I’ll give you this post so that you can continue your sarcastic remarks about them being set on the L side of their defense for years to come 🙂
The draft is over. The Rangers added 10 new players, three of them are 1st round selections:
6 Defensemen- 4 L and 2 R
3 Right Wingers, one playing off wing
1 Goaltender.
To see their names and bios, click here ( courtesy of NYR )
How did they do? We will not know until, at the very best, few years from now. One thing is for sure, none of them is making any impact for at least two seasons, if not more. Some never will, it happens every draft. But that just confirms the notion that Gorton isn’t looking for a quick fix. That doesn’t mean he isn’t planning to have a competitive team next year. I expect some trades, and I expect them to look for short terms deals come July 1st. Again, I doubt Gorton will leave a huge chunk of the available Cap untouched. They will spend. As long as they do not get involved in long term deals with players on the downside of their careers who will block young players, they should be OK.
UPDATE: Click here to read Carp’s evaluation of what Gorton and Co. were able to accomplish in Dallas.
286 responses to “So How Did They Do?”
will withold judgment until we see if Gorton can pull off any trades, but needed to add a lot of offense in the system this offseason and we still do after this draft. Shouldn’t be looking at anything substantial on the UFA front, even if short term deals in my opinion. Also, this is a very weak UFA class so don’t think you will see many good players taking short term deals
To answer DaveB’s questions from the last post, here is how the Rangers acquired the Hurricanes 7th round pick (that they got from Vegas) from Carolina’s Twitter feed:
“The #Canes have traded the 216th pick to the New York Rangers for Boston’s 7th round pick (previously acquired by NYR) in 2019.”
Are we going to field a team of just defensemen in 2021/22 ? Is that what they mean by ‘team defense’?
ORF
That’s funny Rangers giving away picks gotta love that one. I woke up Friday with a positive attitude now I just have an attitude!
Lol you want the long or short on the bright side
You guys are the best. If they were cornering the market on Ds that is. 😉
I left out the best part.
They should have drafted all of youse
Clearly they have absolutely no intention of competing for some time. Strange picks. Therefore, they should have traded Henrik no matter his feelings, because they are wasting his last years and he dtill has value. He possibly could have thenetted us a first rounder and a prospect. However, like another poster said in the last thread they probably would have selected the arena janitor. After all maintainance is important.
But no really I’ll go and copy and paste the very positive spin your referring too. I know you guys need support backing off the ledge.
Only a handful of teams Hank likely would agree to be traded to in the first place and bet only a couple of those would actually want him, even if the Rangers ate some cap hit.
Got you covered Craig
1. in the new nhl that’s evolving defensemen are everything. If you can revolve a steady stream of D over the years, you won’t have to overpay for them in FA. You won’t have to trade for them, you can trade your excess D or guys soon to get paid, and if you have cupboards constantly restock and hopefully have half of your D corps on ELCs or second contracts
2. It’s been said for awhile that this was an abnormally deep draft for defensemen. Maybe the rangers have looked into the next two drafts and see a reversal of that or think this draft is a unique opportunity to stock the position
3. More and more nhl capable forwards are developing undrsfted in college and european men’s leagues. More and more drafted college players are opting to wait until their draft teams rights expire and pick the team they want at a higher salary than if they signed early with draft team. The rangers are the premier FA destination in the league. If the rangers have roster and lineup openings for forwards, these players will be more likely to sign bc they see a direct route into an NHL lineup.
Some information on Riley Hughes – 6-1/174 RW who will be attending Northeastern in the Fall of 2019. His uncle Ryan Hughes was drafted 22nd overall in 1990 by Quebec. Uncle Ryan played three games in the NHL with Boston in 1995/96.
Riley was ranked 113th among North American skaters by CS.
If Riley is still at Northeastern in the Fall of 2021 he will be joined by his brother Jack Hughes (NOT the one who will is expected to go 1st overall in 2019) and future former Ranger Ryan St. Louis 9son of Marty St. Louis).
Someone make a list of all the undrsfted or euro FAs the rangers have signed in the last 3 years. They get guys other teams are after thinking they can fill a line-up spot. More and more these guys are getting signed later on and stickIng. Rangers definitely have this in mind. No doubt. Question their drafting scouting if you want, but don’t doubt the rangers know every resource and advantage and angles available to them. They have an advantage most teams do not. Players want to play in NYC and the rangers have an aura of being ultra good to the players, best taken care of hockey club in the world. Euros comfortable with the melting pot of ny and hearing tales of how well the rangers treat their players. Big recruiting advantage
Rich, once Zadina was selected by Detroit there was basically no one left in the draft that was going to help any team in the NHL next year. The draft isn’t about next year or even the year after for the most part. That being said, still took too many defenseman
:::::Buzzer Sounds::::::
Gordie: “Well, I guess that’s it Jeff! What…. A…. Draft! I got everyone on my list!”
Jeff: “Uh, okay Gordie. I’ve gotta be honest…..”
Gordie: “Swedes Galore…… Swedes Galore…..”
Jeff: “Gordie… shut up for a second! Now as I was saying… I’ve gotta be honest…. I’m pretty sure Olaf would’ve still been there in the 4th or 5th round.”
Gordie: “Are you NUTS??! I had him SECOND on our list after Kravtsov, but took a gamble and waited until the 2nd round! I’m a real risk taker… just like you wanted! They don’t call me Off-the-boardie Gordie for nothing!”
Jeff: “Uh…. yeah, about that, Gordie…..”
Gordie: “What? Is it the lack of forwards? Like you always tell me… Defense wins championships!!”
Jeff: “Not LITERALLY, Gordie…..”
Gordie: “Well you need to speak up then, Jeff!”
Jeff: “Lets get out of here….”
Gordie: “Okay boss. Steaks at Applebee’s to celebrate our dynasty in the making? My treat!”
I’m trying to think of the reasoning behind grabbing a goalie that high.
So let’s say Giorgio Armani is the backup for the time being. Maybe they’re planning on doing the whole “backup whisperer” thing on him, so he’ll be a tradable asset in 2 years. By then, Shestyerkin will be ready to assume backup duties for Hank’s final years. If Hank retires after this contract (I can see him signing a 1-year with us afterwards at a reduced rate if he can still go), and Shestyerkin is playing for us, we’ll have Huska, Wall or Linbom (is that his name?) waiting in the wings (I’m thinking one of the first two will have moved on by then). So we’re really looking at the new kid being one of two guys slotted as insurance behind Shestyerkin, possibly backing him up.
But coos isn’t wrong about the way Lou lams is going about things, he’s not looking to build slow for a year or two
But that’s islander job presently. Clean up the garbage, strengthen the foundations, get the star to stay.
Don waddell’s Mandate in carIlona was to change the roster make-up and admittingly said he wasnt looking to win trades, he was ordered to bring in fresh players. Hamilton is a good player but not a winning player. The rangers could have gotten him, but the rangers aren’t gonna bring in a guy just bc he fits the bill on paper, championships, not buzz.
On the otherhand, the task at hand for the rangers GM is to rebuild the organization so that it can begin another run, one that becomes sustainable and self replenishing. They’ve gone after Cs and potential Cs and D last year’s draft And at the trade deadline. Then in a draft abnormally deep with dman, they took a hr swing on a 1st winger potential and then predominantly went D- in all forms and shapes.
