JotCast | PHR Live Chat: 12/18/24

PHR Live Chat: 12/18/24

Josh Erickson

1:56

Hey folks, I'll get started at the top of the hour!

Darrell73

2:00

Who do you think is most likely to make a massive move or panic move and are you surprised at some of the big names left off of the Canadian and USA junior teams

Josh Erickson

2:02

In terms of straight-up sheer gravity of trade, the Rangers are the easy answer and for good reason. Chris Kreider checked in at No. 1 on The Athletic's most recent trade board earlier this week. I know it's been an incredibly trying year for him and he's now gone seven games without a goal, but that contract is, at worst, fair value for his production over the past couple of years.

2:04

When people say "panic move," I tend to define that as a team making an ill-advised trade because they're buying into results more than process. Hockey is the most luck-based major sports. Sometimes, things just take longer than you'd hope to play out even if they're constructed correctly. I see the Oilers there. I'd put the Bruins here. Nothing's really changed. They live and die by Jeremy Swayman. Unfortunately, this year, his play is artificially tanking their record rather than boosting it. Not sure any adjustment to the group of skaters will help if their goaltending keeps going like it is.

2:05

I thought the US roster selection for the WJC made sense, for the most part. Canada leaving off Zayne Parekh will haunt them. Wonder if this will make it the first time without medals in back-to-back tournaments since 2013 and 2014.

Mike

2:06

What can or will buffalo do to right the ship

Josh Erickson

2:06

What they can and what they will do are entirely different questions. You'd think a 6-1 loss to the worst team in the conference would spur major change, but with how frequently they've pushed out the "answer is in the room" message, I'm not sure how much action we can realistically expect.

2:08

The person carrying the most blame here is Kevyn Adams. He had the opportunity for an impact addition this summer and missed the mark. Yes, all of his additions were quality ones and have largely produced up to expectations aside from Sam Lafferty, but depth only takes you so far.

2:09

That said, I think if someone is willing to offer a trade for Cozens where the value of the return matches his upside more than his recent production, you take it and run. Yes, I think he'll rebound and his numbers will come back alive somewhere down the road. Whether the Sabres should have the patience to wait this out is an entirely different question.

Jeff

2:09

Who do you see the Devils acquiring at the trade deadline? They need to free up some cap space to add a player.

Josh Erickson

2:10

They don't really need to free up space. You're overlooking the benefits of daily cap accrual, which the Devils have been able to take advantage of by staying out of long-term injured reserve for most of the year. If their roster remains the same, they'll have $3.6MM to spend on deadline day. That's certainly enough to land the depth center Fitzgerald has been public about trying to get.

2:11

They certainly don't have a need in net or on the blue line. A better No. 3 option in goal might be nice, but would obviously come with a negligible cap impact. I'd look out for Radek Faksa out of St. Louis with some salary retained as a 4C upgrade.

Pegula

2:12

My visit didn’t really inspire the Sabres, should I fire the GM to get these guys going? Or do I have him make a splash on the trade front to get the guys out of their rut? Who should we target on the trade market?

Josh Erickson

2:14

That Cozens/Byram for Elias Pettersson idea Friedman threw out is absolutely hilarious and not something Vancouver is seriously considering. Leveraging Cozens for a much more established top-six impact piece is absolutely the trade they need to make, though. Like I've thrown out before, can't imagine the Jets want to part with Nikolaj Ehlers right now given their record. But if extension talks don't progress, I'd look there.

StlBorn

2:14

Does Saad get dealt and if so where?

Josh Erickson

2:16

He does. He's making $4.5MM this season and next, the Blues will likely need to retain close to 50% to get him dealt to a contender. He has a full no-trade clause, so he'll need to be going somewhere with Cup aspirations, I assume. I like the Hurricanes as a fit. They're rolling but have missed Jesper Fast. Another veteran winger in the mix couldn't hurt.

Al Arbor/Mike Bossy

2:16

Is it about time to let Lou Lamoriello retire and take Patrick Roy with him?

Josh Erickson

2:17

Beyond time on the former, hard to judge Roy's performance this season with the crucial injuries they've had. Let's see how the next couple of months pan out with Barzal, Duclair and Pelech back in the fold.

Al Arbor/Mike Bossy

2:17

and why is Matt Martin still on the roster ?

