Important Week Ahead for NYR

Good morning, boneheads!

Previous post was getting too long, time to move on. We will find out by the end of this week what Gorton had in mind when he talked about “rebuild on the fly”.

Meantime, ICYMI, according to multiple media sources, NY qualified RFAs Mika Zibanejad, Jesper Fast ( both at a 100% of their base salary, $3.25M, and $1M respectively), and Nick Jensen ( at 105% of his base salary, or $630K).

Also, Gorton did not give qualifying offers to Pirri, Skapski, and Clendening.

Pirri’s scoring ability wasn’t enough to overcome his questionable skating, and he didn’t do enough down the stretch ( especially on PP) to warrant his return.

The decision on Clendening is a bit surprising to me, as he was another R handed D-man they let go. He is only 24, has shown some offensive ability, and it would’ve only cost them $630K to retain his rights. NY doesn’t have any issues with the amount of contracts, they are well below 50.

Another player who left was Marek Hrivik. Hrivik has been with this organization since 2012. He, according to Carp, wanted out. Which probably means he elected to become a Group 6 UFA ( a player who is 25, has been under professional contract for at least 3 years, and played in less than 80 NHL games).

Hrivik was on a promising path initially, and was projected to be a steady bottom 6 forward, but his development was derailed by two concussions, the last one, and the most vicious, courtesy of a certifiable jackwagon Zac Rinaldo.

348 thoughts on “Important Week Ahead for NYR”

  1. There’s something that doesn’t fit with Clendenning otherwise they’d offer him a contract, unless he’s after a guaranteed spot or something more than #6/#7D.

    With this much cap space i don’t think they’ll be able to resist a run at Shattenkirk

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Not getting a center back in the Stepan trade has limited what they can do trade wise. If you trade a wing to get a center, you know have a hole in the wing. Add losing Lindberg, well it’s not pretty down the middle.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Yes, BDL. I doubt Gorton and AV think that Zibanejad/Hayes/Miller will be their 1-2-3 down the middle. Who they get depends on the market. If they trade for a R D-man, the center will be a short term plug in from the UFA market. Or other way around.

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  5. i agree ilb – once they’ve re-signed the RFAs, got a backup goalie it’ll be a choice of UFA D-man or Center. I think they’ll look into Duchene and see what it’ll take to get him from the Avs, he has a higher ceiling than Step, if he can reach it.

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  7. May be hard to trade for a 1RD without significantly weakening the remaining forwards. I don’t see a path right now since they’ve thinned out up front already. Then again, I’m not the GM.

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  8. I agree with bdl. Cleneding stinks. Not sure what the love affair is with this guy. He’s got a bit of an offensive game but his defense stinks. And that’s his job.

    I think they make a run at Shattenkirk and I’d like to see them go after Bonino too. After that we’ll see.

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  9. BDL- the last 3 offer sheets were in 2010, 2012, and 2013. All three were matched. But just for a discussion sake, tell us who you would give it too, and what would you offer.

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  11. Clendening stinks, alright. But it would only cost them $630K to retain his rights, and they could’ve easily waived him. It may have something to do with their summer cap, and him having arbitration rights. He may have a case presented by his agent that he played his most NHL games in one season, and has his most productive year. If an arbitrator awards him a contract over $1m, they wouldn’t be able to walk away, and would have to carry a dead cap space, albeit of a few $100K

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  12. I think Gorton is trying to be very careful with how he uses his money. Keep in mind that Girardi’s buyout already gives them a fair amount of dead space and they have to be somewhat strategic in what they do.
    Maybe instead of carrying an extra forward and D man they want to see some guys make the jump from Hartford. Or maybe they see more potential in someone like Ryan graves than clendening despite the L/R saga. They have a plan. We have ideas. Will be interesting to see where they go

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  15. It will never happen, but I can’t stop thinking about the idea of offer sheeting the hell out of Draisaitl. Too bad they dumped Eberle’s contract. Between his money and what McDavid is going to get, the Oilers might not have been able to match.

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  18. Yoosed to be juiced by Donuts and Danny G shutting down our opponents’ top dogs. Then that ended. Then looked forward to JT’s shifts and some serious banging. Faded. Only thing exciting left was Grabner breakaways and in bringing up Glass to catch some energy on the ice. Over. Now what?

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  21. Offer sheets are a waste. Will 9 of 10 times get matched. Tampa is the team for shattenkirk. They wanted him months ago and could move palat to make room. Shatty realize Tampa been after him and take money with no state income tax down their.

