In his first two NHL seasons, Josh Jooris has been on the ice for only 14 power play goals against in 158:44 of ice time while shorthanded. Righty shot. Some offense ability. Big upgrade for the 4th line as I see it as well as the PK unit which was why they lost to Pitt in the playoffs.
Jooris is a versatile forward that can play in any situation. He can play the grind game, score goals or be a playmaker. Jooris can play center or wing. At the collegiate level, Jooris established himself as a player who can score timely goals and elevate his game at key times. He is a fierce competitor that never gives up on plays and battles for loose pucks. Jooris is outstanding on face-offs and possesses great on-ice vision. He has great net-presence and has shown a willingness to pay a price to make or finish plays. Jooris is also strong along the boards. He possesses a strong shot and can get pucks off quickly. He moves the puck well and can make crisp passes. Jooris is an excellent skater with a good burst of speed that also transitions quite well. Jooris made great strides in development in his ability to cycle the puck and use of his frame more effectively in all three zones. He makes great use of his body in areas such as protecting the puck, moving opposing players off the puck, and taking away space. Faceoffs haven't really panned out. He was about 49% 2 years ago. Last year 44%. Maybe he was hurt or something. He didn't play 60 games.
Of course, the downside is that they obviously don't plan on giving Fogarty or Nieves a chance on the 4th line. Guess they want them to play a full year in the AHL.
I like when they give kids a chance but it's hard to argue that they picked up two really fast, top of the line PK players. They lost that series to Pitt for several reasons. However, number 1 was the PK. Pitt outscored the Rangers on the PP 8-2. At even strength the teams were pretty even. Jooris is said to take stupid penalties. That can be fixed though. So did Pouliot. This signing was obvious due to McIlrath being a class act again and taking less money than he should have.
A Grabner-Jooris-Fast fourth line sounds pretty good to me. All 3 should be big parts of our PK as well. Unfortunately if the season starts today one of those wings probably has a top 9 role. Maybe we can still grab Vesey to plug that hole.
It's good to have competition but the numbers don't add up. Some trade, somewhere has to happen. I guess they are penciling in Lindberg as the 3rd line center when he comes back which I would. He has the potential to be 55%+ on draws and a 40 point guy.
And dont forget that Jensen, who the organization seems pretty high on lately and had a real good stretch run in Hartford, requires waivers. He definitely gets claimed if we send him down.
It was pretty tough watching the PK unit last year after about 8 years where it was outstanding. I can't believe I'm saying this but the team might be at the point vs. certain teams in the league where they have to go to a Torts like, shot blocking zone defense. The Rangers might have to play 2 systems this year depending on who the opponent is if they can't dump Staal and Girardi.
Be nice if they can get a big body in there... He's not big but if they go rid of Glass I would have plugged Steve Ott for 800k on the 4th line..
Good signing. Will be even better if next news is waiving glass and then could actually have a good 4th line. I hope we don't see torts like defense which is what prematurely led to girardi's demise with all the shot blocking. I think if stubborn AV just goes to a zone defense like other teams do to fit his personnel that should solve a lot of the problem. I know a lot of us would like to see Gorton make a bunch of moves already but I'll admit I like him not giving out big bucks to the free agents and taking his time with this team. I still think a big move or 2 is coming but if other teams are lowballing him I'd prefer he be patient till he can get better value out of whoever he's trying to move. Now Gorton go get my Kreids signed to a multi-year deal.
Looks like a quality cheap signing. Maybe a shuttle guy with Hrivik. Guess he played at Union with Bodie and Gostisbehere.
71, He's s guy rangers are bringing in with the intent to convert him to RD to make sure that piece of shit Big Mac never sees the ice for the rangers.
