July 1st - Free Agent Extravaganza Part III

[Zil]

Yes, I understand this. Players don't always stop developing by age 27. I understand why you think that way, and it's a valid opinion. I just disagree and think he has more to offer than what he has. Also, the fact that he's our second best center isn't the best situation to be in but it's far from the worst. There's 15-16 teams in the NHL who don't have a second line center as good as him.

If he was going to get better don't you think he would've gotten better at some point? His ppg over the last four seasons: 0.56, 0.60, 0.55, 0.64. He is what he is.

 

[aufheben]

If he was going to get better don't you think he would've gotten better at some point? His ppg over the last four seasons: 0.56, 0.60, 0.55, 0.64. He is what he is.

The question isn't about his age/potential, but how he'll do as our actual #2C rather than our #3C.

 

[Zil]

The question isn't about his age/potential, but how he'll do as our actual #2C rather than our #3C.

I would guess he'll do about the same or a little worse because he'll be facing tougher matchups.

 

[Tawnos]

I would guess he'll do about the same or a little worse because he'll be facing tougher matchups.

Or not. His quality of play shift-to-shift is markedly better than it was in Columbus.

 

[Zil]

Or not. His quality of play shift-to-shift is markedly better than it was in Columbus.

He's going from Rangers third line center to Rangers second line center. Where are you expecting this boost in performance?

 

[aufheben]

Was he the #3C for Columbus? We'll see. He's my favorite player, I hope he tears it up.

 

[KOVALEV022473]

Has anyone else heard that we signed Ryan Carter and Heatly?

 

[jerseyjinx94]

Brassard also had the benefit of being our #3C and getting incredibly cushy match ups.

and playing not very often at even strength

 

[jerseyjinx94]

If he was going to get better don't you think he would've gotten better at some point? His ppg over the last four seasons: 0.56, 0.60, 0.55, 0.64. He is what he is.

I said, that's fine. Your points are valid, I'm not disputing them. It's your conclusion I dispute. Not everything is so cut and dry. Some players figure it out later, deal with adversity differently, develop chemistry with a player, etc. I think Brass has something untapped within him. It's just a personal opinion based on no quantifiable stats that I believe from just watching him play. He has more to give.

 

[Zil]

and playing not very often at even strength

Would you acknowledge points per 60 minutes as a legit stat? It has nothing to do with corsi or fenwick or anything else like that. In 5 on 5 play, Brassard ranked 178th among skaters in points/60 who played at least 750 minutes (Brass played a little over 1000). He's wedged comfortably between Kris Versteeg and Antoine Vermette when it comes to even strength scoring.

 

[Vitto79]

and playing not very often at even strength

If people are going to say brassard was a 3rd line C then zuccarello was a 3rd line winger

In the cap world they have to run w brassard as the 2nd C . Have faith he can handle it

 

[Vitto79]

Has anyone else heard that we signed Ryan Carter and Heatly?

Uhhh what ? Link ?

 

[rangers91*]

Uhhh what ? Link ?

https://twitter.com/acall04

 

[Zil]

If people are going to say brassard was a 3rd line C then zuccarello was a 3rd line winger

That's not how line construction works. Your third best center doesn't always play with your third best pair of wingers. Brassard absolutely was our third line center last year, but that didn't make Zucc our third best right wing.

In the cap world they have to run w brassard as the 2nd C . Have faith he can handle it

Everyone is well aware that Brassard is our second best center barring a gigantic leap from Miller or Lindberg. That doesn't mean we have to like it. We have the worst center depth of any nominal contender. We have worse center depth than some non-contenders.

 

[RunTheJesperFast]

Uhhh what ? Link ?

the source is some guy who all of a sudden became an "nhl insider" 3 days ago.

you'd think he would've tweeted some of his super secret info on free agent day, but no.

 

[rangers91*]

the source is some guy who all of a sudden became an "nhl insider" 3 days ago.

you'd think he would've tweeted some of his super secret info on free agent day, but no.

yeah but if the guy was really a fraud, he would be posting ridicoulous stuff like crosby to the devils, or ovechkin to rangers, all his rumors are plausable and realistic

 

[LundqvistsEvilTwin]

35% of the cap to two players, lol. Absolutely not.

and its not like Chicago, NY cant afford it... Lockout is inevitable

 

[Mac n Gs]

yeah but if the guy was really a fraud, he would be posting ridicoulous stuff like crosby to the devils, or ovechkin to rangers, all his rumors are plausable and realistic

It doesn't mean they're true though. Can people please stop citing this kid.

