How do you grade Laviolette and the coaching staff on the 23-24 season + playoffs?

[Shesterkybomb]

Special teams was our biggest competitive advantage all year. You want to switch up things that have proven track records because in hindsight “what’s the worst that would have happened!” Not to mention, the adjustment everyone wants to make is just an emotional one because Laf is the shiny toy and everyone is frustrated by Mika. It makes no sense schematically. It’s like trying to put a lefty thrower at shortstop. Speaking of which, I guess you would have been advocating for benching Judge at the end of April too. What’s the worst that could have happened?

(Man I’m throwing 105 on the black).

Oh we're back at schematics again, smh. Any coach worth 5 bucks can work a pp to suit his players. Tell me, our pp helped or hurt us vs Florida this year, how about last year? Lafreniere was the better player all year. Rolling out the corpse of Zibanejad when he's struggling doesn't help the team and it has nothing to do with shiny objects or baseball teams I don't care about. You put your best players on the ice in order to win, otherwise you're content to lose.

 

[TheWrongWay]

A-

I could praise or nitpick a lot of areas. But to keep this short, I will say that Fox is probably our most important skater.

What coach is taking this roster past Florida with a limited and injured Fox?

The Rangers had an excellent season. But I'm not sure we can realistically expect much more than the result we got. Florida's was outstanding against the Rangers and they advanced.

 

[huerter]

Oh we're back at schematics again, smh. Any coach worth 5 bucks can work a pp to suit his players. Tell me, our pp helped or hurt us vs Florida this year, how about last year? Lafreniere was the better player all year. Rolling out the corpse of Zibanejad when he's struggling doesn't help the team and it has nothing to do with shiny objects or baseball teams I don't care about. You put your best players on the ice in order to win, otherwise you're content to lose.

So youre citing last years PP as a problem…when we tinkered with the personnel. Cmon bro. Make this hard for me.

 

[mandiblesofdoom]

I gave a B-. Which is a passing grade btw.

Big plus was he put Laffy with Bread & left him there.

Sometimes we played with defensive structure.

Players said good things about his practices.

He did break up Trouba and Miller.

However he did put them back together, and also installed a man on man in the playoffs, which didn't work.

And he found no room for Jones after the regulars came back, even though we looked better with Jones.

He never broke up Fox/Lindgren.

So he was OK, but he could have done more to deal with our issues of s***ty defensemen.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

So youre citing last years PP as a problem…when we tinkered with the personnel. Cmon bro. Make this hard for me.

Don't know what to tell you if you can't see that Mika was a problem on the pp, if that's where you're at as far as hockey assessment there's really no need to continue this conversation anymore brrrrrroooooo.

 

[huerter]

Don't know what to tell you if you can't see that Mika was a problem on the pp, if that's where you're at as far as hockey assessment there's really no need to continue this conversation anymore brrrrrroooooo.

Our PP was 3rd in the league this year, 4th the past 3 years, and 5th in Mika's tenure as a Ranger. All despite getting no help from the second unit aka the Laf unit. Pardon me for not diagnosing a major problem. In December, Marinaro had a former KHL assistant on and he said the Habs should model their PP after ours. No mention of taking off Mika for Laf. Maybe he's never heard of Laf but as a gars de chez nous that would be surprising.

 

[leetch99]

Oh we're back at schematics again, smh. Any coach worth 5 bucks can work a pp to suit his players. Tell me, our pp helped or hurt us vs Florida this year, how about last year? Lafreniere was the better player all year. Rolling out the corpse of Zibanejad when he's struggling doesn't help the team and it has nothing to do with shiny objects or baseball teams I don't care about. You put your best players on the ice in order to win, otherwise you're content to lose.

I'm not sure who you are arguing with as they must have me on Ignore.....but your posts are Kicking ASS ! LOL....they might figure it out someday ...maybe !

That is now 3 cracks at the Cup and still no Cup . Myself....I fire Drury and let a new GM work on the roster moves both being the short term and long term ones while we have the best years of Fox-Laf and Shesty ahead of us . I highly doubt we win anything with all 4 of Trouba-Mika-Panarin-Kreider being viewed as team leaders . Trouba tries very hard but is limited in his skills . Panaarin is tiny of frame and he can't be expected to be a physical force . So....that leaves 2 that need to move on .

I don't trust Drury to be able to get it right . We only have one chance of getting it right on account of Cap limitations moving forward and the amount of star players we already have under contract at this time . Next question...is Sather still making decisions on staffing ? I hope somebody is whispering in Dolan's ear .

 

[leetch99]

Don't know what to tell you if you can't see that Mika was a problem on the pp, if that's where you're at as far as hockey assessment there's really no need to continue this conversation anymore brrrrrroooooo.

