Ok...so nothing is going to change the past. Now let's turn our energy to what will happen in the immediate future. 1. Talbot will bring back something to help stock the depleted farm and or draft situation. 2. What to do with the current roster. We need some flexibility here. t0o many left handed shots. Doing a quick look at some of the non playoff teams and there are not many right handed shots available. Ottawa has a couple but have the cap room to resign them. 3. What to do with Haglin, I think of all the UFA/RFA I think he is the one that is most expendable. Dare we try to package a Hags with a Klein and Talbot..what would that bring back...I am pretty shocked that Edmonton which is not a win now team, would be so heavy on Talbot. Unless there has been some kind agreement with the agent knowing they could resign him at a reasonable cost. Why would a team give up any assets for a potential rental? ----unless that is they feel they are one player away, which the Oilers are not. 4. Power play...when will they ever been above average...is it the coaching staff? is it having too many left handed shooters? is it because there is no one on the entire roster you fear from the blueline? Is it all Nash's fault? Too many times we saw in this series a pp was so horrible it actualy turned the momentum of the game away from the Rangers 5. Anyone concerned that the one talent in the system, Pavel Buch, resigned with his Russian team for another year instead of coming over to play in the AHL, does the kid desire to play at the highest level? 6. Will Dylan McIlrath be a viable defenseman in the NHL and will it be with another team or will he wind up being the next Hugh Jessierman. 7. Does Lindberg get the 4th line duties and if so what does that mean for D Moore? He can not be a 3rd line center and does not have the size to play wing.... 8. Does Zucc come back and play like the water bug he was last season in a contract year? 9. Will the Rangers ever go through a playoff series without having debilitating injuries to star players? I acknowledge ahead of time that I spelled pretty much every players name wrong and will own up to the fact that I didn't take the time to look them up.
I agree that Hags is expendable. He was really disappointing in the playoffs, I like him as a player but for the right deal have no issue moving him Looking fwd to seeing how the Talbot trade plays out. I am really optimistic about the Rangers and 2016. The window is closing but we have a couple great years left to try to get the damn Cup
Regarding Buch, i remember reading an article on ESPN a few weeks ago where Fetisov wanted to implement some law that would prevent Russian players to leave for the NHL until age 28. Let's hope he doesn't get his way!
Great thread Al... 1. Agreed. 2. We need a top 9 R shot winger. I think that is a must add this summer. Hopefully with some grit as well. 3. I wouldn't go more than 3 mill +/- on Hags. If he wants more I move on. 4. Play Yandle on the point and add a R shot and I think we'll be much better next season. 5. Kind of, but not overly. Another year in Russia and then he comes over. Let him fill out a little and be more complete when he comes over. 6. I would have him on this team in a 6th/7th dman role. If he plays well enough let him earn the 6th man spot. I don't think he can learn much more in HRT. 7. I want Lindberg to be part of the 4th line mix with Fast and Moore...and sadly Glass because I doubt we move him (rather have Sheppard in his place). 8. I think Zucc will be his usual self. 50 + points is what' I'd expect. 9. I will focus this question more on will the Rangers get through a series without having to do it the hard way...answer is I hope so. Even the 5 game series against Pitt was 2-1 OT games, which is a grind. Maybe have an easy series here and there. I don't see any reason why we can't be a top level team next playoffs, even if we falter a little in the regular season, which is perfectly fine with me.
Buch isn't coming over this year... If they are going to trade Hags and Klein they need to get back the right players
wouldn't that have to be agreed by the IHF? Its not like the NBA saying you can not enter the draft until one year has passed since your high school graduation year...Not sure of Russian rules, would think that the Russian govt would have to get involved. Either way that would not be a good thing for the NHL nor these highly talented Russians.
Couple of good years is right Dis. I think we have two more playoff runs with the current core. That takes Hank to 35 and some other guys into their early 30's. Maybe you can stretch one more year out of it, but I think to make all of this stuff we have done a success we need a cup by 2017.
I think the same roster with better playoff health puts us right back into the elite pot of teams vying for the cup. Another year for Hayes, Fast and possibly Lindberg. Perhaps Klein regains the same level of play pre injury. He showed no offense in the playoffs and that could be because of rust. You would expect a better year out of McD. I do not expect better years from Staal or Girardi or Nash. I expect same level of play out of Stepan and Brassard, neither dropping or accelerating Kreider is a wild card I think top 6 right winger is needed big time. Unfortunately the NTC or NTM of our greatest assets (our dmen) make it very hard to get what is really needed for this roster
Also hard to get good value back for RFA's. So if we tried to deal Hags we may not get full value for him. I couldn't give him more than 3 mill as a cap hit though...he isn't worth more than that IMO.
Kreider taking the next step and bringing it mostly every game AND you need to add Miller to the Hayes, Fast and maybe Lindberg group Al. I think Miller will take a little jump as well. Nash doesn't score 40 next season IMO...maybe low 30's would be my guess.
problem is I don't see JT being a 20 goal scorer. 15 tops...which is fine for a 3rd line player...not nearly enough for a 1st rounder
I agree on what to expect next season, 15 is fair, I disagree somewhat on your last comment though. This was his first year he really played more than a hand full of games. I think longer term he can be a 20 goal scorer, or at least close to it. Worthy of a later 1st round pick where we got him.
