Good morning, boneheads!
I hate losing to NJ. But I wasn’t that upset last night. This one was about ping pong balls. And another kind…Big as the building. Two teams playing for absolutely nothing, and ended up with 46 PM and 3 fights. All after no-hitter, pond hockey first period. Two of the youngest teams in the league.
You have to like what you see. There is a foundation built by the new coach. They will not be pushed around, the AV era is over. No McLeod, McQuaid or Smith. Three fights, they won 2 of them. The one they lost though was the most important to me. Andersson went with a much more experienced opponent and he lost. But he is willing, and he is going to be a pain in the neck to play against. Speaking about pain in the neck. Lemieux has a very strong muscle core, he is difficult to knock off his feet. He uses it well by taking his opponents off balance and pounding them.
I just realized I’ve been talking about fights for two paragraphs straight. I must be still under the Wicky influence after spending last week with him. Shake it off, ilb! 🙂
They have a lot of things to fix. Get rid of AHLers, clear up the defensive logjam, add some D-men who can defend. They need more skill, much more than they have. But there is a foundation.
Goals by Howden and Chytil. Let’s hope we hear it very often for many years.
Speaking of Chytil. Too bad he got injured. Shoulder is my guess, I doubt we will see him this season. Because I was going to mention that thinking he hasn’t improved is a mistake. I’m sure BDL will disagree with me, but he is more involved in the defense lately, he is starting to backcheck, and he can be frequently found in and around the blue paint in the O-zone. Still ways to go, but baby steps, folks.
Three games to go. I’ll try to do another subscription contest before their season is over.
Click here to read Carp’s game review.
192 responses to “Rangers-2, Devils-4”
C’mon, BDl! Drop the gloves! 🙂
Wicky must have a puck on a chain he uses to hypnotize you. You always wondered why Apres seemed to go by so quickly…
Maybe slight improvement, ilb.
Think about where he would be if he spent most of the season in the AHL playing center. Wasted season. Would not shock me, after the dust has cleared from the moves in the summer, that Chytil starts next season in the minors.
It’s nice to see some positivity regarding the Rangers and their rebuild.
Larry Brooks seems to blast the rebuild’s progress “nothing to see here, move on..” nearly every chance he gets. Also can’t stop mentioning failed drafts, passing on Beauvalier (really??). Reading his column is downright depressing. At least even with all the looniness here, there is some positivity with light at the end of the tunnel.
Either way — you gotta love how these young players are competing and learning to play the “right way.”
Disagree on wasted season. Hartford was a hot mess. He is playing against the big boys. They don’t need him to become a defensive specialist. They need him to score. Scoring against the big boys will give him more necessary confidence than scoring against AHLers.
They need him to be at least competent in his own zone. Otherwise you can’t play him at center. What Hartford was has no bearing on where Chytil should have been.
So uh…… is this part of the game plan and realistic end of the season goals to reach. Let’s beat up on every team we face for the rest of the year and tell em to get used to it .
Get teams beginning to think ‘remember how the rangers were playing at the end of last season, I don’t really feel like getting into that kind of game here tonight’
Hartford, as well as the most of the AHL, has no defensive structure that translates into the big league. It’s been said many times, see Libor Hajek who was better in his short stay in NY than in Hartford. The more Chytil scores against the big boys, the more confidence he gets. We don’t have to agree on that.
BDL. Chytil never got sent down bc they didn’t have the wingers down there to play him with that would have helped developed his skill and pace.
Anyway I think it’s better for these guys to get a good taste of what they need to improve on to be able to compete with NHL players, rather than have than feast in the A and than next year have to go through these growing points. Glad they got these 40-70 games in
Good morning Boneheads welcome to Tuesday!
ilb
Thanks for the mini review!
Missed the pick last night thought for sure they would beat the debbies. Unless they get lotto lucky 6th seems to be the best they can do. Watching the game last night a thought ran through my brain, are they becoming the Broadway Bullies? Yeah I know never happen. Having said that, my hope is they finally shed the Cotton Candy personality!
What is this story with Adam Fox? Any legit rumors that he wants to play for NY? Sounds like he told Carolina to trade him or lose him for nothing. Does anyone know anything about him?
Great short insights, ilb.
Fox is a righty puck mover, rover, with from what I saw, above average defensive awareness in comparison to players of the same elk. Was top 4 for US developmental program. Played alongside our own Ryan lindgren, the two complement each other in a way that could translate all the way to the PRO game.
A year away from graduating from Harvard and becoming a UFA two months after. Think he’s a Long Island kid who grew up watching the rangers.
