys start talking about Ozzy's ballsack...

[CBrowningPI]

4 hours ago, G1000 said:

It's totally this.

If the return was 1st and Blais - no complaints.

Even still, this feels like the Tikkanen trade in '93. We gave away the better asset, but may have gotten back the more important piece for us.

B-O-O-M.     I'd add a gif or whatever but I'm stoopid.

[AliveIn94]

6 hours ago, Xander said:

You dump Buchnevich to afford the upcoming contracts of Norris winner Adam Fox, former 2nd overall pick Kaapo Kakko, and eventually 1st overall pick Alexis Lafrenierre who all need to be re-signed within the next one to two seasons. You also evaluate where your talent is at and who you think will develop. Kakko is primed for a breakout and already looks quicker and more of a scoring threat. Kravtsov has been injured but played well in limited minutes alongside superstar playmaker Kevin Rooney. Gauthier apparently has looked half decent, though I haven't noticed him.

Your trade options are the players either priced very highly or going to be priced highly, that can also be moved to a team willing to take them. Kreider and Trouba have high salaries and NMCs, so that knocks them off. All of our prospect depth is on the wings, so that doesn't make Strome a likely candidate. Zibanejad is our #1 C. The only logical option to avoid yet another cap crunch was Buchnevich, end of story.

And fuck Brendan Lemieux. Guy is a scrub.

This is pretty much the right idea. Also, what other team would draft so highly and just bury that pick in a situation where they can't grow? Laf and Kakko are almost certainly not bottom 6 or even middle six talents but, and I love Buch and always thought he had top 6 potential, Buch is a second line guy on a championship team. Kakko and Laf could be 1LW and 1 RW for a decade with this team.

Buch is not the problem. The problem was whiffing the Lias pick and mismanaging the cap with buyouts. The Rangers, all things considered, paid the piper for those mistakes with only ONE asset and got double that back. The fact that Blais hits anything that moves and has Buch type upside in terms of a late bloomer pick is a BONUS imo.

So looking at this team now, excluding elite or even NHL regulars over 25, we still have:

borderline top players in Laf and Kakko, 

Hopeful top 6 probably middle six Chytil and Blais, Kravtsov

middle to current bottom 6 guy in Gauthier,

Norris defenseman Fox

Lundkvist

a strong LD pipeline for the near future (Miller, Jones) w depth guys (Reunanen, Hajek etc.)

Starting caliber to elite goalie Shesterkin

Backup goalie depth

Othmann

 

Even if you consider some of those trad bait (Gauthier, goalies, Reunanen, Jones, Hajek, Miller?) that's still less than half the roster left

 

Bread-Zib-Kakko

Laf-Strome-Krav

Goodrow-Chytil-Blais

?-Rooney-Reaves

If we lose Strome, Rooney, Reaves Krav, Chytil, trade or otherwise, we still have players ready to jump in.

 

 

[Capt]

I don't think it was a misstep to not get a first back.  I'm sure Drury tried but the market wasn't there for a first.  It's not like he turned it down.  What he got back looks like a core type bottom 6 player that winning teams find.  A player who has intangibles in spades and brings an element that the Rangers are lacking and quite frankly is lacking league wide.  Blais to me anyway is a slam dunk to be a more important player than Buch could ever be, with the only thing possibly getting in the way is his health.  Regardless there was no room here ice time wise or cap wise for Buch.  I'm just so happy that the Rangers didn't get back another vanilla forward who isn't good enough to play top 6 minutes and isn't tough enough to play bottom 6 minutes with a purpose.

[The Dude]

12 hours ago, Xander said:

You dump Buchnevich to afford the upcoming contracts of Norris winner Adam Fox, former 2nd overall pick Kaapo Kakko, and eventually 1st overall pick Alexis Lafrenierre who all need to be re-signed within the next one to two seasons. You also evaluate where your talent is at and who you think will develop. Kakko is primed for a breakout and already looks quicker and more of a scoring threat. Kravtsov has been injured but played well in limited minutes alongside superstar playmaker Kevin Rooney. Gauthier apparently has looked half decent, though I haven't noticed him.

Your trade options are the players either priced very highly or going to be priced highly, that can also be moved to a team willing to take them. Kreider and Trouba have high salaries and NMCs, so that knocks them off. All of our prospect depth is on the wings, so that doesn't make Strome a likely candidate. Zibanejad is our #1 C. The only logical option to avoid yet another cap crunch was Buchnevich, end of story.

And fuck Brendan Lemieux. Guy is a scrub.

