Series Talk: ECF: New York Rangers vs Florida Panthers *Game 1 Wednesday 5/22 @ 8pm ET*

[WojtekWolski86]

That is unbelievable. Wennberg was my darkhorse for these playoffs. He played pretty well with Seattle last year against tough opponents in the playoffs.
Obviously not saying anything shocking but those three need to put up some points especially Wennberg/Kakko
Don't they get matched up against the "weaker" d pairs of the opposition?
Really that line has one goal the Cuylle breakaway goal vs Carolina. The Kakko goal was a gift on a horrendous turnover by the Caps dman Jensen I believe

They've had glorious opportunities and only finish is Kaako's birthright. That 2 on 1 where Freddie left an open net and Wennberg hit solid post made it feel like he will never scores again.

Both white and black sticks haven't worked. Boyle had a great story how he got in a slump and changed his blade pattern from the one he used for 15 years. Scored 2 goals but it never felt right. It was enough to make him think about something else.

 

[Levitate]

Kakko laid out a great pass for Cuylle on that breakaway
Dude can make plays, he needs to figure out how to get the puck in his stick more often

 

[ncdoc]

Bobs save pct is shit

 

[Greg02]

Seeing lots of lineups with Chytil in the middle.

I just don’t see that happening.

If he’s back it’s going to be on the wing with Wennberg in the middle for a variety of reasons.

Ideally they swap in the offensive zone.

Why do I have the Jardiance jingle stuck in my head.

 

[CTTribe73]

Wife says to me today, 'After each playoff round, the NHL should allow players from all eliminated teams to throw their names into a participant pool. Then the remaining teams can bid on them, with the caveat being that each player you bring in requires you to give back two plus draft compensation to the selected player's team at a minimum of two second round picks or a first round pick. You could also trade a player out of your organization in the return but you'd still have to give back two players as part of the pool scheme anyway.'

That would be delicious chaos. For added complexity, selecting teams would be charged a 'per game' rate (even though players are not paid during the playoffs) based on the player's regular season contract. So for example if the Oilers got eliminated but the Rangers selected and won McDavid for the ECF they'd be charged a cap overage of 1/82* his 2023-24 salary applicable to the 24-25 cap.

There's a world here where a team goes into the SCF with three superstar lines and no additional depth.

 

[Riche16]

That Wennberg has 1 point in 10 playoff games indicates to me that he isn't cutting it presently at 3C. That whole line has 4 points combined.

Yeah that's a big issue (saying about a team who's in the ECF after a sweep & 6 games)

We'll need more from them for sure

 

[JimmyG89]

He skates well, cycles well, seems to transition fine, solid on faceoffs, obviously defends well, and PKs well; he just seems to completely inept at offense in these playoffs.

I guess with how well our top 6 has been and how much offense we set them up for, it's like, okay fine I guess. But, like, we get more production out of Goodrow so far than our entire 3rd line.

Chytil with his scoring prowess would be so welcome on our 3rd line. Even getting Wheeler in there for some slight added offense would be nice.

I don't think there is a person on this board that doesn't like Cuylle, but he's a rookie and slots in as a 4th liner on a championship team.

He's going to be a good player for us, might even be a 25 goal guy at some point. He is very young, but he's not a threat on the ice against these really good teams.

He has hit and played well defensively. Whatever he chips in offensively is gravy for his style. We're going to need that this series to try and wear down Florida's defense.

 

[NikC]

Release the beast on him....

release the 5 min pk

 

[Clown Fiesta]

Bobs save pct is shit

He’s a known entity at this point and those numbers aren’t surprising. He can be really on but he’s usually middling. Here’s hoping we can light him up.

 

[Kords]

Lundkvist got benched last night for a 6'5 Russian AHL journeyman.

Remember when we signed Nemeth because he was Swedish and Nils could lean on him to learn the league? What a pairing for the ages right there...

 

[NikC]

is Barkov's hand broken? hope so!

 

[CasusBelli]

I was more scared of Carolina than I am of Florida.

Optimistic going into his one.

 

[Greg02]

is Barkov's hand broken? hope so!

Steve Levy just had him display his hands on live television.

 

[LeetchisGod]

I was more scared of Carolina than I am of Florida.

Optimistic going into his one.

Florida's physicality is my concern. We''ll be beat to hell if we get by them.

 

[egelband]

I’m curious to see what the after effects will be of that shot Barkov took on the hand. He obviously came back but could be an issue

I am not ok with wishing serious injury on a player. Like a blown out knee or a head injury. But I think it’s ok to wish a nagging rib or sore hand on a guy. Does that make me a monster??

