Post-Game Talk: 4/8: Hurry-Canes Alice! The HURRY-CANES!

[NYRCSKA*]

They need to do whatever they have to do in the FO in order to make sure that this Brassgod-Zucc-Pouliot line stays together for as long as possible. Lines with this much chemistry are just invaluable.

 

[TheTakedown]

What has happened to Eric Staal?

No motivation.

He plays on a ****** team. you tend to lose levels of motivation when on a team like that for extended periods of time...

Couple that with the fact that he knows his time with Carolina is up... I'm sure he's quite distracted at this point in time...

I would definitely take him on if Carolina was willing to hold even $1M in Salary... Could use Richards' buyout money at that point... unfortunately, it'd be tough to get him for what little assets we have, unless we tap into some of that uber defensive depth. Eric is in his prime. if the canes are willing to take a flyer on some defensive prospects and maybe some 2nd or 3rd round picks, it's feasible, but I have a feeling we wouldn't be the best offer, and by a far margin... The only thing that works in favor of the Rangers is that they are one of the smaller number of teams (and probably one of few Eric would rather be on) that can handle his salary/cap hit.

Have a look here:
http://capgeek.com/?charts_year=2014&salary_cap=$70,000,000

The teams with the highest cap hit starting next season are all contenders. They will not have room for Eric's cap hit.

1. Chicago Blackhawks » Salary Chart Cap Calculator $69,059,295 $1,720,705 21 $860,353
2. Boston Bruins » Salary Chart Cap Calculator $62,579,643 $8,020,357 17 $1,336,726
3. Vancouver Canucks » Salary Chart Cap Calculator $61,187,778 $8,820,556 20 $2,940,185
4. Philadelphia Flyers » Salary Chart Cap Calculator $59,541,429 $10,458,571 16 $1,494,082
5. San Jose Sharks » Salary Chart Cap Calculator $59,301,667 $11,289,167 17 $1,881,528
6. Los Angeles Kings » Salary Chart Cap Calculator $58,284,394 $12,058,106 18 $2,411,621
7. Washington Capitals » Salary Chart Cap Calculator $58,470,128 $13,186,538 21 $6,593,269
8. Pittsburgh Penguins » Salary Chart Cap Calculator $56,535,833 $13,704,167 16 $1,957,738
9. Phoenix Coyotes » Salary Chart Cap Calculator $54,715,000 $15,972,500 18 $3,194,500

The original chart does not take into account Richards' Buy out Cap relief, so I removed the rangers from the list. THe original chart also used a 70.1M cap, which I reduced to $70M

- These 9 teams are regular contenders, sans PHX and VAN, meaning they really don't NEED Eric, and are probably not looking for Eric
- After that, there are about 3-5 teams that are in for re-tooling/re-building next year (Calgary, Vancouver, Florida, Edmonton, and perhaps the islanders). Thats NOT a destination for somone like Eric, especially when you factor that cap hit.
- That leaves the last half of the league, including the Rangers, that could feasibly take on Eric's cap hit.

j moore has been excellent since returning. d depth with diaz helps as well while McD out

his brain is getting better by the game... refreshing to say the least...

When he learns to stick handle with the puck, he could be a lite-PMD.... that would be a warm welcome

I know the Canes are not a good team but that was the best passing I've seen from a Rangers team in a long long time. Looked like the harlem globetrotters out there. Also, it wasn't just the Zucc line for once. MSL had great chemistry with Stepan who had a great game. Stepan looked like Stepan last year. He's playing amazing hockey.

Agreed... MSL + Step makes sense on paper too... #1 Center to run along side a #1 RW... It just makes sense.

Works out great that Nash is Left Handed, and is OK with playing the left site. That's a top line to be scared of if you are the opposing team.

The God line... just wow...

 

[Ola]

Eric Staal is still a good and valuble player.

But I've for years found him to be far from that player that can carry a team. He has "the prime spot" cemented on his team, PP, 5 on 5, things goes through him -- and -- he does a good job taking advantage of that.