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  24. Gorton has put himself on the spot with the moves he has made. The team he has right now won’t make the playoffs next season. UFA signings will happen in the next week to 10 days and it may be make or break for him. If things don’t break right those who have advocated a rebuild may get their wish. This summer will be one of the more meaningful ones in many years for the Rangers. It may determine the next five or more years for them.

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  28. I think Pro athletes are considered by the IRS as ‘itinerant workers,’ meaning they pay taxes to their home state and city (if there are such taxes levied by that State) when training, playing, or living there, and pay additional taxes to the State and City in which they happen to be playing as a ‘visitor’ night by night or week by week. So when Cally comes to NYC, for example, he is figuratively raped just like the rest of us.

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  30. Everyone keeps talking about all these roster holes, and it’s true.

    The two moves to this point I found to be baffling that gorton made (or didn’t make) were not getting a centre back in the opie deal and not using one (or two) of the first round picks to acquire a NHL player in a need position.

    As of now, we need at minimum a top 4 righty D (top 2 would be better obviously), 2 NHL centres, a backup goalie, and first line NHL talent.

    There is not really any centre or righty D NHL depth in the organization. So to acquire what we need via trade, when need to deal from areas of surplus which is Nhl lefty D or close to NHL ready lefty D and top 9 forwards.

    Ideally if you could address the first line NHL talent and a centre in the same player it would help but the cost would obviously be high.

    If the rangers “plan” is to use z pack as 1C and no Doritos (gulp) as 2C, then you can add 3C hanzal and 4C Thompson or a player like him via free agency perhaps.

    Either way I think they missed and opportunity with the 2 draft picks to address a need via trade (if there was one out there)

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  31. Fat no to shattenkirk.

    Boyle will not come back here so you can forget that.

    Thornton would be ok on short term but I’m not sure if he wants to leave SJ

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  34. Wicky, I basically agree with you. I’ve been thinking this whole time, that the team was not too far off from being Cup relevant again. Now, they would have had to have been creative with the cap to get a top level forward and 1RD. Gorton must feel that the core youth players here are enough to build around.

    Very interesting week ahead, indeed.

    Liked by 1 person

  37. Keep something in mind boys. Sometimes the deal just isn’t out there. They traded Step and didn’t get a center back. Yes. But 1. They were on a time restriction to move him. 2. Maybe Gorton could have gotten a center but one that wasnt realistically going to be a top 6.
    And honestly if that was the case people would be just as worried/annoyed over the trade as they are w this one.

    Best option for a center could be Galchenyuk. 23 years old. Untapped potential. Needs new pastures to graze. Sacrifice some depth on the wing that can be filled via trade this year or free agency next summer. hayes is on 2nd year of his bridge deal you continue to evaluate him and see what your options are

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  39. My plan, BDL? I’ll have my hands full come July 1st with a bunch of new residents. I’m planning to make sure they do not kill anyone that day, and a few after. So I’ll be relying on Gorton’s ability to earn his paycheck, and on you, guys, with timely updates on what’s happening.

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  41. Wick – Gorton addressed the org ‘depth’ in the center and RD positions with Step Deal/Draft but didn’t address the NHL ready performers IMHO.
    .
    it’s funny how everyone thinks their own Dmen stink outside of the top 20-30 in the league. The position invites serious critique but rarely praise.
    .
    Still have UFA signings; Franson (RD2) and Hanzal (3C). Stone (RD2/3) and Gagner (1C – I keed…)

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  43. Coos- Hayes’ size and puck moving ability makes his ceiling seem so high but we’ve now had three years of him. He doesn’t have snarl or a desire/capability to physically dominate and he doesn’t have some blazing Ovechkin like shot. What we get is swirly twirlies back passes and spin o ramas. I like the idea of Galchenyuk with a chance to go bigger next summer w Tavares.

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  45. But if you really insist. My first step would be to see what it may cost to resign Smith. If it’s palatable, I’d start looking into dangling Miller/Kreider, some prospects/picks in order to get a legitimate number 1 center. If that route is successful, I would sign a stopgap on defense along with Smith, a few depth forwards/d-Men, and move ahead with the season.
    If Smith appears too expensive, then I’d concentrate on trading the same package for a legit 1st pair D-man. Then I’d sign a couple of depth forwards ( including one center), depth D-men, and move ahead with a season.

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  46. Michael Stone is still a decent option though not a top pairing guy. If the plan is to re-sign Smith and you add Stone to the equation you may be able to do the platoon thing. Not the best option but not the worst. And maybe next summer it persuades Mark Stone to want to come to NY

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  49. Jeff Gorton: “Wingardium Levio-sa”
    Jim Schoenfeld: “No Jeff, thats not what Carp meant, get on the phone and call Joe Sakic you fool!”