What happens if Kakko, or Lafreniere or Kravstov don't pan out. You don't trade a known commodity to make room for question marks whom MAY require big contracts in 3 years. Buch signed for 4.  What do you do if 2 of the 3 wingers don't pan out? 

Kakko is on season 3 and has really done nothing to show he's going to be a 1st 2nd OR 3rd player. Kravstov played 20 NHL games one year after he ran home when things didn't go his way. Lafreniere went from generational talent to another question mark on the roster.  There's questions about these guys even being in the NHL, yet you're replacing a ppg player with them and giving them each 5+ million. Meanwhile NONE have accomplished what Buchnevich has, even as a rookie. 

A LOT of counting chickens before they hatch.  Besides Fox, none of these forwards have arrived on the scene and dominated.  Their next contract should not be some sort of crippling deal. 

[Keirik]

13 hours ago, G1000 said:

It's totally this.

If the return was 1st and Blais - no complaints.

Even still, this feels like the Tikkanen trade in '93. We gave away the better asset, but may have gotten back the more important piece for us.

Ok, I’m sorry. I have to sort of call this out. It’s nothing like the Tikkanen trade . Blais is a shell compared to Esa. Tikk was not only a clutch playoff performer, but he was the pinnacle shut down fwd of his era. He isn’t far off from a HOF player especially considering his intangibles as a European in a time where they weren’t sought after in this league. 

[shestYORKin]

6 hours ago, Keirik said:

He isn’t far off from a HOF player 

Tikk should be in. would be a slam dunk if he had won a Selke or 2—which he deserved. but if Jari’s in, Esa should fucking be in.

[Pete]

47 minutes ago, shestYORKin said:

but if Jari’s in, Esa should fucking be in.

350 goals separate them... I'm going to have to call this take "ghost pepper". 

Edited October 9, 2021 by Pete

[lefty9]

All I got to say is, who's Buch 

[siddious]

Can’t wait until 20 games from now we’re all like “I miss buch”

[Pete]

4 minutes ago, siddious said:

Can’t wait until 20 games from now we’re all like “I miss buch”

That would really have nothing to do with Buch and more about KK, ALF and Krav sucking. 

Those guys excelling should make us forget all about 89.

[Long live the King]

13 hours ago, The Dude said:

What happens if Kakko, or Lafreniere or Kravstov don't pan out. You don't trade a known commodity to make room for question marks whom MAY require big contracts in 3 years. Buch signed for 4.  What do you do if 2 of the 3 wingers don't pan out? 

Kakko is on season 3 and has really done nothing to show he's going to be a 1st 2nd OR 3rd player. Kravstov played 20 NHL games one year after he ran home when things didn't go his way. Lafreniere went from generational talent to another question mark on the roster.  There's questions about these guys even being in the NHL, yet you're replacing a ppg player with them and giving them each 5+ million. Meanwhile NONE have accomplished what Buchnevich has, even as a rookie. 

A LOT of counting chickens before they hatch.  Besides Fox, none of these forwards have arrived on the scene and dominated.  Their next contract should not be some sort of crippling deal. 

I'm just baffled at how in this thread you bash Kakko as a question mark who has shown nothing, blatantly ignoring the massive growth from year one to year two and continued growth from year two to this preseason so far, just because you like Buch.

Then simultaneously in another thread, since you like Jones, you put him on a pedestal because he played 10 games last year.

[The Dude]

48 minutes ago, Long live the King said:

I'm just baffled at how in this thread you bash Kakko as a question mark who has shown nothing, blatantly ignoring the massive growth from year one to year two and continued growth from year two to this preseason so far, just because you like Buch.

Then simultaneously in another thread, since you like Jones, you put him on a pedestal because he played 10 games last year.

Show me on the stat sheet how much Kakko has improved.  I think everyone is a bit too forgiving for the lack of production the Rangers have gotten from a first and second overall picks that WERE considered slam dunks and I believe generational talents..  Kakkos "improved season " found him dwelling on the 3rd line and shunned away by the teams elite talent from his line. 

The time to experiment with him in a top line role, was the last 2 years. Not when you just dealt your only legit two way forward who clicked on your top line. 

Your point about Jones is non, because with Jones, I'm suggesting he replaces a player that is struggling since last year. Kakko and Kravstov are the exact opposite.  They have struggled to get their game together and impact the roster over the last 2 years and are replacing a guy who just had a career year at almost a pog. Jones would be replacing Miller, who looks lost to most. Slight, gigantic difference there sir. Thanks.