If Fox wants the rangers only, and Carolina wants a return on him. Carolina’s only hope is that the rangers are willing to pony up an asset or two to burn off this year of an ELC as means of getting both sides (fox and Carolina) to make it happen NOW. Once the regular season ends, fox loses the ability to burn off a year, but Carolina loses everything, bc when the regular season ends, Fox just decides to play out his senior year and becomes UFA, whereas Carolina will than lose the asset for NOTHING
Interesting CBA twist on Adam Fox. He actually controls where he is going to be traded. He wants to burn his first year of ELC. He can only do it if he signs with Carolina, and not with any other team he’s traded to because of being on the Carolina reserve list. In other words, in order for Carolina to get any value in return, they need to do sign and trade him. Hence, he controls where he goes. Of course Carolina can just refuse the entire thing out of spite, but that wouldn’t be a smart managerial move since they are getting nothing in that case. Watch this issue to be on the table big time for the next CBA.
Wonder if they still stay up late in Czechoslovakia to watch Chytil.
Trades can be made after the deadline, but players aren’t eligible for playoff rosters, that’s why it so rare. But the rangers can trade for Fox, sign him, play him in the last 2 games of the season and he burns a year off his ELC deal and will an RFA a year earlier, as if he played this entire season
So he first has to sign with Carolina. But that’s just a gentleman’s agreement. Carolina could screw him and say we’re not trading you now and Fox’s only option is to not report and hold-out. That’s risky business. If I’m Fox, I either have legal parameters that a trade is in place or I just wait until next year. Something tells me his senior year and two semesters are Harvard wouldn’t suck that much for him. Like one long going away party
Above average defensive awareness? If that’s the case, he instantly falls into 90 percentile on this team in that category 🙂
Jpp- he burns his first year of ELC by simply signing with Carolina.
I mean if I’m Gorts and them.
I’m thinking to myself a built in at least 3rd pair, hopefully if things work out solid 2nd pairing in lindgren/fox.
I’m looking at how I could turn that lindgren/fox pairing from the US junior teams as my 2nd/3rd pairing. For money.
What would he be worth? A 3rd rounder? I think if Carolina wants more, I’d wait until after the next season.
Call me a silly goose, but if he’s assured himself of the probability of a nice NHL career, and if he is more than a half-assed student, I say finish that Crimson degree at the Alabama of the North.
On the other hand, how many puck movers do they need? Anthony ( Tony ) DeAngelo is outplaying Shattenkirk in that category at the moment. He is a keeper. Getting rid of Shattenkirk’s contract is going to be very painful as far as the cap hit goes this year. So he may stay too.
He’s at leas worth a shot by Gorton, considering the hideous state of our D corps.
and ye, Phaneuf begat Mrs. Boyle, who begat Yentle, who begat Shattenkirk’s immovable contract
3rd rounder and C prospect is the most I’d do as well. Otherwise, yeah let Fox finish his degree and sign with The Rangers next summer. Look if he becomes a solid player, the rangers will resign him and this burning of the ELC doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t matter for most of these guys. If your good, your gonna get paid regardless, and if your not good, it doesn’t matter how quickly you get to UFA, you probably won’t be in the league to reap it. So it’s a really small percentage of players than burning the ELC, it’s partially a ‘fad’ right now
Shatty and Staal – our two largest problems on the back line, physically, mentally, and contract-wise. Anyone who disagrees is not paying attention or is refusing to do so.
coos
pretty obvious isn’t it?
To US it is, Eli. Others are living in WallyWorld.
Oh yay, arm chair gm’ing…
Pionk and Nieves for fox and future considerations.
😉
Eliminating those 2 anchors would immediately improve our chances clearing up our D issues!
And they know Hartford needs restructuring because look at the additions they’re making with these NCAA kids and the way theyre assessing guys like Lettieri and Gilmore.
I said it all season. They really didn’t have anyone to call up to play in place of Chytil. I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to have him in the NHL struggling every night but what’s done is done and you just hope there’s improvement next season
Brooks trashes the rebuild because they don’t do the things he suggests- like re-signing Hayes and Zucc….Just another scorned Rangers fan at the end of the day.
Cooscoos
Problem is there are rules and can’t just walk away from contracts no questions asked. So buyouts are just as painful (if not more so – example G and then bringing in Shatty). Since you like to repeat yourself I figured I would do as well.
PS you forgot Henrik (whose contract is awful) and Smith.
Players of his “elk”…lmao
ILB – I posted this a couple of days ago in reference to Adam Fox. It is from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic:
By all accounts, Fox should develop into a top-four NHL blueliner although I got some differing views of him on Thursday.
“I guess the question marks would be about his ability to defend,’’ said one NHL scout via text message. “He can run a PP. Offensive D-men are hard to find!’’
Said a rival Eastern Conference NHL team executive: “Above average puck skills. Really smart, terrific vision. Sub six-footer with modest speed and quickness. His size/speed ratio really bothers me. Drives a lot of production on the PP but I don’t see him being a major PP guy in our league.’’
From a Western Conference team exec: “There’s no question he’s a skilled guy. He’s undersized but full of offensive skill. Not a great skater but good instincts. How will that translate to the NHL?’’
