Waived: Jeff Halpern (Claimed by Montreal)

[eco's bones]

he was brought in as a faceoff specialist-- not a pk specialist(or to add scoring as some others have suggested). that's why he was here. faceoffs. both ottawa(konopka?) and washington(halpern) had faceoff specialists that destroyed us. i'm sure it's the same reason montreal picked him up.

he was fine on the pk, and defensively-- but the reason he was here was to take important draws. if we had our 3rd line scoring goals, he might still be here for that reason, but we don't so he is forced to move on.

i'm also fine to see him go, but he filled his role as good as could've been expected.

boyle's has more upside outside of draws, so as long as boyle drops to the 4th i'm extremely content with losing halpern, even if there's no return, it opens our options up for kids.

Players are brought in to help the team win--and in any way they can. They're not just brought in to take face-offs and that's it. And neither Ottawa nor Washington destroyed us--both those teams lost their series to us. You've described one dimension of his game overriding the rest of his contribution and that's okay for you--well Derek Booggard, Colton Orr and John Scott get slagged (and rightly so) for being only one dimensional as well.

 

[Zamboner]

Do you think this means Boyle 4th line center now and miller moves to center on 3 rd with Kreider and maybe fasth

Hope so, but doubt it. All this means is no matter how bad Boyle plays, he can't be scratched now. No matter what line he's labeled as, he'll get more minutes at C than Miller does. This is John Tortorella we're talking about. Hell, I kind of think Miller will continue to be wasted on Boyle's wing, and Haley or Newbury will be our 4th line center. So nothing will change except our 4th line getting even weaker, with our PK/Faceoffs suffering too. Yay.

 

[Blueshirt Believer]

Hope so, but doubt it. All this means is no matter how bad Boyle plays, he can't be scratched now. No matter what line he's labeled as, he'll get more minutes at C than Miller does. This is John Tortorella we're talking about. Hell, I kind of think Miller will continue to be wasted on Boyle's wing, and Haley or Newbury will be our 4th line center. So nothing will change except our 4th line getting even weaker, with our PK/Faceoffs suffering too. Yay.

Unfortunately, this is more reality than anything....

 

[JimmyG89]

The problem with the Rangers isn't that we have 2 fourth line centers. It's that we have no first line center.

Step has played like a #1 center. Point totals seem about right. Not a top tier 1st line center. Richards was not that last season either. Richards does need to step it up. Issue is there is no 3rd line center to provide depth. Last season Artie or Step were in that spot. Boyle was better last season too. A 3rd line center should be something the team looks into getting at the deadline. IDK if Miller can be that guy for them this season.

 

[Blueshirt Believer]

Step has played like a #1 center. Point totals seem about right. Not a top tier 1st line center. Richards was not that last season either. Richards does need to step it up. Issue is there is no 3rd line center to provide depth. Last season Artie or Step were in that spot. Boyle was better last season too. A 3rd line center should be something the team looks into getting at the deadline. IDK if Miller can be that guy for them this season.

It largely depends on who Miller is playing with. If Miller is centering Cally, then Cally can help a bit with the defensive lapses of Miller.

If our third line is supposed to score more than being a defensive matching/checking unit; then Miller could be fine in a third line capacity.

All I can say is, Boyle should not be utilize in a third line capacity; if at all.

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

Torts essentially just confirmed on the pregame show that they waived Halpern to free up room under the 50 contract limit.

 

[eco's bones]

Newbury with a nice game--has already matched Halpern's entire offensive production this season with an assist.

 

[16 To Stanley*]

Newbury with a nice game--has already matched Halpern's entire offensive production this season with an assist.

Yup and i hate Newbury. Line looked much better and on top of that scored a goal and drew a huge penalty. Of course, Torts then decides to limit their ice time significantly.

Also, Newbury is just as good at faceoffs as Halpern. I love all the Halpern complainers in here. One game for a 4th line without him and they're the most productive they've been all year.

 

[mulli25]

i liked halpern a lot...but there was 0 drop off going to Newberry

 

[Mikos87]

i liked halpern a lot...but there was 0 drop off going to Newberry

Newbs adds some push back to the line up that Jeff wasn't. More value for the role, looks faster too, like he lost some weight. If he's not taking bad penalties and can skate up to par, Newbs adds more value than Halpern ever does.

 

[KreiMeARiver*]

i liked halpern a lot...but there was 0 drop off going to Newberry

Can I ask what about Jeff Halpern is worth liking a lot?

He brings ZERO toughness or offense, of any kind. Soooooooo.......

 

[eco's bones]

Newbury's game has never really translated all that well to the NHL. That being said he is a really very good AHL'er. Not very big but stocky and strong for his size and he plays with some edge though lacks discipline at times. Over the years he worked his way up from a bottom 4th line energy player at the AHL level to a legit AHL 1st liner which isn't a small feat. Choosing a gritty 30 year old over an over the hill non-gritty 36 year old for a 4th line centerman job isn't all that hard IMO. The one main advantage Halpern has over Kris is he's still a competent pk'er. Apart from that if you're going to go down it's best to go down swinging--something Newbury is more likely to do than Halpern.

 

[TheTakedown]

Newbury with a nice game--has already matched Halpern's entire offensive production this season with an assist.

I was skeptical of this, but after this past game, I agree. Newbury should keep playing his heart out to stay up here. He was more noticable than Halpern was in 30 games... That's saying something considering Newbs is an Whale'r lol :p

 

[The Gloaming]

Can we give Newbury more than 1 game with the big club before declaring that he's sooo much better than Halpern?

 

[JohnC]

Can we give Newbury more than 1 game with the big club before declaring that he's sooo much better than Halpern?

We're in such a horrible time that anyone scoring points is basically the 2nd coming of Christ

 

[eco's bones]

Can we give Newbury more than 1 game with the big club before declaring that he's sooo much better than Halpern?

And if Kris somehow manages another assist against the Flyers tonight thus giving him two points in 3 games this year effectively doubling Halpern's offensive contribution in 30 games at least I would thus then conclude some proof that the experiment of replacing Halpern with Newbury was to some degree successful. That's a bit tongue in cheek--however the incessant whining by some here over the waiving of an over the hill player was a bit much for me. IMO Halpern effectively cut himself from this team with his own ineffective play.

 

[WhiskeyDeke]

Halpern was Blair Betts-Lite.

 

[16 To Stanley*]

Halpern was Blair Betts-Lite.

Which is basically a non-NHL player.