Boris Katchouk

[pete]

For those who haven't been keeping track, Syracuse has been surging in the past months thanks in no small part to their top line anchored by the dynamic duo of Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh. The pair were centered by Mitchell Stephens when he was down on conditioning assignment and are now centered by Otto Somppi, who is also having a great campaign.

Katchouk is now tied for 4th in the AHL in scoring and is 4th in the AHL in +/- at +20 for the campaign. He's well over a point a game and all the players in front of him in the scoring title race are western based players whose teams have been able to get in more games than the North Division teams. Raddysh and Somppi, for their part, are currently tied for 16th in the league in scoring even though Raddysh missed several games due to his recall to the Lightning taxi squad. He's also over a point a game right now and Somppi is just under a point a game.

Also, Cole Koepke played his first AHL game last night and scored his first AHL goal today in a 7-1 rout of Utica.

[Derek28]

It looks like both Katchouk and Raddysh have picked up a step or two skating wise this season and it has made a huge difference. They look like the prospects we all thought they could be coming out of the OHL. I guess the big question is what do the bolts do this offseason. Neither of those guys will clear waivers next year and I'm not totally convinced that Somppi would either.

[RSchmitz]

Can't wait for Katchouk to make the big squad, by so far my favorite prospect

[Bolthed]

I like that Katchouk, Raddysh and Somppi have size, but do any of them bring the nasty? I’ve heard or read that Katchouk kills penalties. Any other special teams prowess of note for any of them? We’re gonna have spots open. I’m anticipating a 2021-22 roster minus Johnson, Coleman and maybe Killorn, maybe even Goodrow.

I also think JBB will be dealing with Seattle in order to keep Joseph, Colton and Foote from being snatched. We’re gonna be top-heavy with all of our stars under a flat cap, but these kids are emerging just in time for us to dream about our core keeping their winning window open awhile longer.

[Derek28]

All three of those guys play on the PP and PK, as did Barre-Boulet and Colton before their callups. That seems to be in the organizational philosophy development wise to get guys in all facets of the game. Katchouk and Somppi are more physical than Raddysh, but all three go to the hard areas and play well along the boards.

I agree about Killorn, Johnson, and Coleman being gone. I do think they offer Goodrow a three year deal in the range of $2 million to stay because of how valuable he is defensively and on the PK.

Just looking at our forward group hypothetically with those subtractions:

Palat - Point - Kucherov
ABB - Cirelli - Stamkos
Colton - Gourde - Goodrow
Maroon - Stephens - Joseph
Katchouk - Somppi - Raddysh

Maybe you have to move a guy as an incentive in expansion, but that is still one of the most talented forward groups in the NHL.

[dannybolt]

I'm in the same boat. That third line still looks ridic, although I'm not convinced ABB can stick on the 2nd line.

[BurnTHalO]

I'm in the same boat. That third line still looks ridic, although I'm not convinced ABB can stick on the 2nd line.

I'm not convinced cirelli can (I kid, I kid).

[dannybolt]

I'm not convinced cirelli can (I kid, I kid).

If recent results are any indication....

[pete]

I'm not sure losing Foote would be the end of the world. Alex Green passes the eye test to me and Ben Thomas proved in his cup of coffee he can maybe be a Rutta-esque stopgap. If they could get Perbix signed that would help, too.

[RSchmitz]

At this point they may not want him

[Bolthed]

I’d go 7-3-1 with Hedman, Sergachev and Cernak protected. Let Seattle choose between McDonagh and Foote. Then trade Killorn to the Kraken in a package — AK17 would be the sweetener for taking Johnson. We would get a low-level swap of picks in exchange for not retaining any salary.

[dannybolt]

I’d go 7-3-1 with Hedman, Sergachev and Cernak protected. Let Seattle choose between McDonagh and Foote. Then trade Killorn to the Kraken in a package — AK17 would be the sweetener for taking Johnson. We would get a low-level swap of picks in exchange for not retaining any salary.

