Toggle sidebar

Speculation: Anyone else think we'll better than we think?

  • Xenforo Cloud has upgraded us to version 2.3.6. Please report any issues you experience.
Tawnos said:
I've been having this debate with @Go Away Staal in another thread. The truth is that I would not in any way be surprised to see this team in the bottom-5... nor would I be surprised to see them snag a Wild Card spot.

The point I've been making is that, when you compare this team to the last Rangers team to make the playoffs, it isn't a huge difference. Let me run down the roster. In one case, I purposely compared Stepan to Hayes and Hayes to a rookie C, because I'm more concerned with role than with individual players. There's one caveat about Smith in there, but in no way am I basing this on players having career years, or anything like that.

16-17 vs 18-19
Kreider = Kreider
Vesey = Vesey
Nash >= Spooner
Stepan >= Hayes
Zibanejad = Zibanejad
Hayes -- Chytil/Andersson (this is the biggest question mark in the comparison)
Zuccarello = Zuccarello
Grabner >= Namestnikov
Buchnevich = Miller (is that a stretch? I don't think so)
Fast = Fast
Lindberg = Holland/Fogarty/Fontaine/Whoever 4C
Glass = McLeod (worst case scenario)

McDonagh > Skjei (unequivocally)
Girardi < Shattenkirk
Staal = Staal
Smith = Smith (big caveat... this is dependent on Smith really being back)
Holden < Pionk/DeAngelo
Klein = McQuaid (we're talking about 16-17 Klein, who had all kinds of problems)

Lundqvist = Lundqvist

I'm sorry, I just don't see a HUGE difference in the lineups, with the exception of the 1D spot, which is admittedly a huge role. Some would debate that Nash and Grabner are both definitively better than Spooner and Namestnikov, but I think their overall impact on the offense is about the same. Yeah, those other guys scored more goals, but they did it without impacting the offense much when they weren't.

I also don't think many of the question-mark teams are so significantly ahead... NJD, FLA, CBJ, NYI, CAR, BUF... all of these teams have significant flaws... while we compare much more favorably to OTT, MTL, DET. That's 9 teams we could be better than... and that's a playoff spot right there.
Click to expand...

lets not forget the role of the coach.

i love what quinn seems to be doing so far.

AV was down right awful.

i dont think we will be much better than a bubble team. would prefer full on tank for a top 2 pick.
 
I guess it depends on the expectation.

I think pre-TDL, the team will be in the 19-23 range. Post deadline, probably in the 24-27 range.
 
  • Like
Reactions: slugox
Inferno said:
I think we'll be bottom 7 to 9...better than most ppl think..but still crap.
Click to expand...

I think thats the most common thought.

I think the "best" case is this team finishing 9th-11th in the conference. I don't see how they make the playoffs unless a shit load of stuff goes right for them and something goes terribly wrong for someone we'd expect to make it.

Of course, it only takes 1 or 2 things to go wrong for us to turn this team into a bottom 5 lock IMO.
 
I think the Rangers will be square on the bubble, somewhere between #14 and #18 in the league.
 
Every year there are teams who come out of nowhere and surprise everybody. Especially under a new coach I think anything could happen, I wouldn't be too surprised if we make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs, and wouldn't be too surprised if we finish bottom 5. I predict we'll finish between 7-9th in the Conference
 
Neither playoffs nor a bottom-five finish would surprise me. Hank’s age will become increasingly evident — not doubt. The questions are 1) whether Georgiev can step up, 2) how effective the new coach will be in the NHL with the current roster, and 3) how healthy we will be — in terms of injuries as well as overall conditioning (especially endurance amongst youngsters). At least two of the above three must occur for us to make the playoffs; failure to meet either the first or the second will result in a bottom-five finish.

Just my two cents.
 
Go Away Staal said:
I think thats the most common thought.

I think the "best" case is this team finishing 9th-11th in the conference. I don't see how they make the playoffs unless a **** load of stuff goes right for them and something goes terribly wrong for someone we'd expect to make it.

Of course, it only takes 1 or 2 things to go wrong for us to turn this team into a bottom 5 lock IMO.
Click to expand...
Id say we're 1 major injury (kreider) from being bottom 5, 2 from being bottom 3 (zibanejad) and 3 from being bottom. Of the barrel (Henrik)
 
Go Away Staal said:
I think thats the most common thought.

I think the "best" case is this team finishing 9th-11th in the conference. I don't see how they make the playoffs unless a **** load of stuff goes right for them and something goes terribly wrong for someone we'd expect to make it.

Of course, it only takes 1 or 2 things to go wrong for us to turn this team into a bottom 5 lock IMO.
Click to expand...

I really don't get how you can think we might be as high as 9th in the conference, but "don't see" how they make the playoffs. 9th place is likely only a few points out of a playoff spot as it is. You're talking about a 1-3 win difference.
 
Tawnos said:
I really don't get how you can think we might be as high as 9th in the conference, but "don't see" how they make the playoffs. 9th place is likely only a few points out of a playoff spot as it is. You're talking about a 1-3 win difference.
Click to expand...

I think there is a clear top 8.
 
Inferno said:
Id say we're 1 major injury (kreider) from being bottom 5, 2 from being bottom 3 (zibanejad) and 3 from being bottom. Of the barrel (Henrik)
Click to expand...

I'd probably add Shatty to that list though I think there are ways to mitigate that loss.

I wouldn't hesitate to throw Hayes in that Category either.
 
I’m very confident we won’t be bottom five like quite a few seems to think (hope) around here. If we were in a different division I wouldn’t be surprised if we made the PO.
 
bobbop said:
Probably. I’m down with 20-25 range. There are 4-5 teams that are in worse shape than the Rangers. A playoff bubble team is unlikely unless everything falls into place.
Click to expand...

Every playoff bubble team has to have everything fall into place to be a playoff bubble team.
 
We're only bottom five if the injuries pile up.

I imagine our season will look a lot like it did last year from a standings perspective. In the hunt for most of the year, falling off at the end, outside shot at the playoffs. No shot at being a real contender
 
Go Away Staal said:
Some teams have to have less fall in place than others.

See: Carolina. If they get league average goaltending, they’re on the bubble.
Click to expand...

Carolina's offense is somewhat suspect as well. And I'm sure if you broke it down by player, as many need to perform well on Carolina as do on the Rangers to say "everything fell into place."
 
Tawnos said:
Carolina's offense is somewhat suspect as well.
Click to expand...

It was, but had their goaltending not been so horrific they’re right on the bubble, which was my point.

Carolinas suspect offense was slightly worse than the Rangers offense last year. I think some are really overrating what our offense is capable of.
 
Go Away Staal said:
It was, but had their goaltending not been so horrific they’re right on the bubble, which was my point.

Carolinas suspect offense was slightly worse than the Rangers offense last year. I think some are really overrating what our offense is capable of.
Click to expand...

The Rangers are essentially bringing back the same offense, though, and in this "everything falls into place" scenario, they'll have their top goal-scorer and their PPQB for an entire year.

I think something I've realized is my biggest "trigger" is when people have opinions that I feel are too strong or certain than can be justified. This is one of those. It's not so much that I think that they will be a playoff team. It's more that I don't think being so sure that they won't is justified. I also don't think anyone who is so sure they'll be a bottom-5 team is justified in the strength of that opinion either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom