What a great game, fun to watch. Solid win for the Rangers against a very good team. Puts them in a decent spot to be the top seed in the East and play the Flyers or Caps most likely (outside shot the Wings). I'll tell you something else, those two teams played like that was a big game with playoff intensity for sure. Good to see the Rangers battle back and beat them. The East has 4 maybe 5 teams that can go to the SCF, maybe 6 if you count both Toronto and TB, and the Rangers are one of them. Not saying they are the favorite, but they are right there, and that's all you can ask for. Exciting time of year.
Another great game, love how Rempe gets the crowd fired up, hate how soft Kakko plays utterly useless against a physical team. The elbow Gustafsson took was worse than what Rempe was suspended for but that's the focus on player safety Rangers fans have become accustomed to. Miller is 6th on the team in hits, 10 behind Schneider, hardly a softie like Fox.
Fox is a softie now? - he always has been especially compared to K'Andre who was incorrectly labeled afraid to hit. Fox is a zero physically but an offensive genius. That's why I've wanted Drury to trade him before his NTC kicks in. Don't need to be hitting machines at all but do need to be physical, that point was made repeatedly yesterday by former NHL stars that know.
I didn't like seeing Miller get pushed around last night. It did seem like they were going after him specifically. As long as he stays healthy and picks up his intensity/nastiness for the playoffs I'm not concerned. He's been very good the last few weeks. It happens a lot and is not limited to just one or two posters but its so obvious that when someone feels the need to complain about how a mistake led to even a scoring chance for the other team that person has never played a competitive sport in their life at any level beyond gym class.
Florida goes after everyone, they lead the NHL in hits per game, their GM saw the only way to the Cup was following the Vegas model and trading key players for a grittier team. 100% agree with the analogy Grey, accentuate the negative eliminate the positive. Miller made a few spectacular plays breaking up odd man rushes and he's become a great skater, there is a lot of upside to his game including his hitting.
Games against Florida is where you miss Trouba out there. I’d like to see one of their forwards blasted.
I never understood the Miller dislike. From my POV he is a very good dman, with a lot of high-quality skills. Is he a physical type player, no he isn't, but that is okay by me, as he uses his size when needed, even if it isn't via hits. I think one of the reasons some people get on Miller is his size, they see a big guy like him and think with his physical size he should be a big hitter and a physical presence, I think that works against him perception wise with some fans. I am a big Miller fan, and for my money I think he is the most important dman on the team. As for Fox, the guy is a special player on O. There are maybe a handful like him in the whole NHL, and maybe a handful at best I would take over him in the NHL. I will also add, for what it is worth, the guy is a top +/- player every single season, including this season where he is a +18, which is 3rd on the team, so when he is on the ice good things generally happen for the Rangers. And I also think having a top level dman is hugely important to making long runs and winning Cups. With that all said, he does have some shortcomings, be it his size, he doesn't shoot nearly enough (which I think like Panarin would take him up another level), and he sometimes tries to make risky plays instead of the safer play regardless of the score or situation. I also understand the mindset of moving Fox before his NTC kicks in. Given his size and the number of minutes he plays, he may not age well. With a cap hit of $9.5M, he needs to be a top-level player for a long time. He also could get you a haul in return you'd think. So, I get why it may make sense to trade him before he is locked in with a NTC. I really don't advocate either way on this one, but what I will say is if you trade him, you better get a haul in return that is the equivalent of dealing one of the top dmen in the NHL, and you need to add another top level dman to replace him, because it is a super important piece to being a top team IMO. One quick adder, the dman I would look to move on from is Lindgren. His current cap hit is $3M, and he is an RFA with arbitration rights this summer. If he wants more than a little salary bump, and/or he wants a very long-term deal, I trade his rights and move on (3 years max IMO - maybe 4 if he takes a lower AAV). He is a warrior for us, but he is hurt often, and no way he ages well with his style of play.
