Busy night with the nfl draft starting tonight. Rangers need to take 1 game at a time and see if they can go 6-0 for a playoff shot.
Ugh....why can't I figure out how embed a .gif?! Somebody insert John Belushi "Let's Do It!".gif here
A win in regulation would be big for the Rangers. Therefore...money is on the Isles +110 tonight! The Bruins are -400 last I checked...not good value there.
GDI. Kreids out with some kind of injury. Really needed him for the physical islanders. Deg in instead. Crap
Was last night disappointing, sure it was, but not overly surprising unfortunately (we saw it last year against the Canes). We need some gritty North-South players added to the roster, especially upfront. We really have no one. Go through the list. A whole bunch of kids not ready to play that style, and still learning "playoff" type hockey. The one vet guy we have with some size and can bang, Kreider, was out and doesn't play that style anyway. We really have no one that plays the style you need to win playoff type games. That has to be an area of focus this summer. Looking to add some gritty players, and a top 6 C is where Gorton's head needs to be. The C focus should be Eichel to start with as he's another level, but if he's not available, or the Sabres want too much, pivot to a good top 6 C, who has some grit and can win faceoffs. The perfect guy to me, who I expect can be had, is Sean Monahan. The Flames are going to miss the playoffs in the crap Canadian division, and I have to think will be looking to make changes. After adding a C Gorton should look to add 1 or 2 more gritty guys, at least 1 in the top 9, and one for the 4th line. It's a clear need for this team to pair with our high level skill. On D, we have players coming, plus Miller and Lindgren and Trouba have that kind of game, we just need Miller and Lindgren to mature and embrace their physical side. You could make the case that games like last night, and the prior Isles game, are good for us in the sense that it punches Gorton and JD right in the face with what is needed, grit and toughness upfront. They cannot ignore it, so that is a positive in a weird way that it is being made so clear to everyone. So yeah, last night was disappointing, but not surprising. We were not making the playoffs for a while now, but we still had a very good season of growth for the kids. Let's not lose sight of that, and let's see Gorton make the moves needed this summer.
Tough break for Howden. Good to see more kids get an opportunity for some experience with the playoffs now pretty much out of reach (even though it has been clear for a while - had to keep pushing).
It took that to finally call him up. Morons. I never thought Eichel was a target but after watching the Rangers get butt fucked by the Islanders I'm not sure now. Perhaps something like Strome, Buchnevich, Jones, Lundkvist and a 1st. Honestly, I think Buffalo is better without Eichel. It's weird but it's given the young centers they have more ice time.
I've always thought Eichel was the target, and fully expect that to be the case this summer. As long as Buffalo is reasonable, we have plenty of pieces to get it done, starting with a 1st round pick and Buffalo's 3rd round pick back (which is essentially a late 2nd rounder).