And finally, from our prospects guru Corey Pronman:
“He’s an elite puck-mover,” Pronman told me on Thursday. “Outstanding vision, patience, overall offensive IQ. Prototypical PP QB. Concerns over his size and average feet in terms of how well he defends in the NHL. I don’t think he’s a star prospect but he could be a useful second pair D.’’
Haha. I might have cracked you up wicky. You just cracked me up by bringing it to my attention.
We need some elks on the team. One gazelle is enough, gimme some elk
For argument sake, if you replaced the big bag of “S” with Fox, Lindgren and Hajek, you’d be leaps and bounds better on the blueline. Maybe not overnight but certainly in the long run. Then you just need a 2C and a RW2
When you talk D issues….
It depends on which issue you are referencing…on ice or cap hit…because it’s a different set of players to clear up each problem.
Only Two players fit into both categories and they do so marginally.
The legal details play out in the rangers favor. He can sign and burn a year off his deal without playing in a game, and that’s important bc by playing in a game, he would then needed to be protected in the expansion draft. So the play is have Carolina sign him, burns it, trade for him, don’t play him.
Meanwhile it may benefit Fox to get in now, but for the Rangers, next summer is optimal, so I could see them being hesitate to part with much in a deal
bc next summer organically works out perfectly
Meet Alex – Master of the Obvious.
The reality of the situation is they need guys that can defend. Not another puck moving dman.
big bag of “S”. LOL
Love Lemyoo’s style of play but he’s not big enough to maintain it over the course of a full career. He’ll end up on the IR more often than not. Maybe not next year or the year after but at some point, I hope his IR vacations are for another team.
I LOVE BUYOUTS AND DEAD CAP SPACE 🙂
Did we give Panarin 40 million a year yet?
Did we buy out Shattenkirk yet?
Am I BANJing?
did Carp have anything to do with the re-opening of Ralph’s Ices?
I may be jumping to conclusions. But I think the front office sees lindgren/fox as the type of combo that would work in the NHL and even if it ends being an elite and big competitive advantage 3rd pairing, that the two complement each other in ways that make each of them better.
Lindgren the old school hold the line bruiser and fox the creative instinctive facilitator and the two make/allow each other to be more productive
Players of his elk are deer to me. I have a tendency to fawn over them. If I had more doe, I’d buy one.
Cooscoos
if it was so obvious that Henrik and Smith are big problems contract wise, why didn’t you mention it.
I’ve read ten million scouting reports and 9,990,000 are elkchit.
Fox is the no defense all offense Dman this franchise needs! NYR collects 3rd pair puck moving (once they can possess it) one dimensional backliners like bad luggage.
.
Enough of the fuggin insanity!!
I also didn’t mention global warming.
And No More soft US college players please.
.
Brooks writes to incite the mindless masses. Pay no heed.
Alex – ‘If it were…’ Subjunctive mood. Bone up.
Who will be the first innovative NHL coach to demand defense from defensemen? 🙂
Think he smells there is a chance of a buyout coming. I don’t think he wants to play for another team, so low probability he asks to be traded. And he would only want to go someplace he was assured of starting, almost certainly another non-playoff type team. Would he retire and walk from the rest of the contract? Hank’s a proud guy so have to put that in the maybe category. Think the cap hit would be 2.25 per for 2 years if he did that.
No Cup contender has cap space for that anvil contract; will have to eat at
Least half of it
I’ll have an anvil on rye toast with Hollandaise.
They are not going to buy out Kirk. They will trade him and eat up to 3.3M per year. I think the odds are pretty high one of the 21 allowed teams would take him at that discount.
He would be taken under those conditions. Unlikely he or Staal are going to get any better. We either live with them through their onerous contracts or bite the bullet.
In addition to everything else, dimwitted Sather handed Staal a ten million dollar signing bonus.
Coos I think if they sign Igor they will buyout HL. If not, they probably buyout Staal. Trading Kirk is available at any time. They may decided to keep him and hope for the best on the last two years if they make a splash with two UFAs, perhaps figuring there will be less pressure on the defense and whoever they bring in will hopefully be a little more responsible defensively as well.
lisa dillman
Verified account
@reallisa
Doughty: ‘ I wish we played all four games in a row to be honest
I just want to get this over with”
Does management have the huevos to buy-out The King?
They would market it as putting him out of his suffering on a rebuilding team.
After all talks and analysis’ attempts, it’s sharply obvious, we’re back to square one -team needs the finishers and reliable, bearing defensemen. How many, where to get them and for how much – will be the only intrigue which could entertain us in the near future while our boys get busy polishing their golf skills. Oh, and, of course, cool, relaxing observation of other gladiators, fighting for High Trophy.
I think Hank is a bright guy. He knows one of two things have to happen. 1, he shows up next year, and is a heck of a lot better than he is right now.
