Brooks This Is the Last Dance for These Rangers

[RichieNextel305]

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The plan was not to run it back following the Rangers’ second six-game conference finals defeat within three years. The plan, in fact, was to clear cap space in order to remodel the club. 

Specifically, the plan was to move Jacob Trouba and his $8 million hit once the captain’s no-move clause became a 15-team no-trade clause on July 1, even if obligated them to retain up to 25 percent of the contract over its final two years. 

There were multiple interested parties. The Blueshirts were going to trade their captain. Until, that is, verifiable word circulated quickly through the league that Trouba had no interest in reporting if traded — anywhere.

 

 

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Trouba was going nowhere, management had no interest in trading Chris Kreider, whose no-move clause also turned into a limited no-trade. They were not asking Mika Zibanejad to waive his no-move clause.

 

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The Rangers could have bought out the remaining three years of Chytil’s contract at one-third, but, A) there is cutthroat and there is cruel; and, B) it would have been absurd to cut a (now) 25-year-old center loose while getting nothing in return before watching him ring up 75 points playing with Necas. 

 

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They’re still trying to win the Cup with three scoring lines and I don’t quite get it. But the roster can and probably will change considerably at the deadline, with Drury having used it all three years on the job to do pre-spring cleaning and remodeling.

This is the last time the Rangers are running it back.

 

 

A lot of what is said here is right. Brooks touches on the Rangers wanting to move on from Trouba to free room to fix other holes (plus replace Trouba with other affordable options). The Rangers have concerns with Chytil centering the 3rd line. They’re likely to be buyers at the deadline. And they’re likely to be a very good team.

 

Listen, a lot of what happens in the playoffs revolves around depth, talent, goaltending, your best players playing their best, experience, coaching. It’s all cliche. And true. And the Rangers check a good amount of the boxes while also having their holes, like any other team.

 

I hope the message in the locker room is clear: win now or forever hold your peace. If this team goes out, learns from their mistakes and is able to play their best when the lights shine brightest and end this 30-year wait, then they’ll grow together and be together forever just like the 1994 team.

 

But, if this team doesn’t finish the job this year, if they slip up and don’t get the job done, that’s all she wrote. A chaotic ending like the one in New Jersey in 2023 or a noble effort against a very good, soon-to-be Champion Florida team dead set on righting their wrong from the year prior would yield the same result. Whether it’s another Presidents Trophy winning season or a year in which they make it in on the last day via tiebreaker. I won’t say the regular season doesn’t matter, because it does. Do your job for 82 games, earn your ticket. But this team will be judged by what happens after those 82 games and whether or not they can finally get the job done.

 

A successful mission means immortality. An unsuccessful mission means heads will roll. And it won’t be the coaching staff. It’ll be the locker room.

 

Welcome to Training Camp. Get it fucking done and lets dance down the Canyon of Heroes. It really is the only mission for 2024-25.

[Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc]

[Valriera]

We can also just enjoy some hockey - that’s what Mika Zibanejad is going to do anyway

[BreakawayMachine]

They peaked.

 

The only prayer they have is if Chytil and Kakko make a Laf like jump become 60-70 point players each.

 

Spoiler: they wont.

[Sharpshooter]

Last season will be hard to top, but this is a franchise in very good shape. While Mika and Panarin are in their early 30's, they're still basically in their prime, as is Trocheck. Will Panarin and Tro have the kind of career years they had last season? Who knows. Of course, their future hinges on re-signing Shesterkin long-term or not. I expect their young players to continue to get better. It would be great if Kakko could finally break out. They're a cohesive unit and they have a fantastic coach. I'm not saying they necessarily have years and years ahead of them, but I still think they're set up nicely now and for awhile. It's still a big put up or shut up season for them. It was looking like that was going to be this past season, but Florida had other ideas.

[Pete]

Larry is a loser. He writes like a loser. 

 

Camp just opened and he's writing an article like this? As if he wasn't the prime reason all of the Rangers plans got fucked up in the first place? Then to put this loser thinking out there? 

 

This guy needs to retire. 

[siddious]

Why would you even mention buying chytil out? That’s so far out of left field lmao

 

this team is a contender as long as Igor’s in net. All the other factors will determine whether they’re a serious contender or not. 
 

trouba off the books next year and a quick revamp to the lineup and they could be right back there. 
 

Larry clearly had nothing to write about so he went off the deep end 

[RangersIn7]

Old Balls Brooks at it again with this wonderful and heartwarming, uplifting piece. 

[Sharpshooter]

Larry missing the days when the Rangers missed the playoffs every year. lol

[Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc]

11 minutes ago, Pete said:

As if he wasn't the prime reason all of the Rangers plans got fucked up in the first place?