My dad always said.....never argue when you know you are right . Good words to live by . Hard to believe that a few here would argue the above.....Mika must have a big family on here LMAO .

 

[DialUp]

Who votes "F"? So dramatic. The only "F"'s should be the Devils, Leafs, Ottawa, and Buffalo staffs.

Lav gets an A. Team overachieved. Faceoffs weren't a real problem anymore, they figured out Laf.

Not an A+ because of defensive pairings. Rangers should not have won the division, let alone the President's trophy. Beating maybe the best version of this era's Carolina was an achievement.

Allaire should get credit for Quick looking good all year too. He's part of the staff.

 

[leetch99]

D


What did he do better than Gallant other than have be better in 3v3 OT and the shootout?

Same lines, same ineffective pairs, same PP.

Turtled on 1 goal leads all season.

Showed zero fire at all which is what he was known for in the past.

I seem to recall you did not fully endore the hiring at the time .....and Gallant either which is OK......so maybe you are on to something . Current coach in Oiler country though seems to be doing OK so far . Maybe Drury should have gave Knoblauch a shot and not went with much the same ?

 

[Peltz]

I had more of a problem with the deadline additions than with the coaching. It’s very obvious that they should have gone all-in for Guentzel, especially if they thought Chytil could return. Think that’s what cost them more than anything. Roslovic and Wennberg were one trick ponies, I hope they aren’t brought back.

I don’t agree here. It’s clear from the outcome last year that this core isn’t worth gambling the club’s future on.

The restraint at the deadline was actually something I appreciated considering what guentzel and others costed.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Did people really expect us to get past the 6th game of the conference finals before this season? With this lineup? Scotty Bowman and Al Arbors ghost combined could not have won a cup with this lineup. Dont tell me how bad a half dozen Rangers are but then expect to win the cup with them.

I seem to recall you did not fully endore the hiring at the time .....and Gallant either which is OK......so maybe you are on to something . Current coach in Oiler country though seems to be doing OK so far . Maybe Drury should have gave Knoblauch a shot and not went with much the same ?

Drury wouldn't win a cup with Knobby alone but he would if Knobby brought along McDavid or Leo.

 

[Peltz]

I seem to recall you did not fully endore the hiring at the time .....and Gallant either which is OK......so maybe you are on to something . Current coach in Oiler country though seems to be doing OK so far . Maybe Drury should have gave Knoblauch a shot and not went with much the same ?

If Gorton got fired for hiring a college coach, I don’t think Drury had much leeway to use an AHL coach after how last season ended.

I think he chose who he chose as a means of self preservation and because, let’s face it, there’s nothing inherently wrong with choosing Lavi. Most of this year, he did a great job, and he chose a good staff.

My issue with how he coached was purely in the playoffs against Florida. But since it’s the playoffs it gets heightened scrutiny.

Not giving laf more looks on PP1, playing Fox for 20 minutes a game with one leg, and not having an answer on PK after Vesey went down were all big things for me.

Not getting more out of Zib (and it’s on the player too) is also on the coach. He benefits from when they perform so deserves some of the blame for when they don’t.

 

[Peltz]

Oh we're back at schematics again, smh. Any coach worth 5 bucks can work a pp to suit his players. Tell me, our pp helped or hurt us vs Florida this year, how about last year? Lafreniere was the better player all year. Rolling out the corpse of Zibanejad when he's struggling doesn't help the team and it has nothing to do with shiny objects or baseball teams I don't care about. You put your best players on the ice in order to win, otherwise you're content to lose.

Well said. Plus laf freaking earned that spot. He wasn’t just finessing his way through players. He was hitting, stealing the puck and winning battles along the boards.

He was playing playoff hockey like a top line player. He, Shesty and Trocheck showed up in a huge huge way.

So kudos for the staff in prepping those players. And good on Lavi for keeping goodrow in the lineup too. I though he had a good playoff.

 

[Savant]

I don’t agree here. It’s clear from the outcome last year that this core isn’t worth gambling the club’s future on.

The restraint at the deadline was actually something I appreciated considering what guentzel and others costed.

This core won the Presidents Trophy and could have beaten Florida if they had more offense in them, despite the defense falling apart. With Guentzel they have a hell of a lot better chance to produce the offense that they needed.

For what this team was, especially if they thought Chytil had a chance to play, it should have pushed the chips in. Now they probably are in the same boat, and they still might have to trade one of those Guentzel pieces this offseason; expect who knows what the roster does next year. We aren’t going to be the team that blows it up to rebuild (again). We’ve got one more run before contract Armageddon next summer. The extra offensive depth Guentzel would have provided helps a lot and probably ends the Carolina series earlier too

 

[Ruggs225]

This core won the Presidents Trophy and could have beaten Florida if they had more offense in them, despite the defense falling apart. With Guentzel they have a hell of a lot better chance to produce the offense that they needed.

