What I do understand ala NY yankee's style the Rangers went out and paid for the top free agents. Trouble was the top free agents had warts as in a not over all game. When they produce no scoring ala Kessel there use is glaringly negative. That being said the NewYork Rangers had an elite top 4 no questions asked team last season and Tort's deserves that credit. He coaches does not play and the heart of said stars is now in question. Be thankfull you have Lunds or this team would implode.
Huh? Signed top free agents? Who? Gaborik and Richards? Because they traded for Nash and he hasn't even been here a full season yet. Gaborik has produced two 40 goal seasons. Richards has only been here one full season. Do NOT compare them to the yankees who normally sign big name free agents every year, sometimes two per offseason. But what they should do or rather what Torts should do, is take a page out of the yankees book. And that is cater to the players the organization brings in rather than forcing those players to play a system that does not fit their game. You say Torts can only do so much, he's passionate and just the coach....well sometimes part of being a good coach is recognizing the tools (players) you have and realizing that you have not been using them correctly. The yankees don't bring in players like Giambi, ARod, Sheffield, Teixiera, and even Granderson, etc., and make them play small ball; having them bunt...though granderson should be able to bunt but thats a different story for another time.
Maybe you like that grind out, rough and tumble game, and to an extent, we all do because its blue collar hockey...however, at some point you need scorers/high end players because the point is to win a Stanley Cup. It forces you to bring in outside players. And I gotta say star players that are pure two-way players are far and few between. The stars have their flaws but you overlook them because they produce. Are the rangers players struggling right now? Yes and of course that makes gaborik and richards look real bad. But the argument here is while they may not be playing well you have to strongly consider the offensive system they are playing in. There basically isn't one. It is dump and chase.
Gaborik was not a dump and chase player in Minnesota I can guarantee that. But now he constantly is trying to dump pucks into corners and go around players. And as bad as richards has looked, as a playmaker/passer, when he is carrying the puck in the neutral zone, there is no momentum from his surrounding teammates going towards the opposing D zone to dish the puck so they can break in without dumping it. It is because they are trained to look for the dump in. And you can attack richards and gaborik all you want but look at the beginning of the year when Nash and MDZ were on the PP with Gaborik and Richards. WITH AN EXTRA MAN and some of the most talented players in the league on the ice, they could not carry the puck in the zone or maybe they just did not want to. What does that tell you? Nash a 30 goal power forward scorer, Gaborik a 40 goal sniper, Del Zotto a 40 point defenseman who skates very well, all can't carry the puck into the zone? C'mon stop being so naive. It is tortorella. He needs to change or he needs to go.