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  50. Thinking out loud here. Haven’t read this anywhere but would you do?
    Rick Nash
    for
    Anti Niemi 1 yr 4.5
    Jason Spezza 2 years 7.5
    1st round pick?

    Nash would have to approve. I think he got along well with Hitchcock in Columbus. Spezza’s health would be a concern.

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  53. Because of that one cup in 77, we all think we can do better than most Gm’s and coaches that have tried and failed in the past….come on Jeff and AV, prove us all wrong!!

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  54. I think this year is more of a rebuild than retool. They are not re-signing RFAs and UFAs like Paliotta, Hrivik et al. The Girardi Stepan moves were a welcome surprise, which makes the prospect camp more important to watch. I hope they don’t trade any promising young wingers for temporary help.

    To repeat last year’s Rangers “success”, I may have to count the progress of the youth movement in Hartford and elsewhere. i doubt that the current roster will get 100 pts.

    I expect some cap room to disappear this week.

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  57. Galchenyuk interests me a lot. The habs really want a top 4 lefty D and some help down the middle.

    In mtl the consensus seems to be 2 different coaches gave now played him on wing due to D zone liabilities. He’s been in the league 5 years so un bit sure if those will ever correct themselves.

    All that being said u trade skjeL and Hayes for him in a heartbeat. This doesn’t help our centre numbers as you lose a centre to mtl in the deal but you get an upgrade in talent up front. You have the lefty D depth to cover the loss of skjeL. Mtl doesn’t want a ton of salary back due to signing price at some point and potentially radulov.

    I also agree with ilb, smith is pretty important to re sign as long as the price isn’t crazy.

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  58. I do not have interest in bonino. The more I look at his body of work and face off percentage he is getting into shattenkirk 30 foot pole territory.

    Big no to bonino

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  60. Now was that so hard ilb. I hate your plan. Trading Kreider or Miller, is robbing peter to pay Paul. Stop gap Dmen? Don’t we have to many of them already?

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  63. BDL, for a legitimate 1st pair D-man, or a legitimate #1C I would trade anyone not named McDonagh and Buchnevich. Buchnevich because I believe we have only seen a tip of the iceberg in terms of his abilities.
    NY is still pretty strong on the wing, but very weak at C and on top 4 D position. You have to give to get.
    I hate to break it to you but this plan is far more realistic than getting anything at all if you use an imaginary offer sheet.

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  66. I think it’s obvious but I’ll say it anyhow – what we see out of Vesey and Buchnevich this year will give us a better idea of whether it may be worth using a Miller or a Kreider for trade bait

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  70. I could not possibly disagree with you more. You have already traded away your top center. Now you want to replace that top center by trading away your top winger. It’s a viscous circle you have yourself in. How are you going to replace the top winger? Trade McD?

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  73. Nash is the most skilled forward on the team. That being said he’s on the wrong side of 30, he’s deal w a lot of injuries over the last two years and he’s on the last year of his deal. If he wants to stay in the 6.5-7.5 million per range we’ll be parting ways w him soon too.

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  76. Re-signing Grabner depends on what we see from his this year too. Back to back 25-30 goal seasons will mean his bags are packed. If he comes back down to earth then maybe you retain him

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  77. Think a package built around Kreider could net us Barrie and Grigorenko from Colorado? Unless we want to blow this mother up, we don’t have enough to get what they’ll want for McKinnon. Duchene just isn’t that appealing to me. I think we can buy low on Grigorenko and see if a change of scenery can do something for him.

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  78. What about the Russian D they acquired; KHL signing & ’15 Draft?
    Alexei Bereglazov (23) LD; Stay at home style – 3 yrs in KHL.
    Sergei Zborovsky (20) RD; 2 way player; 6’4″ 205.

    Liked by 1 person

  79. Again, I’m talking about either a legit #1C that can be here for long term, or a legit R handed 1st pair D-man to play with McD for years. The won’t be able to get both. You can fill a void in the wing, if it exists, if you have someone who makes Zibanejad number 2C by default.

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  85. SN – Zborovsky becomes very valuable with the sudden league-wide fixation on decent right-shot defensemen. Wasn’t he thought of as a super stretch at the time, but he might actually be a steal?

