Day One Thoughts

I actually like what they did. After sleeping on it, spending 3 mill and adding a solid 4th line C. A 7th/8th dman. And a 3rd line winger who can score 15 goals is pretty solid.

This is a good start. I have to think a trade is coming, even if it's some lower players for picks. We have too many guys like Pyatt, Boyle, Asham, and Powe now. There is no way they can all play here. Maybe they send 3 down to the minors, led by Asham and Powe who cleared waivers already, but more likely we see at least 1 or 2 dealt.

I think it was a solid start. Our 3rd and 4th lines look really nice IMO. That 4th line could be one of the best in the league with Pyatt or Boyle/Moore/Dorsett. 3rd line looks solid also with Pouliot/Brass/MZA.

And I still love that D and depth we appear to have now with Falk/Johnson as the 7th and 8th guys.

We need a winger still, but outside of that I think we have really set ourselves up in a good spot. I like the depth. I think we made some good smart moves yesterday. Now we hope our kids are ready. Kreider needs to score 20 +. And we'll see if Miller/Fast/Lindberg can add anything.

Solid start IMO.

 

I was totally against the contracts teams were handing out They were absurd. Would have loved to keep Clowe on a 1 year, 3.5 deal. What NJ paid him was moronic.

Our AHL team will be strong and a better environment to develop kids this year. The team should have better depth if one of the regular players goes down. It was a solid day.

 

We agree 100% dump. I said the same thing on Clowe yesterday. 3.5 mill was okay. The Devs giving him nearly 5 mill per over 5 years is crazy. That was the one deal all the experts were like WTF. They did make up for some of it with a good Ryder signing though. But still crazy amount of money for Clowe.

We had a solid day IMO for sure. We'll see what comes next. A trade of some extra parts would be my guess, even if it is for a pick or two.

 

I still don't really see the need to sign MZA but I guess for one year its ok. I'd rather see Fast or Kristo since they're a little bigger but I like Zucc.

 

I go either way on that. He won't get much more than 1.25 mill or so. Maybe he gets 2 years. So no real sweat IMO. Everything I have read says he is coming back though, so I count him in. Either way no big deal IMO at that small #.

We have a good team. With a new system/coach I expect some more scoring. Sometimes we all get caught up in the glamor and glitz of big name signings, especially on a day like yesterday, but the moves we made are the kinds of moves that build winning teams and give them good depth.

Everyone knows adding another winger to the top 6 and sliding Hags down (or dealing him for that winger) would be nice. Whether we add that guy or not is TBD, but even if we don't I am okay depending on our goalie, our depth upfront and on D, and some of the kids to add some pop like Lind/Miller/Fast. Then we keep our eyes open as things progress to see if we can add someone to bolster the wing scoring. I will say though, having 4 solid centers helps the wing situation some IMO.

 

I'm glad they at least were able to add another guy with some offense like a Pouliot. 15-20 for 1.5m is a good deal.

 

That was a very good deal. Baseline is 15/30 IMO. Upside he could go 18/40 if he plays well.

Also took 500 K less, 1.8 to 1.3. And he obviously wants to be here. I like those things, and hope they motivate him even more.

That was a real nice signing. He can help on the 2nd line some as well while Hags and Cally are out.

Of course I am biased, but I like the team. Yes we need to move some of those extra parts. Yes we appear to need another wing scorer. But overall I like the makeup.

We'll see how it goes.

 

Clark is really high on Kristo. They were trying to get him for years. The other guy they tried to get for years was Brassard. That worked out great.

 

Not a big fan of the Moore signing but I think that was a move to get a solid faceoff/PK guy so for $1m/1yr it's fine. That is also likely to mean a more limited role for Boyle since the top 3 C are Stepan, Brassard and Richards. I like Boyle just because I feel he is a hard working grind it out type of player. He's not an offensive threat whatsoever but he's a big body that plays hard. Will be interesting to see how those two play in AV's system. Don't know much about Johnson but I can't imagine he is going to be a major piece with the current defensemen in the lineup. And Pouliot I like, young player but he's been a disappointment so far in his career, considering where he was taken in the draft...maybe he has a little more talent around him here and that will help. Plus he had a pretty decent season last year so maybe he is coming around.
Certainly a far cry from the headline-making signings of years past but those rarely worked out well for the Rangers so it's nice to see them being a little more conservative.