94, I disagree 100% that Miller is the most important d-man on the team with all due respect. He uses his reach well but he also gets caught flat footed if he is not successful on his poke check. Some also mentioned he has only 10 less hits than Schneider but that is a tell tell sign he doesn’t use his body effectively. Keep in mind the majority of the season Schneider Ave something like 13 min a game and miller 21 plus. That is a big discrepancy when you look at it objectively. He was targeted last night by the Panthers no doubt because they know he is soft. He had and has many opportunities to follow through on checks but does not. I have taught my kids I have coached at multiple levels, always finish your check. That doesn’t mean going around like a made man trying to crunch anyone rather follow through as all players are thought that from Bantam and up. I appreciate your thoughts as I don’t post often but read the comments regularly.
Happy to see you posting dino. I believe Miller is a very good dman, and is very underappreciated by some of the Rangers fans. I happen to think he is the most important dman on the team due to his overall array of skills, not the best, but the most important (I think Fox is the best dman on the team). Of course, reasonable people can disagree, all good there, but my main point is Miller is a very good dman. Not being a big physical presence with a whole bunch of hits, doesn't mean he isn't a very good dman IMO. Good discussion.
The thing about Fox's +/- is he has 61 points and is only a +18, that doesn't speak to great defense at all. Many of the guys ahead of Adam have scored 1/3 of his point total (Lindgren is a +19 with 13 points) . Postseason Fox has 31 points and is a +2 . Fox has 37 hits while K'Andre is 37th among dmen hitting.
94, thank you for the kind words. My issue with Miller he wants to be a fox type/winger player. You have seen his defensive metrics because Schneider covers his but. To me, again personal opinion, Schneider does the heavy lifting which Miller beneficent. Again my personal opinion.
I would disagree with that personal opinion. For one, those two have played what? 6 games together? And two, Schneider has just as many defensive lapses as Miller in a typical game. While I do like the pair and it does give the team some flexibility with pairings I don't think there is a marked difference in their defensive performance.
Help me understand why a +/- of +18 doesn't speak to great defense. What would be your preferred balance of points scored, PP points scored, +/-, hits, minutes played? I would argue that a +18 for player that plays the minutes Fox does, typically against the opposing team's top two lines when not on the PP is pretty impressive. Personally, I don't want Fox to hit that much more than he does, at least in the regular season. He's not built to be a physical, knock em around defenseman. He would likely find himself dealing with Lindgren-Syndrome with constant injuries. In the playoffs almost everyone needs to up the physicality but, Fox having 37 hits and 61 points and a +18 is perfectly acceptable, if not borderline great, for the regular season.
I for one a not a big believer in the +\~ stat. It can be misleading. Regarding defensive lapses Schneider is in his first full year and since being moved up in d-paring has improved every game. Miller has the same lapses multiple years now and has not learned from the experience yet. Come playoff time he needs to follow through on his checks and stop solely depending upon his reach. Here is another question, for his size how come he can’t clean out the crease instead of letting guys camp out in front of Igor?
I never said I wanted Fox to hit more, it's not his specialty never will be. He normally plays with Lindgren who I would rate as significantly better defensively but does little offensively yet has a similar +/-.
Of course Lindgren has a similar +/- to Fox...they are paired with each other. I guess I'm just not understanding what point you're making. If you're point is that Lindgren is better defensively than Fox I guess you can make an argument but pointing to the +/- isn't a factor...generally they're both on the ice when they score or get scored on at even strength.
Problem is Fox, Miller and Trouba all make dumb fuck defensive plays that lead to odd man rushes and breakaway's. You can live with Fox because of what he does offensively for you. Miller and Trouba have no excuse. The Rangers will never contend for the cup if they continue to be morons defensively with giving up odd man rushes and breakaways.
When Brodzinsky plays like he's never getting another NHL game if he doesn't play with max effort, he's useful. He can't take a second off a shift with his talent level.
Wow, panthers are in trouble . giving up 4.7 penalties per game as of late not much time for them to correct let’s hope they get knocked out round 1 go rangers