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  87. Starting to think Sakic isn’t worth trying to make a deal with. From his comments and the length of time his players have been available it seems like he wants a kings ransom for anyone he deals. Knowing you have to overpay isn’t very appealing

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  89. You are all over the place ilb. Put aside my offer sheet idea, and try this out. Sit tight this year. Nieves is your 4, Miller your 3. The following year Anderson is close, and possibly Taveras a UFA. Or, you continue the on the fly rebuild. Trade Nash, and Zucc. Collect whatever assets you can get for them. Either NHL players, prospects, or picks. And again next off season the FA pool is much deeper.

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  99. If there is a plan, and it is only a one season hiatus from the playoffs, I’m fine with it. What I don’t want is panic signings and trades that set them back for years to come.

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  102. Galchenyuk is a 23 year old center who already had a 30 goal season and could be had for a price. That’s your most realistic option if you’re thinking long term and this season

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  103. Honestly no matter what the plan is you have to remember something:
    This team wasn’t winning even if they kept Stepan. Not Gortons fault if 29 teams wanted nothing to do with Stepan and the terrible contract Attached

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  117. basically he said “what is Arizona doing” saying that “Arizona thinks they got themselves a number 1 center for the future and stepan isn’t a 1c and the contract is brutal.

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  131. @carp If this year becomes a big step back it is probably going to be a declining HL that is the biggest factor. I think they’ll plug the hole at center. Is it that hard to find a 4C and an upgrade over last years G?

    Question: Who are the suitors for Kirk? And just how certain are we that somebody is going to really go 7? Or is it media (and agent) hype? I could live with him for 5 years as long as not grossly overpaid.

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  133. I’m not defending Pierre here, but he also did an interview on Toronto radio and said the same thing but went a bit more in depth.

    Pierre isn’t wrong whether you like Pierre or not. Stepan was never an NHL 1C and hadn’t been the best centre on the rangers since the short season.

    Stepan was just overrated by many ranger fans.

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  140. Stepan is gone. I don’t care what anyone says about him anymore.i get that there are some guys here who like to dance on Stepans grave. That’s fine. To each there own.

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  141. Don’t understand all the love for Galchenyuk… gotta be a red flag that an offensively challenged team weak own the middle had him buried on the 4th line in the playoffs

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  161. James if those two contracts are here Saturday I will jump. I already through the wife and kids out for the afternoon in anticipation of sitting on couch watching nhl network free agent frenzy and Twitter all day.

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  163. Anderson talked about wanting to make the team out of camp so he doesn’t think his contract to play in Sweden is binding for whatever that is worth. What I have read since Friday has made me hate the pick less. I have no problem with the player.

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  164. Anyone else find it interesting that the fishies were looking specifically for 2 first round picks for hamonic and the avs asking price for duchene is 2 first round picks

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  170. $10 says this year’s reclamation project is Brett Connolly. He’s got Pouliot written all over him. Probably won’t cost more than the stashable cap hit max.

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  177. NHL has transfer agreements with every European league except KHL. No European contract forbids players from signing NHL contract as long as transfer considerations are met. I believe those considerations (cash payments) depend on draft position.

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  191. These guys are available UFA’s:

    Michael Del Zotto
    Victor Stalberg
    Dan Girardi
    Dominic Moore
    Brian Boyle
    Brandon Pirri
    Marek Hrivik
    Adam Clendening
    Danny Kristo

    Emerson Etam is an RFA with Anaheim so we’d have to trade to get him back.

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  203. Given that is seems (with my Eklund level talents) i seem to have got Anders Nilsson right, that means by Monday we’ll also have Shattenirk and Duchene. What’s my prize?

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  204. To be fair all i did was check out the UFA list on capfriendly.com for any Swedish or Finnish netminders (not named Niemi) and picked the one that sounded most Swedish.

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  205. Yakupov, just to find outifnthere is something there. Grigorenko, because of size and position. Worst case, he is the 4the center.

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  206. James made some good points about Galchunyuk yesterday, but MTL wants centers and Dmen so I’m wondering if they see us as a good trade partner?

    Simon-I’d be fine with the big Swede, but I think we’d hate paying Duchene 1C money when he’s been a lot less than a 1C. As for Shattenkirk, he’s Yandle only grittier. No thanks.

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  208. Guessing is Sakic has no idea what he’s doing and ownership doesn’t provide much oversight. The group is much more interested in the Nuggets. Lebrun actually said on the radio yesterday that he doesn’t think ownership gives a damn.

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  210. Oh wow – here I am thinking Grigorenko would be a good trade target, and he doesn’t even get qualified. Heh.