Do you have any context? Or am I missing a @BrooksBurner joke here?

[LindG1000]

Funny enough, I was writing a post that was going to encourage us to enjoy this season, because there's almost no way this team won't be very different next year. And then I went to sleep. So, it's good to know I make better decisions in myriad ways that Larold Brooks.

 

Still, we really, really need to enjoy this season together. The question this year is "Can we bring the Cup home?". That's a straightforward question and one we ALWAYS want to be asking. 

 

The questions next year - almost by default - are going to be far more plentiful. Was the Shesterkin contract worth it? Can Lafreniere rise to his price point? Who will be the new leadership core? Heck, will Kreider finally accept the C or is it time to move to the next group? What does Artemi Panarin's next contract look like, and is it in New York? Can these 20-23 year olds in Othmann, Perreault, Rempe, Edstrom, Cuylle, Mancini, Berard, and maybe one or two more (because we really might need all of them for cap reasons) replace or improve on the guys who left at the end of their deals? Is this team still a contender or in a retool? 

 

This year is simple. Skate hard. Win game. Repeat. Do that enough, and drink beer from giant silver chalice. Next year? Complex. Confusing for the Rangers. Great for Blueshirts Brotherhood (referral code PHIL10 for a day as a moderator*).

 

*some restrictions apply including complete subjective approval of the moderation team and accepted bribes

 

 

 

 

[Sharpshooter]

Even if Panarin and Tro fall off a bit from their career years last year, I'm still expecting another excellent season from this group. 

Edited Thursday at 01:13 PM by Sharpshooter

[BrooksBurner]

23 minutes ago, Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc said:

Do you have any context? Or am I missing a @BrooksBurner joke here?

 

The truth hurts for Pete. He just gets cranky.

[Pete]

27 minutes ago, siddious said:

Why would you even mention buying chytil out? That’s so far out of left field lmao

 

this team is a contender as long as Igor’s in net. All the other factors will determine whether they’re a serious contender or not. 
 

trouba off the books next year and a quick revamp to the lineup and they could be right back there. 
 

Larry clearly had nothing to write about so he went off the deep end 

They are a good team even when they get average goaltending. This whole idea that Igor is the spine of the team is based on the way last season ended. 

 

What's going to happen is that he's going to sign a 12 million deal and we're going to have to watch him and Lafreniere make futile attempts at dragging this team into the playoffs.

[Pete]

27 minutes ago, Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc said:

Do you have any context? Or am I missing a @BrooksBurner joke here?

Brooks leaked the Trouba trade which put him up in arms and led to his agent calling around the league saying Trouba wouldn't report because his wife doesn't want to leave New York. 

[Sharpshooter]

6 minutes ago, Pete said:

They are a good team even when they get average goaltending. This whole idea that Igor is the spine of the team is based on the way last season ended. 

 

What's going to happen is that he's going to sign a 12 million deal and we're going to have to watch him and Lafreniere make futile attempts at dragging this team into the playoffs.

It'll be back to the prime Lundqvist era where they had one, maybe two good offensive players, and then it was just relying on great goaltending to win games 2-1, 3-2. lol

[BrooksBurner]

Excellent article by Larry. It should have been the last dance last year, which is why I didn't want Laviolette, because as soon as he was hired you knew they were going to drag this dead cat out and give him at least 2 years with the soft talent up top before making any big changes. Trouba out wouldn't have changed the makeup of the forward group, so miss me on that.

 

Trouba was never going to be magically okay leaving his wife during her residency, and 6 month old child, if he only learned about being traded "the right way", and the truth is nobody knows how he learned about it. If Drury had half a brain and sat down with him, he'd have found out it wasn't going to happen before turning it into a mess.

 

One more year, hopefully, of a piss poor 5v5 team with little hope of improvement. It's probably going to take another 3 years or so to get to where they need to be, after the guy(s) who need to be gone are gone, and that's if the few draft picks they've been able to make pan out, since Drury has nearly exhausted the cupboards of draft capital.

[Sharpshooter]

1 minute ago, BrooksBurner said:

Excellent article by Larry. It should have been the last dance last year, which is why I didn't want Laviolette, because as soon as he was hired you knew they were going to drag this dead cat out and give him at least 2 years with the soft talent up top before making any big changes. Trouba out wouldn't have changed the makeup of the forward group, so miss me on that.

 

Trouba was never going to be magically okay leaving his wife during her residency, and 6 month old child, if he only learned about being traded "the right way", and the truth is nobody knows how he learned about it. If Drury had half a brain and sat down with him, he'd have found out it wasn't going to happen before turning it into a mess.