But I definitely think he is the type who (1) could fall fast, if there is a change in the above (2) could have problems keeping up his stats if moved to another team.

Its tough to say it, since he has a couple of such perfect clutch seasons, but he is definitely moving closer to a Jason Arnott than a Hart Trophy Candidate...

 

[TheTakedown]

Eric Staal is still a good and valuble player.

But I've for years found him to be far from that player that can carry a team. He has "the prime spot" cemented on his team, PP, 5 on 5, things goes through him -- and -- he does a good job taking advantage of that.

But I definitely think he is the type who (1) could fall fast, if there is a change in the above (2) could have problems keeping up his stats if moved to another team.

Its tough to say it, since he has a couple of such perfect clutch seasons, but he is definitely moving closer to a Jason Arnott than a Hart Trophy Candidate...

Yeah, I question whether or not he could potentially keep up his stats if he is moved. Would be a typical ranger pickup though :p

Does he have a NTC or NMC on his contract? Capgeek didn't say anything last I looked

 

[LORENZO]

St. Louis about to turn it up, yo.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

By the way, Pouliot has now reached a career high in points

He already did against Colorado

 

[Gardner McKay]

Bow down to the God line. A convincing win against a team that we needed to beat convincingly.

Is it me, or do we ALWAYS come out flat on Steven McDonald night? How can you come out so flat after that?

Big win, considering the scoreboard.

We come out flat after every ceremonial night. Lundqvists ceremony. Mike Richter's # being retired, Messiers # being retired, etc.

 

[LORDE]

I have been working so much that I haven't been able to visit or watch. Glad they're starting to really put things together. MSL playing well, pp rolling... Hank is Hank. Need to sustain this until June!

 

[egelband]

Eric Staal is still a good and valuble player.

But I've for years found him to be far from that player that can carry a team.

Indeed, the Rangers have had a lot of solid guys miscast as stars. Eric Stall would fit right in. Bernie Nicholls, Brad Richards, Holik come to mind. And many others. Solid guys but not studs.
Jagr and Messier and even Bure when healthy are a few - of the very few - who actually were as-good-as-advertised.

 

[Vickers8]

Pou-Brass-Zucc still our best line

 

[mas0764]

I don't think you can put Eric Staal into the same category as Bernie Nicholls and Bobby Holik, and I think he's got more on his tires than Richards did when we brought Richards in.

Your farm system is thin so you can't give up a ridiculous amount but I'd certainly kick the tires on Staal.

I'd also be calling on ROR this offseason again. Colorado has so many forwards, maybe they want a defenseman.

 

[True Blue]

Doesn't give consistent offensive production.

That is not his job.

 

[Fitzy]

Pou-Brass-Zucc still our best line

They play great together and have great playmaking and puckhandling abilities, but they are all horrible finishers.

If Pouliot and Brassard hadn't missed as many slam dunk chances, Zuccarello would be a point per game right now. No one can say they aren't our best line, though.

 

[broadwayblue]

He plays on a ****** team. you tend to lose levels of motivation when on a team like that for extended periods of time...

Couple that with the fact that he knows his time with Carolina is up... I'm sure he's quite distracted at this point in time...

How can his time with Carolina be up? Doesn't he know that Marc is joining him there in a little over a year?

 

[Staxgod90]

Can't carry the puck for longer than 2 seconds. Can't make a consistently decent outlet pass. Doesn't give consistent offensive production.

Besides the blatantly painful goal that was scored, which I'm not gonna blame him for, even though he had a chicken w/o a head moment standing where he was... he was brutal with the puck tonight. Brutal.

AV's system is predicated on puck control, creativity, and puck possession. None of those things can be done by Klein.

Klein is also not a highly coveted prospect that the management has invested years into. If AV had to commit to one or the other, I'd imagine management would press hard for Dylan - a guy who is hyped, has a higher ceiling, and adds a dimension that Klein doesn't - toughness and grit.