    It could be a situation like with Brett Connolly, where he’s unqualified but they have a deal in the works. BTW – what’s the advantage there? If you qualify a player, are they locked into a certain contract structure or tier? Because why wouldn’t Washington qualify Connolly, just in case, and then sign him to the contract they had both agreed on anyway? Is it more a show of good faith?

    But if Grigorenko truly is being let go, he’s a solid reclamation project for sure. I’m a fan of Alex Chiasson as well.

    Did anybody NOT see Yakupov being a bust a mile away? Even at that draft, people knew.

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  211. Ruff-So, let’s get right down to it.

    AV-I agree. No reason to beat around the bush.

    Ruff-I’m going to need you to trust me.

    AV-I’m going to do my best.

    Ruff-Tell me. What in God’s name does Arniel do?

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  213. AV needs someone looking over his shoulder coos. We know Arniel isn’t he doesn’t do anything! I like the idea of Nilsson as a backup, Allaire have a it. I’m thinking by this time next week we will have a clearer picture of where Gorton has this team headed! Again no to Shatner-Kirk and no to jumbo joe!

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  214. Simon
    You win a week of riding around in ilb’s boot living off his refuse. It’s a smorgasbord to most of us.

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  217. Outside of a goalie and maybe Brendan Smith, I don’t see how you approach July 1 before you know what trades you’re making? Last year we swapped a center for a center. Hoping we see at least one deal before Saturday.

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  218. Nilsson would be my 2nd goalie choice.

    Yakapov I’m meh, don’t hate it don’t love it.

    Nazgul I’m also neutral about, more of a last resort imo

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  222. I’ll take it…where do i collect?

    Also i’d love to know why sometimes i’m me and other times i’m my Bonehead alter ago UKRanger…..must be this HAV of a blog! 🙂

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  226. Tom- I didn’t realize Montreal was looking for centers and D. With that said I’d be okay with parting with defensive/center prospects in order to acquire a 23 year old who is NHL proven.

    Big N-O to Yakupov. I just don’t think he’s worth the risk or cap space. I’d be very interested in Grigorenko. Burmistrov I’d consider as a secondary option

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  227. LOL I love the rat discussion. Remember last summer when we all bickered for over a month about how Maxim Talbot was a lock to play 4th line center maybe even 3rd line center and it was necessary because we didn’t have anyone like him in the lineup?

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  228. I like Nilsson as a backup option. He was solid while Lehner struggled last season. I have no problems with Condon or Pav as options either.

    Some positive news today between the Day article, the news of Smith trying to get a deal done with the team and reading a bit about Bereglazov.

    Liked by 1 person

  229. What a bunch of jackwagons…
    I’ve been telling you guys for at least two weeks exactly what Montreal is wanting/needing and now you guys want to bring it up?!

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  232. The article on doodie’s boy is good. Again, enough NHL or almost NHL lefty depth to get a deal done by moving a lefty D for something of value to a team that needs lefty D (mtl and Winnipeg)

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  233. Well Wicky in my defense I pay very little attention to what you say 🙂 I keed I keed. Like I said I feel like we have an overabundance of defensive prospects who play the left side. if you can get a deal done for Galchenyuk I don’t see why you hesitate.

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  234. As for Sakic, you notice how he hasn’t actually done anything to make his team better yet? I get that he wants a good price for his players but his players aren’t getting it done. Waiting long term for over payment could prove to be risky.

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  235. Oscar has a bit of a rat in him, not afraid to mix it up, finish his checks, but not dirty like Koonitz. Maybe not a rat, but a solid 2 way bottom 6 center; can’t believe Gorton can’t throw a player and a pick over to the Golden Slumbers for Oscar, Oscar, Oscar! They seem to be collecting #2 draft choices…

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  237. Would look to sign centers and/or Dmen; this team has enough top 6 forwards, probably too many so unless AV continues with the top 9 approach which works so well in Oct/Nov but not so much in March/April, time to move goal scoring for possession players. Sacrilege!
    .
    Grigenko yes, Yakupov no

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  238. Colton Parayko; 24 yo; Righty D; 6’6″ can play PP, PK, etc etc- Blues only $4M under the Cap.
    Do you throw a 7 yrs x $5M out to see the interest – would probably need to go higher. This kid should be priority #1 IMHO.

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  244. James
    I don’t think it’s odd at all to link Sakic wanting 2 first round picks for duchene and the isles asking price (which they almost got) for hamonic being 2 first round picks.

