This week for the roundtable we asked you, the readers, to give us a topic to discuss. You came through and gave us a great topic this week.

https://twitter.com/Brett_Bretzky/status/725399425510690816

Opening Thoughts:

Jeremy:

Rychel is at the point where he’s going to need to show tangible NHL results next season if he’s really going to be considered worth anything to the organization as either a valuable prospect or a trade piece. His 2015/16 was wrought with injuries and inconsistency and, when mixed in with the rumours of his trade requests, has made him look less-than-stellar to a lot of the fanbase. To me, even with his subpar season, he still has some value league-wide, but I probably feel it’s much lower than most would say. His value to the Jackets far outweighs that. I would not cut ties with him, and instead hope that he has a rebound 2016/17 free of major injury and productive at whatever level he plays at.

Brett:

Rychel is like a lot of the youngsters; Bjorkstrand, Korpisalo, Tynan, all of ’em; in that their value to the franchise  NHL players is in a trade or as optimism to sell to the fans. On both fronts, a guy like Rychel has a middling value. Rychel is a definite talent, and even through all of the brouhaha of him wanting a trade, the dude is playing with 100% effort down in Cleveland. I think he gets it, and I think he wants to be an NHL player with this club.

Paul:

I think Rychel is a valuable player but more so to the Jackets than league wide. He didn’t have a great deal of success in the NHL which takes some of the luster off of his prospect status and hurts his value league wide. That and the trade request hurts the Jackets from a negotiation standpoint. But with better linemates, he could be strong middle six power forward. If Hartnell is dealt Rychel could step in and fill that role, albeit to a lesser extent. Your not going to get fair value for him in a trade. Time to give him a fair shot in the NHL.

Matt:

On first glance, the NHL Kerby Rychel experience was a mixed bag. I also don’t think that’s entirely his fault, for two significant reasons. The first is time. The rookie was only afforded an average of 9:31 on ice per game, with zero time on the power play. And in spite of that Rychel still managed an impressive 1.79 points per 60 minutes, which is in the top 100 of all NHL players (300+ minutes via Hockey Analysis). The non-Rychel issue for Kerby: teammates. Earlier in the year, I shared a bit more on this idea. The main takeaway: Rychel was above water when not playing alongside Greg Campbell.

What does this mean for his value to the team? For me, it indicates that Rychel is capable for NHL-level production if given the right circumstances. Whether that’s enough to convince the team to give him a bigger role is anyone’s guess. In the short-term, at worst he’s a 21 year old on an ELC who seems capable of spot-starts top 9 positions. I think that should be highly valued by a team with cap issues, and I hope we’ll see more Rychel in the NHL next year.

The Coach:

Paul and Matt more or less cover my thoughts on Rychel’s value. To the team on the ice, he is ready for a third line role to me. The numbers back it up, but just from watching the games he looked more at place than any of the other youths who made cameos for the big squad. In a trade, all the jabber around his trade request has seriously deflated his trade value. I’ve seen lots of Twittering about how the team should get rid of him, he doesn’t want to be here, yada yada. That is poor asset management. Right now, Kerby Rychel has by far the most value on the ice for the CBJ. In a trade he will fetch practically nothing. And besides, he wasn’t asking for a trade because he didn’t want to be here, he was requesting it because he WANTED to be in Columbus, playing for the Blue Jackets. While I don’t condone someone like Rychel requesting a trade, there is no reason why Jarmo has to acquiesce. Pull a Stevie Y and just tell him “tough luck”, and continue as if the trade was never requested. Fortunately for Rychel, that should probably be on a third line spot with the Jackets next season.

Open Discussion:

Jeremy: 

Is my opinion of him skewed because I largely saw him stuck on the 4th line and missed a bunch of his games where he was a bit higher in the line-up? I remember watching him multiple times and just thinking ¯_(ツ)_/¯. He also was not an active part of the offense in the Lake Erie games I saw this season, which were sandwiched around his NHL stint.

The Coach:

It’s possible. His time on the fourth line is probably the worst he looked with the CBJ. However, it’s probably also the best the fourth line looked all year.

Jeremy:

Was he concussed again this year? Because his lack of production in the AHL was very worrisome to me.

The Coach:

Well I think the incongruity between some of his play in the NHL and his AHL numbers is why this is even a conversation. If he was lighting up the AHL, his value would be much more apparent.

Jeremy:

Do we have any wild guesses or speculation over why his performance was so lacking after his demotion? I’m sure we can think of some easy narratives.

Mark:

It’s only been a few years since another formerly highly touted CBJ first round draft pick was a healthy scratch in the AHL playoffs. Time to reset that calendar right? Then we can trade him to a playoff team for a defenseman that was also drafted #19 in the first round +/- a year of Rychel.

The Coach:

So trade him for Julius Honka in a year or two? That doesn’t sound too bad actually.

Jeremy:

First he needs to put up back to back 60+ point seasons, though. Which I’m also okay with.

Matt:

An interesting aside: at this moment, Rychel is first among all Lake Erie players in points per game (minimum 30 games played). Which you may take as indictment of the other Lake Erie players, or that Rychel did perform when in the lineup. (Or perhaps neither, if he fed on secondary assists or his performance per time on ice wasn’t impressive in the AHL.)

Jeremy:

He is first on the Monsters in Primary Points/Game in both all situations and at 5v5, yes. So I suppose my concerns over lack of production are unfounded and I should shut up.

Sam:

I heard from someone the other day that it is okay to admit when you are wrong. It’s okay Jeremy.

Jeremy:

It’s so wrong that I have to wear the “Rychel isn’t that great” story for a long time.

Matt:

Then I think that speaks a bit to expectations for the current crop of CBJ picks with the Monsters, and the reality of where they are in development. Even though he leads the AHL squad in scoring per (time or game), Rychel may not yet be NHL-ready everyday. And the other players below him that are younger? They are so young that expecting William Nylander production is unrealistic.

Jeremy:

I think maybe that’s a discussion for another time though, because it sounds like we’re close to veering off the original topic. (For the record, Rychel is the fifth youngest of the Monsters who played 25+ games this season, eighth if you remove the games played qualifier.)

Matt:

If they were obvious NHL-ready players, they’d be blasting down doors. And that doesn’t mean they won’t ever be NHL ready (heck, we’ve seen those flashes from Rychel, Bjorkstrand, and Anderson when called up). It just means maybe there’s more patience to be had. In the case of Rychel, I think that means he’s still plenty valuable to the CBJ. Being at the edge of NHL-ready at 21  isn’t a bad thing. It’s just not Nylander/McDavid/etc. The short-term value, though? Rychel’s contribution to a long Monsters’ playoff run.

The Coach:

Very good point. A monster playoffs from Rychel could really change his trade value.