B, he gets out of the way.
He can do that in a few different ways. Buyout, accepting a trade, or retirement.
Retirement …..
Ilb got me so bad yesterday with his April fools joke. I was elated to read Hank retiring — then to only see it was a joke. I was PISSED!
If Hank the Tank retires, they should retire his jersey on opening night.
.
For a guy with a lot of pride, swallowing it for 2 seasons to cash big checks and sully his reputation with NYR is hopefully enough for him to at least consider it.
Beezle, why would they have a cap hit if Hank retires?
JPP-in terms of burning one year of his ELC, it doesn’t matter to the Rangers whether Fox signs now, or after next season. It will still be a two year ELC because of his age. If they think he could be a regular right away, it’s better to get him now.
Hank gotta ask himself this: does he want to play into his 40s. If he does, he needs to accept a 50/50 load is gonna be what it is going forward maybe even less on his side. If he doesn’t want to accept that reality or put in the necessary work due to that reality, he should go chase a cup next season.
Hank is up there on the all-time lists, and for some nothing beats the NHL lifestyle and life even if your not the man anymore. So i see plenty of reasons for his to accept a new reality and look at things in a let’s setup a plan and regimen so I can play until my 40s in a goalie duo and be part of it when the team may have a chance in the playoffs. Hell go finish your contract with a contender and come back when it’s up to do the above.
Hank can either get in front of the wave and ride his way, or he can get tossed around by it. Either way it’s sandy shores at the end of the ride for him. What does he want to make of the rest of it
Exactly it doesn’t matter for the rangers when they start it. Matters for him. And yes matters if they want him in the lineup next season
Personally,
If I’m Gorts and I’ve been scouting him and believe in him and want him, I’d pay up something to make it happen now to show my commitment to the kid. And just for good business relations around the league. You throw Carolina a bone so that they don’t look bad and the league notices you handled this situation with some empathy to the other team.
Stormin’ Norman!
Beer me!
An undersized, offense-oriented Harvard boy might help here, but the thought doesn’t quite raise my weewee to the active position.
A lot of mixed reviews on Fox. Some say top 4. Others say he does not skate well enough for him to play that high up in the lineup.
Foxy Knoxy
Ok, obviously I was not being direct enough earlier in My comments regarding the Foxy Lady.
No More Fuggin one dimensional, No defense soft arse college boys. Have you not paid attention over the last 6 seasons as this franchise was brought to ruin chasing the girl with the curl, aka PP QB who cannot play D.
Just enuf already. Some of youse got your head up your arses.
Or you can keep six of them and sign six Wes Walz’s, who was standing in the offensive zone with his skates turned around in opposite direction, ready to backcheck 🙂
The rangers spent the last 6 seasons chasing a PP QB? I saw them chasing a cup, I haven’t seen what SN is describing, more a narrative than anything.
Who are these guys your referring to? Dan Boyle? Keith Yandle? Tony deangelo? Kevin Shattenkirk? Neil Pionk? Brady Skjei?
What guys fit into this narrative?
Hey guys. Writing to you from the prison library. They let me use the library computer for 30 minutes a day.
My new pen pal is nice. His name is Tyron. He’s quite a big boy…About 6’6 280lb…. and he loves to hug.
Did you know it costs $54 a day to keep a person in prison, which comes out to $75 million a day nationally. That’s $28 billion a year. When you think about it, wouldn’t it be cheaper just to let us keep the goddamn car stereos?
Ps, Season over yet?
Caber!
Dam Boyle
yandlabra
Sharty
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How did each of those work out? I must have missed the Cup parade…
Or better yet, which one helped the most? How many Cup appearances with that group between all of them??
.
Do or do not, there is no try.
SN Broke the blog!
Ilb – off top of my follicly challenged head – the cap hit on retirement is the difference between remaining cap and cash to be paid split over the years left. It is a rule they put in to try to penalize front loaded contracts.
One week away from the ping pong ball crowd hucking themselves off a ledge lol
I say the rangers pick 4
It’s amazing since getting draisitl and that mcdavid guy the cup winning success that Edmonton has had, and that’s included a generational talent.
Beezle-I think you’re referring to a cap recapture penalty. It only applies to contracts signed prior to the current CBA, and those longer than 8 years. Hank signed his contract in 2014, he isn’t subject to this. If he retires, all of his cap is off the books.
Win out and we are in. Rangers V Sharks for the cup. Rangers in 7
Edmonton has a problem even to play .500 hockey. Who can riddle me that?
And they keep changing GMs and coaches too. Too cold? Brain freeze right after they move there?
Edmonton will be Babcock next team.
They owe Hank $12.5M over next two years. How about he retires and they hire him as an assistant to Benny with guaranteed 2 year contract at $.6.5M per year. Give him a $500K raise! No cap hit, and he gets paid. Circumvent that!
