Are We This Good or is Igor Just Stealing Us Games?
- Thread starter Embryo
- Start date
-
Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
The fact that this team is only like 2 games under .500 with Georgiev to me hints at the team being better than we say.
DanielBrassard
It's all so tiresome
Raspewtin
Stay at home defenseman hater
- May 30, 2013
- 44,300
- 21,901
like @DanielBrassard said it's mostly Igor and Special Teams.
but, there are a lot of good pieces here, just missing some glue and some development. We're being really hurt this year by Lindgren being dog shit, Nemeth having a very slow start, a massively underperforming bottom 6. and spotty play from Laf/Kakko. Georgiev not being good also doesn't help.
It's fixable but with quite a bit of work. And Drury hasn't really given a reason to believe he can or will.
but, there are a lot of good pieces here, just missing some glue and some development. We're being really hurt this year by Lindgren being dog shit, Nemeth having a very slow start, a massively underperforming bottom 6. and spotty play from Laf/Kakko. Georgiev not being good also doesn't help.
It's fixable but with quite a bit of work. And Drury hasn't really given a reason to believe he can or will.
Glen Sathers Cigar
Sather 4 Ever
The team is pretty f***ign terrible 5v5, which is a problem. They basically have 5/6 pieces of an excellent top six, then a half-dozen guys who belong on the fourth line or not even in the NHL (Brodz, Gettinger, McKegg, etc.). So they're very top-heavy and don't have the depth they need. When you have literally only two lines, it's much easier for an opponent to control those top two lines, which we see happen. And then when that happens Gallant tries to mix it up and we have Reaves on the top line. 
The defense has been messy, too--Fox and Lindgren have struggled defensively, Miller and Trouba can be great but Miller still makes a lot of mistakes, and so on.
The PP and PK are excellent. That matters and shouldn't be totally discounted. The goaltending with Igor is phenomenal, obviously. Also not something to discount.
If they can't figure out a way to add some legitimate depth (they will do it, whether at the TDL or off-season), then they're in trouble. If they do add a couple 2nd/3rd line guys I think the team's stock could jump. Otherwise, no, we're not as good as our record indicates--but IMO also not as bad as some would suggest.
The defense has been messy, too--Fox and Lindgren have struggled defensively, Miller and Trouba can be great but Miller still makes a lot of mistakes, and so on.The PP and PK are excellent. That matters and shouldn't be totally discounted. The goaltending with Igor is phenomenal, obviously. Also not something to discount.
If they can't figure out a way to add some legitimate depth (they will do it, whether at the TDL or off-season), then they're in trouble. If they do add a couple 2nd/3rd line guys I think the team's stock could jump. Otherwise, no, we're not as good as our record indicates--but IMO also not as bad as some would suggest.
Machinehead
HFNYR MVP
Pretty much this.
The team is terrible but not on paper. The way they play is broken.
The Crypto Guy
Registered User
- Jun 26, 2017
- 29,170
- 38,814
If they wear down Shesty, think they may be in trouble. This is why I've said Shesty should be winning not just the Vezina but the Hart also if he keeps up his elite play and stealing games. Rangers special teams have also been the difference as well, but it's more because of Shesty, imo.
I’m going with several answers:
1. Igor is absolutely stealing games and propping us up to a better record
2. Georgiev is actually that bad, IMO. His stats are kind of middle of the pack for backups, but I think that despite posting some decent games and sv% at times, he allows a lot of early goals, soft goals, etc. and the team typically plays from behind and at a disadvantage when he starts. Even if he only gives up 2-3 goals, it’s a different ball game when you’re down 2-0 early or when you fight to tie a game and he allows a backbreaking goal on the next shift.
3. We ARE good. We’re not THIS good. We’re not as bad as people say we are either. Kreider, Zib, Bread and Fox are all putting up very good statistical seasons on top of Shesty’s performance. Yes, 5v5 production has been an issue (22 out of 32) but we also have had injuries play a role in the ability to ice a full lineup at any time. We counted on having Blais, Kakko and Chytil all in the lineup and they’ve all missed significant time. The lineup decisions we do get from Gallant are head scratchers… but give us two solid third line additions at the TDL and a healthy Kakko and we AT LEAST can put some depth on the ice to open up some room. If you have KZL BSK Chytil plus two third line additions and Goodrow on the 4th line with Hunt and Rooney, you actually have 4 lines that can play and teams won’t be able to virtually ignore whatever line has McKegg, Brodzinski, Gettinger, etc. riding shotgun.
4. We DO have the best goalie in the world. He’s part of the team. You can’t say “is the team actually this good, or is it Igor?” when Igor is part of the team. Some teams have the best offense in the world. We have the best goalie in the world. Are the Panthers or Hurricanes asking “are we really this good, or is it our offense stealing us games?”. I get that there’s a difference, but should we simply discard HAVING the best goalie and say “well, sure, we’re good, but we don’t DESERVE to be”?