 

Rangers have a lot of hard working players. Perhaps that will rub off on Pouliot. It was worth the risk

 

And on a one year deal, for only 1.3 mill, you know he has a lot to prove. He will want a bigger deal next summer no doubt about it. Yet another plus for us with this signing.

I see this move as only upside. Worst case he scores 15 goals or so with 30 points or so. But if he works hard, wants to prove something, wants a bigger deal next summer I bet he can score close to 20, and maybe 40 or so points. That's a steal for 1.3 mill.

This is a good move. I like this signing a lot. And I like adding Moore as well. A 4th line C, who can score 8 goals or so, win FO's, and play on the PK for 1 mill is a solid deal.

Good stuff yesterday.

 

If you look at Pouliot's numbers, they have increased every year for the past 4 years. He was on pace for a career high this season. The first four years of his career were on a bad team when he was 18 to 21 year old. He was rushed. So to get a player that has great size and has improved his offensive numbers 4 years in a row is a good thing. The fact they got him on a one year deal is a great thing. If Richards is motivated and comes to play, you could have third line of Richards, Pouliot and somebody else which is another story.

 

What will be interesting is who is the 3rd line C and who is the 2nd line C.

Centers: Moore, Stepan, Richards, Brassard
Wings: Cally, Nash, Kreider, Pouliot, MZA, Hags, Dorsett, Pyatt, Asham, Powe, Fast, Miller, Boyle, Lindberg (I list the last 3 as wings because we are set at C)

You have to figure Powe and Asham are gone. In the minors or dealt since they cleared waivers. So that leaves the remaining group of guys. Will be interesting to see how it fits together.

You have to figure Dorsett on the 4th line with Boyle or Pyatt. MZA on the 3rd line. Cally, Kreider, and Nash on the top two lines. The questions will be where do Hags, Pouliot, and the kids fit in.

Should be interesting to see where they all end up. Pouliot could surprise as you said dump. He has been getting better, and you have to believe he will be very highly motivated to do something good, in order to get a big deal next summer, on a one year deal for only 1.3 mill.

 

Almost a good thing when sather is constrained by cap space and can't dole out the crazy money to fa's which rarely works out but just does small deals. On the other hand very confident when sather starts turning current rangers into ex rangers via trades and usually ends up with the better end of almost all of those deals. I'm sure vancouver has a forward or 2 that can score that torts probably hates already because they won't dive head first in front of a slapper that we'll be able to acquire.

 

I laughed my ass off when I saw that because it's sooooo true. Funny.

 

Don't know if there is any work to do. Think about it. If Richards has a good year our centers Stepan, Brassard and Richards. They pretty freakin strong. On wing with have Cally, Hagelin, Kreider, Nash in the top 4. The defense is loaded. To me, with a new coach it's about about getting Kreider to be a 20 goal, top 2 line forward. The organization is going to need a kid like Fast to break through on wing and for Pouliot to have a good year. The third line wings could be an issue. However, we don't know that. We have no idea how these kids or vets will perform with a good offensive coach like AV.

 

I lean more towards your side on this dump. The keys to me are Kreider must be a 20 goal guy, and either Hags or Pouliot need to score close to 20.

If those things happen we'll have good wings on the top two lines with Nash, Cally, Kreider, and Pouliot or Hags. Then the hope would be between the other guy from Pouliot or Hags, and MZA or Fast or Miller we can put together a solid 3rd line with Brassard at C.

We know our 4th line will be solid with Moore and Dorsett along with Boyle or Pyatt or a kid.

And we also need to keep in mind we have a very good and deep D, and one of the best 2 or 3 goalies in the NHL, so our O doesn't need to be the best, just solid.

Plus I would expect a little extra O to come as a result of the coaching change. But even with that said, we do need another scoring winger. I will not disagree with that thinking at all. We'll see what we do to try and get one.

 

Somewhere I saw Pouliot compared to Wolski which actually seems like a fair comp. 20g isn't out of the realm if he plays with Richards(a normal BR).