Same thing with philly as Edmonton, gm and coaching carousel as they try to build “patiently” through draft which doesn’t work in today’s nhl.
You have to use free agency as key component as well as trades or you just flounder in rebuild mode.
Draisaitl and Mcdavid blah blah blah, If you can’t keep the puck out of your own net you don’t win zip!
Hey Minx I was behind a Florida plate this afternoon. Is it something about being north of the we will win again line that makes them drive 15 under the limit? We don’t have blue plate specials up here!
Wick, i may be wrong but think the only way Rangers pick 4th is if they trade for that pick as lottery is for top 3 only i believe and no way we will finish 4th worst (and even if we did we would only pick 4th if the three teams finishing dead last were all selected in the lottery).
Edm is in a class of its own as far as all around management failure and also geographically near impossible to attract good free agents, so red herring to use them as an example of why a certain rebuild approach will or won’t work. Philly has never been able to get or keep a good goalie, but perhaps Hart is finally the one.
More to the point, what is the right rebuild formula then and please point to the multiple cup winners in the last decade that have followed it? Of that list, which teams were in a comparable position as the Rangers of these past two seasons from an Nhl and prospect talent perspective. And did any of that group not have one of their own top 3 picks playing for them when they won?
My guess is you get stuck after the Bruins and even they had Seguin on their cup roster
I’m more focused on the other teams, we’ll call it the other 29 teams, that didn’t get generational talent that plays like a 4th liner that have reacted in the top 3 lottery picks and have nothing to show for it.
Hell, let’s call it 28 teams since the caps have a cup and a generational player that plays like a 4th liner.
You let me know when there is a draft with a generational talent that plays like a 4th liner at the top of it, then we can talk about a tank or ping pong balls.
Until that point, you got nothing to go on, sorry bro.
Kenny Albert doing the Boston – CBJ game on NBCSN. Ironic that he’s only allowed to do radio for the NYR while Nosen does TV. I wonder why Nosen doesn’t do any national play by okay…..I imagine it’s because the game passed him by years ago. Salmon Joe are among the worst…
Should be a great game
And neither do you Wick until more than one team without a top 3 draft pick in their lineup wins the Cup
Ha, let me see 28 or a generous 3…yeah, umm I’ll go with the norm, not the exception.
But hey, keep trying to tell yourself whatever you need to so you sleep better at night lol.
Sideshow bob playing tonight apparently
I’m going to butt in because I’m bored. If you consider guys like Kopitar and Bergeron generational talent then you can make an argument that the Cup hasn’t been won since ‘06 without generational talent.
My humble opinion you ask? I think those players are very good but they aren’t up there with the Mcdavids and Crosbys of the world. So I guess you could say that three Cups out of the last 8 were won without generational talent.
I think at the end of the day whether you have that player or not you need the proper foundation as well as the right supporting cast. For every Crosby and Malkin there’s a Bonino and a Cullen mucking it up and contributing away from the spot light.
There’s a reason guys like Mike Rupp score the Cup clinching goals most of the time.
Hell, to this day I would sleep with a Messier poster over my bed if my wife would allow, and I’ll still be the first to tell you I think Brian Noonan scored the third goal of game 7 in ‘94
James
Reality is it’s who you pick when you pick, not where and certainly not top 3.
The core of teams like the ducks, kings, caps etc were about mid to late first round picks and later.
The pens definitely have a group of high picks, but they are all first line talent that plays like 4th liners.
Same with the Blackhawks and Toews.
Point is, some people cry themselves to sleep around here because of ping pong balls and top 3 picks when it doesn’t matter in this draft at all and rarely does in any draft.
James
Your 8:44 is spot on.
4 different Stanley Cup winners in the past 10 years, all of them had top 3 picks playing for them, with only one of those teams where said top 3 pick wasn’t an impact player. And only the Kings and Bruins didn’t have two top 4 picks of their own playing for them (Kings did trade the player they selected 5th overall, Schenn, for Richards).
No one is advocating only trying to get lottery picks and avoiding free agency and trades. And yes it’s possible to build a Cup winner without ever having had a lottery pick or having one and not getting anything out of said player, but it’s just a lot harder to acquire the necessary high-end talent without one or more such picks. You need very good scouts getting top 5 level talent with late first or later round picks and then have to make very great free agent signings and trades.
Given what we have thus far seen the last two years from Gorton as far as trades and free agent signings and Gorton and Clarke in their collective tenures as far as drafting, how confident are you that the Rangers can do one of those three, let alone the two or more that are necessary to go that route?
Doughty wasn’t nearly the contributor for the kings (even though a lottery pick I think) that the guys drafted in mid to late first round and later were.
It’s really a ridiculous point to try and make by folks about a top 3 pick.
No one trusts them to make the right draft picks but everyone wants them to build through the draft?!
It’s hysterical reading what some post.