5. The team minus goaltending is basically worse than it’s record with Igor in net would be and probably a bit better than it’s record with Georgiev in net would be. It’s irrelevant in the end because we have Igor, and as long as he’s healthy, he’ll get the lion’s share of work the rest of the way and all of the playoff starts. If Igor is part of the team, than the team is as good as it is with Igor on it. If Igor plays all of the playoff games, why are we worried about what we are with Geo in net? Will we win a round or two, or a Cup, and say “yeah, but we weren’t good enough to win it without Igor”? Would Tampa have repeated without Vasilevsky? With McKenna or Elliot or whoever there backup was starting ALL of their playoff games? I get that our roster isn’t up to Tampa’s stacked standard, but there’s a reason we play the games instead of letting a computer simulate the results.
6. The team is young and progressing. We need to add to the bottom six. That’s doable without breaking the bank this year. There’s no reason that, at the minimum, we won’t do that. We’ll get healthy. We’ll add a couple guys to push the AHL fodder off the roster. We’ll go to war with Igor in net. Igor is a wildcard. Are we contenders right now without him? No. But it’s irrelevant because he’s not some ringer - he’s our goalie - and we are potentially able to make some noise with him.
7. We should aim to make sustainable additions to the roster and not costly/short term rentals. As we say each season, next year we’ll look for the kids to take another step. We’ll still have Igor. We’ll get a healthy Blais and whoever we add to the bottom six this year. We don’t have to dismantle our future chances in order to make ourselves more competitive this year, but you don’t waste seasons like the one Shesty and Kreids are having when you’re sitting comfortably in a playoff position either. Next year we could see something like:
Kreider - Zib - Laf
Bread - Strome (?) - KK
Blais - Chytil - Jarnkrok
Hunt - Goodrow - Reaves/Barron
That’s achievable without breaking the bank this year and crippling ourselves going forward. Obviously, I’d like someone better than Strome in that spot and the Panarin line shaken up, but that’s still a much stronger lineup, with potential for mid-late season appearances from Cuylle, Otthman, etc.
I’d stop fixating over whether we are as good as Igor makes us. Igor is a Ranger.
The team is pretty f***ign terrible 5v5, which is a problem. They basically have 5/6 pieces of an excellent top six, then a half-dozen guys who belong on the fourth line or not even in the NHL (Brodz, Gettinger, McKegg, etc.). So they're very top-heavy and don't have the depth they need. When you have literally only two lines, it's much easier for an opponent to control those top two lines, which we see happen. And then when that happens Gallant tries to mix it up and we have Reaves on the top line.
The PP and PK are excellent. That matters and shouldn't be totally discounted. The goaltending with Igor is phenomenal, obviously. Also not something to discount.
If they can't figure out a way to add some legitimate depth (they will do it, whether at the TDL or off-season), then they're in trouble. If they do add a couple 2nd/3rd line guys I think the team's stock could jump. Otherwise, no, we're not as good as our record indicates--but IMO also not as bad as some would suggest.
Yeah and we basically lost an entire middle six line to injuries and being a crybaby. With kakko, blais and to a lesser extent Krav. That definitely doesnt help the situation.
I wouldn't say I have total faith in Drury, but I'm not really at the point of being skeptical, either. If you added Blais, Kakko, and Kravtsov to this current team, I think a lot of the issues we're seeing that are caused by no depth, would be alleviated to a large degree.
"Can" he fix the situation we're in? That remains to be seen. "Will" he at least try? I think so. I know it's frustrating that we haven't done anything to this point, but Drury was quite active his first off-season and I see no reason to expect he's going to be quiet this TDL.
tlk
hARry kane comeS homE
We're missing a huge chunk of our top9 roster for a good part of the season now.
Slagging Geo off won't do anybody no good whatsoever.
As for our game, I'd really would like to see more of 'set' plays, combos in the attack. They seem to wait for a chance to present itself way too often.
Other than that, can't really complain.
Slagging Geo off won't do anybody no good whatsoever.
As for our game, I'd really would like to see more of 'set' plays, combos in the attack. They seem to wait for a chance to present itself way too often.
Other than that, can't really complain.
Right. I really liked the look of the team coming into the year. I thought we had a good top six and some legitimate depth. Unfortunately, losing three players is going to hurt you in a big way.
Some of the issues are about lack of depth. Some of the issues are about how the top half of the roster has performed as well. Like others, I think the pieces are largely here for this team but they haven't found their gear and it's not clear whether they will. Adding some useful players at the deadline could go a long way, but it could also not--thinking back to adding Eric Staal which did not, despite the profile of a top-6 center at that time for a team that had similar strengths and weaknesses.