I feel like we whiff just way too much on our offensive draft picks. Hopefully that was just a by product of drafting Torts players and we can do better with AVs system of players.
he was the 15th pick..we need more production out of him...I don't see him as a 20 goal scorer. I hope I am wrong.
I agree i'd like to see more out of a mid-1st rd player (he was drafted 15th) but looking at the 2011 draft class there's no one else picked after him that you could say i'd much rather have and has a much higher ceiling.
Yeah...mid 1st rounder. If he scores 18 or so goals a year and adds a little physical element I'll be happy. We need to factor that in with Miller. I think he will be more of a complete player than just a guy who scores goals. He could be a little bit of that dirty guy we need.
Also shows that mid to late 20 picks are a little bit of a crapshoot. That's another reason I don't go crazy about them right now.
Well...in 2010 they could've had a certain Russian or two..as for PB they said he didn't think he could crack the roster this year which is debatable so i guess another year in the K isn't the worst thing. He said its possible he could come over after the season and maybe join them in April.
1. Agreed, although I wouldnt be opposed to using him to get us that right shot winger we need rather than futures. Dreger still says we'll be hitting a home run so let's see. A 2nd and a dman who had trouble breaking into EDM's blueline is not a HR in my book. 2. Yes, a R shot (preferrably top 6) is the number one add IMO. Problem is we dont necessarily have the cap space to do that. Sather missing on Bobby Ryan 2 years ago still pisses me off, he was there for the taking. 3. Hagelin is one of my favorite players, but there's no denying he's expendable with the emergence of Fast. Hags has world class speed, but his problem is that when he's off, he's very off. He's never been very good even-strength and is not a PP guy at all. Anything over 3.25m is a lot of money to pay a third liner who's primary contribution is as a penalty killer. I'd be upset to see him go, but if we can get something worthwhile back for him then that's part of the business. I've been thinking about a Talbot-Klein-Hagelin package all summer and what that could bring. More on that below. 4. Yandle needs to be given the reins for the PP. When we acquired him he led the entire NHL in PP assists on the damn Coyotes, yet AV (as is his MO) played favorites and kept his vet Boyle there. I liked Brassard on the other point. Stepan, as the only right shot PP guy we have right now, needs to be sitting on the left circle. I give Arniel one more shot to make this work, if the PP sucks again and we dont win the cup he needs to go. 5. Buchnevich is still very young. I would have liked for him to come get acclimated to the north american game in the AHL, but I understand his reluctance somewhat. He's still not very good with English and there was a quote from him (translated of course) that he wants to become more comfortable with the language before moving here, and will be taking frequent English lessons this year in preparation of coming next year. He also said he may even come over right after his KHL season ends, so he could be a Kreider-type add for the playoffs. 6. McIlrath will get his shot this year (unless he's traded). The writing is on the wall, from the Hartford coaches raving about him to AV saying "We need to get bigger" and, separately, "there's a couple kids in Hartford ready to make the jump" (Lindberg and, I would think, McIlrath). Hes going to be great along the boards, he's going to prevent guys from camping in front of Hank, and as long as he can be assertive and smart with the puck there's no reason he can't be our 6 dman this coming year. 7. I see Lindberg making the team as a 4th line winger this year, playing with Dom Moore. I'd love to see Lindberg-Moore-Fast but we may end up with Glass-Moore-Lindberg (with Fast playing top 9). As long as his defensive awareness is up to snuff, and I havent seen anything that suggests otherwise, he'll take over 4C next year when Moore is up. There's also the possibility that he could bump up to 3C in a year if Hayes is moved to wing but I'm not crazy about that just yet. 8. Zucc is good to go. I'll say 55 points and 30 instances where I yell WTF ZUCC YOU HAVE TO SHOOT THERE 9. Nothing is easy in the NHL playoffs. As long as they move on, I'm happy. Regarding Talbot-Klein-Hagelin...Chiarelli, more than once, has traded a real good player for parts. You could say that's why Boston fired him, but you could also say that's just who he is and he isnt going to change. EDM needs a goalie, needs a responsible defenseman, and needs 2-way wingers. We need a right shot who shoots first and asks questions later. Why not: Talbot/Klein/Hagelin for Eberle. Does that get it done? Probably not. We might have to sweeten it somehow, and get EDM to retain, say, 1m. And get Glass's hit out of here. Otherwise the cap might be a bust. Nash-Brassard-Zucc Kreider-Stepan-Eberle Miller-Hayes-Fast Lindberg-Moore-Cheap 1m PKer (Condra?) or a guy like Haggerty McDonagh-Girardi Staal-Boyle Yandle-McIlrath Eberle's name has been in the rumor mill before. We have what Edmonton needs. Sure there might be cheaper options out there who match our need for a top right 6 guy, but who knows who else is (1) available, (2) playing on a team we match with, and (3) affordable. Eberle is at least the first 2.