 

[egelband]

Panarin Trocheck Laf
Kreider Zib Roslovic
Cuylle Chytil Kakko
Goodrow Wennberg Rempe

Wheeler comes in for Rempe game 3

Was gonna say similar to @bl02 it’s a great lineup but I’m not sure any changes are needed. We’re also at a point where it’s more about will than strategy. I see the reasoning behind playing Rempe but I think in the end the coach plays the players he trusts most. That could include wheeler and Chytil tho. Not sure.

 

[n8]

Remember when we signed Nemeth because he was Swedish and Nils could lean on him to learn the league? What a pairing for the ages right there...

Remember how we gave Arizona TWO second round picks to take Nemeth and his cap? What an asset management disaster.

Seeing lots of lineups with Chytil in the middle.

I just don’t see that happening.

If he’s back it’s going to be on the wing with Wennberg in the middle for a variety of reasons.

There are 3 places Chytil can potentially play

• Line 1, replace Roslovic. Jack is putting up the points but I hate his play. He frequently stops plays with boneheaded decisions. The problem is, I'm not sure he fits in the lineup outside of the 1st line. Would disrupt the rest of the lineup too much to fit Ros in the bottom 6.
• Line 3, at center replacing Wennberg. Cuylle-Chytil-Kakko feels like a more known factor. More offensive upside than Cuylle-Wennberg-Kakko.
• Line 4, Vesey-Chytil-Goodrow? Maybe Chytil and Vesey can get things rolling.

I favor Line 3 for their potential as a strong forechecking line.
This would also give line 4 a Vesey-Wennberg-Goodrow composition which feels like a strong shut-down line trio. As an aside, part of me does feel like Rempe will have to make an appearance at some point in the series to knock Tkachuk and Reinhart on their asses otherwise they will be taking liberties with our top players like they did in Boston. I'm really pulling for Fil because our bottom 6 have been largely MIA. Vesey-Goodrow-Rempe had a great game 1 vs WSH. They pitched in a bit in game 4 vs CAR. Kakko had a great breakout to spring Cuylle on the breakaway. He also made a great dish to Wennberg who dinged it off the post. Wennberg makes that shot and we probably sweep Carolina. Schneider had a goal off of a strong 4th line forecheck/pressure. We need Fil to bolster our bottom 6. Right now, Kuostarinen-Lundell-Rodrigues will outperform our 3rd line by a country mile which could translate into their 3rd line stealing a game in the series.

 

[n8]

I am not ok with wishing serious injury on a player. Like a blown out knee or a head injury. But I think it’s ok to wish a nagging rib or sore hand on a guy. Does that make me a monster??

Naw, I don't mind something the guy will recover 100% from. Anything that can affect their overall career though like the knee and head thing I would never wish those upon anyone. Those could be severe enough to end ones career. Would hope no one would ever have to go through what Stefan Cherneski or Dan Blackburn had to go through.

 

[Procrastinator]

Kakko laid out a great pass for Cuylle on that breakaway
Dude can make plays, he needs to figure out how to get the puck in his stick more often

He needs how to play a power game. Drive to the net. Either get the shot on goal or he’ll draw a penalty. The perimeter game is not working for him.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

If course it's Lindgren's fault, lol. Watch the replay again. Aho actually made a perfect pass.

I have, multiple times.

Lindgren backhanded it to the middle
Of the ice.

Aho was tied up with Trocheck.



Second replay shows it clearly.

 

[MyLoveIsBlue]

Good ol Tad's. I miss those days.

Tad's with my Dad. Great memories. Thanks for bringing it up Will.

 

[Cmox]

If you guys every listened to Howard Stern early Sirius days. Rev. Bob Levy is a Rangers fan. He actually predicted each round with 100% accuracy so far.

 

[egelband]

I do agree that Rempe is getting so overrated. But if Chytil is still a no-go, I'd rather have Rempe than Brod in the 4th line with Bennet and Tkachuk running around.

If Rempe does play I’d like to see Lavi let him play a bit more. He’s kind of useless playing four minutes. Might as well get Jones in as seventh D.

 

[Stammertime91]

Greetings from your affiliate

As a Lightning fan, I'll definitely be pulling for you guys against Florida. I think you guys are a stronger version of them. It'll be a great series nonetheless.

 

[Synergy27]

I feel like the over arching belief is that Florida’s defense is exploitable but this team had the fewest goals against in the league. They are just really good in every facet of the game.

The fortunate thing is that the Rangers are as well. Gonna be a battle and hopefully a very entertaining one.