I don’t think they ventured into the free agent market the last couple of seasons too heavily because it wasn’t that good. The potential one this year is a different story.
Actually we did venture into ufa market 2 years ago in Shatty and traded for and signed Smith.
i wouldn’t mind following the Winnipeg model. several 10 guys
Laine
Trouba
Scheifele
and did well with later picks too. so it’s not just about top 3 and ping pong balls. but i’d certainly rather draft 6th than 10th.
in most drafts you will get a very good player top 3, even with Clarke drafting. yes there are duds in some years (and Oilers got more than a couple), but i’d much rather be picking 3 then 7, wouldn’t you? You keep saying it doesn’t matter where you pick, but everyone you say want this year will be gone by 4 or 5 at latest and that’s usually the case unless it’s a very deep draft.
As far as free agents, the $11m/yr tied up in Shatty and Smith and ~$8m/yr tied up in Names, Strome (and Spooner) say hello! Not a lot of bang for your collective buck there.
And Doughty was a beast for the Kings in ‘14 playoffs ( 5th in points and averaged almost 29 mins a game) and ‘12 playoffs (3rd in points and just over 26mins a night)
Pete
I listed guys I’d be interested in potentially where the rangers pick (cozens or krebs…I like cozens better).
I’ve also stated numerous times that if the rangers picked 1 I’d take kakko over hischier…I mean Hughes.
Once we know where the rangers pick, I’ll be happy to let you know the guy I’d be interested in seeing the rangers pick at that spot since it seems to be so important to you.
Alex
I didn’t consider shattenkirk as venturing “heavily” into the free agent market, so you either didn’t read the post completely or didn’t understand it.
Smith was a ranger that was re upped.
Golly gee Pete, I mean doughty was a magical top 3 pick, how did he not lead the team both years in scoring and play 40 minutes a game…lmao.
It was guys that were not drafted top three that made the difference in both their cup wins.
Again, I admire you trying to fit your narrative here, but failure on your part.
It’s more important for an organization to draft properly when they draft instead of hoping for a unicorn.
Pete
So who do you want the rangers to draft this draft?
Wait, I just remembered I don’t really give a 💩 so never mind.
Lmao
I crack myself up
Wicky
i didn’t use the word heavily. I said we ventured into ufa. And Smith was a trade that we then signed (I believe he would have been ufa). You keep mentioning trades and ufas – I gave you one of each from 2 years ago. And the trade we gave up a 2 and a 3.
Alex
I did use the term, which was my point.
If you are confused…which you seem to be, start over with my 8:55 which used the term “heavily” and go from there.
Please try and keep up
Wicky
again i didn’t use the word you did. just like i use the word rebuild not whatever modifier you throw in front of rebuild to make it more than what i and others are saying.
should we discuss some of your favorites who you wanted the rangers to sign or draft.
lets see
McIlrath
Ladd
Backes
Lucic
did i forget anybody?
Alex
Other than clearly being Uber confused still…and obviously you’ve loaded up on d bag pills tonight, I’m not sure what your point is?
I said the rangers haven’t been heavily involved in free agency the last couple of years…which they haven’t.
Why do you want to bring up your boy mcilrath again? If you want to talk about him go ahead.
Or how about your cornerstone d man Brady you were raving about last year?
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
You are serious weak sauce.
By chance do you know if girardi was bought out and if his buyout is still affecting the rangers cap?
Coos was right, rinse repeat blah blah blah with you.
Do you run out of stuff to copy and paste?
Lmmfao
Whatever Wicky
Good choice
Who own da Chiefs? Ownzzzaaa, ownzzzaaa.
That is such a great movie tym
Yeah. I did not have anything worthwhile to contribute and the blog was looking a little testy, so I went for the cheap laugh. Hey Hanrahan………….
That post was the most worthwhile one all day
It’s not where you draft, it’s who is doing the drafting. And the Rangers drafting has been miserable.
Good morning, boneheads!
This conversation will never end. Probably a good thing, keeps this place going. Even though we don’t care about traffic.
There is no way anyone can change somebody’s mind on this. It’s ok to disagree.
I already presented my opinion on that. Click here.
It’s never one way or another. Stanley Cup is the most difficult trophy in all pro sports to win. Each year 29 ( recently 30) teams are disappointed. If it were only for highest draft picks, Pittsburgh should’ve won it every year after they drafted Malkin and Crosby, 2005 and after. They didn’t. How many time they lost to a “lesser” opponent, or didn’t even make it to the postseason? They needed second ( Letang), third and fourth rounders to do so. And some luck. Kings and Blackhawks needed Keith ( second rounder ) and other players. Kings needed Dwight King, Washington DSP. I can go on and on.
I think we all forget how close the Rangers were. With a little better performance from “lesser” players, some better health, and more luck, they win a couple.
Drafting top 3 helps, but you can get better players in the middle of the first oftentimes. But adding more pieces elsewhere is sometimes more important.
