There's only one person saying that Barkov is soft. Fairly confident the rest of us would gladly have him on the Rangers.
The whole team was postseason soft, that's why Matt is such a great trade and upgrade. Florida scored 32 more goals than Toronto. That wasn't all Barkov and saying Tkachuk only scored 77 points when he was 22 seems to indicate that his game is improving. We shall see if Panther news bemoans the terrible Tkachuk trade that dragged their offensive juggernaut down.
You watch. Huberdeau was easily their best offensive player you’re not replacing that. That would be like us replacing Panarin with somebody like Brady Tkachuk. Looks great but your regular season win total is dropping big time.
Their regular season win total was going to drop regardless. They just had their best regular season in franchise history with 122 points.
It's going to drop to possibly not making the playoffs. Over the past 4 years Huberdeau has averaged 1.21 points per game. That's 99 points per 82 games a season. To me Gaudreau made Tkachuk. Tkachuk doesn't make players better. He can play with them. Huberdeau makes players better. Panarin does the same. If you think Ryan Strome would have done jack shit with Tkachuk as his wing compared to Panarin, you are on fucking drugs. Giving players away that elevate other players is a bad decision. Kreider doesn't do shit last year without Fox, Zibanejad and Panarin on the PP. If the dumbasses put Lafeniere and Kakko a lot on the PP and let them learn, Kreider's numbers should be back in the 25-35 goal range. That’s ok as we need those two kids to mature offensively.
I like Tkachuk but he's not a player that creates his own offense or makes players better he plays with on a consistent basis. Huberdeau is one of those guys much like Panarin. As lame as Panarin was during the playoffs at times, they don't make the playoffs without him.
How can you come to that conclusion when he's only 24 and has already surpassed 100 points? We have top picks looking to crack 40 points, let alone 77. The dude can score, you're confusing him with his lesser talented brother.
Heck, even his "lesser talented" brother put up 67 points in OTT last season at age 22. Numbers we can only dream of with our top picks.
LAF looks like he’ll turn out to be pretty good. Too bad Malkin, Ovehckin, Crosby types weren’t available in 2019 and 2020. Kakko had flashes of that reminded me of a Niklas Hagman type player but he needs to be more consistent
His 100 points were a fluke IMO. One, as I said, Gaudreau carried his ass all year. Two, he played in the West which sucks donkey dick defensively compared to the East when it comes to shutting down top lines. You'll see. Won't be nearly as easy putting up points in his new division. Against Tampa, Toronto, Carolina, Pitt, Washington and the Islanders, teams in the East that play defensive hockey, he had 1 g and 5 points in 12 games. I have no idea what the fuck the Rangers were doing against the Flames this year. They were completely incompetent.
If Kakko can break out and start putting up 50-60 pts that could be a steal for 2y. I still think he may end up going in a Kane deal at the DL.
Every Rangers fan wants Kappo to break out, it's essential to the Rangers taking the next step. He could have earned more money if he made more effort last year so it's a break in a way for the cap strapped Rangers.
Everyone need to remember that Kakko is only 21 years old. Be patient. This kid is too good not to figure it out. His health more than anything has held him back!
