Totally disagree. You badly overrate the defensive depth on these contending teams. Look at some of the rejects playing on the bottom pairs for the Jackets, Penguins, etc.... they are crap compared to Staal.
Ahhh the old "the Rangers overpaid and underperforming defensemen are better than almost every other team's bottom pair defensemen" argument. Interested to hear how you can objectively quantify this stance in any way whatsoever. What makes Staal so much better? What makes you think that whatever defensive system these teams employ will better fit Steal's skillset and current level of play? What do you see in those other defensemen that stands out to you as poor play?
Stall MIGHT be better than some, but not at his salary. That totally negates any supposed trade value he might have. We would have to eat half his salary in nothing more than a salary dump to be rid of him. And we wouldn’t get anything of value in return really. Ideally he’s packaged with Buch or Lias so we can get something back worthwhile. You overvalue him. He’s much too slow for the nhl now. He’s a pylon out there that hurts us in the offensive zone because as previously mentioned he doesn’t pinch in as he knows he’s too slow and will get beat.
That's why I said half retained. As for you Gravy. It's the old, all our players suck especially compared to what other teams are using. Yet, every year Gorton gets top picks and good prospects for our players that you guys always think suck. Rangers fans like yourselves haven't held the shitty forwards on this team accountable for the past 15 years. You always blame the defenseman. Hank never had a team score for him in the playoffs in his entire career.
A perfect example is Skjei. He would probably play in the top 4 on every team in the league. Yet, you guys do nothing but trash this kid. For starters, the coaching staff here sucks moose dick putting in a system to get the team to play good defense. Ruff has blown for years. Quinn has done nothing to cut the shots on goal down which is team defense. Second, the forwards are bumbling idiots on this team other than Panarin, Kreider and Zibanejad. Buchnevich is one of the dumbest hockey players I've ever seen on the Rangers and game after game all our fans do is give this shithead a pass and rip Skjei, rip Staal, rip Trouba. Same crap has been going on since Hank broke in the league. I would never want to come to the Rangers as a free agent defenseman with this crap this fan base pulls on the defenseman. I wouldn't stay here either if I was a defenseman on this team about to hit free agency. Eventually, the stupidity of our fan base and the way they treat defenseman is going to start hurting the organization. This fan base has become less and less desirable to play in front of every year. While I appreciate players having to deal with tough NY fans who expect them to play hard and well, there is a difference when the fans of the team you play for are dumb fucks who just focus on one position of a team, trash them and ignore the fact that another position has sucked balls for almost 2 decades.
There are always fans who have vendettas against certain players - for example I remember a guy who even used to make his user name "dump x player now" I agree with a lot of your points. I said in a post a few days ago that we have unrealistic expectations of defensemen. Anybody complaining about Trouba needs to have their head examined. There isn't a player in the NHL who isnt going to get beat sometimes playing 25 mins against top lines. It happens. He is the most complete defenseman we've had in years. McDonagh? Too soft, doesnt hit anybody, never shoots. Well now we got a guy with size who hits anything that moves and pumps shots on net while also holding down the first pair as a 25 year old, and we want to get rid of him. It's laughable. With Skjei, he is just out of place playing on our top pair. His athleticism and skating allow him to keep up, but he is not a high IQ player. He's frequently caught out of position and has poor coverage technique. He's best suited for a second pairing where he wont be asked to play against top lines and can continue getting by on skating while finding more opportunities to chip in offensively. Having him on our shutdown pair makes no sense and exposes the flaws in his game. He would certainly have value being traded to a team for their second pair where he can have better matchups. It was the same thing with Pionk last year. There was a lot to like about Pionk's game but we wanted to run him out of town because we threw him into a first pair shutdown role and - shocker - he struggled. I want to see Skjei traded because he's being used incorrectly here and would give us a great return as a depth add to a team's blueline. It also opens up a spot for someone like Lindgren or Miller to one day seize that role - or find someone outside the organization like Darnell Nurse. The Buchnevich thing really puzzles me. He was a third round pick. He's performing decently enough. The fact that he was our only forward prospect worth talking about for awhile led to some extremely inflated expectations. Depth middle six forwards get traded all the time and he likely will be traded at some point too. Having such strong feelings against the guy makes no sense. He's fine for what he is and has actually shown some improvement this year in his work ethic and board play. He's putting himself in a good position to score so I dont agree that he's a dumb player, he just lacks finishing ability. If he had it, he would not have still been on the board in the third round. I've defended Staal probably longer than anybody but watching him this year it's obvious his foot speed is no longer near NHL caliber. If he didnt have another year on his deal we might be able to trade him but I really cant see anybody signing up to have a 34 year old Marc Staal on their blueline next year even at the half price cap hit of 2.8 million. Not unless we attach another asset to him to make it worthwhile.
