2021 offseason thread

The dope of a GM Drury traded the second best forward on the team Pavel Buchnevich for a second round pick and 4th line scrub. Buchnevich carried the first line and in particular his center Zibanejad who while being a legitimate sniper is also a center who needs his wings to set him up versus the traditional first line center who sets up his linemates. Without Buchnevich the underlying stats will show that the Rangers first line is going to be destroyed in matchups vs other teams top lines.

After Tom Wilson singlehandedly destroyed this team physically the Rangers answer was trading for renowned goon Ryan Reaves who is a huge minus as a player. The team believes that by outhitting the opponents they will win on the scorebaord which is complete nonsense.

The Rangers are very weak up the middle with Zibanejad who does not drive play as well as a similar player in Ryan Strome as the second center who like Zibanejad puts up points but allows more chances from the other team than his line creates. The third line center may or may not be Filip Chytil who is the teams best center but who the team does not believe in and may prefer on the wing despite being the best player they have at the center position.

The upside for this team is the two potential stars that they drafted first and second overall in consecutive drafts with Kakko and Lafreniere but both players are probably a year or two away from stardom although both may be ready to shine this season.

Adam Fox leads the defense and he is a great player. Unfortunately he is the only big time player on the defense with albatross Jacob Trouba and his contract holding down a spot on the second pair.

The team has a very solid goalie in Shesterkin so no problems there.

The team also replaces a terrible coach in Quinn with a mediocre one in Gallant so that was an upgrade but probably not a difference making one.

This is probably the lineup opening night with a few small comments:

Kreider-Zibanejad-Lafreniere Kreider is great one week then disappears for a month, Zibanejad is a sniper but a center that does not drive play and will greatly miss Buchnevich who carried him, Lafreniere is an obvious talent but probably a year or two from reaching his potential and probably a guy that will be droppd in the lineup when the team is struggling in favor of a veteran with far lesser talent.

Panarin-Strome-Kakko Panarin is a top 5 player in the league who makes anyone on his line look good, Strome is a third liner who puts up stats due to playing with Panarin, Kakko is a power forward who is great with the puck and a guy who will be a star. Panarin and Kakko make this an excellent line with Strome being a passenger lucky to be surrounded by superior talent.

Goodrow-Chytil-Kravtsov Goodrow was the typical free agent overpay who is labeled as a winner because he was playing with Tampa. This guy takes way too many penalties and is fine as a fourth liner making little money but as a third liner being paid big money is a minus, Chytil is a great young player but the team does not believe in him and he may struggle with these linemates, Kravtsov is a former first rounder with ability but another guy the team does not believe in and he may or may not crack the lineup.

Blais-Rooney-Reaves Blais is a typical try hard fourth liner which is fine but him as the return for Buchnevich was a joke, Rooney is a borderline NHL player who you can accept on the fourth line but he adds little, Reaves is as advertised being a great fighter who is a minus at every other aspect of the game.

Lindgren-Fox Adam Fox is one of the best defenseman in the league and he carries Lindgren who probably belongs on a third pair

Miller-Trouba Miller is a talent who struggles at times positionally while Trouba is one of the most overpaid players in the league.

Nemeth-Lundkvist Nemeth is a stiff that they signed from Colorado who was happy to see him leave and Lundkvist is a rookie with big upside

Shesterkin-Georgiev Shesterkin is a very good young goalie and Georgiev is an adequate backup

This team downgraded in talent by shipping off Buchnevich and upgraded at coach but not enough to make up for the loss of Buchnevich. This team wasn't close to playoff contention last season and I see no reason why they would come anywhere close to 95.5 points. I expect 80-85 points tops and if someone like Panarin goes down they may wind up with far less.
Kakko based on pre season at least has made the leap

He looks so much better than anytime I remember last year
 
Kakko based on pre season at least has made the leap

He looks so much better than anytime I remember last year
I'm expecting big things from both Kakko and Lafreniere this season. With that and the huge upgrade in coaching going from Quinn to Gallant who is nothing special but at least competent I am less confident in my under. Might be time to cut the wager in half by taking the over even though I expect the negative contributions from the likes of Reeves and Trouba to hold this team down.
 
8.5x8 for zibanejad seems excessive

This is a worse contract than your favorite trouba @brewers888

His only ever season over a ppg was panarin related and he also shot 20% when his average outside that year is 12%

According to the below, rangers get killed at evens when hes on the ice

FBWSmxjWEAoWa2i
 
8.5x8 for zibanejad seems excessive

This is a worse contract than your favorite trouba @brewers888

His only ever season over a ppg was panarin related and he also shot 20% when his average outside that year is 12%

According to the below, rangers get killed at evens when hes on the ice

FBWSmxjWEAoWa2i

I doubt this is worse than Trouba but its just the latest in a long line of awful deals put together by what is and continues to be amongst the worst front offices in the game. Buchnevich carried Zibanejad and that will show this season and going forward. The most I would have given is 5 x 5 and I would even have been hesitant to do that.

The Rangers are going to eventually lose guys that will be worth paying like Kakko and Lafreniere because of grossly overpaying Zibanejad, Kreider, and Trouba. Heck they already gave away Buchnevich to sign this guy when the analytics tell the story that Zibanejad was in fact carried by Buch. We haven't even mentioned this player has an extensive history of concussions which is just one more reason not to hand out a deal like this.
 
The no movement clauses should only go to star level players. Fox can get one when he gets extended but giving them to players like Trouba and Kreider is idiotic especially when you don't get a big discount on the contract they are signing.
Good take here. I mean Kreider only leading the league in goals and Trouba playing lights out.
 
Good take here. I mean Kreider only leading the league in goals and Trouba playing lights out.
You might have a point on Kreider though this year is clearly an outlier but Trouba is trash. Its also quite conveinent that you ignored my comments on the disastrous Buchnevich deal.
 
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