For what this team was, especially if they thought Chytil had a chance to play, it should have pushed the chips in. Now they probably are in the same boat, and they still might have to trade one of those Guentzel pieces this offseason; expect who knows what the roster does next year. We aren’t going to be the team that blows it up to rebuild (again). We’ve got one more run before contract Armageddon next summer. The extra offensive depth Guentzel would have provided helps a lot and probably ends the Carolina series earlier too

We had no offense because our defense couldnt move the puck and clear the zone.

Good offense comes from good defense and transition. It all starts in our end when we cant clear and all we can do is chip the puck out.

 

[aufheben]

A+ before he started playing musical chairs to get Chytil in. A.

 

[HolyHagelin]

My grade is going down 2 letters in the wake of the trouba news. Incredibad.

Can’t change vote. One of those A- votes is now a C-, it’s that bad.

 

[Brutananadilewski]

My grade is going down 2 letters in the wake of the trouba news. Incredibad.

I didn't grade it.

F- and immediate expulsion!

This is like that boxing corner man telling his fighter he's doing a good job and that he has the other fighter on the ropes, meanwhile, his fighter's face is beginning to look like something out of Species, his jaw is only being held by skin flaps, his talking sounds something out of Star Wars, and he defecated himself about 2 rounds ago because his liver and kidneys were sent to the afterlife where they await their owner to join them.

 

[CasusBelli]

He did the best anyone could with that shit playoff roster.

 

[TopShelfSnipes]

B+

The good - line management, giving Laff an opportunity and helping get Laff's head right. Holds players accountable. Doesn't shuffle lines up beyond one game unless it's thought through. Sticks with what works, doesn't stick with what doesn't. Decent system. Made huge improvements to Rangers' breakouts and transition game vs. Gallant.

The bad - too eager to pull goalie too early late in close games. Misused Rempe in CAR and FLA series (underused). Over-reliance on stale PP1 at times and not willing to mix things up.

 

[leetch99]

Not using Lafreniere on PP1 was his biggest downfall . Plus....as much as I like Rempe....he should have sat for a 7th D as we all watched them get killed . Jones ....a good chance he possibly would have helped on some clearing attempts and also helped on the PP's ....those non moves likely cost us some goals when we could have used one as they were pretty darn scarce in the series because of Igor and Bob . 2-3 extra goals via the PP would have been enormous for us and possibly shifted momentum . Of course it is all hindsight as well .....maybe he is the greatest coach ever ? The old hockey saying.......show me a great coach and I will show you a great goalie !

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

No one would have gotten more out of this team.

We're never going to find a perfect coach, but based on this season he was about as good as it's ever going to get imo.

Main highlights for me:

• Gave kids a legit shot, Cuylle, Laf, KK, Schneider, Rempe. Complete shocks with Rempe and Cuylle making the team out of camp really impressed me.
  
  
• Made adjustments in the playoffs and didn't sit around and wait until it was too late ala Gallant & AV. Sure, I might have made some different ones but happy to see him tweaking things.
  
  
• Let players work through issues, gave them a chance to prove themselves, but wouldn't shy away from changing things up after that. I liked that he doesn't change lines nightly and let's things work themselves out.
  
  
• Cut Bonino and Pitlick after they proved to be dog shit. Demoted Trouba.

The main things that pissed me off:

• Refused to split Kreider & Mika, but I can give him a pass considering you weren't touching that first line.
  
  
• Played Trouba and Lindgren in huge minutes in the playoffs despite being absolute garbage.

 

[Harbour Dog]

A-

I thought Gallant was fine and a change in coaching staff wouldn't really make much difference. I was wrong. Laviolette is probably the best coach we've had in my 25 year memory as a fan, and I don't remember ever feeling like he was being outcoached in a game.

He had a modicum of responsibility for the Florida series, but no coach would have been able to get more out of this group.

 

[Chytilmania]

These are grown men who have appeared in multiple ECF and have roughly 10+ years of NHL experience. It’s not the coach’s responsibility to get them to show up for a big series.

He gets an A-

Dinging him for two things. One is the defense, our defense was the best with Jones and Ruweedle. Should have kept Lindgren and Trouba out of the lineup longer or had a tough conversation with them to make sure they would be effective enough.

Second is Rempe. I’m a huge fan and loved having in the lineup. Loved the idea having him MSG only for the crowd. But either do it or don’t do it. I wanted him to get more ice time. May have worn down the forwards going 11 F for most of the game. If it was purely game situational where he thought the refs would squeeze Rempe and call a penalty in a close game, then he shouldn’t be in the lineup to begin with. If he didn’t trust him to make a play in the 3rd period, then he shouldn’t be in the lineup to begin with.