How many times a week do I have to read on here about how we signed Shatty as a UFA and it didn’t work out so we shouldn’t sign any ufas?
As for Smith I think about 85% of the GMs in the league would have extended him after the playoff performance he had that post season. Only a few of us saw that as a bad move here as well.
As far as the draft goes, while I don’t have blind faith in this scouting staff I will say that the last two drafts have been pretty mediocre as far as the talent pool. So you really can’t kill them no matter how much you dislike Chytil or Andersson.
At the end of the day I think with the amount of high draft picks they’ve collected they will eventually build a core that’s a level above the one they built with Callahan Staal Dubinsky etc.
RE: Kings and Bruins winning the Cup- they didn’t have the Ovie type player but they got timely/dominant goaltending performances. Had we gotten that in ’14 the Rangers would be the other team to win without “generational” talent. So talk to King Ewing about that…
“It’s not where you draft, it’s who is doing the drafting. And the Rangers drafting has been miserable.”
Slatsko you’re half right and half wrong. If the talent isn’t there then it isn’t there it doesn’t matter if the greatest scouts in the world are picking. One year Matthews is the top pick and the next it’s a Hischier. Devils picked number 1 and walked away without a generational player.
Then there’s years like ’03 where Zherdev and Michalek went top 10 and Shea Weber and Patrice Bergeron went mid second round. There’s more to it then just starting with the mind set of ‘Rangers management can’t do anything right’
Lesser than 1st overall pick Nash who shat the bed in the SC?
Until the bag of S’s and Mr. Lundqvist’s contracts come off the books Gortons hands are somewhat tied. If he trades Kreider + for a top R1 D we still have the bag of S’s. So he signs Panarin to replace Kreider, Bag of S’s? It’s why I feel that this years draft is extremely important for OTBG and Gorton moving forward. Yes Cups can be won without generational talent, but elite talent does come through the draft more so than signing UFA’s. Getting elite talent in trades doesn’t come cheap. I will always cheer this cotton candy crew on to victory, but I am hoping for top 5 pick this year. There is no guarantee of a home run, but chances are better with a higher pick.
generational talent in the back 9 of their career don’t count, SN : P
Nice to see some logic here this morning.
Going to see Brady tkachuk tonight, a guy a week or two younger than chytil that plays with a lot of onions…weird how is that possible onions are supposed to be an age thing.
Lmao
Wahlstrom >Tkachuk. LOL.
Tkachuk not scoring at a high rate in college. Don’t trade up to get him. Wahlstrom scored a ton ( against 16yr olds), he’s the guy.
Wicky said: “Nice to see some logic here this morning.”
To which I respond: medical diagnosis
Blog needs to start drafting some youth!
Maybe Wahlstrom > Tkachuk if you mean present day Walt Tkachuk….maybe…
James said: “Slatsko you’re half right and half wrong.” in response to Olga calling out NYR talent challenged drafting
My response: Olga’s right. History has shown that the safe place to start is to assume the NYR will draft miserably and the rare time they get one right can be ascribed to luck. I more and more also think, when considering teams/legue as a whole, the ability to draft well is log-normally distributed. Few do it well, most are quite poor.
BTW, good/bad isn’t just a reflection on the player’s ultimate talent, to me 80% is about where the team drafted him. Drafting a career 4th liner in the 1st round? Bad. Drafting a 1st liner in the 1st round? Good/to be expected. Drafting a 1st or 2nd liner in the 3r or 4th round? Excellente!
Bdl
But wahlstrom is great…but…but.
Great point, btw.
Beezle
Official blog recorder
😉
Beezle, by that logic the same can be said about every other team drafting.
Must win tonight. Sneaking in to the second wildcard begins with A strong effort vs Sens.
James
As you probably remember I was very high on Grabner as a ufa. So it’s case by case for me.
I was never high on the Lucic types when they were ufas (at that point in their careers). I do think that in most cases ufas are overpaid in years and salary and it’s a slippery slope.
I’m also not that down on Smith (besides the salary) and I think he’s ok as a 4th line/d swing man.
and again there is nobody here who doesn’t repeat themselves.
No two ways about it: it seems I missed big time on Wahlstrom. There’s still time for his development to turn around, but the early returns seem like bustville for him.
Tkachuk and Wahlstrom aside, I still feel pretty good about my rankings (though it seems I also missed on calling Kotkaniemi a better winger than center). Little quibbles here and there but I’d keep almost all of the guys in my top 15 in the top 15.
Wahlstrom may still become a good goal scorer. Skating is the issue. Or pace of play, if you will.
It was the Tkachuk downgrade that has always bothered me.