Dmen take longer to develop. If it’s a 3 year restocking of the pipeline (including last yr draft), yr 1 Cs, yr 2 Ds and 1st line W potential, yr 3 forwards. All while scouting and recruiting as many unsigned forwards as possible and seeing who they can hit on.
Craig – I am going to have borrow that “Off-the-boardie Gordie ” line! I love it.
Yea don’t think that was a good trade from the Canes perspective given that clearly there are off-ice issues with Hamilton and Fox may not even want to sign there (the other guy is a UFA next year and nothing special anyways).
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Thing is though jpp, that players you draft now, especially outside the top 10 could take 2, 3, eve 4 years to be ready to start contributing. So unless this is a 5-6 year rebuild, they’ll need to find ways beyond next year’s draft to bring in scoring wingers via trades this offseason (no interest in the UFAs this year) and trades/ufa next offseason. It is also more likely than not that they don’t have a real top pair defensive unit in the system (plenty of future 3-6s in my opinion) or a real 1st line center (Chytil outside chance). Was never going to be fixed at the end of this draft, but have to question if they took enough chances at this draft to get the ball rolling on the forward front
“I think we did really well in round 1,” days Gorton. “But we definitely screwed the pooch on day 2.”
Off the boardie Gordie. That is going to stick. Lmfao
Why is our draft board so different to the other teams? It should have been a straight choice between Wahlstrom or Dobby……I really hope Kravstov proves me wrong but I fear we’ll have to watch those 2 blossom on the island and wonder why we passed them over
I think we’re going to be alright with Kravtsov. And being that the Isles were doubling up 2 picks later, I think there’s a great chance that if we traded back to ~13/14 and whoever traded up to 9 took Wahlstrom, Kravtsov wasn’t going to be around. So I’m fine with it.
Miller trade up was fine, but it stung when StL paid less to trade up. Really nice prospect though.
Lundkvist was a gamble and a reach, but he’s only a bad pick because we selected 85 defensemen after him.
2 out of 10 picks ain’t bad for the off-the-board- gang!
I don’t know enough about any of these guys to evaluate them. My only reactions are 1. Taking a goalie 2 when you have a blue chipper in the pipeline makes no sense. Pick a goalie every year, but, in the later rounds. It’s really hard to evaluate goalies and you never know when one will breakout. Quantity over quality since quality is hard to pick out. 2. Also all the D when the pipeline is already fill of them is odd. If there were tossups in the later rounds maybe a forward was the way to go. It’s a crapshoot at that point anyway.
Maybe Gortie has a method to his madness and will go all FA berserk and find us some sweet forwards with heart and talenr. Maybe not.
high 2nd round pick on a goalie that would be there until the 3rd or 4th is the worst part of today
check back in 6 years to see if im wrong
No deals at the draft. So prepare yourself for your latest NY Rangers………James Neal and James VanRiemsdyk each on 6 year deals for >6MM per, and David Perron for 5MM per. And they think they will be competitive. LOL!
Speaking of… this is James Neal wiki page
“Famously, Neal’s first NHL fight proved to be a memorable and quick victory. On December 18, 2008, he was challenged to a fight by Columbus forward Derick Brassard after Neal checked Blue Jacket Fedor Tyutin hard into the corner of the Columbus defensive zone in the first period. Neal obliged, and produced a gash near Brassard’s left eye with a powerful right punch. Brassard quickly called the fight off, where it was later disclosed that he had dislocated his right shoulder and subsequently ended his season.”
The “new” nhl runs thru centre as the most valued position, not d men.
Rangers didn’t draft BPA because they plan on going hard at vet free agents to try and make playoffs next season because of hank.
Wanted to draft players with 3 year developmental window to think about doing a true rebuild in 3 years after hank is gone.
“Famously?” Brassard? Neal (and his posse) must be wacky. Totally.
Why are you guys getting so “defensive” about the picks I made? Get it?! See what I did there?! Ha! K… gotta go trim my stache’! Ta ta for now…….
From the Mark Staal illusory autobiography: “Famously, I made quick work of Semin, removing his untucked jersey as he continuously slapped at me like a monkey playing drums. Having bear hugged him for long seconds, I fell to the ice with him on top of me slapping still and with vigor. One of my toughest fights.”
As he rained blows upon me
😉
How many of the kids are going to be playing in college?
It all seemed to go ok until today. Goalie so high up and excessive number of D is baffling. Perhaps they will use some to sweeten the pot on Zuc/Namestoolong moves.
Would like to see a website with side by side lists of drafts for each team just to get a feel for how whacked ours was relative to the league.
Beezle:
70 D-men
60 Centers
30 R Wings
29 Goalies
25 L Wings
My new fav nickname/acronym: Off The Boardie Gordie (OTBG).
After reading about what people have to say about Hank’s son Nils, I feel a little better about that pick. The rest of it, forget it. Taking the goalie was just a ridiculous thing to do.
Good news: restocking the talent pipeline over the last 18 mos.
.
Big RFA decisions await…
I saw that breakdown captain.
Simple breakdown says each team had 6 picks. 2d, 2c, 1lw, 1rw, 1g
This was a bad year for Cs and the rangers drafted Cs last year
Couple their extra picks and the rangers end up
6d, 3w, 1g
Hope you are wrong Wick as they don’t have nearly enough forward prospects in the system for that plan to work. We will be right back here in a couple years, except saddled with whatever UFAs we sign this year on a longterm deals (none of the big guys are taking short term deals in my opinion, at least not here)
@Ilb thanks for the position break down but was looking (not from you) for a website that just listed each team’s draft picks, preference side by side to make it easy to compare. Have to think other fansites are mocking their management too
Watch Jeffy’s interview toward the end when Carp asks him if he wants to bring back any of the guys we traded via UFA. Looks like Nash or Grabner will be coming back judging by his reaction…. Great. Just what we need. I thought we were done with them.
12m per for Tavares from whomever he signs with. Wow. Cashing in after discount contract
Hey – if Nils is a Stralman-lite, we cool. You knew that they’d reach on at least one of the R1s. At least it was 28. And look at what we made Minnesota do – they panicked and grabbed a kid that should be a 3rd rounder. Ottawa turned our old 26 into what should’ve been a late 2nd rounder.
I agree with the fact that the goalie in R2 was the most egregious mistake BY FAR. Turn that pick into Ishakov or McLeod, and this draft feels totally different.
Make no mistake about it: day 2 was an epic disaster. And a second round pick on a goaltender does not portend good things about how the organization feels about shesrerkin’s chances of panning out
I love how Jeffy says Olaf was the best guy on the list at the time. If he was the best guy on the list…. it’s time to burn that f**king list and throw Off the boardie Gordie Off the damn staff….
You also have to think that they assessed their system, and thought “we need a complete defensive overhaul.” It began with the D they picked up at the deadline. They started trimming farm dead weight with Zborovskiy. They’ll start to shed other guys along the way.
Again – the whole D-heavy draft was a bit ridiculous. But the big mistake was the R2 goalie
Well they could be nervous about Shestyerkin re-signing in the KHL and not coming over. If they are, the goalie selection does not look as bad.
Ty Ronning had better pan out.
If they’re nervous about Shestyerkin, this is the wrong move. This guy is 4 years away minimum.
Day 1 was fine. I would’ve preferred wahlstrom, I would’ve preferred paying less to move up, I would have preferred many players to Miller, and I was fine with Lundkvist (but would have preferred about four other guys, most notably veleno).
