The Blues roster is not all doom and gloom though. Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou provided the youthful exuberance for the Blues’ cup run and they’re now full fledged stars in their prime. They are at the front edge of a cohort just starting to reach it’s prime and it’s time for the Blues to fully transition the leading roles on the NHL roster to this group.
Greg Amundsen
Roster Ruminations: Detroit Red Wings – April 2024
It’s been 5 years since Steve Yzerman was named GM of the Detroit Red Wings. Fans have been very patient with the ‘Yzerplan’ over that time, trusting that their former captain’s direction would bring them back into contention. The Red Wings stood pat at the deadline this year and are finally in a fight for their playoff lives down the stretch. Is this season’s relative success the tip of the iceberg?
Roster Ruminations: New York Islanders – April 2024
The Islanders cap sheet doesn’t leave much flexibility to change course. They have a large contingent locked up on long term deals that sees over 40% of their cap space committed into the the 2028-2029 season. Most of the current roster is already under contract for next season and they have less than 10% of their cap space remaining to improve the roster for the 2024-2025 season.
Roster Ruminations: Boston Bruins – March 2024
Breaking the Bruins current roster into 4 year age cohorts shows us two waves of players going through their system. Brad Marchand is the last remnant from the Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup and is the face of the veteran group. David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy lead a group in their early prime that are taking over as drivers of the team.
Roster Ruminations: New York Rangers – March 2024
When we break the Rangers’ roster into 4 year age cohorts, we can see a some of the ideas from regenerative roster building in place. If you read the roster ruminations on the Dallas Stars a few days ago, you’ll notice some similarities, although the Rangers are in a different stage of transitioning between cohorts.
Roster Ruminations: Dallas Stars – March 2024
The Stars current roster gives us a pretty good look at what an a regenerative roster built around different focus cohorts can look like. If we break up the Stars’ current roster into cohorts of 4 year age groups, we get the following:
Roster Ruminations: Vancouver Canucks – March 2024
In January of 2023, Jim Rutherford stated that ‘major surgery’ was required on the Vancouver Canucks roster. It was termed a retool by Canucks’ brass at the time and it has yielded some quick returns, with the Canucks challenging for the President’s Trophy just a year later. Have they succeeded in opening a contention window? What did it cost?
Roster Ruminations: Ottawa Senators – March 2024
The Senators need to add to their rebuild cohort but their thin prospect pool means they don’t have future assets to use as trade chips. They should also be trying to accumulate draft picks from 2025 an on to build their next cohort so that the rebuild doesn’t fizzle out after a brief whiff of the postseason.
Roster Ruminations: Columbus Blue Jackets – March 2024
The Columbus Blue Jackets strategic direction seemed to take a big change in direction after they landed Johnny Gaudreau as a UFA in the summer of 2022. The Blue Jackets had a promising rebuild well underway when shiny new toy syndrome seemed to change their vision. Now without a GM, where are they headed?
Roster Ruminations: San Jose Sharks – March 2024
Team: San Jose Sharks Last Season: 22-44-16 (82GP) This Season: 16-41-7 (64GP) Team Building Status: Liquidation The San Jose Sharks attempt at a re-tool seemed Continue Reading