Traded for Miller and Laviolotte the smartest guy in the room plays him with the worst center in the league this year.
Not a good period. As we move towards the trade DL with a team that is going nowhere this season even if they did somehow slip into the playoffs, which is unlikely after today, the question is what will Drury do. It is going to take balls to move Lindgren and Smith if the team is even still somewhat in the hunt, but he needs to move them. I would also really press to try and deal Kreider before the DL as well, he only has a 15 team no trade list, so he can be moved, and I bet we can get him to accept a trade to almost any team since he doesn't have full control. The players to watch as we move towards March - Lindgren, Smith, and Kreider. The first two must go, and Kreider I think should go.
Blaming the goalie with you got old 10 years ago. The team defense on this team has been retarded all season.
That’s one he could’ve had. However, the question is why do we continually let the best players on every team be wide open.
Since the draft pick is lottery protected, I think the plan should start to be for next year. Maybe that is what Drury really has in mind.
No he still thinks they’re Stanley cup contenders and will add another aging star to this core and trade away more youth
They are 6pts out of the wildcard spot with 3 games in hand and 31gms remaining. They are very far from being out of the playoffs.
This is not a playoff team and hasn’t been from day one. They need to rebuild the team with next year in mind.
Miller was the replacement for Zibanedouche. Now our dumb fuck general manager needs to take it from there.
I don't think this is a playoff team either, but even if they are and maybe slip into a WC spot, who cares. Is the goal to win a SC or slip in as a WC and get rolled in round one. This will be another test for Drury as I'd expect they will still be "in the hunt" for a WC spot when the trade DL rolls around. He cannot be short-sighted here and focus on getting into the playoffs. The 100% absolute right play is Lindgren and Smith need to be gone, and I say Kreider should be as well if you can get the right return. Sometimes you can get more value in the summer, but I think a guy like Kreider will absolutely bring a better return, and Drury will have more options, at the trade DL. And with the cap going up, some team will believe they are very close to winning a Cup and will deal for Kreider at the DL, giving the Rangers a solid pick back at least.
That was a game that Igor could have stolen but he was outplayed by Swayman who controlled his rebounds, for $11.5 mil Igor has to be better. Aside from JT the top lines were quiet and of course the PK gives up a couple to what was one of the worst PPs in the NHL. Fox stunk yesterday and was correctly criticized by the intermission crew, -3 from the guy who should have been traded instead of Trouba and he's only going to get worse. Fox/Lindgren may be the worst #1 defensive pairing in the NHL, I don't think other teams value Lindgren anywhere near where Rangers fans do, the fact that Vancouver wanted an unproven player like Mancini over Lindgren was telling to me.
Mancini is cheap. He’s a lefty with size and he’s a great skater so it seems like it might be a nice fit with Hughes. I think Lindgren would be highly effective on a team with a solid defensive structure which this team does not have.
Mancini is a righty not a lefty. I think Lindgren's value is a 2nd or 3rd round pick at the trade DL. Then # 1 offseason objective should be finding a legit # 1 LD to pair with Fox moving forward. With Miller/Borgen/Schneider we are solid on the 2nd and 3rd pairs, but the glaring hole is a # 1 LD to play with Fox, which will also make Fox a better player.
The only thing that would make Fox better is a dip in the fountain of youth and he's an even worse player postseason. Any realistic rebuild has to involve deFoxing the lineup.
The key word you wrote is rebuild, and I don't see that happening. I agree if they were going to do a rebuild, move Fox. If they did trade Fox I certainly wouldn't be upset, but the trade for Miller says to me very loudly, this is not a rebuild, but a changing/retooling of the core, and expectation is back on top next season. That is why Drury made the trade with protections on the 1st rounder this year, but none on the 1st rounder in 2026 if the 2025 pick is top 13 and stays with the Rangers. If he didn't expect the Rangers to be going for it and back on top next season, he wouldn't have traded an unprotected 1st rounder for soon to be 32 J.T. Miller. Why I haven't focused on trading Fox recently is it seems sort of clear to me that is not the path Drury will go down. The next best thing is giving Fox a legit proven top LD partner for the first time in his career. I could be wrong, but I feel if he had a top partner, it will help Fox be a better player. With that said, I also feel strongly Fox's refusal to shoot hurts his game and the team. He has to shoot the puck more to keep the other team honest, if we see it so do their opponents.
They are 6 points out of a playoff spot, but they have zero games in hand as both the Rangers and TB have played 51 games. The Bruins have played 54 games, but they are not currently in a WC spot, CBJ and TB are the WC's currently. The other thing is including CBJ and TB there are 6 teams ahead of the Rangers, of which the Rangers need to pass 5, that is a lot of teams to pass with 31 games remaining. Not only will the Rangers need to play very well, but they also need multiple teams ahead of them to play okay at best. Of course, anything can happen, and the Rangers are still in the hunt no doubt, but losing yesterday was bad given Boston is ahead of them, and they are not even in a WC spot if the playoffs started today. Before the 4 nations break the Rangers play 4 games. To me they must beat Boston and CBJ to have any real shot. If they lose to CBJ that puts them 9 points ahead of the Rangers, which is pretty much game over. That would then leave one WC spot remaining and 5 or 6 teams in the mix, not good odds. I'll say right now worst case the Rangers need to win 3 of 4 before the break, and maybe even all 4, and one of the wins must be against CBJ. If you do the math based on point % going forward it becomes very difficult for the Rangers to make the playoffs if they don't step up in the next 4 games and keep it close heading into the break.