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  256. So a RD1 is not worth #1,2,3 picks but people want to trade 2 starters for Trouba?? The #3 is a crap shoot, so the argument is an RD1 for #1 and a #2 – what are the odds the #2 becomes an RD1 let alone a top 6/top 4 performer? So really, #1 for an RD1.
    .
    Would probably never happen but Gorton now has that flexibility with the cap space.
    .
    Parayko – McCapt
    Mr Smith – Shea Butter
    Bev D’Angelo – Staalled
    .
    Henk approves!

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  257. SN

    hard to take you seriously with those mocking nicknames.

    It’s the picks plus the cap space and not just for this year.

    As ILB pointed out the compensating draft picks are based on a 5 year deal even if it’s a 7 year deal. In which case the picks probably include another 1st round pick.

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  259. Nash is off the books next year. Bring on the Blues retaliatory offer sheet! Any big contract with the current group of UFAs is a bad contract. I understand people’s concern about the draft pick comp with offer sheets, but the Rangers have been just fine without premium draft picks for a lot of years now. Give me Pareyko, at 23 for 6 years, over a draft pick who is going to take 4 seasons to get here.

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  262. Hmmm! Bdl the Rangers have been just fine without premium draft picks for a lot of years now? 1 cup in 77 years! I like the idea of the players but really, it is time for this organization to stop trading draft picks. No matter what Gorton does over the summer this team isn’t winning a Stanley Cup with Lundqvist in net. Of course that’s just my opinion.

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  263. Nashed potato. Stepsoft. Done Girardi. Staalled. Pretty easy to see they’re an incredibly lame attempt to mock. I’m actually glad two of those guys are gone so we won’t have to see them much going forward.

    Mocking nicknames can be ok, though. They just have to be witty and creative. Most of yours are.

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  264. This is what in my small feeble mind I have a hard time computing…if you are keeping your once elite goalie (now top 10 imo) at his cap hit for the duration, you are probably not going total rebuild and are simply trying to inject youth here and there while you stay in the “playoff participant/cup potential” group of teams.

    If that is the case, it would seem the organizational “plan” would be more focused on the next year or two than 5 years down the road.

    It’s why I think the andersson pick at 7, while a bit of a reach, is more NHL ready (possibly the season after this one) than most of the other first round picks.

    Simply put, the current state of the organization is goaltender emphasized plan (imo) it would be more beneficial to do offer sheets (I know, not happening) and utilizing draft picks and young NHL players if necessary to win in the next few years than plan for 5 years out.

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  266. If the Blues called today and offered Parayko to the Rangers for next years 1st, 2nd, and 3rd would you do it? I’ll answer that myself, of course you would.

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  267. the bill is just becoming due on trading the last few years 1’s and 2’s. the first or even 2nd yr after the draft no real immediate effect. then when we constantly want to poach (incl some here wanting to do the offer sheet route) guys from those drafts from other teams it’s because we don’t have those of our own.

    it’s time to draft our own.

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  268. BDL

    you probably would do so even if it’s 7 million cap hit and the price included another first

    I have to say thank God you don’t run things.

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  270. Eventually this current Ranger playoff run is going to end and they are going to have truly rebuild. But right now is not that time. They have to many young players who are either in there prime, or about to hit there prime. Plus Hank is still the goalie.

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  273. I’m not endorsing an offer sheet, but I wouldn’t be scared of a retaliatory offer sheet of any kind, honestly.

    Lets say we sign Parayko to an offer sheet, they don’t match, and we get Colton Parayko for the cost of the contract, plus a 1, 2, and 3 next year. So if they turn around and do the same to any of the 4 players you mentioned…fine. We don’t match, we get those picks back essentially, and it turns into Colton Parayko for one of Miller/Vesey/Hayes/Skjei. I’d make that one-for-one swap any day.

    If they matched on Parayko – firstly they might not be able to afford tossing a poison pill offer sheet towards one of our guys – no way they take the chance of having to shell out big money to any of those 4 and having that on their cap. And if they do – they can have any of those guys for $7M, and I’ll gladly take the picks and flip them elsewhere for a comparable player to the one we lost.

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  275. Parayko is not signing OS 6×6. He can get 8 years at SL. Probably at 6.5 plus per. So you are going to have to offer him 7×7 plus for him to sign it. That’s 4 first round picks.

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  278. Losing the #20-26/50-56/80-86 picks in the draft assuming the team remains competitive is not the be-all and end-all of the franchise. This team is trying to win with depth which gets you a solid regular season but no prize in the POs with no elite talent.
    .
    Let’s the coach keep his job though…

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  279. The truth is simply this, we are in this mess because of trading top draft picks. Consequences aside it is time to stop the bleeding! They had a really good run but came up short. Gorton knows it, yes he will try to stay competitive, but I believe he plans on rebuilding through the draft on the fly. Words out of his mouth!