Staal doesn't beat forwards to the puck because he isn't willing to get hit. However, I think on a playoff team you would see him play like the old Staal. He would take hits. Right now he's a vet making good coin on a team he probably thinks won't make the playoffs. I think Staal would be a real solid d guy for a contender if he was asked to play 15 minutes a night. You need that in the playoffs. These contenders can't play their top pair 25-30 minutes every game with as physical as the playoffs are. You need other guys to chip in. Now me personally, I would package Staal with a Fast and take back a contract that ends this season. It's not big deal to buyout Staal out though. Or Smith. Or Hank. They need to dump that worthless piece of crap Buchnevich and sign Kreider.
One thing with Buchnevich and even Kakko early on is their body language sucks when any little thing doesn't go their way. They need to keep their heads up as that only compounds things. I saw today they haven't had any talks with Fast on any type of contract so they must be planning on letting him test the market. They could maybe get a late 2nd for him but likely a 3rd.
Makes no sense to keep Fast. You could deal him a dumbass like Buchnevich for tougher, more physical role player prospects with some offensive upside. Bennett is a guy on the Flames I want here badly. He would be perfect here.
Kravtsov blows. He can't even score in the AHL. Andersson his first AHL stink did much better. We can only pray that Gorton rips a couple teams off for young forwards that don't suck. Talked about Tuch in a deal for DeAngelo. I would like to dream about getting Glass for DeAngelo. I would think Vegas won't do that.
Honestly, if they can get Andersson's head and feed right, I think he has a better chance of being a solid NHL player than Kravtsov. That guy is just a Russian pussy.
Kravtsov needs to get stronger and tougher. I get the feeling he sort of thinks he's going to finesse his way through which won't work.
Listed at 6'3, 189 pounds. He needs to be 225 lbs, solid muscle with the stupid moves he tries to do.
I just read an article where Knoblauch said he was adjusting better now, even though the numbers aren't great. I think this summer into next year he will start to breakout. Needs another 15-20 for sure.
Kovalev in his AHL debut in 13 games had 24 points. Unlike Kravtsov who blows. Only thing we can hope for now is that Andersson's feet get better along with his head, Kakko and Kravtsov put on about 15 pounds of muscle over the off-season and can control the puck better.
Hopefully he can get his life back on track but i don't see how this works out in NYC. I think he really doesn't want to be a Ranger anymore and is hoping for a trade. Dud of a pick but whatever. Maybe they can attach him into some kind of draft day deal. Lias Andersson: "It was bad habits" Lias Andersson found joy in hockey when he returned to Sweden. In an interview with the Gothenburg Post, he shares more details about life in New York. A life with bad habits, sleep problems and poor self-confidence. Lias Andersson returned to Sweden from the New York Rangers in January. The 21-year-old did not feel well mentally and has been open since his return with how he has measured. In an interview with the Gothenburg Post which met Andersson in connection with an ice pass in Kungälv, he opens up some more details - I sat playing video games all night, just waiting for the Swedes to wake up at home to go to work. So I could call and talk some shit, like. It was bad habits, he tells the newspaper, and says he also struggled with poor self-confidence. "Sleep tablet now and then" The bad habits also led to sleep problems. - I had trouble sleeping and started taking a sleeping tablet every now and then. Sat up late, played video games. It could be worse if I let it continue, he admits. The future is unclear The future is not carved in stone yet. There can be games in HV71 and there can be games in the NHL. - I have no idea what's going on. No fucking idea whatsoever. I just practice - and see what happens. I'm open to anything. I just want to have fun. I just want to play hockey, he says.
Basically, he came over when he wasn't ready. Mentally he was really messed up. Hopefully, he is getting help now and he can get back on track.
That really sucks. You have to keep the age of these players in prospective. While we talk about how poorly they are playing and blame them for mistakes, goals and lost games these are kids, many of which are playing far from home without the support system they previously had. Yeah, you can say "These are professional athletes being paid huge sums of money...Man up!" but there is a more human element than that. I was down on Lias for sure but, always wanted him to become what the Rangers thought he would become. Still holding out hope for him whether it is with the Rangers, another team or in another league.
