My personal thought at THAT draft was Sather & his staff fucked up.......McI is turning out to be a project. Sather saw fists; not hockey ability. Still, water under the bridge. Moving on.
water under the bridge but that was a moronic move drafting fists and not talents like tara AND schwartz. Hopefully they learned their lesson.
Last time I checked the Rangers went to the finals and Tarasenko and Schwartz went home in the first round. Not to mention the Rangers went to the conference finals a couple years before that while St. Louis basically does nothing in the playoffs each year. I think the Rangers know what they are doing with the draft. People on this board are forgetting other than McIlrath, the Rangers have NO RIGHT HANDED DEFENSEMAN WORTH CRAP in the system. Boyle is ancient and Klein probably has to be moved for cap purposes. For every Tarasenko they pass on, they find a Duclair or Buchnevich in the third round. Last time I checked, teams have been taking runs at our players the last 2 years. The reason why a pick like McIlrath was made. Not to mention, when the team gets tired of getting run at, they put a scrub like Glass on the 4th line which completely ruins the 4th line. Glass doesn't even deter teams from taking runs at our players. If people on this board think players like Stepan, Kreider, Lundqvist, Duclair and Hagelin would have gone where they were drafted if the draft was done again, they are high. Not to mention Girardi and Zuccarello weren't even drafted.
Not to mention the short term memory most fool Rangers fans have. Girardi, Staal and McDonagh hardly looked like stars playing in the NHL their first 40 games. Stralman was so bad, no other NHL team wanted him before the Rangers picked him up. The Leafs who can't play any defense thought he was useless.
My take on McIlrath is simple. None of us know what he will become. He could be very good and he could be a bust, that is still TBD. What I do know though is in order for him to be a player at this level he needs to become a better skater, that I don't think can be argued. What I also will add is I am not sure you want one of your dmen in the box all the time. He played 8 minutes last night, and had 9 penalty minutes. Fight when you have to, but he needs to be smart about things and stay out of the box. Lastly, while we don't know for sure what he will become, taking him in the 1st round is looking bad right now. He does not appear to be a 1st round talent. Maybe later in the draft, but the 1st round looks to be a reach at best for a player like McIlrath. I won't say this is a given since he still can develop, but at the moment it does look like a reach of a pick in the 1st round.
Only time will tell with McIlrath but if that's the case should the Rangers even bother resigning him at the end of this season? I think he's most likely the guy who will be sent down when one of the regulars on defense becomes available. Would like to see the guy get at least 10-15 games to get a better idea of what they have but doesn't seem likely.
He has 3 more at least until Moore comes back, so let's see how he plays in those games. Wings, Leafs, Oilers. Show some growth and that will be a good start.
Thankfully Buchnevich has some of the same flair Tarasenko does so maybe they hit on that pick to even it out a little. McIlrath didn't play awfully or anything but I just don't know if he can keep up at that level. Hopefully he works out.
Chuck, I don't think Moore affects Mac as he is a LD and Mac is a RD. When Klein comes back is when Mac will be affected. I hope as long as he's up AV takes the kid gloves off and lets the kid play while he's up here. I think after a couple of fights where people will test him he won't have to fight as much and as KT said I like him as a deterrent from goons running our star players.
Honestly, I think it depends on who is playing the best when Moore comes back (assuming he is the 1st guy back). Allen, McIl, Kostka. Who knows which one gets taken out. Think it is all about who is playing well. Either way it is a small handful of games for these guys. Moore back after 3 more. Klein I can't see missing more than 3 or 4 more. Boyle maybe 4 or 5 more and he'll be back. So less than 5 games for any of the guys getting a shot now I think. Right now is their chance to show they belong.
I didn't think it was likely McIlrath would stay up, he's a rung below Miller in AV's eyes. I would be surprised if they even resigned him at the end of the year, wondering if it will be the case for Miller as well.