Alex, if it’s case by case then maybe I’m misunderstanding because you’ve seemed very against UFA signings aka toxic contracts across the board. Let me just be clear. I’m not talking about giving Eric Staal a 4 year deal or signing Ferland for 6 x 6. I’m just saying they will need to make SMART deals with the intent of building a secondary offense away from that KZB line
yes James case by case
I wanted both Grabner and Smith when we signed them as 2 examples.
and i know we’ll overpay – just hope it’s not too bad an overpay.
Hank the Tank!
Pittsbugh- NYI will be a fun “hope you all catch your skates in a rut” kind of series…
I read one scouting report on Wahlstrom, not sure if it was THN, or another, but they felt Wahlstrom had a bit of entitlement to his game. That was a uh oh moment for me. I’ve coached a few entitled kids in baseball along the way. They can be very disruptive to the entire team if things are not going their way. If they struggle, it’s never something they did. It’s the umpire, teammate, or coaches fault. So when I saw that quote about Wahlstrom, my antenna went up.
Management corectly saw the glaring need for toughness at the D position, just chose the wrong guy at the wrong price. (Smitty)
https://twitter.com/NYRangers/status/1113447906592346115
Zibby (also our most likely future Captain)
Colin Stephenson
@ColinASteph
Filip Chytil will not play tonight. He is “day-to-day,” according to David Quinn. He may play before the season ends. Pavel Buchnevich is questionable, Quinn said. John Gilmour is back in the lineup, Freddie Claesson is out. Brendan Smith is back in at forward. Lundqvist starts.
BDL, part of my issue with Tkachuk was that I was nervous that a lot of the hype was because of how well Matthew had been doing. I didn’t and still do not think that he has his brother’s skills or ceiling. But he’s still a hell of a player in his own right.
Man, how huge was Columbus’ win over Montreal last week. If they had lost that game, they’d be 4 points backwith only 2 games remaining. Instead they’re tied and holding the tiebreaker.
Brady, by all the talking heads accounts, is the more skilled of the two brothers.
FWIW
I don’t agree, but I don’t feel strongly about it. Brady is a great player.
Yeah, I’d take either or both on the rangers in a heartbeat
Pierre LeBrun
Verified account
@PierreVLeBrun
The NHL and the NHLPA have agreed to a one-year extension of the current divisional alignment and playoff format. The matter will continue to be discussed between the two sides moving forward. So earliest change would be for 2020-21 if/when there is change.
I get the feeling that if CBJ make the playoffs, they have a run in them. I’m just not sure they are going to make the playoffs.
Only if they can get in the 7 spot. They ain’t beating tampa.
James – not sure what you object to in my comment on the draft. I think there are a handful of teams who consistently seem to know what they are doing and the rest, like the NYR, are, for the finance types, all beta and negative alpha.
Tampa ain’t winning the cup
Imo
Idk Beez, just don’t think it’s that simple. Yes there were big busts back in the day with those Jessiman and Mcilrath drafts. I still think what really killed them was selling off their picks for a few years. The reality of it is that they really haven’t done anything that most other teams don’t do as well.
For instance, Who knows what they’re doing? Tampa? They’ve obviously had better drafts than most but let’s be honest-they lucked out with Kucherov the same way we lucked out with Lundqvist. It doesn’t take a brilliant mind to do that.
57 picks occurred before they took Kucherov. They themselves took Namestnikov before Kuch. That wasn’t part of some master plan. I just don’t think it’s as cut and dry as to say ‘well the rangers should have taken him at 15th instead of Miller if they knew what they were doing”. That’s just one example. I won’t go team by team but it’s not nearly as bad in recent years as it was back in the dark years. The last two drafts were probably better than most care to admit too. But only time will prove that statement right or wrong.
Wick, I’ll do you one better- I think Boston can get by Tampa in the first round if they go head to head.
I think Tampa will have a hard time getting by Boston or the caps.
It will compound it for them if they have to play the islanders or Columbus prior to playing Boston or the caps.
I still think they’ve got the best chance of winning, but they’r hardly a lock.
That said, I think they’re going to stomp the guts out of Columbus or Carolina. 5 games, tops.
100 points for Marchand. Who wooda thought?
I agree, teams that play physical tampa can’t beat.
We are constantly dumped on our azzes in front after the whistle, yet rarely if ever reciprocate. Refs let it go, but we are too kind. All this will ramp up in the Playoffs. Glad we’re not there, because I see the ignominy in my dreams.
Marchand=beast
He is, but some Boston guy said today that Ovechkin couldn’t hold his jock. Marchand’s great but he’s no Ovi.
Can Ice make your nose smaller?
Some websites suggest that putting ice on your nose repeatedly will make it shrink. However, Snopes points to hockey player Brad Marchand as evidence that this does not work.
Big Shot Marchand just raised the price of the winter rental of my ‘Vette in his left nostril. When he was just a malcontent nobody, the price was right.
I think he deserves hart consideration based on the number of high profile player injuries Boston had this season.
He carried that team for quite a while imo.
NEW POST
Things will get better..