Lundqvist has 3 years left on his deal, so four years isn’t a bad fit in terms of development cycle.
Select one goalie late ..Shestyorkin= bust lol
combining the draft with the deadline deals too much was weighted on lefty defense. combine that with a goalie in early round 2 and gordie and company get a poor mark.
Eh – if they think this goalie is the real deal…blue chip asset. Still the wrong move, but it is what it is. I still don’t think it’s a reflection on Igor, but moreso on Halverson, Wall and possible Huska.
In other news, I hope nash tells sweeney in Boston to get bent.
Late? 39th overall, budy
Pete
I hope I’m wrong about this as well.
I’ve said all along that the term “rebuild” is interpreted and implied in several ways.
I don’t think we’ll know until opening night and what the roster looks like then will probably give us a pretty good idea of what type of “rebuild” it actually is.
If they start adding players July 1st and don’t trade some existing guys (zucc. 2 or 3 rfas, etc) over the summer, pretty safe to day the true rebuild is slated for non hank years if at all.
This draft doesn’t give me the feeling of let’s rebuild over the next few years because most of the prospects drafted seem to be 3 or 4 years away from having pro impact.
Just an opinion of course.
Post above updated. Carp’s new article.
Yea wick I think most people drafted outside the first round are really 2-4 years away from making it (or making any sort of impact). Would like to think they didn’t pass on guys who they thought could be nhl (or even ahl ready sooner), but I also find it hard to believe that after the #9 pick they didn’t rate any forward available worth drafting until the 5th round. Something very odd there.
Good news tho is I can’t see any of the “big ufas” dying to come here this year unless they are vastly overpaid and think that’s unlikely this year. Better off saving the cap space for trades or what could be a stronger class next summer (though can’t bank on anyone making it to ufa obviously). I wouldn’t bring Nash back for any amount of money and only a 1yr 2-3m/yr deal for Grabs (which he wouldn’t take).
@PR_NHL
Following Following @PR_NHL
Rasmus Dahlin, Andrei Svechnikov and Jesperi Kotkaniemi combined for a feat achieved only once before.
The 1999 #NHLDraft began with four straight picks born outside North America: Patrik Stefan, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin and Pavel Brendl.
I’m probably overreacting a bit here, but to me the draft was a disgrace for the NYR. Wahlstrom is going to be KILLING us in years to come. I wonder if Carp still thinks Gorton is really smart. Another thing…this guy Gordie Clark is a bum and needs to be fired, but isn’t Gorton the boss and has the last say on everything? I hope I’m wrong but the islanders (and devils for that matter) are going to be owning us for years to come.
And the Pavel Brendl reference puts a perfect capstone on the events of the day
Apparently, Rick Nash is telling Boston that he is not sure he wants to continue playing. Probably concerned about his brain being scrambled after repeated concussions.
Years ago I heard second hand from someone who knew Nash’s wife. 3 or 4years ago he doubted he was going to want to keep playing after his last contract. He’s been playing so much hockey his entire life he was thinking time to move on. Even though he’d still be at tail end of prime.
After I had heard that the past year or two in interviews I thought he had grown older and more nostalgic, enjoying the game and the team more than ever. Knowing it wouldn’t be around forever for him that I thought maybe another two years or so. Maybe NYC to finish out as he seemed to like the connections here. I wonder if not really having a chance at the cup in a place he’d want to move his family he may say enough is enough.
Though with the up and coming maple leafs with Mathews and co I could see him in Toronto to see if he can bring success closer to home
Plus I think Babcock liked him on the 4th line and PK in the last Olympics they participated in
Only other place besides tor or NYC I could see him going is full circle back to blue jackets. They are still in the window with bobrovsky and players seem to gravitate to torts. Not sure he wants to grind torts style again though. Prospol and Brad Richards and St. Louis didn’t mind at end of their careers and chose to play for him.
No Nash please; lordy please
That’s a respectable course of action for Nash. But if he decides to come back for a final year, I wouldn’t say no to a 1-year, $3m deal for him. But I’d think if he wanted a 1-year deal he’d try for a contender instead.
Grabner is a guy I’d stay away from. He’s going to get upwards of $4m and term from someone.
Head count-
Did everyone wake up after yesterday’s supposed nightmare. We ok here? Do we still have stranglers on the ledge?
Observing and communicating with ranger fans yesterday was like social work. And to watch, how everything went completely silent once the draft was over. It was like people blew their hockey juice, arguing, ranting, raving. And then it was over and everyone went to sleep. Or drank themselves to sleep. Or went and ate a big meal and few asleep. Or watched a movie or played video games. People had to detach that their ranger fan energy.
Last question:
How many Lou lovers turned into islander fans or islander envy, bc he had a lot of good stuff fall into his lap. Genius is a mind-controller and can influence gravity. I guess
I got the opposite impression from Gorts answer to carp. I didn’t get much interest on gorton’s part. Maybe Grabner. Not on Nash. Nash is gonna get the same kind of cash as Kovalchuk. 3yr 5-6per. With NMC. No ways Gorton is giving him that
Look if Nash wants to retire bc of his mileage and his brain and his family. All the power to him. Probably the best and smartest thing for him.
But he could also be using this for more money. You guys have to pay me handsomely enough for me to keep playing hockey, I’m thinking of retiring. That’s a negotiation tactic
At this point I don’t see how any GM could fool themselves into thinking it’d be a good idea to commit any significant amount of money or term to Nash.
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Nothing Lou has done thus far (and really it’s just hire a coach and not screw up at the draft) will mean much if Tavares doesn’t stay and that won’t mean anything unless Lou als brings in a number 1 goalie and a couple solid defensemen.
Hate his team, but Lou gets things done as opposed to (ahem).
Pete
You see the Bs left Nash standing in the corner while they woo’d kovalchuk and as soon as he signed with the kings. Sweeney said he was very jnterrsted in bringing Nash back.
Teams in on Nash.
bruins
Leafs
Jackets
Preds
Devils
Isles
Blues
He’s gonna get a contract if he wants . He’s negotiating all those teams against retirement tho for more money. Oh you will all offer me 2 years. Or your will all offer me 4mil Per. Well i think i might just retire then. ‘Make it worth my wild’
I’m not suggesting line combinations. Just trying to establish what we’ve got for next year as the roster is currently constituted.
Kreider Zibanijad Zuccarello
Buchnevich Hayes Namestikov
Vesey Chytil Spooner
Howden Andersson Fast
Ronning Lettieri Nieves
Skjei Shattenkirk
Staal Pionk
Hajek D’Angelo
Smith Sproul
Lindgren
Gilmour
O’Gara
Hank
Georgiev
Good 😏
Coos 😏
I think the rangers are gonna try and develop a bunch of goalies and trade them as they go. Goalies are cool with it bc they get to work with Allaire, play for the rangers for a yr or two and then hopefully get traded for to be another teams #1.
Gorton said goalies have a lot of value. I wouldn’t be surprised to see sherestokin traded soon. If he has a decision to make in russia to sign a new multi-year deal, and he’s leaning that way bc of Hank being in the way. Trade him now to a team that wants to sign him now and give him a shot as their number #1.
Sign lehner (the buff goalie). Rebuild him. Flip him. Play Georgiev in harftord and bring him up a few times in the year to play him with the big club.