 

One more year, hopefully, of a piss poor 5v5 team with little hope of improvement. It's probably going to take another 3 years or so to get to where they need to be, after the guy(s) who need to be gone are gone, and that's if the few draft picks they've been able to make pan out, since Drury has nearly exhausted the cupboards of draft capital.

As great as last season was, Drury really screwed the pooch at the trade deadline. You mentioned the continued trend of giving up draft capital. Giving up even more of that for Wennberg and Roslovic was....not great. They still could have won it all anyway, but it was just very lackluster.

[Pete]

10 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

As great as last season was, Drury really screwed the pooch at the trade deadline. You mentioned the continued trend of giving up draft capital. Giving up even more of that for Wennberg and Roslovic was....not great. They still could have won it all anyway, but it was just very lackluster.

He made the deals available to him at the time. 

 

Would you have preferred he just keep the ghost of Nick Bonino?

[Sharpshooter]

Just now, Pete said:

He made the deals available to him at the time. 

 

Would you have preferred he just keep the ghost of Nick Bonino?

Wasn't he gone awhile before the deadline? I don't remember. You could say the others just didn't work out maybe as well as they hoped, but it was still a very mid deadline. But again, they still could have won anyway. They were right there with Florida.

[Pete]

15 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

Wasn't he gone awhile before the deadline? I don't remember. You could say the others just didn't work out maybe as well as they hoped, but it was still a very mid deadline. But again, they still could have won anyway. They were right there with Florida.

My point is that saying Drury somehow screwed up the deadline...Every deal is not available to every GM. The type of package CAR took for Guentzel might not have been available to Drury.

[BrooksBurner]

34 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

As great as last season was, Drury really screwed the pooch at the trade deadline. You mentioned the continued trend of giving up draft capital. Giving up even more of that for Wennberg and Roslovic was....not great. They still could have won it all anyway, but it was just very lackluster.

 

I'm a bit softer on Drury with respect to the draft capital burned the previous 3 seasons. I was just pointing it out that the cupboards are reduced as a result and it will have an impact on timeline for the next window. I don't blame him for taking a couple of swings the years prior. I think the tempered approach he took to the last deadline, holding the first and spending a mid-range price to satisfy the masses, suggests he's more in line with the thinking that the team needs more serious change, but his hands are a tied on flexibility. That was clearly not an all-in move.

 

I remain hopeful for the future of the franchise, and will mostly be watching this year to see what changes on the progress/potential of a handful of youngsters. Lafreniere, Chytil, Kakko, Cuylle, Miller, Schneider, maybe Berard/Othmann. I'm not sold on all of these players, but I am open to them changing my mind if I've previously started to sour on them (namely Kakko and Miller). I'm looking forward to Perreault in another year, if he's ready to make the jump to the NHL.

Edited Thursday at 02:36 PM by BrooksBurner

[Br4d]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

They are a good team even when they get average goaltending. This whole idea that Igor is the spine of the team is based on the way last season ended. 

 

What's going to happen is that he's going to sign a 12 million deal and we're going to have to watch him and Lafreniere make futile attempts at dragging this team into the playoffs.

 

'21-'22, '23-'24.

 

That's two of the last 3 seasons where Igor was a major reason the Rangers won as much as they did.

[Sharpshooter]

5 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

 

I'm a bit softer on Drury with respect to the draft capital burned the previous 3 seasons. I was just pointing it out that the cupboards are reduced as a result and it will have an impact on timeline for the next window. I don't blame him for taking a couple of swings the years prior. I think the tempered approach he took to the last deadline, holding the first and spending a mid-range price to satisfy the masses, suggests he's more in line with the thinking that the team needs more serious change, but his hands are a tied on flexibility. That was clearly not an all-in move.

 

I remain hopeful for the future of the franchise, and will mostly be watching this year to see what changes on the progress/potential of a handful of youngsters. Lafreniere, Chytil, Kakko, Cuylle, Miller, Schneider, maybe Berard/Othmann. I'm not sold on all of these players, but I am open to them changing my mind if I've previously started to sour on them (namely Kakko and Miller). I'm looking forward to Perreault in another year, if he's ready to make the jump to the NHL.

I think after the deadline prior, there was some trepidation with Drury regarding making trades. It was too bad they couldn't wind up with a Guentzel since that would have been a real impact acquisition.

 

Yeah, not all young talent works out, but they could certainly be in worse position in that regard.

[Pete]

Just now, Br4d said:

 

'21-'22, '23-'24.

 

That's two of the last 3 seasons where Igor was a major reason the Rangers won as much as they did.

Just wrong. He spent a large portion of the regular season with a sub-.900 save percentage and a terrible GSAA.

He didn't get his shit together until after the All-Star break.

Yet the Rangers were a top team wire to wire.