Igor has been good enough to enter the league MVP conversation as a goalie. That should tell you a lot about how good he's been, and also about how good the team hasn't been. OTOH, we've had stretches of good hockey. There's a lot of room for improvement with the team, but also plenty of reason to optimistic that they can get there, or at least move in the right direction between now and the end of the season. IMO a playoff run could really help in this regard.
Igor has been good enough to enter the league MVP conversation as a goalie. That should tell you a lot about how good he's been, and also about how good the team hasn't been. OTOH, we've had stretches of good hockey. There's a lot of room for improvement with the team, but also plenty of reason to optimistic that they can get there, or at least move in the right direction between now and the end of the season. IMO a playoff run could really help in this regard.
Weird year overall, but the standings are starting to settle in, especially with Boston rising and TML dropping. We should be able to hold off Washington unless they go on some crazy run. Regardless of record though, this is a 7/8 seed team under the old format, quality wise, everywhere else aside from goalie.
Every game won in the playoffs will be an upset, let alone series. Not from Igor's POV though. He's a stud and deserves every win he gets.
Unless something insane happens at the TDL, the high level of success we had so far and would possibly have in the playoffs rest on Igor alone. Without him, we are fighting with Columbus for 4th in the division.
Every game won in the playoffs will be an upset, let alone series. Not from Igor's POV though. He's a stud and deserves every win he gets.
Unless something insane happens at the TDL, the high level of success we had so far and would possibly have in the playoffs rest on Igor alone. Without him, we are fighting with Columbus for 4th in the division.
Irishguy42
Mr. Preachy
Lion Hound
Pornhub Enthusiast
Igor is a Hart Candidate, so yeah...that's a huge factor.
One thing different about this team then years past. They have a different compete level. They figured out how to win games, and good teams find ways to win games. With that said, it's uncertain still if they are as good as their record suggests. Playoffs will be very telling. Looking at the Eastern conference teams this club seems like they can compete with any of them. Curious to see how they respond when the games get heavy. That's when we should see guys like Lindgren, Goodrow, Trouba, Reaves, and even Hunt step it up to another level. Its likely the top 6 are still going to produce, but can the rest of them play at another level when it matters?
TheBloodyNine
Pure Bred Soviet Savage
SA16
Sixstring
The teams performance without Igor is irrelevant since Igor will play every playoff game.
That's actually a good thing for them in the playoffs. Other teams won't "improve" as much by giving their starting goalie every game. They are 2nd in the league in PP% and PPs go up in the playoffs on average.
That's actually a good thing for them in the playoffs. Other teams won't "improve" as much by giving their starting goalie every game. They are 2nd in the league in PP% and PPs go up in the playoffs on average.
mandiblesofdoom
Registered User
- May 24, 2012
- 2,669
- 1,957
It's kind of both. With a league average goalie, the team wouldn't have a record this good, but we'd still be a playoff team I think.
mandiblesofdoom
Registered User
- May 24, 2012
- 2,669
- 1,957
Blais & Kakko, sure ... but isn't Drury partly responsible for Kravstov not being here?
I mean, depends on who you ask, right?
But even if you think he's partly to blame for Kravtsov's decision to leave, the point is still that he was a player Drury anticipated having for this season.
HockeyBasedNYC
Feeling it
Igor has stolen a lot of games, but the Rangers also gutted out a few victories earlier in the year and in a few spots lately against good teams. (Blues at home)
They definitely wouldnt be where they are without Shesty, but I also think this team has a good room and finds a way to get the win where that definitely wouldn't have been the case in years' past. So i think they are much improved mentally and in regards to sticking with the system and "buying in". Credit the coaching staff and the leadership there.
I don't always like to play the "what if" game though, because you can say that about any team with any player. The Rangers happen to have a very elite goaltender who hides some blemishes but other teams have strengths in other areas that do the same for them. Where would the Leafs and Oilers be without Matthews & McDavid/Draisaitl combo?
They definitely wouldnt be where they are without Shesty, but I also think this team has a good room and finds a way to get the win where that definitely wouldn't have been the case in years' past. So i think they are much improved mentally and in regards to sticking with the system and "buying in". Credit the coaching staff and the leadership there.
I don't always like to play the "what if" game though, because you can say that about any team with any player. The Rangers happen to have a very elite goaltender who hides some blemishes but other teams have strengths in other areas that do the same for them. Where would the Leafs and Oilers be without Matthews & McDavid/Draisaitl combo?
Last edited:
Latest posts
-
-
-
Ovechkin Milestone Thread - Countdown to 894 (Continued)- Latest: Nikki Potnick