Next year 2019-20. Georgiev the full-time backup. At that point, you see where hank is, you see where Georgiev is. And you make the call to either trade Georgiev or sign him and keep him. The Swedish goalie is the next wave.
It’s smart. Look what Allaire has done with Talbot, Ranta, pavalec.
We have an asset who can create assets. Put that to use during the rebuild. That’s why they picked the kid. He’s gonna be really good. Everyone’s gonna eat crow on it
JPP, I just think any GM who is still fooled by Nash shouldn’t have the power of his owner’s purse. Since coming to the Rangers, there is nothing a GM can point to support that he is a guy you can count on to produce in the playoffs AND (a big and at that) he has picked 2 or 3 concussions along the way. Sign away, just want nothing to do with him any longer.
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Coos, still lot of work for Lou to do. They have the prospects and young NHL players to try and fill some of their other holes via trades, but Tavares has to resign first. If he stays Lou can try and prove he’s still got it by finding a good goalie (who is available though?) and defensemen, but if JT leaves nothing Lou does will really matter.
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If I was JT I would expect the Isles to have already acquired said goalie and at least laid out a plan on defense.
“Make it worth my wild,” LOL
Not a bad thought jpp. Either way – if he wants that sort of money/term –
No friggin way Gorton should let that phone call go longer than 15 seconds.
Isles had a hell of a draft – but Lou didn’t have to show up until round 3. He just grabbed the best player available on the ISS list, and had some nice ones happen to drop to him. Makes sense – being that his administration took over a few weeks ago.
I was absolutely furious Friday night. We pass on Wahlstrom and Dobson for a Russian kid who was slated anywhere from 15 to 28? A guy who was on my list as possible picks at 26? Of course that happens! But it’s not so simple. The guy was a fast riser, and even trading down would’ve been a challenge. There were still 3 top players still on the board, so Edmonton and the Isles would never trade up, knowing we’d likely pass on those 3 and they’d get them anyway. And Kravtsov wasn’t making it past Lou if Wahlstrom went 9 or 10.
From what I see, Kravtsov has just as much offensive flair and finishing ability as Wahlstrom, with a bit more grit and physicality. He’s also listed anywhere between 6’2 and 6’4. He’s a BEAST and we’re going to love him.
I was okay with trading up for Miller. We liked him, Minnesota did too and they were up next. Didn’t like seeing St Louis pay a much lower price for moving up a few minutes later. Millers a project but he seems worth it. Amazing skater, HUGE frame. Skjei with a ton of physicality, and possibly some offense if he keeps developing. If he works out, we have a guy like Seth Jones or Mattias Ekholm.
I absolutely despised the Lundkvist pick at the time. I’m still not great on it, especially with all the D we took and all the talent still on the board. And he seemed like a mediocre pick at the time. But, he’s another guy that’s growing on me. Smooth skating Swedish righty shot D who is steady at both ends of the ice. Sounds like a guy we let walk so we could sign Dan Boyle a few years back…
Going D-heavy later on was…interesting. But if they’re overhauling the entire farm…might as well start with defense. They’ve probably figured that guys like Day and Pedrie aren’t going to make it far. Other guys like Sproul and Bigras are most likely career minor leaguers. You now have tons of insurance if they move on from DeAngelo, Rykov doesn’t come over, etc etc. And in the event that we one day have a defense where Skjei, Pionk, Hajek, Lindgren, Miller, Lundkvist and other guys all belong – we have some trade chips.
The only fail I’ll give them is the goalie in the second. We could’ve had a goalie, possible the same goalie in the 3rd. Maybe even later. If this pick were swapped out for one of the better players available (Marchenko, Ishakov, McLeod, Thomas, even Drury’s nephew – and those are just the forwards) – this draft feels a whole lot better. But that also says that a lot of the stink we feel after this draft can be traced to a weird second round pick.
And even then – if they think this goalie can be the real deal – that’s good insurance. In 4 years – Lundqvist is either gone or signing a string of 1-years if he’s still able to hack it. Shestyerkin is over here and ready to either start or split. Giorgio Armani will have been traded for a solid return after putting together a great run at some point. Lindbom joins Huska and possibly Wall as insurance against Shestyerkin not Shestworkin out, or as a tradable asset. So yes – he has a place in the organization – I just take issue with his draft position.
jpp-makes sense on Lehner and Allaire.
I could see them finally signing a rat. Wick’s boy Roussell is out there. Leo Komerov and Ryan Reaves as well. Shatty and Reaves are friends from their St.Louis days, but he might not want to leave Vegas after the spring he had.
For a guy as big and as gifted as Nash, that he didn’t emerge as a bona fide legendary SuperStar points to a major failing somewhere by someone, probably mostly himself . Seemingly bright fellow, but something missing between the ears.
Sign a Rat!
My feeling is any decent FAs they bring in are on deals that can be moved at deadline for more assets
DaveB. You and I feel exactly the same about the draft. No surprise there. (I also like that u agreed with my stralman comparison 😉)
Pete – I disagree with your Nash bashing. Teams and coaches still see a lot of value in his game. Also, his team first attitude work ethic and leadership would be good for mentoring youth.
Obviosuly we both are entitled to our opinions. I actually have agreed with a lot of ur comments elsewhere
Takes a long time to develop most goalies and until the Swede or whoever is playing in New York or Hartford his exposure to Allaire isn’t likely to be significant. Not getting the Russian over here next season would be a big blow as he is our goalie of the future and hopefully he will be ready to share the load with Hank as early as next year.
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Hank arrived 5 full seasons after being drafted and it’s been 4 years since Igor has been drafted. So we likely won’t see this new Swede for 3-5 years. Let’s hope Benny is still around then! Either way it was too early to pick another goalie in my opinion
All good cregg, my opinion is just that. Just think Nash is a known quantity (and somewhat damaged goods at this point). Now I won’t disagre he could be a good mentor, I just don’t really feel we need to bring him back to play that role here and that wouldn’t be why contenders would sign him.
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Coos, I don’t think Nash has ever been the same player since that first concussion he suffered here. Became a whole lot more tentative when he came back and only rarely showed flashes of being the fearless power forward I thought they were acquiring
Pete
I’m not a Nash fan. To the choir man. But all it takes is one GM and these old timers all love Nash
I think Grabner really cost himself with his time in devils. Other teams see that and remember Toronto and suddenly multiyears at 3+ seems imprudish
Yeah guys. Don’t get it twisted. Nash is 10 foot pole for me.
I do respect the guy. Good guy, professional, great hockey player. But i was off the Nash bandwagon by April of 2013
Goalie pick aside, seems mgt feels they can parlay any of the D picks into a forward down the road, hopefully at a little premium.
Wicky, hate to disappoint you but I don’t get the feeling they are going to be doing a lot in FA. Now is clearly the time to move Zuc and one of Namestoolong/Spooner. But I think it will be prospects/picks coming back, nothing to help today. I suppose they might get involved with Karlsson but would be surprised if they could swing a deal, let alone a good one.
Pete,
Maybe the issue is with taking goalies in the draft who then go to the ncaas and spend years not learning and training with the right coach. Maybe with this Swedish kid, Allaire is Able to have a more hands-on approach.
Tom,
The way Quinn has been talking about being tougher to play against, and with a strong chance of a lot of youth on the team, I think Rousell, and Reeves will be, and should be targets. That’s my long winded version of saying I agree with you.
Reading between the lines, the Rangers are going to do everything they can to have Kravtsov over here for this coming season. I have also read in a few different place that scouts feel he is almost NHL ready. I would not be surprising if they went the same route with him as they did Chytil.
Is Zucc an ex Ranger yet?
Who will be our enforcer if Topo is gone?
A couple of interesting college FAs on the development camp roster. Dylan McLaghlin, and Mason Bergh.
They sure SOUND tough enough.
I think the Rangers will kick the tires on JVR……who is from Middletown, NJ and grew up going to the Garden with his dad. They do need someone to score goals. Also, I hope they are not considering bringing back Nash/Grabner.
Beezle
You’re not disappointing me, I said I didn’t want them to do that, but I have a feeling they will be adding some higher priced free agents.
I do expect them, and have expected them to add a vet guy like Roussel (the only free agent I really want) and possibly a Nhl 4C.
I’m 20’ pole nash and grabner. Please stay away, been there done that,
I would definitely take a flier on lehner (I personally like the way he plays with aggression) and watch Benoit turn him in to an above average to pretty damn good goalie (right now he’s average imo).
I know hank said he is here for the long haul with the rebuild, but that can be a fluid decision each trade deadline.
Glad we have shesterkin and georgiev in pipeline. Maybe not a bad idea to think even further down road. You never know with injury or other circumstance when your best laid plan goes bye bye.
I dont want Lehner. I live in Buffalo market and have seen enough of him to say Id rather have Georgieve get a game a week with the big club and spend the year being groomed by Allaire
Again, not my choice but wouldn’t shock me to see 2 of jvr, Perron, patches, Neal, Lucic, or that type of vet player on the roster by season start.
Do count me 100% in on wanting both Roussel and reaves here.
Cregg
He has seriously underperformed and I don’t even live in buffalo. If goalie is such a good asset though and it’s a way to eat up a bit of cap space.
Disgrace …epic disaster? They stockpiled defenseman in a draft deep with defensemen….most important position in today’s game
I don’t know Benny’s day to day as goalie coach but I’d guess they’d want him around Hank during the season. But guess he could go to Sweden for a few days each year for the next four years.
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I’d be fine with roussel, but worry they’d have to give him too much money for the kind of player he is in order for him to leave Dallas. So would give him 2m/yr or so, but not the 3m+/yr it might take. Reaves is just a tad too old.
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JVR will want 6-7 years at 6.5-7.5m/yr and someone will give it to him. We shouldn’t be the team to do so, especially as he would likely immediately revert to a 45-50pt guy once he was no longer with those guys in Toronto.
All Georgiev showed last season was that we don’t need to spend money on a vet to back up Hank.
Maybe Rangers get Shattenkirk like hometown discount on JVR
I didn’t include Beleskey on my list of current roster players. My guess is he plays out his contract in Hartford.
Bobby, issue is they had 3 forward prospects of note in their system prior to the draft and they were all centers, with two of them in the 2-3rd line two-way center mold. After the draft they now have four forward prospects of note, with one now being an offensive winger. Defense is very important, but need to score goals to win games. Crazy thing is they likely still don’t even have a future top pair at LD and RD in their system after all that! Chock full of 3-7s in my mind
What would Lehner cost? His stock is down.
Shatty did that thinking he’d be playing alongside Mac and a team aiming to win the cup in the immediate future. Don’t think he’d sign up for the same thing this offseason if he were a UFA. Wouldn’t expect JVR to sacrifice his best shot at a big contract to sign with a team he has never played who are looking rebuild for a couple years
I want a Sunday kind of love
So they seem to be putting a lot of faith into the group of Kravtsov Andersson Chytil. I know that on paper they seem to have a decent balance of blueliners to forwards in the organization but where you have a bunch of guys now like Lindgren and Hajek who have a lot of up side, who are your most promising young forwards? Kravtsov Howden are in the system, Chytil and Andersson are trying to make the team this year and then there’s Buch and Vesey already with the team.
Forgive me but I don’t overflow with confidence that this crop of future forwards is enough. Out of those six what if only 3 prove to be too six talent? I suppose there’s always another draft but we know how that goes.
James, they haven’t done nearly enough to address the lack of offense in the system, let alone at the NHL level. The Russian and Chytil are the only two guys I’d say you could optimistically see being 1st line players if everything goes right. Anderson and Howden don’t project to have that kind of offensive upside at the moment. We had one of the farm systems before the draft and still think we do if we are being honest.
*one of the weaker
I think we look better. saying we only have 2 first liners is actually a reasonable place to be. Maybe we eventually get an elite center through trade or FA. But im more optimistic looking at all the talent we have showing up to prospect camp this year. The best looking camp I can recall for this organization which hasnt rebuilt the right way in my lifetime
how about in 2 years
Kravstov – Zibinejad – Kreider
Chytil – Hayes – Buchnevic
Anderson – Howden – TBD (maybe still Zucc, maybe Ronning or even one of spooner/namestolong)
Rousell – Nieves – TBD (?Gropp)
Maybe a high lottery pick for 2019 splashes in there
Forgot – maybe Vesey still in there if all goes well for 3rd line
Not saying we shouldn’t want elite 1st line players. We should. But Vegas looked pretty good with good coaching, good goaltending and a lot of guys who were supposedly not 1st liners.
Pete elite scorers generally come from early first rounders and looks like they got one….forward depth at NHL level is not their problem right now…..also think Miller has a lot of potential and could be top 2 defense
I survived the night and hey the draft is over it didn’t go they way I hoped it would but C’est la vie! Unless Gorton starts moving players and signing UFA’s over the next few weeks or so this looks like a rebuild to me.
And I have been saying for sometime to sign Roussel we need that rat!
5 years 30mil 6 per for JVR. Book it
This draft on paper gets an D plus at best
I give this draft a C+ If the goalie pick was any of the 5 best forward prospects still available, and then said goalie was taken instead of Ragnarsson in R3, I give this draft a B. I give their first round a B+
I think they walked out of the first round with a future first line winger, 3d and 4d. If they went with best player available, they would’ve walked out with a future first line winger (Wahlstrom), middle 6 center (veleno) and 3/4D (sandin/Wilde). I don’t think that’s radically better.
Vegas was a great story, but in the end they still lost to the team with true 1st line offensive talent. I’m also not sure I’d expect to see Vegas do as well this coming season, though not rooting against them.
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Bobby, forward depth isn’t the issue, it’s that they have no great goal scorers on the NHL roster right now and that’s not a recipe for success unless you have a great defense, which we don’t. That’s fine for this season as our concern shouldn’t be winning the cup. However longterm they need that kind of offensive talent or we will just be repeating the same cycle. Be great if Chytil and the Russian are part of that future, but too risky to rely on such hope with players who have the tools but by no means no doubt talent (which you note are usually top 5 picks).
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Eric, could see him taking that deal in Toronto, but would still be leaving over $10-15 million on the table. Not sure why he would take it here (not sure if you were even implying he would)
Just think that’s what rangers offer JVR
The most painful part of this draft is knowing that Walstrom will be a another future HOF player we passed on and the Isles will be winning more than one cup before we ever win again. Just kills me.
mKH – not sure if you’re kidding or laying the sarcasm on thick. Either way, I snorted.
That’s a nice non-offer offer Eric.
What does long-winded mean? And could youse give me an example of a poster who is ‘long-winded’?