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  282. Trade UFAs to be Nash for a #2 (and a player) and Grabner for a #3 (or more if he performs again) at the deadline which makes it RD1 for a #1.
    Seems like good asset management.

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  283. @Dancer on Graves: Hard to move HL even if they wanted to (which they might) given the NTC and NY media market that gives him secondary income. If they went all in on rebuild, maybe they could have gotten him to waive it. But that is a mega sucky cap hit to take on.

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  284. BTW, for all of the talk of “you poach our players, we’ll poach yours” I didn’t see Nashville going after the Flyers (Weber); I didn’t see Buffalo (Vanek) or Anaheim (Penner) going after the Oilers (although there was talk of a barn fight); I didn’t see Vancouver going after Philadelphia (Kesler);I didn’t see Chicago go after San Jose (Hjarlmalsson); I didn’t see Colorado go after Calgary (O’Reilly). The only time I’ve seen it in the salary cap era was Vancouver/St. Louis with Backes and Bernier.

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  287. Again as pointed out a day or 2 ago.

    the draft compensation is treated as if it’s a 5 year deal. Say we offer a guy 7 yrs 50 million or a bit over 7 million per. The draft picks are calc as if it’s a 5 year deal so it would be 50 million divided by 5 or 10 million per. Bumps up a level or 2 on the compensation table.

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  288. SN not really

    we’d be trading a lottery pick likely top 1/2 of lottery if we were trading those 2 guys. We’d be trading them to top end team so for argument sakes we’d be trading number 7 for number 27.

    Not all number 1’s are created equally.

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  290. Guys, 7.4 x 7 year equals $51.8M. Now divide it by 5. Compensation picks are calculated over 5 year period if the offer sheet contract is longer than 5 years. That’s over $10M. 4 first rounders. Me. Bettman made sure.

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  294. My take is this team needs high end talent to be legit Cup contender. If they are a bubble team or a #7 seed, does it really matter in the long run??

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  295. All I’m saying is if you are going to rebuild, rebuild. Dump the goalie in one way or another. And know you are not going to be competitive for a few years.

    If you try to “save” all of your first rounders and picks while your team is still good enough to make the playoffs you’re normally going to be drafting in the high terms to low twenties anyhow.

    Be bad and get rid of your goalie and get top 5 picks for a few years.

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  296. Personally I trade a young roster player on two and get some NHL established high end talent and if I have to throw in a pick or two to get it done, so be it.

    As long as we have this goalie and his contract, I wouldn’t treat it any other way.

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  297. Right, forgot about the five year rule. Still, pretty easy to modify and get you out of the four firsts, albeit, still within the two firsts, second, and a third. 6×7.8 or 7×6.7 and you’re still under four firsts.

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  298. SN
    so this 1 rd is going to compensate for all our weakness at cap over 7 million. still missing 2 centers and zika needs increase among other uses of $ or other assets. all for that plus various picks given up.

    are we trading for karlsson? orr? or parayko?

    the reason i mentioned lottery and neat top of that is you mentioned trading nash and grabner at the deadline. they’re doing that if we are sufficiently out of the race and only then.

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  299. When Stamkos was an RFA, I would have offer sheeted the bejesus out of him. Instead we got Richards. Now, Imagine if we had signed Stamkos instead and gave up four first rounders. We do not make the Nash trade, and we probably don’t make the St. Louis trade. And the only thing it ultimately would have cost us is Brady Skjei. But we probably go to the Final in 2012, we might have won in 2014, and we probably go to the Final in 2015. Hell, we might have won in 2012 and 2015, too. We might have even made the Final in 2013.

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  300. Stamkos has had a lot of health issues last few years. Tampa with a stronger team around him made the finals once and this year didn’t even make the playoffs. His cap hit would have been greater than anybody we have on our roster in order for Tampa not to match.

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  303. What would the magic number have been on Stamkos? He wound up with $7.5M, so realistically, they would have had to have gone to about $10M per to have a chance TB doesn’t match. If that’s the case, they don’t make the Nash trade, and it’s also probably that one of Girardi or Staal doesn’t get the extension. Tax Free isn’t signed either way, but they’re still out a 2nd/3rd line player ($2.2M in cap space – difference between Stamkos and Nash).