 

[KOVALEV022473]

yeah but if the guy was really a fraud, he would be posting ridicoulous stuff like crosby to the devils, or ovechkin to rangers, all his rumors are plausable and realistic

I think he is also partners with NHLRumorsDaily who has been right in the past quite often.

 

[Hire Sather]

Sounds like he just tries to guess things that make sense are "done deals"

A bit like Incarcer55ated Bob

 

[NYRFAN218]

Can we please stop posting tweets and "rumors" from BS Twitter accounts?

 

[RunTheJesperFast]

yeah but if the guy was really a fraud, he would be posting ridicoulous stuff like crosby to the devils, or ovechkin to rangers, all his rumors are plausable and realistic

so you believe his tweet that thornton was in ny meeting with the rangers on thursday. does that really sound plausible?

 

[Zil]

I think he is also partners with NHLRumorsDaily who has been right in the past quite often.

If you continuously spout gibberish, eventually you'll accidentally say something that makes sense. That doesn't mean you have any actual wisdom.

 

[rangers91*]

Uhhh what ? Link ?

https://twitter.com/acall04

 

[Zuccarello Awesome*]

Stepan is a 1C. When are you going to understand that? First off, half of the players you listed are wingers.

Secondly, what about say, Chicago? Who are their Cs. Look at how many playoff teams had only ONE center with more points than Derick Brassard.

Those teams acquired those centers through the draft. How many of those players weren't top 10 overall picks? The ones that aren't are just not that good and would be our 3C. You can't acquire a C of that caliber without completely depleting your team and farm, and we have already depleted our picks and our prospect pool is weak. We don't have the assets to acquire one of the good players you listed without making our NHL team significantly worse. 80% of those players will cost Kreider or Stepan+.

Why is Kreider viewed as this future Power Forward 30 goal scorer untouchable, but Stepan, who is 24 and has 4 full seasons under his belt already where he has developed into a semi-elite defensive player averaging 0.67 PPG is done developing and is a 2C at best for the rest of his career. I don't get it. Kreider hasn't done **** compared to Stepan, and Kreider is viewed as this unstoppable force.

Back to Brassard though, I don't get it. How many times do we have to make an ill-advised trade with short-term implications with a youngish player who has tons of talent only to watch the import fail to play up to expectations and the export develop into the player we wish we had acquired. Round and round we go, searching for players. Look at the players who came up with our team and developed: Kreider, Stepan, McDonagh (trade, but still came up with us), Staal, Dubinsky, Callahan, Girardi, Lundqvist, Zuccarello, Anisimov, etc.

So many of you regret the Nash deal, and even some the MSL deal. Now we want to go through it again? Let it play out, see what we have, and make a move in season if needed. We are good enough now to be above .500 by Christmas, and have some games under our belt to assess where certain players are in their development. I prefer to bring in younger players cheap now for depth, guys like Mueller, who isn't young but has some untapped potential.

Whatever. I'm not saying Stepan-Brassard is the best C situation for us to be in, but it isn't NEARLY as bad as many of you are making it out to be, and you're knee-jerk reacting to losing players by hoping we make a big move that may or may not work out, and based on history, is unlikely to work out as we hope.

I stopped reading after you said half the players I listed were wingers.

Not a single one is a winger. They're all natural centers; some of which SLIDE TO WING because of their team's remarkable center depth, which even further bolsters my point.

Stepan is not a legitimate 1C.

Patrice Bergeron isn't a legitimate 1C either.

He's a very good, versatile two-way center.

How can you not see that this team lacks a bonafide center that ranks among the names I listed?

Are we going to draft a Crosby or MacKinnon? Of course not. We've acquired our top line wingers via trade (Nash, MSL), our top pair defenseman via trade (McDonagh). We're going to have to acquire our top line center the same way, unless Patrick Kane somehow hits FA and signs here for 12mil per year.

Crosby, MacKinnon, Thornton, Spezza, Malkin, E. Staal, Seguin, Stepan.

Which name doesn't fit in there?

Seguin was traded.
Spezza was traded.
Thornton was traded.

It is possible to acquire a 1C via trade, and if one is available, second line centers like Derek Stepan or Derick Brassard aren't holding up any deal to get one, no matter how much the "fans" love their own homegrown players.