The thing with Shatt vs Smith is he's so good on the pp that would be huge for helping unlock that. Smith dosen't add as much there but he's gritty and solid. 6m vs 4.5 i would think. I don't think you'd get Stepan for either of those guys straight up but who knows. Probably a 2nd or good prospect added i'd guess. Hayes still worries me in some ways but maybe it's his playoff no-show.
Skjei will hopefully continue to develop and hopefully will become that PP QB. Plus if Graves pans out a 103 mph shot at the point would be nice.
If it was me I'd forget Shattenkirk. That's a lot of years and money for what's not really the Rangers issue on defense. I'd rather they look at what the team actually needs.
I think you could argue/debate they need a guy like that...maybe (R shot PP QB), but not for 6 mill or more per year. Agree 100% 717. If they can get him in the midish 5's, and Smith will be in the midish 4's, I would go Shatt. If the gap becomes more than that I would rather have Smith no doubt. That's why my take on Shatt is any shot to bring him in starts with a NY discount that he wants to be back home. Otherwise I don't even think about it. And someone will give him over 6 mill per, look at what Florida gave Yandle, a clearly lesser player.
The guy they need is Trouba. The problem is they don't need our excess forwards they are looking for a LD. Are we willing to give up skjei especially with our LD depth in a trouba deal. Myself, I would
I would not. Deal Stepan and some forward depth. No shot I deal Skjei. Otherwise get Brodin. I can see a match there with Stepan.
I keep thinking about it, and it isn't what people want to hear today, but I don't think we are far off. McDonagh, Skjei, Smith (I will say he is resigned) as a base on D. Add in a kid like Graves and the guys we just signed from the KHL and college. We need a top 4 RD to round out this group, no doubt about it, but if we can add that we are pretty complete on D. Kreider, Ziban, Zucc, Vesey (kid looks like a real player), Nash, Hayes, Buch, Miller, Lindberg, Grabner, Fast. That is a real nice forward group. 11 guys there. Maybe we lose one to Vegas, but that is a real solid group. And I am sure they will add a free agent upfront as well. I left Stepan out because he hopefully will be the one dealt for the RD we need. Also maybe Gropp is a player sometime next season as well. This team is not far off...I truly believe that. We need to reshape the D, and we can do that by getting rid of Girardi or Staal, and dealing Stepan in a package for the top 4 RD we need badly. Then we need to hope the young guys progress like we expect. Hayes and Miller and Vesey and Buch and Kreider and Ziban and Lindberg (hope he doesn't go to Vegas). I like what I see. Need that dman though to really get there.
If they can only sign 1 D then they should sign Shattenkirk for the offense he brings. Maybe sign Derek Engellend as a depth dman for toughness
This team is a far way off. They need some major changes. Nash, Stepan, Staal, Klein and Girardi all need to go. That's a a lot of changes and work for Gorton to do.
Nash and Klein are whatever to me. With one year left under 3 mill who cares about Klein. I suspect he'll be gone for a lower forward or a lower pick. He is irrelevant to what we are doing here. Nash is still a good player. I don't think he needs to be gone at all. If we can get very good value for him and he is gone, awesome. And if he stays for his last year and we get a HUGE 7.8 mill cap opening that is great also I think. I don't think Nash really matters either way, stay or go. The other 3 I agree with. Stepan needs to go. Cannot have him with a NTC and a 6.5 mill cap hit. He is absolutely the guy with value that needs to be packaged for a top 4 RD. Gorton needs to get this done. And one of Staal or Girardi absolutely needs to go. Gorton also needs to get this done as well. So yes there are moves that need to be made, but the point is we have a nice base here to build off of. Stepan and Staal or Girardi must go, and a top 4 RD must be added (hopefully in addition to resigning Smith), but we have a real nice young base I think. So if Gorton can do work this summer I believe we can be back in a good spot again next season. If I tell you our top 4 dmen are McDonagh/top 4 RD we add and Skjei/Smith you aren't going to feel real good about this team with the forward youth/depth we have (assuming only Stepan goes for the dman)? I know I would with Skjei, Buch and Vesey all expected to take steps forward, and that doesn't even mention a handful of other young guys who could/should do the same.
Brooks on it again. Have to give him credit, he has been all over it the past couple of weeks. Saying exactly what we have all been saying in here. He gets it right now: http://nypost.com/2017/05/11/rangers-need-to-trust-youth-and-find-some-type-a-personalities/ And I think he is dead on when he says this, which is kind of my point above: The Rangers need to turn it over. Not burn it down. Not throw out the baby with the bath water. But remodel around a sound foundation of veterans plus a half-dozen younger guys — including Skjei, Vesey, Buchnevich, Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller and Chris Kreider, who should be better and make more of an impact next season.
Great stuff Chuck! Can you admit already that you are the real Chuck? Will the real Chuck please stand up?
^^^^^ It really is not important. Chuck used to write long, long dissertations on this board about the Rangers...... until one day he decided to stop because he was antagonized by several people who disagreed with his statements and ideas. Many here believe he has come back as "RangersFan". Personally, it is "his" prerogative to do whatever he wants. There are some who still think "Chuck" is back.
Good article on buying out Staal and Girardi. Tough call for a team that goes right up to the cap. But maybe it is time to simply rip off the Band-Aid. http://clearedforcontact.com/rangers-buyout-girardi-staal/
Try to get both to waive ntc clauses first and trade them somewhere. If that fails since the expansion draft is before the ntc and will cost us an asset(s) we want to keep I would buy out both and bite the bullet. Youth is the answer. The only problem is coach won't play them in crunch time and if he's not on board with this then kick his ass out of here. Time to get rid of both anchors at once.
The Rangers need a veteran leader in the worst way. Youth is great but just throwing that term out there doesn't make the team better. They need to be able to play. Like Brooks wrote earlier in the week this is a roster full of too many passive players and it has been like that even on the Tort's teams. They certainly have moves to make.
Not the worst idea. Minnesota falls in love with homeboys from Minnesota. Koivu is 34 and is on the last year of his deal. He's still outstanding on draws. About the same cap hit as Stepan. If Minnesota offer Koivu(half retained), Tuch and their second for Stepan I would do it. I wouldn't say Tuch is a can't miss, power forward type. However, I think he's a pretty good bet to be a 20-20 big forward in the NHL. He fits this system and I think he's close to NHL ready. Minnesota badly needs a younger center. Granlund doesn't play center even though he's listed there. I feel supremely confident Minnesota makes that deal. I think that deal makes sense for the Rangers as well. You have a guy to take the spot of Nash on wing. Then you trade his ass. Stepan is from Minnesota.
