ThirtyONE

Goodrow is the odd man out. He's the only vet without NMC. It really is that simple. I don't mind spending money on centers and Mika, Chyil, Trocheck is a pretty nice 1-2-3 down the middle for the next few years.

It's not just sheltered 3rd line minutes with Howden. It's also being expected to not make mistakes playing defense (which is literally the opposite reason why you drafted them)

17 minutes ago, Phil said:

Yeah, the problem was they lucked into Lafrenière. Most teams who draft high, like New Jersey, are awful and have the room on the roster to give them the runway they need to take flight. The Rangers never did, because their rebuild was done in the fly from day one. They were drafting Kakko and Laf and Chytil while  simultaneously signing Trouba and Panarin, and Trocheck.

 

It was always a half pregnant rebuild.

 

I also think they drafted pretty undynamic players in both Kakko and Lafrenière, so they were never going to benefit like the Leafs did with Matthews, or the Devils did with Hughes.

Both players were consensus #1 and #2 picks. Lafreniere had been hyped for 3+ years. He's 100% un-dynamic now. But I'd argue we'll never know how good he could have been based on him being stashed behind Kreider and Panarin for what is likely the majority of his rangers career.

But you touched on my overall point. The "rebuild" was never a rebuild and it's literally choking the franchise now. 

42 minutes ago, Valriera said:

I don't know about the 'how do you fix the current team' section (that is definitely not going to fix shit), but this is a great analysis that points out the 'why' behind why the kids aren't doing what we think they should be, yet. 

 

The 'what to do about it' falls to a much simpler thing, which is the coach. It's taxi time, and it has been for two games now. 

I don't agree for the simple reason that we've seen two different coaches do the same thing. And two different GMs do the same thing. The fundamental understand of how to develop players in this organization is broken. And until they just accept that these kids need to play regardless of outcome, they will disappointing players. 

Can this happen under James Dolan? I have no idea, but probably not. That's likely why they signed Panarin on year one of the rebuild. Panarin signaled to the rest of the organization that it was time to win now, regardless of development.

With all the chaos happening this season everyone is looking for short term solutions on how to fix this current team. "They should be cup contenders" they said. 

But should they? 

Last season, the team was mostly bad with the exception of one player: Igor. Yes they got goals from Kreider and Mika and Panarin but the TEAM was a mess until the deadline came and they brought in FIVE more players to fill out the roster. This offseason we couldn't afford to keep any of those new players. So where was the depth going to come from? Chytil, Kakko and Lafreniere, of course. 

Except here's the problem:

The Rangers NEVER gave the kids the keys to the franchise. They never built up the one part of their games that gives them confidence. Offense.

Instead, from David Quinn to Gerard Gallant, from Gorton to Drury, this team has been mandated to WIN hockey games instead of build up their youngest players. From day one, Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil and Alexi Lafreniere have been asked to be passengers while Panarin and Kreider and Strome and Trochek and Mika drive the bus.  They've been kept on the 3rd line or worse for the majority of their careers. They've been punished harshly for mistakes. It's hard not to look across the river and make comparisons, so let's measure Kakko to Hughes to show how both teams have gone about developing their players:

Jack Hughes career TOI: 3469.2

Kaapo Kakko career TOI: 2704.1

Kaapo has played 10 less games than Hughes in their careers, but assuming 18 minutes of ice time per night (which Kakko doesn't get) he's played the equivalent of 42 less NHL games.

Hughes Career PP TOI: 592.7

Kakko Career PP TOI: 292.6

Kakko has had less than half the amount of PP time as Hughes, and as we've seen Kakko's time comes in 13 second spurts. 

SO WHAT'S THE POINT? KAKKO ISN'T AS GOOD AS HUGHES.

That's true. He's not. But this isn't just about Kakko. This is about Chytil. This is about Lafreniere, Kravstov, Ludkvist and even Lias Andersson. The Rangers have stockpiled picks for seemingly no reason. THREE first round picks have asked for a trade because they didn't see where they fit in the plans. During a rebuild, your three best prospects received so little ice time they asked to leave.

We have no idea how good these players can be or could have been. Look at the Leafs. Look at the Oilers. Look at the Devils. Look at Tampa and the Hawks and the Penguins before them. Everyone who is now a star in the league was thrust into positive playing time while their team sucked. It didn't matter, because the players were growing. They were gaining confidence. They played every aspect of the game. That is not what has happened here.

How do you fix the current team? 

You do what should have been done 3 years ago. You put the kids on the ice. Over Panarin. Over Kreider. Over Trocheck. And you stop worrying about winning games. Panarin is not the future. Kreider and Mika are not the future. The team is about 4 players deep at this point. Everyone else is useless. You put the kids out and you see who swims. 

since we suck at developing we should do a reverse-rebuild. the older the better. 

I've never seen a kid so talented do absolutely nothing with the puck. When he made that sick between the legs play last year I thought, oh shit, he unlocked something. But he just hasn't. Every offensive play dies on his stick. He never makes an unexpected play, let alone an exciting one. 

Are the Rangers unlucky or just terrible at developing? Probably the latter considering how poorly this rebuild has actually gone. 

11 minutes ago, Pete said:

How's it possible that teams tire of this guy so quickly? It's like this everywhere he goes.