After that, I'd imagine AV try and maximize the amount of offense that the other 5 blue liners can give. He'll want it over 140 pts for all 6. Hell, McIlrath could be swapped for a guy who fits this bill too.

he's not here for offensive production. He's here to anchor the pairing he is on so his partner can be active and pinch when necessary and have less of a chance getting burned. I liked when he was playing with Moore and even Staal.

 

[AHB*]

I think he runs into the same problem he did in Nashville, with us.

Serviceable, solid, are terms i'd use for him. Nothing more, nothing less.

His positioning, for the most part, is solid. His decisions, for the most part, are done so that they do not cause detriment to the team. He is a prevent defender - i.e he doesn't add much to the table besides being able to prevent mistakes (for the most part).

That being said, this is an offensively minded coach. Danny G, Staal, Stralman, Klein - how many guys can we have that aren't offensively minded?

We have another defensively minded player, McIlrath, who this organization believes can be a top 4 defenseman. The timetable that they gave when he was drafted comes to a culmination next year.

The Rangers gave up a 5th round pick for a player that looks like he can easily control 13-15 minutes a game without much mistake.

Theres another defenseman in HFD who is more polished (for now) than McIlrath. Allen. He was tested in both RD and LD. Controlled the puck, crisp passes, didn't make boneheaded plays.

That's 3 guys that can all play RD. All 3 are cheaper than Klein @ 3 mill. All 3 give different dimensions to the team that it already doesn't have.

Klein may be solid, but there are better options there. And if you can recoup a 2nd rd pick for him... Even better.

Trading Klein for a pick, when we, as of now, are going into next year with just he and G under contract would be a massive mistake. The only D position on the right side up for grabs is Stralman's.

Klein was not brought in to bring offense. And he has actually done more then I anticipated in his efforts to join the rush/move the play. The part of his job he WAS brought here to do, he has done very well.

It would be a mistake trading him and more specifically, his cap-friendly contract, especially with our limbo of contracts the next two years.

 

[Pizza]

OK....so Klein has a bad game and some are saying he should be down the road.

Another day in the Rangersphere.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Klein is one of the most solid 3rd pair D-men we have had in a while. Not only does he add a little extra on offense with 6 points in 28 games, but he has 0(!) penalty minutes as a Ranger in those 28 games.

 

[broadwayblue]

OK....so Klein has a bad game and some are saying he should be down the road.

Another day in the Rangersphere.

No doubt. This place is what have you done for me lately to the nth degree.

 

[TheTakedown]

Still no real update for McD other than he was taking rushes in practice... not sure how confident I feel about that. Do we actually know whats wrong with him? or does anyone have a guess as to what actually happened?

 

[Doctyl]

Still no real update for McD other than he was taking rushes in practice... not sure how confident I feel about that. Do we actually know whats wrong with him? or does anyone have a guess as to what actually happened?

Upper body. He left the game with his arm in a sling. Not a serious injury. I think that's all we know

 

[Miz]

If for some reason either Staal is on the block, you better believe Sather is gonna be in on it. We have the assets...it's just a matter of do we want to give up a Stepan or a Kreider for either. Don't think Hagelin and Miller is gonna cut it from a Hurricanes prospective.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

If for some reason either Staal is on the block, you better believe Sather is gonna be in on it. We have the assets...it's just a matter of do we want to give up a Stepan or a Kreider for either. Don't think Hagelin and Miller is gonna cut it from a Hurricanes prospective.

No way I give up either for them. Canes fans hate Eric Staal it seems and Stepan is better than Jordan Staal and Kreider as really good potential and is much younger.

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

If for some reason either Staal is on the block, you better believe Sather is gonna be in on it. We have the assets...it's just a matter of do we want to give up a Stepan or a Kreider for either. Don't think Hagelin and Miller is gonna cut it from a Hurricanes prospective.

How about neither?

 

[Miz]

How about neither?

Not advocating trading either player. Just noticed how people keep commenting on what little assets we have and I wanted to point out the latter.