Josh Erickson

2:19

Wish I could tell you. But yeah, his possession impacts this season have cratered to the point where it's just not worth it to have him on the ice as a deterrent for 10-15% of the game.

Cbj4life

2:19

With all this cap money for the jackets next year . will they spend all and can we get some high name player to come here . Like Johnny hockey did …god bless him and his family

Josh Erickson

2:20

Yeah, Columbus will likely have around $45MM in space entering the summer as things stand if the cap jumps as expected. Only one pending RFA in Dmitri Voronkov that's due a big raise, too. I wonder if they even qualify Daniil Tarasov at this stage given how poorly this season has gone for him.

2:22

I think they might try to retain Provorov. If they do, I think that takes them out of the market for a big-name D. Gotta leave a spot for Mateychuk, he's a no-doubter for next year's opening night roster in my opinion.

2:23

One name I'd look out for if Vancouver ends up not wanting to pay him – Brock Boeser. Would look out for the other Brock (Nelson) if they want another veteran body down the middle, too.

DStars

2:23

If Seguins contract is moved to the LTIR, will it change their approach at the trade deadline to possibly be even more active?

Josh Erickson

2:24

It's not a question of if, but when. They'll absolutely move him to LTIR at some point before the trade deadline, there's no reason not to unless it becomes magically apparent he'll be ready before the playoffs (highly unlikely). That said, it does benefit them to wait as long as possible until doing so. They might even wait until a few days before the deadline unless we see an early surge in swaps as we did in 2023.

2:25

They accumulate more cap space that way before entering LTIR.

They need another defenseman – desperately. Preferably a righty, but anyone will do since Heiskanen can play his off-side. Would LOVE to see Marcus Pettersson there.

Cronin

2:25

Who replaces me next summer?

Josh Erickson

2:27

No clue. But it would be hilarious to see Todd McLellan finish his clean sweep of California.

Rags Fan

2:27

I know last year the Rangers had many deficiencies which weren't addressed in the off season... or with trading away Trouba (although that was an amazing feat not having to retain). With that being said... if you were GM... what's the fix? Internal (Berard, Othmann) Or trades? Who goes, and who do they get to fix this season and hope to limp in to the playoffs?

Josh Erickson

2:28

Their struggles this season aren't really about a lack of addressing deficiencies in the offseason, in my opinion. It's more centered around the sudden, unforeseeable drop-off of Kreider and Zibanejad. Trocheck has been far better defensively than Mika and has been insane in the faceoff circle, but his offensive production is also nowhere near where you'd hope it to be given he had 77 points last season.

2:29

That said, the fix is trades. Sometimes, you just get dealt a bad hand. I won't argue that Drury has been perfect in his role, far from it, but hindsight is 20/20. If I was at the helm, I would've had a similar approach to last summer other than trying to add more on the blue line.

2:30

That bad hand means the answer isn't within the room (catch up, Buffalo!). Try to address your deficiencies in a Kreider trade – leverage him for a scoring winger with a long history of positive possession impacts. It's a tough way to go out for him, but pretty necessary at this stage.

Rags Fan

2:31

As always thank you for your time and hoping you and yours a happy healthy and safe holiday season!!

Josh Erickson

2:31

Same to you!

paul

2:31

Any chance Ethen Frank at Hershey gets a NHL sweater in DC or deadline trade to someone? fastest guy at AHL and leading scorer 2 years and a row has to have a chance somewhere, right?

Josh Erickson

2:34

It's always tough with guys who bloomed this late. History tends to work against them. That said, I don't see the harm in giving him a shot to be the next Stefan Noesen somewhere. Doubt it will be in Washington – they don't want to mess with a good thing offensively, and for good reason. I'd like to see if he can help with things in Nashville. Type of under-appreciated asset that Trotz would seem to like.

TraderJoe's

2:35

Which of the following players will not still be on their current team by season's end: Kakko, Kreider, Gibson, Marner?

Josh Erickson

2:36

The first three, although I'm less confident about Gibson. We've all been burned too many times before. There's no shot Marner gets traded. If it was happening, it would have happened already. Fully anticipate the Leafs have a high degree of confidence about getting a deal done, and even if not, they can't afford to lose his services for a playoff run in a prime year of their contention window with the rest of the core. They won't land enough in a return in an in-season deal without severely handicapping their current roster. He stays or he walks. He's not getting dealt.

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