Around the NHL 2024-25 regular season

[Goptor]

Wild that he had that 60 goal pace season in 2020, 40 goals two years ago

And then, pfffttt

He's lost his hands. Same thing happened to Zajac.

Replacement level player since he doesn't have a defensive game to fall back on.

 

[Clam Jensen]

If I recall correctly, his nickname was "Crankshaft", which is cool.

That was his nickname, which I’m not sure how he got that name.

Sounds like he had a chronic masturbation problem.

 

[Brodeur]

Boston and Tyler Johnson mutually terminating his contract. Probably the end of the road for Johnson in the NHL. I'm guessing he preferred to spend the holidays with his wife than ride the buses in the AHL.

I did chuckle a bit since the obligatory blowhard in my keeper league made a big stink about wanting to sign Johnson a few weeks back as if it was 2016.

There was on main board poster who didn't quite get why Johnson had remained unsigned. By his logic Johnson had 31 points for the Blackhawks last season, so he would get 40+ points on a better team. Tried to tell him that Johnson got PP1 time on Chicago (16 points) and that he wouldn't get nearly the same opportunities elsewhere. But I don't think that registered.

 

[Guttersniped]

Worst amongst Seattle D-men, and it doesn't look at first glance that he plays defensive minutes. Looks fairly sheltered actually.

Will Borgen used to play a shutdown role with Jamie Oleksiak and was on their 2nd pair. That probably was partly due to the lack of decent RHD beyond him and Larsson.

The addition of Montour this season pushed him down to the 3rd pair and it hasn’t gone that great for him.

Spoiler: Will Borgen: The Seattle Years

2022-23

2023-24
Oleksiak & Borgen are smooshed together in the corner.

2024-25

The Rangers defense definitely needs something. While much of the focus was on Trouba, every pairing the Rangers have been using, other than Fox/Miller, has been a tire fire.

Jones/Shneider started out strong but faded hard once their minutes got more difficult.

 

[My3Sons]

Will Borgen used to play a shutdown role with Jamie Oleksiak and was on their 2nd pair. That probably was partly due to the lack of decent RHD beyond him and Larsson.

The addition of Montour this season pushed him down to the 3rd pair and it hasn’t gone that great for him.

Spoiler: Will Borgen: The Seattle Years

2022-23
View attachment 948206View attachment 948209
2023-24
Oleksiak & Borgen are smooshed together in the corner.
View attachment 948207View attachment 948208
2024-25
View attachment 948212View attachment 948223

The Rangers defense definitely needs something. While much of the focus was on Trouba, every pairing the Rangers have been using, other than Fox/Miller, has been a tire fire.

Jones/Shneider started out strong but faded hard once their minutes got more difficult.

You need to add at least four more charts and sixteen more paragraphs of exposition to give us a sense of how bad the trade is for the Rangers defense.

 

[Bleedred]

What a trade for the Rags. This is exactly what they needed. Will Borgen is a fantastic defenseman. If you remember back in 2015 I wanted us to pick him, but we went with Blake Speers long before Borgen was even picked. Thanks again Conte.

Rags win this trade hands down. Kakko is a bust. Horrible and embarrassing pick by JD Gorton.

 

[Guttersniped]

I did now - I wanted a framed copy of that article as a Christmas gift.

Here's the link for others: Do the Rangers have a culture problem? An exclusive look at what's bubbling at MSG

Hell of a dumpster fire going on at MSG. Drury is the gift that keeps giving year round and looks like he might not be going anywhere anytime soon.

View attachment 948200

I sadly hit a paywall.

 

[Guttersniped]

Zib has a full no move. Don't think he's gonna go anywhere unless it's so toxic he just wants out. But with the term left on that deal and the way he's playing, I have no idea why anyone would take it on. Looks like one of the worst contacts in hockey right now. 8.5 for 5 more years with a full no move for every year until 7 days prior to the trade deadline in 2030 lol. All salary is signing bonus so it's buy out proof.

31 years old, a black hole at 5 on 5, pacing for under 60 points now I think.

They can’t waive him, so it’s a lot harder, and he’s been pretty bad, but never underestimate the constant demand for centers.

8.5m until he’s 37 has to be unappealing, but could Nashville do something stupid? I can imagine this.

 

[AfroThunder396]

They will find a way out of that Zib contract, but it will likely cost them something they really don't want to part with. Or they'll have to take on an equally bad contract but for a slightly more impactful player

 

[NJDfan86]

They can’t waive him, so it’s a lot harder, and he’s been pretty bad, but never underestimate the constant demand for centers.

8.5m until he’s 37 has to be unappealing, but could Nashville do something stupid? I can imagine this.

It’s sad that an industry with only 32 possible jobs has to fear someone making this move.

 

[My3Sons]

It’s sad that an industry with only 32 possible jobs has to fear someone making this move.

Because among the 32 owners are some absolute morons. Give me about 10 billion and I'd be a much better owner than some of those bone heads. It's not complicated. Some years you will suck. Some years you will be good. Yes at times you have to bite the bullet on a contract but pick those wisely. Your team will know who is worthwhile if they are there for a couple of years at least before having to hand out that big deal between 28-30.