😎
JVR has let friends and family know. Some of whom post on other sites that he’d Love to play for the rangers. But that he haven’t gotten any feelings/feelers that the rangers are interested. He plans to go for the money, but would take a discount to sign him.
Well i’d take him at Eric’s offer if we also move Zuc and don’t resign Names and Spooner.
Boneheads: I give the the 2018 NHL Draft Team Comparitor ver 0.00 It is really crappy html so don’t bother to copy!
https://beezle-v2.github.io/
Usage: click name of first team, then click name of second team.
Result: if I didn’t screw it up, each team’s draft ordered by pick #
JPP – Long-Winded-Me! 🙂
I would be surprised to see Robin Lehner sign with the Rangers. With the goalie carousel coming in about a week Lehner could end up with a starting job or at least signing with a team where he can challenge for the top spot.
Being Hank’s backup doesn’t leave a lot of room for playing time. A guy like Lehner probably wants to play so he can get in a line for a bigger payday in a year or two. Pavelec took the job because he wasn’t getting any other offers coming a wretched year.
The one factor in the Rangers favor would be Lehner wanting to work with the Goalie Whisperer for a year two to set himself up for that next big contract. With expansion coming, Lehner could try to set himself up to be THE guy in Seattle. Also, Lehner might want the chance to learn from fellow Swede Henrik Lundqvist.
Lehner, like any UFA targets for the Rangers, would have to be willing to come in on a one or two year deal on a cap friendly deal (similar to Grabner’s deal). I might dabble in the JVR talks if he too is willing to look at a hometown discount.
I think we can forget Ryan Reaves. He is going to get overpaid by someone coming off of last year. I’d expect him to stay in Vegas or go home to Winnipeg.
Question – do you think OTBG is suffering from withdrawals because he hasn’t drafted a defenseman in line 24 hours?!?
so funny. i believe off the boardie gordie is going to stick quite well. Glad I was able to witness its birth
Beezle – Nice job on that – two thumbs up. Looking at Uncle Lou’s draft it really does look like he went down the ISS (or any other scouting service) and took the highest rated player available – which might have been a better way of drafting than the Rangers search for defensemen.
When you think about LouLam drafted the way or any other fan would given that we didin’t have the chance to scout the players ourselves. Of course, he did get lucky to have the back-to-back picks and was fortunate that the Coyotes, Blackhawks and Rangers went for players expected to be drafted in the teens (although Boqvist was expected to get within the Top 10).
Yeah, what has Vegas done?
Only been to same amount of SCFs in one year as NYR has been in the past 23 seasons…
Beginners luck I say
In retrospect
Draft Wahlstrom at 9
Trade 22 & 38; get to 14 or so
Draft Crapsoft
Trade 28 and other R2; down to 20
Draft D’A Miller
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It’s all about the firsts for the most part
Going down the ISS list and autodrafting best available is the best way to get on the “Winners” side of the draft reviews and have your farm system rated highly by THN.
SN – I’m thinking I’d Wahlstrom went 9 or 10, Kravtsov doesn’t make it past the Isles. So if they wanted him, they needed to grab him where they did.
You better hope for all our sakes they re-sign Spooner AND namestnikov at this point because you’ll need about four players from within the system to score the 30 something goals they’ll combine for
Lehner’s father was Hank’s goalie coach for awhile in Sweden when Lehner was a kid so it would be ironic if he came for Allaire to coach him and to be Hank’s back-up.
SN
those trades of moving up 8 spots were non starters for the other teams. we moved up only 4 spots with mid 2nd rd pick as enticer. and those 4 spots were late 1st rd. so you’re not going from 22 to 14 or 28 to 20 .
The one thing you’re missing when bemoaning lack of forwards on the Rangers is the age of the Rangers forwards. Aside from Zucc, there’s no one on the roster older than 27 (Kreider). And yes, there is an absence of an elite scorer but that is not the same thing as saying we lack scoring. Next year could see us with nine players scoring in the range(r) of 15 to 30 goals and at least 8 of the players I’m counting are NHL veterans. That’s not squirrel feed (of which you can get a 5 pound bag on Amazon for about $15).
So there is time for the ‘elite’ talent (chytil and kravtsov) to develop without going all chinese fireplace about the last draft’s lack of forwards. And there is time to draft and develop replacements. Where the rebuild absolutely, essentially, postivolutely has to produce is on defense and that’s what they emphasized cause don’t mistake if they had two players equally ranked when they picked (except at 9) and one was a forward and the other d, they went d with deliberation.
And as for as shesterkin resigning in Russia and not coming over, saw someplace that kravtsov got a congratulatory tweet from him which said in part that the three of them (including rykov) would be coming over at the same time.
“And as for as shesterkin resigning in Russia and not coming over, saw someplace that kravtsov got a congratulatory tweet from him which said in part that the three of them (including rykov) would be coming over at the same time.”
This is the Rangers, so I’m guessing we’re going to lose contact with that plane somewhere around the Canary Islands.
And yes, there is an absence of an elite scorer but that is not the same thing as saying we lack scoring. Next year could see us with nine players scoring in the range(r) of 15 to 30 goals and at least 8 of the players I’m counting are NHL veterans.
Sounds very similar to all those years of Callahan and Dubinsky playing top six minutes and trying to sign guys like Shanahan to supplement some offense. To that I say no thank you with all due respect.
This team is long over due for an elite forward. If Kravtsov doesn’t equate to one and other guys such as Wahlstrom do it’s gonna be a real shame
Kravtsov and Wahlstrom are certainly linked forever. I think we’ll be okay. But yes – it’ll doubly suck if we were wrong because he’s on the Isles.
I think we may have set our expectations too high on this draft. Maybe we were hoping they would draft players who would make an immediate impact and that’s just not realistic. It will be a couple of years before we know how they did. I saw one guy give them a B. Of course he gave the Isles an A+for essentially picking the guys they passed on. So Let’s not panic yet. They’ll be plenty of time for that in the fall.
Finally got a chance to peruse the Development Camp roster. It is nice to see two former MAAC schools represented: Canisius (Dylan McLaughlin) and Quinnipiac (Brogan Raffery) – a couple of fine Italian lads 🙂
An interesting name is Kevin Hancock from Owen Sound. The 5-11/180 Center put up really good numbers the last two years in the OHL. In 2016/17, he scored 30 goals and 55 assists in 68 games (7 goals and 4 assists in 17 playoff games) and last year had 24 goals and 45 assists in 54 games (8-7-15 in 17 playoff games) – worth an AHL or ECHL deal.
James, not worried at all next season about making up for the goals Spooner and Names might combined to score. They aren’t a playoff team if those two combine to score 30 goals, so makes no difference. Totally agree though about the Cally/Duby comment, goal scoring by committee is not a recipe for ultimate success in the playoffs, otherwise we’d have won 4 cups in the past decade. Until proven otherwise you need elite offensive talent that performs in the playoffs to win the Cup in today’s game. Yes you need a hot goalie and a competent D, but the first is the key in my mind.
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Not sure if it would have been possible given they already showed they were willing to move a 2nd to move up in the 1st, but I would have loved to have seen them pull the trade Stl made and grabbed Bokk instead of ze swedish D. Be much happier if we had him instead of yet another defensive prospect.
