I 100% agree with the love for CK, he's been a great Ranger over the years, best case his sharp scoring falloff is due to a back injury, if not it's time to go. It's always frustrating to watch Kucherov when the Rangers have needed a RW forever, guy goes 58th in the draft and is on the brink of 1000 points. It would be interesting to know what the Rangers didn't see in him.
If I was a coach I wouldn’t want anything to do with the team at this point. It’s obvious that the piece of shit veterans have quit on him from early on in the season.
What decent coach WOULD want to be involved with this team and organization at this point? They've gone through coach after coach for the last decade +. There are few if any exciting and supremely talented young players in the system. This team is full of mediocre blah. It'll be interesting to see who is behind the bench next season, that is for sure.
I wouldn’t mind Messier as at least an assistant coach. They need to bring in someone who will not cater to the vets. Torts is one dimensional. Need someone who can do both defense and offense. Maybe give a shot to Peca
This is the key point, coach after coach for the last decade +. Some people need to wake up to what the issue is here, hint; it's not the MANY coachES. That's not to say Lav has done a good job this season, he hasn't. That also not to say Lav shouldn't be gone after this mess, he should be. It is to say change the coach, but as mel wrote if you keep Drury it doesn't matter. I'd like to say if you keep Dolan it doesn't matter, but unfortunately that isn't changing, and he is the constant for decades, along with Sather, who should have no say in anything anymore (he was a huge driving force in elevating Drury WAY above what his skillset could handle). It's easy to always blame the coach, coach after coach, after coach, after coach. They are the ones right in front of you calling the shots night after night, but it's lazy and doesn't solve the main problem as we have seen for MANY coachES. The head of the snake Drury must go also, and the core must change. Drury and the players need to be held accountable as well, or God could be their coach, and it won't matter. Anyone who thinks changing the coach, and making some player tweaks solves the problem is very much missing the boat. Going to be an interesting off-season,
Looks like they will keep their draft pick this year. So, if they do that I don't see them bringing in a college coach who would be better to work with a team full of kids. They won't want to give the Caschmucks a top 5 pick. They will try to put a good team out next year then go into full tanking mode. I've said it for years. UFA age is too high for hockey players. It should be 6 years in the league or they become a UFA beginning of the off-season if at any point they turn 25 during the next hockey season. We tried a college coach in Quinn. He failed miserably. I would look for a young, successful AHL coach. We had one and dumbass let him go to the Oilers.
Regarding Messier, it would be interesting to see what he is like as a coach but, unless he is the next Scotty Bowman or John Cooper it won't end well. He is one of the few franchise icons, putting him in a position where he is more or less destined to be fired at some point is not what he or the franchise wants. As it is now, he has what is probably a pretty ideal job as an analyst...he doesn't have to answer to the media, doesn't have the stress/pressure of an excrutiatingly long 82-game season. Yeah, he is an intense and driven guy but I'd be surprised if he was looking to get behind the bench as a head coach.
The Rangers 1st round pick (this year or next year) does not go to Vancouver, it goes to the Pens (they made a trade with Vancouver to obtain the pick). That makes it even more important the Rangers GM goes bold and aggressive this summer. If the pick is in the 10-12 range, I wouldn't be surprised if the Rangers trade the pick to improve for next season, if they move up, I will guess they'll keep it.