 

I think the players are like teenagers. They don't love rules, but they want to have rules. Players want to play, but they need a system to stick to when they get too loose. 

 

I've been watching this team for almost 30 years and watching other teams as we were allowed via cable and what not... I've never seen a team so disorganized and with such horrible body language in my life. Not just Rangers, any team. Even shitty teams look like they know that they're trying to do and just can't execute. This team doesn't even know it wants to do.

 

Miller made a weak ill-advised backhand pass to the middle of the ice which got picked off, and immediately looked up at the rafters as if to say "oh no not again". Zib in the post game has no words. Literally no words at all, it's December 1st and he looks like they just got eliminated from the playoffs. Hard to remember the last time I've seen anybody so shell-shocked so early in the season.

 

I don't think I'm being an alarmist either, it's bad. It's real bad right now folks. 

 

These are all true, but I'm not sure what it has to do with the coach. He's not asking Miller to backhand pass across the ice. He's not asking Laf to skate a 2-1 into the corner. He's not asking Igor to make less saves. 

This is the same exact team as last season, minus Ryan Strome and Ryan Reeves. 

What sucks here is that Kakko and Lafreniere simply haven't developed. They've been on every line, they've been given every opportunity (except PP1 - but they are on PP2 which is terrible). 

This team was never going to succeed if Laf and Kakko didn't take a step forward and they haven't. Simple as that. 

No idea who gets the blame for that because they drafted the consensus players. They've "rebuilt" but haven't actually had a home grown player develop into anything except Igor. The organization as a whole feels like a rudderless ship. 

I am not a fan of firing the coach. I think fans who are bought their own hype after a year that was mostly bad, covered up by spectacular goaltending.

100%. Fire the bum coach. The problem is definitely not Kakko, Lafreniere, and Kravstov who have been given bigger roles in the top 6 and failed. Def not that. 

Lemieux is a jackass and this is a bad move for Lundkvist. Hopefully Drury doesn't move him. Just let him sit out the whole season, we don't need him. Who cares.

Outrageous that he would request a trade after getting sent down -- after sucking. 

Prospects are for the birds man. They all blow. 

Love all these hold outs on guys who haven't done shit. 

I would love it if he would shoot the puck like this in a game.

If the rangers are forced to trade young players, this rebuild was a total waste of time

No. He was absolutely dead weight last year and if anyone says otherwise, they didn't watch the devils play. He's horrible defensively which begs the question: what would you say ya do here?

Oh great, my least favorite player of all time. 

So, here's the deal. Players don't often become good until much later in their careers. Look at JT Miller for christ's sake. Do the we want the Rangers to remain patient, making use of Kakko on the 3rd line until he's possibly 25-27 before any sort of offensive explosion, or do we want them to dump him? 

Because we did this rebuild thing and so far, only one drafted 1st rounder is any good: K'Andre Miller. As an organization, we've already given up on Andersson (warranted or not) and we were this close to giving up on Kravstov (who could very well be the best offensive player they've drafted). Many fans want to move on from Chytil and it seems like Kakko is in people's crosshairs now as well.

Like, at what point are we gonna just let these guys be? I feel like we need to stop asking if players are living up to draft capital and ask if they're effective NHL players. Because as long as they're effective, they can remain lower in the lineup, make less money, and possibly break out at an unexpected time.

Without Panarin, it's possible this isn't even a playoff team. The PP runs through him and Fox. The offense is dynamic because of him. Who are you giving his money to that puts up a similar amount of points? No one. 

Laf can't hold Panarin's jock so let's not pretend the team would be good without him.

The cap killers are Kreider and Trouba who were signed at a time when it was impossible to know what was to come. Both contracts are moveable in the next few years. Luckily for us the kids still stink and their contracts wont break the bank.

Unless Laffy (playing the wrong side) and Kakko suddenly light the world on fire, I think it's safe to assume this team will be quite a bit lower in point totals next year. The climb to a cup is never linear and I hope we can all keep our panic buttons locked up when the team inevitably has less impressive season.

The right side of the lineup is a complete crapshoot next year. Hopefully one of those three kids proves they're worthy of big time minutes -- otherwise we could have a problem. 

Good signing. That 2nd line was a problem all playoffs long. This should help them actually possess the puck.

On 7/3/2022 at 12:09 PM, Pete said:

I think it's more that they made him an offer which he doesn't like, and Carolina just said "see if anyone else beats it, and if they do will trade you there."

 

The ownership there puts a very specific dollar amount on both players and coaches, and if you want more then they show you the door. 

I know this hampers them to some extent but god damn do I wish the Rangers practiced some of this over the last 30 years.

Guy didn't get taken for free by Seattle, I dunno how they move him.

Lol. No chance they're trading that dude to the Rangers for an RFA scrub goalie. 

Where are all these LWs gonna play? We already have too many.

TBH, Drury has been aggressive in his limited time. He seems to have his finger on the pulse in terms of who fits where and that combo makes me think he might make a move for someone unexpected. 

Personally, I still don't believe in Chytil. He had maybe 5 good games in the playoffs. I hope that gives him confidence but I don't there there's any chance he's the 2nd line center to start the year next year.