The possibility that the Penguins are ready to throw in the towel on the Crosby era just yet seems remote, however. It seems much more likely that they’ll continue to try to add pieces around the core to give the Crosby group one more shot at a long playoff run. The trio is not as dominant as they were at their peak, but they are still very impactful players. Crosby remains as one of the NHL’s best all-around 5v5 forwards and Malkin and Letang can still have a large influence on a game as well.
Teambuilding
Roster Ruminations: Seattle Kraken – April 2024
The Kraken have been building through the draft since they rose from the deep and it’s their young prospects that will drive the long term competitiveness of the team. Matty Beniers and Shane Wright are the headliners and there are plenty more exciting prospects developing in the Kraken system. Ryker Evans and Tye Kartye have started to make their mark in the NHL this season already. This cohort still has plenty of room to develop before it peaks and it would behoove the Kraken to find a few more roster spots for their youngsters next season.
Roster Ruminations: St Louis Blues – April 2024
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.
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?