ORF, don’t think anyone should have expected any NHL ready players given where we drafted, but it takes 3-4 years from the draft for the guys who even make it to be ready. Can hope the Russian is ready before, but longshot at best that any of the other forwards will be. So we will have to either acquire potential difference makers upfront via trade this offseason (unlikely given who we will want to trade) or in next year’s draft, which means said players won’t likely be ready for another 2-4 years from that time.
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Too long of a season to root for a tank all year, but the best outcome for next season in my mind is they let the kids learn on the fly and they finish well outside of the playoffs and draft in the top 5, where hopefully they take a forward who is more NHL ready . Do that and maybe catch a break and a guy like Panarin or even Seguin makes it to UFA and you are right back in it in this watered down league
Not to burst anyone’s bubble regarding the draft next year if the rangers finish in the basement…BUT..even if they had the fourth or 5th pick and Clark liked the guy from Ukraine (hi C3!) who was ranked 12th by everyone else..he’d select the guy from Ukraine (hi C3!) and not the dudes ranked 4,5,6…
Hancock..yet another secret linked to Clark’s draft ranking process?
I’m kind of surprised we haven’t seen our goalie-centric Sittoo here, praising the Rangers for selecting a goalie in the second round. : )
JVR would fit perfectly with this team. Him Zika and Hayes can all put up 25 goals and 15 secondary assists for a whopping 40 points. And probably at about a combined 17 million a year
I didn’t say I was interested either
Long few years ahead…
Oy.
Dave – LouLam was going off the real board not the Gordie Gorton fantasy special.
Crapsoft would have been there.
Carlson 8×8 in Washington. Doughty and Karlsson around $11M next year? Still want to trade for Karlsson?
ilb
Not a chance!
Who is that Russian hobbit the Icelanders drafted? Couldn’t they have just settled for our Norwegian hobbit?
Hey folks!
So now that you’ve had the chance to digest all of this (well, those of you who didn’t get indigestion), I’m sure you’ve all come around!
I don’t know…. Something in my mustache told me that Nils at 28, and Olaf at 39 are the next coming of Karlsson and Lundqvist! Just like Jessiman was the 2nd coming of Eric Lindr……. alright, so maybe that one didn’t work out.
Did I mention that it was ME who outsmarted EVERY other team with our big burly Dylan Maclrath? And just you wait- I pulled a fast one this year, selecting the next Kuznetsov!
Welp, gotta go trim the stache!
Yours truly,
Off-the-boardie Gordie
Almost forgot!
Happy 26th, Blogmama!
Ha! That sounds familiar
Yes
Interesting brooks article re trading one of the two centres (makes a lot of sense to me) and adding a Roussel type or two (also makes senses to me).
Zibenajad for MaxPac. Of course, that means Lias and Chytil need to be ready to play this season lest they bring in another David Desharnais clone.
I think everyone missed the point I was making. No one is saying we’ll be a cup contender the next couple of years, but the makeup of this team is not bottom feeder either. This team has a deep bench of NHL forwards, they’re not all stars but neither are they scrubs and most of them have space to grow. You’ve got the base, now you need to feed into that base with players we haven’t been in a position to get (except past their due date) for half a decade or more. We won’t be favorites but I’ll bet we’re a competitive team most games and it won’t be Callahan/Dubinsky type hockey for the most part. Again, the hard part of this rebuild is going to be the d and, ultimately, the goalie. That’s the part of the team that absolutely collapsed the last two years with the guys that carried the d for so many years all falling down at once with only bandaids to replace them. That’s where Gorton is pulling as many levers as he can to get it right. The offense needs one or two pieces to make everything gel, sure those pieces are top level but we may already have one in the can and hopefully, two. That’s the way he turned it around in Boston, just a couple of pieces to add to an already solid. We all forget that the team was in the thick of it for the first half of the year, the collapse was because of injuries not a lack of talent. Or of trying.
I find it excruciatingly funny that so many here have a nostalgia-on for the coaching style that produced those Dubinsky/Callahan teams but have a gut reaction against reliving that era. That er(ror)a type hockey was not on the players, it was on the coach who will not be named.
If Quinn can fix Defense team can make playoffs and no one will be questioning offense. Gorton trying to improve team up the middle …don’t see him trading Hayes or Zib at this time ..need to make sure others ready and Chytil may be on wing eventually. Also don’t agree that that Hayes is a 3c
disagree on the last part. In my opinion Torts did his best to make it work with the players he was given by the GM. He didn’t play that kind of system when he was in Tampa because he had a few elite offensive players in their primes. He had one or two guys like that in his tenure here, but never really enough of them I don’t think
That Brooks article is a whole lot of nothing trying to cover all the bases and hoping he strikes oil somewhere in Clampett country. (How’s that for an absurdly mixed metaphor).
What he doesn’t even mention is the fact that the Rangers have not 4 but 6 natural cent(r)ers on the team. all of them top nine, and had the same number to end last year but didn’t seem to have any problem getting all of them ice time. Quinn will have choices, he can move people to wing as has been suggested here (guess Brooks lost the bookmark), he can play a non-traditional fourth line (my choice). Since they traded neither at the draft, at a time when teams are begging for centers/centres, it appears to me that they are likely to go into the season with both. It’s a false non-necessary choice, it’s Brooks at his usual throwing nonsense out there especially because the route that Gorton is taking, not making top UFA runs, means that he (Brooks) can’t just regurgitate his usual by changing the names of the suspects.
Talent too diluted in this League and soon to be worse.
Bobby, i think he was saying that they want Chytil in the top 6 in the center, so Hayes would be slotted down to 3rd line center by default (or Mika could in theory as well). If they can get a good young winger or righty D for either then you make the trade, but if not I would still be fine with moving one of those two to wing while you see if Chytil and Anderson can hack it at center. Mika in particular could be a good wing given that he likes to set up on the sideboards on the pp
Anerin, still very possible at least Names and/or Spooner are moved after the dust settles on July 1st if a team misses out on a UFA center or finds the price too steep as it’s pretty slim pickings after Tavares (Stasny the next best, but you’d be overpaying for a 1b center at best) and obvious trade like ROR gets paid too much
be a team that has three second lines and just deploy icetime fairly evenly and keep the energy up without the temptation to double shift your top line.
‘He didn’t play that kind of system when he was in Tampa because he had a few elite offensive players in their primes’
Again, I’ll say it, despite Carp contradicting me, he didn’t play the system he played in Tampa because of the new rule eliminating the red line. Without the red line, and he was trying that system when he first got here, players could dangle between the blue line and red line, just waiting to skate into the home run pass (no longer offsides) while Torts insistence that his d stay in the zone, and not just in the zone but constantly in the play, meant that he was facing breakaway after breakaway. His ‘safe is death’ system was no longer viable. As far as the players, the same players that Viggy had in his first year during which he completely threw out the nonsense that hewhoshallnotbenamed was insisting on. How did that turn out.
Remember all the catch phrases, ‘five in the picture’, ‘up the wall’, ‘don’t go up the middle’. Those last two years, the hockey was truly unwatchable. Sure, the players played tough, they were warriors, they gave their all but they were like the Spartans at Leuctra, they were Spartans and they fought the way Spartans alway fought, the traditional Spartan way but the Thebans had evolved their tactics and destroyed the Spartans. Every team in the league knew how a Ranger team would play and they just copied the same game plan that blew up Torts tactics and Torts, being the ancient Lacedaemonian that he is, couldn’t, wouldn’t change.
