I think we need to be realistic about what kind of changes this off season will bring. It's easy to say we need to trade this guy and dump that guy, but if often can't be done. I really think we can improve by using our internal assets. We will never be the Pens with their high-end talent but we can be the Bruins with perhaps the best 1-12 set of forwards in the league.
Torts is not going anywhere. The Gaborik trade showed that he wields tremendous power in the organization. Heck, Sather is a "Torts guy." Only a disasterously poor start will cost him his job.
What Sather need to tell him however is that he needs another assistant coach. The Rangers need to identity a bright, young, offensive-minded assistant coach and give him responsibility for the PP. We can't go through another season like this. There has got to be someone that Torts can work with.
Richards needs to be bought out. Period.
Commit to developing Kreider as an offensive winger. That means he must be put in a position where he can succeed. He can not be playing 3rd or 4th line with guys with little skill or skating ability. He must play with some of the teams best offensive talent full time.
Commit to developing JT Miller as a third line center. We needs his intensity and competitive drive. I think he can be developed with the big club w/o more time in the AHL.
Commit to becoming younger and faster. Give Lindberg and Fasth real, legit. chances to make the team out of training camp. Give Hrvik and Thomas solid looks also. To be the Bruins, we need to have more skill up and down the lineup.
Resign Zuke. He will always have deficiencies in his game (size, skating) but if we want to use his assets (creativity, play-making ability) we need to live with what he lacks. I have never been a big fan but he has gone a long way to convincing me he deserves to stay.
Do not resign Clowe. Yes, we need a Clowe-like player but here is another guy around 30 years of age who is already slowing down. What will he be like in 2 or 3 years? Do we want to replay Redden, Drury, Richards again? Most I would do is 2 years and 3 million per year. If he doesn't want that, let him walk.
Commit to pushing McI into the lineup. All of our D fit the modern NHL template of the all around Dman. We need a physical, creasing-clearing Dman (and I'm not talking about fighting here: the last thing I want is one of our regularly spending long stretches in the penalty box). We had that with Sauer. We tried a Sauer-lite with Bickel and although that worked for a brief period of time, Bickel simply doesn't have the skill to stick in the NHL long-term. We need McI badly.
There is a lot of dead wood here (Pyatt, Boyle, Asham, Haley) that can't be given positions just because they have been here or have NHL contracts. If these guys can't cut it, they need to be sent to the AHL.
If the Rangers are convinced Stall will be OK, explore the possibility of trading MDZ but do not give him away for a draft pick. Either you get a legit 2nd line winger for him or you keep him.
I'm kind of excited by the possibility of us becoming younger and faster. I don't know if there is anything we can do short term to elevate us to being a legit Cup contender. But we can be a competitive, middle of the playoff seed team easily capable of winning a round, and perhaps pulling an upset in the second round. Once you get to round 3, anything is possible. But we need to be realistic. Every year a team finishes with a disappointing elimination the first reaction is to say there will be drastic changes. But the cap severely limits what can and cannot be done. It is very possible that once all of our guys coming off of entry level contracts are resigned that, even if we jettison Richards, they will not be any money to sign anyone but perhaps a third liner for depth. I know we're all harboring the hope that Sather can pull off one of this trades and land a diamond in the rough. But that is unlikely. Not having a 1st or 2nd round pick puts a bummer of the draft and I don't see how we move up into the 1st round without surrendering something valuable. Once a decision is reached, hopefully quickly on BR, it might be a slow summer for Ranger news. Negotiations with our own guys may extend into late August or early September of even training camp. I'm not really expecting earth-shattering news. How many days to Traverse City?