 

[BenedictGomez]

With Kakko leaving the Rangers, the final tally:

Kappo Kakko & Alexis Lafrenière 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱:
776 games played - 159 goals, 113 assists = 332 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀

Jack Hughes:
352 games played - 133 goals, 200 assists = 333 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀

 

[Bleedred]

The Rangers have historically been pretty bad with top 5 and even top 10 draft picks.

I went over them a couple of years ago, and they had a load of busts picked early in the late 90s and early 00s.

We picked a couple of nothing goalies in the late 90s in the first round, but they picked Al Montoya and Dan Blackburn at like 8th and 6th overall just 3 years apart?

The Rangers legit could have been a powerhouse right now if Kakko and Laf both turned out better.

 

[DerekDevils30]

With Kakko leaving the Rangers, the final tally:

Kappo Kakko & Alexis Lafrenière 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱:
776 games played - 159 goals, 113 assists = 332 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀

Jack Hughes:
352 games played - 133 goals, 200 assists = 333 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀

Blast from the past! Sticking around?

 

[NJDfan86]

Because among the 32 owners are some absolute morons. Give me about 10 billion and I'd be a much better owner than some of those bone heads. It's not complicated. Some years you will suck. Some years you will be good. Yes at times you have to bite the bullet on a contract but pick those wisely. Your team will know who is worthwhile if they are there for a couple of years at least before having to hand out that big deal between 28-30.

This is also so true - and hurts just as much.

 

[Triumph]

The Rangers have historically been pretty bad with top 5 and even top 10 draft picks.

I went over them a couple of years ago, and they had a load of busts picked early in the late 90s and early 00s.

We picked a couple of nothing goalies in the late 90s in the first round, but they picked Al Montoya and Dan Blackburn at like 8th and 6th overall just 3 years apart?

The Rangers legit could have been a powerhouse right now if Kakko and Laf both turned out better.

The Rangers have had some brutal luck with draft picks, I have to say - even beyond them not being able to develop guys, Cherneski blew out his knee and never had a pro career to speak of, Blackburn's pro career was basically over when he was 20, and obviously Alexei Cherepanov died. Obviously it's one thing when guys just don't become what you thought they would, but losing 3 1st round draft picks to injury/death in the space of 13 years is quite unlucky.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Benedict?

OH MY

 

[Brodeur]

The Rangers have historically been pretty bad with top 5 and even top 10 draft picks.

I went over them a couple of years ago, and they had a load of busts picked early in the late 90s and early 00s.

Rangers gave considerable effort to trade up for Chris Pronger in 1993. San Jose had the #2 pick and their room was split, but their co-GM Chuck Grillo steered them to take Viktor Kozlov. The other co-GM Dean Lombardi was tasked with negotiating a trade down where they could still end up with Kozlov. But they knew that Hartford would take Kozlov at #6 (if Pronger went #2 to the Rangers), so trading down to #8 with the Rangers wasn't going to work.

In the end, they made a relatively small deal with Hartford. Fun side story that I didn't know until a couple years ago was that Quebec also badly wanted Pronger. They offered Mike Ricci and #10, but San Jose declined. Then at the last minute they offered the rights to Peter Forsberg. After the draft, Lombardi fumed to the press about Quebec basically implying that he would have done that trade contingent on Forsberg signing.

The issue was that CBA allowed certain unsigned European draft picks to sign offer sheets. In the summer of 1992, Teemu Selanne signed an offer sheet (400K x 3 years, 1.5 mil signing bonus) with Calgary that Winnipeg begrudgingly matched. There were rumors that teams might offer 4-5 mil signing bonus to Forsberg / Forsberg was eyeing the record rookie deal that Alexandre Daigle was about to sign. San Jose couldn't risk having to match a bloated offer sheet; They would have received no compensation if they didn't match.

 

[Saugus]

Lafreniere is still on the Rangers, but I expect Jack to handily outscore him in the remainder of their careers.

So ya, when all is said and done, it’s likely that Jack’s contribution to the Devils will be more than both Kakko and Lafreniere combined for the Rangers. What a stat.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Blast from the past! Sticking around?

Nah; I only appear for monumental occasions, like Damon Severson finally being jettisoned or Kakko getting traded for middling picks & an okay'ish prospect.

My favorite part of this isnt the trade itself, but the low-key comedy gold of the Rangers claiming they've, "been targeting Borgen for a long time" to try to save face. How stupid do they think their fans are? Dave Chappelle couldn't write material like that.

 

[sabremike]

I did now - I wanted a framed copy of that article as a Christmas gift.

Here's the link for others: Do the Rangers have a culture problem? An exclusive look at what's bubbling at MSG

Hell of a dumpster fire going on at MSG. Drury is the gift that keeps giving year round and looks like he might not be going anywhere anytime soon.

View attachment 948200

Love that Drury is still killing the rags nearly 18 years later, "WHO ELSE? WHO ELSE???"

 

[NJDevs26]

Get ready for GM Avery, it's most definitely something Dolan would do.

At least he’s not letting his teenage son run the team like Woodrow Johnson

 

[britdevil]

 

[Bleedred]

View attachment 948177

softie for sure

Worse than Keefe scoring on Allen lol. Laviolette has 16 years on Keefe.