I think you are headed in the right direction, but my perfect world has us sending Killorn to Seattle to take McD, and buying out TJ separately.
Reasoning:
1. I don't think Killorn alone is enough to entice Seattle to take TJ, and I'd prefer to keep the pipeline intact as much as possible.
2. McD has an NTC, so if he isn't selected in the expansion draft, he's going to be on the roster for quite a while. I think McD's cliff is coming quick, and we already have his replacement in Serge, so I'd prefer to get out in front of that before he's a serious drag on the cap.
3. While losing Foote wouldn't be a back breaker from a talent perspective, losing a cheap contract under team control while not losing any of the high priced complementary pieces under NTCs has the opportunity of a cascade effect where we lose multiple additional cheaper complementary pieces (some of Joseph, ABB, Katchouk, Raddysh, Stephens, Colton) due to having to buy our way out of contracts in trade. It would also make resigning Coleman, Goodrow, etc, more difficult.
4. Not alleviating the cap issues noted above would also require filling holes with castoffs (more players like Rutta, Schenn, etc), rather than talent promotion, which likely would have deleterious effects on the Cup window status.

If Seattle is amenable, JBB has the opportunity to shed 2 5M+ out of the 3 he needs to get rid of, without losing multiple pipeline assets (picks and/or prospects). If Foote is selected, that doesn't happen and those contracts still need to be shed, and Foote also has to be replaced. Again, not a backbreaker from a talent perspective, but a bad outcome for long-term roster integrity.

[BurnTHalO]

Foote is whatever to me. I'd work out getting McD to Seattle (could be killorn, or could be some picks/prospects. Not a ton, cause we aren't dumping a bad player or anything like that, and he'd be important for them going forward as a solid dman to mentor others). I think killorn has real value, so I turn and trade him, and then I cut tj.

Palat has some real intrigue for me. Donnie has made a pretty solid case for trading palat as well or instead of killorn. I wouldn't mind doing that and then hopefully keeping coleman. I can't imagine he has a higher cap hit than killorn. So my scenario, McD, killorn, and palat straight off the books, TJ partially off, and coleman back in the mix. Also opens a spot for some of these kids to battle for a top 6 role potentially.

[Bolthed]

Palat >>>> Killorn

Pally is a heart and soul guy, and he’s the only one from his age group who hasn’t tailed off. I love the guy. I definitely prioritize keeping him. In my eyes he’s a low-key driver of the top line. The way he scored in the Cup run and continues scoring this season, there’s no way he’s going anywhere.

With the flat cap no one is giving us a major return on Killorn, which means his greatest value to TB is his own potential cap space. But he has some value and would make a lot of sense as a sweetener for an expansion team to select one of our other contracts in the draft. I think JBB will push for that to be TJ for obvious reasons, and I’d even be willing to add a pick as high as around 3 or a middling prospect to make that happen. Not having to buy out TJ would be a massive win.

I also think JBB isn’t as eager to lose McDonagh as the fans are. His job is to keep the Cup contention window open, and I doubt he wants to lose a high-end defenseman. Our top 4 is a major strength and I don’t think anyone down at Channelside has a problem with his performance or salary ... it’s the term that’s problematic. And that’s why I think he’ll be left unprotected. So if Seattle just picks him or Foote then we move on from there and hope we can still pay someone to take TJ in a package.

Always start a negotiation with your ideal scenario.

[BurnTHalO]

Palat may be better than killorn, but palat is 30 and due a new contract after next year. There is a real case to be made that you cash in on him and get some major assets back instead of possibly (probably?) Losing him next offseason for nothing. Then if you hang on to killorn one more year, killorn becomes pretty easy to move next offseason. We all bash on him, but guy is solid defensively, a great leader from everything we've heard, and coming off a pretty large year last year (somewhat following it up this year). $4 mil is not a bad contract for that. Now, I will say if you can work out a deal for less than what he is currently making this offseason, I throw my palat talk out the window.

Also, if you think killorn has very little trade value, why would Seattle want him to take TJ? It's going to take like a 1st and 3rd (or equal to that) if you want to dump tj minimum. And then what are you doing with mcdonaugh? Or in other words, who is the other 3-5 mil contract you are dumping, and how are you doing it? Mcdonaugh is still great, but in another year, point needs a contract. Sergachev, cirelli, and cernak right after that. And mcdonaugh has a NTC for his entire contract.