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  304. Also, I was looking back to the 2012 roster to get an idea who may not have been signed (may have wound up costing Dubinsky), and I saw Sauer’s name. Interesting what ramifications his injury had because he was shaping up to be the 2RD for years to come, and possibly de facto 1RD playing with McD.

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  306. DaveB, good counter points to the retaliation offer sheet argument. I think GMs try to avoid burning trade partner bridges, though, and that’s why we don’t see them often.

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  312. I agree Gravy. Playing Devil’s Advocate more than anything else.

    Re: interest in Marleau – I don’t blame them for doing their due diligence and kicking tires. I know he’s not really needed at this point, but maybe they’re thinking of moving a winger for the dman we so desperately need?

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  314. Someone kept saying andersson was damn close to NHL ready, one of the few in this draft…now who was that?

    Marleau used to be pretty good at draws, not sure if that’s still the case.

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  318. Well, at any rate, we will find out what, “rebuilding on the fly” means in the next week or so. The depth approach is a good strategy if you want to make the playoffs every year but not so good for bringing home hardware, for that, a team needs top end talent.
    .
    The outlier to that theory may be the LA Kings, a team with solid depth and ‘some’ top end talent depending out if Kopitar and Quick are ‘top end’ (performed that way then, not so much now) but strong down the middle with Carter as 2C and clutch with Williams. 2 Cups is all the proof you need.
    That team was only as good as the refs let them be…

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  322. RR2,
    You tend to be negative about draft picks, then work your way up to liking them. So you not liking Anderson is no surprise to me. By the way, Malhotra, played 1000 games.

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  323. BDL, not necessarily. Some examples: I was, and remain, a big fan of Day and Ronning. Kreider wasn’t my first choice at the spot but he was in my top 3, so I was pretty happy with the selection. Skjei I thought was fine, even if it wasn’t my preference. I loved the Cherepanov pick. I also liked the Staal pick. I really liked the Montoya pick.

    I didn’t like Miller for the same reasons I don’t like Anderson, but I still liked him much better than Anderson. I didn’t like Gropp, I didn’t like McIlrath, I didn’t like Del Zotto or Sanguinetti, and I didn’t like Korpikoski. And I didn’t really pay attention to the draft before 2004.

    So it’s up and down.

    Yes, Malhotra played almost 1,000 games, but I don’t think this kid will be as good as Malhotra. I used Malhotra as the example of taking the safer NHL player pick over the player with upside. Really, his scouting report sounds a lot more like Lauri Korpikoski.

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  324. Jesus Doodie. You sound like one of those annoying old ladies who complains to a waiter.
    “The soups cold the bread is stale the butter is warm this fork is dirty I don’t like the meat I didn’t like The appetizer and I don’t want the dessert!”

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  326. Lots of debating about offer sheets today. All hypothetical esp since there hasn’t been one since ’13 but great to see this place so alive.
    Speaking of alive I hope none of the new residents killed anyone today on ILB’s watch 🙂

    Bold prediction: whoever we draft next year, Doodie will not approve.

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  328. They start July 1st, JamesG. This year it’s Saturday. I’ll be in the hospital on Saturday while most of you will be having an afternoon beer while watching the free agency signing. Even Wicky isn’t working. And Eric. Who will be under the table, holding his fully charged compact defibrillator.

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  330. BDL- In response to an earlier post about how this team will have to eventually go through a full rebuild, it may not be for a while. There’s a core being established now with Buchnevich Vesey Skjei, Zibanejad and eventually it sounds like players such as Shestyorkin, Day, Bereglazov and the latest two draft picks could fit in very nicely on an NHL level. If some variation of that group works out there may very well be a relatively seamless transition from old core to new. Kind of similar to how the Red Wings turned over from the Russian 5 era to the Zetterberg-Datsyuk era. Not guaranteed but certainly not impossible

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  331. Understood ILB. Sounds like ol’ Wickster needs to keep you updated to any big news 🙂
    As for Eric, I’m thinking a weekend trip to Landcaster PA to visit Amish Country may be his best bet!

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  332. After the first 3 picks of the draft, it’s a crapshoot even for the experts. Anybody here, or any message board on Earth, claiming to definitively know about a pick is just full of it. Be patient and let it play out.

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  340. I think the Rangers would and should be thrilled if this kid turns into Malhotra. But I think he has a tad more offensive upside. Of course, this is what they think, since I never ever heard of the kid until Friday. But they did mention the Malhotra comp in terms of having a man’s body and NHL-level skating, etc., already.

    Hey, Wick, you should go all Native American and change it to Dances on Graves (the side benefit that you’d have Graves in your name, as in WWADG?).

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