Neither Spooner nor (to a lesser degree) NTL are probably in the Rangers long term plans and I wouldn’t be surprised if either is moved for futures during the summer but I’d think it more probable that they get moved at the deadline (unless Ronning or Lettieri absolutely tear up training camp) where the futures would probably be fresher. Think draft picks instead of middling prospects.
carp quoted in lohud plus an old article regarding his colleague and friend
lohud sports
Verified account
@lohudsports
Who was Tom Whelan? Here’s what @RickCarpiniello wrote of the local sportswriting legend:
https://www.lohud.com/story/sports/high-school/2018/06/20/sports-award-honors-tom-whelan/715733002/ …
Arthur Staple
Verified account
@StapeAthletic
Tavares list just about finalized, it appears.
Leafs, Sharks, Stars are in, as mentioned a couple days ago. Believe the Bruins are in as well.
Canadiens and Vegas not on the list as of now.
#Isles will get in there too, of course.
SO don’t be surprised if we bring back Grabby, plus an experienced physical player to add to the 4th line. The question is when will it all start to move? Do we have to wait for Tavares? For Skinner? For JVR, Neal, Perron?
Athletic article saying the Rangers were huge losers at the draft based solely on value:
https://theathletic.com/406141/2018/06/24/wheeler-my-pseudo-scientific-look-at-the-2018-nhl-drafts-winners-and-losers/
Basically, a team like Calgary is a big winner because in the 7th round, they drafted a guy that was ranked as a 4th rounder. Story checks out.
Rangers Prospect Development Camp roster, starts today I think.
I counted 14 (15 if you count Rykov who is not on that list) defensemen and 19 forwards. Up until the draft, we had 10 defensive prospects. How many of those dman will actually turn into NHL players?
So you still think we have too many dman?
http://i64.tinypic.com/o0uum1.jpg
Oh and btw, we THREE Lundqkvists on our team now.
Quinn ‘fixing’ defense will involve different players not different styling. Name the teams best defensive Dman? Marc Staal?? Shatty??? Ha!
Ready for first pair Staal? Not his fault he is by default the team’s only defensive Dman save for Smitty? or wait, Kampfer? O’Gara??
Need we see more of this to know it will not end well unless the coach is Dr Quinn; Medicine Man known to change mere mortals into gods.
Sather and the other clowns assessing the D has set this team back to the dark ages. Good thing we have different people fixing this problem. What?!? Same guys? whatever. Wash, rinse, repeat.
.
The Kids are Alright. We hope…
Its a game of numbers….they’re banking on a handful of the 14 defensemen being serviceable and a couple of them becoming top pair. In fact i’d go as far as saying they think K’Andre Miller will be the second coming of Big Buff
TANK!
Exactly, Simon. Handful…
So this idea that we have too many dman in the system is bullsht.
I’ve stayed away from the Byfuglien comparisons with Miller, just because of skating ability. But honestly…if Miller fills out the way he should, and is able to grow offensively…a Byfuglien who can skate? Wow.
It is nice to see the college kids involved in the camp since they have to pay their own way. FYI – I read that Rykov would have been in camp, but was having visa problems (should have tried Amex or Mastercard :-))
More quality at d than at forward is the real issue IMHO. Great problem to have for defense. Bad for offense.
Defense drives offense 😉
And Hoke drives Miss Daisy 🙂
@CCCP they are now the L*nd*vists! As I wrote a few days ago, imagine Sam having to announce this: “A great save by Lundqvist Joe, now Lundkvist picks up the rebound..skates it up ice..finds the wide open Lindqvist who shoots.. he scores!!!!”
On the abundance of D, if they were to all pan out the team will be able to get any forwards they desire by trade. Good D always more valuable.
i do think we have too many lefty defense and not enough righty. not a deangelo fan for starters. yes it’s hard to get a 3/3 balance but we seem headed towards 5/1.
as i stated before i can’t count the times i saw proposed deals for righty defense (trouba or dumba)
Jack Hughes is gonna look real good in Ranger red, white, and blue!
We have more than enough D to field a football team! And I still like my idea of Kavtsov, Chytl, Andersson, “The OTB Line!”
Karma dictates that Jack Hughes will be an Av next year after Ottawa “cuit le lit”
I don’t believe in Karma DaveB!
Pierre LeBrun
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Confirmed teams that John Tavares will meet with this week at CAA offices in L.A.: Dallas, Boston, San Jose, Toronto, Tampa (plus of course NYI). The Tavares camp will also have conversations with 2-3 other teams over the phone and perhaps also meet with 1-2 of them.
This is almost LeBron-on-ice……hope JGGM is at least on the phone just to run the price up!!
Pierre LeBrun
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12m12 minutes ago
More Confirmed teams that John Tavares will meet with this week at CAA offices in L.A.: Dallas, Boston, San Jose, Toronto, Tampa (plus of course NYI). The Tavares camp will also have conversations with 2-3 other teams over the phone and perhaps also meet with 1-2 of them.
Interesting seeing a lot of Hayes trade rumours, but what if our new coach wants to play him RW or convert one of the new boys to wing? Then surely you keep them all and trade Zucc ?
Does anyone know which teams Tavares will talk to this week? Thanks in advance!
That’s why you’re cursed to be a Ranger fan, SPE
CCCP: Dallas, Boston, San Jose, Toronto, Tampa (plus of course NYI). You’re welcome!
Would be really surprised if they moved Haze as he is the designated lead Masshole; being showcased at the MSG events with coach and team. Maybe they can sign Spoon and Namestoolong to team friendly 2-3 year RFA deals to hold the fort while the kids get ready, but Haze (and Shea) seems like he is going to get a deal.
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There are only 7 players under contract for next season prior to RFA deals; Henk, Staal, Shatty, Zika, Kreider, Fast and everyone’s fav; Matt Belesky.
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How is Belesky not playing bottom 6 this season? Is he really worse than other alternatives they pick up?
Next season = 2019-20.
John Moore (D) UFA, made $1.6M last season; 7-11-29 +3 on Derbils last season. Not sure what he would be looking for but 2-3 deal while the kids progress down below for a steady bottom 6 D.
The same John Moore that was “the gem of the Gaborik deal” who we decided to misuse, screw with, and ultimate throw into a deal for Keith Yandle? I’m sure he’d love to come back.
I was wondering if Tavares has a list of teams yet that he’ll meet with this week?
Asking for a friend
Hopefully we get real-time tweets when Kravtsov tears every single “CL” in both knees after getting hit by “Brogan Rafferty.”
Brogan Rafferty sounds like a nickname my friends and I would’ve had for each other if we went to high school with a guy named Logan Rafferty.
Once someone lets Wicky know who the Tavares suitors are, can you subsequently let me know?
I think this is the year Jessiman finally makes the leap to the big club
Gravy Shuffleboard club?
[John Moore (D) UFA, made $1.6M last season; 7-11-29 +3 on Derbils last season.]
He was so good he had 29 points on 7 goals and 11 assists? 🙂
That would be we’re cursed Dave not just me, but that’s not karma that’s Sather a completely different concept!
Are we not counting shoot out goals?
I believe he was 8-11-29; which makes it a real steal now!
JMoops …..just what we need, a bottom pair lefty D…..we don’t have enough lefty D-men!!
I still think we need 8-10 more lefty defensemen in our system , preferably of the 4-5-6 variety, before we can take the next step
Man, Miller is at least 6’6 with the hair