Post-Game Talk: Kids took their nap

[Machinehead]

for sure and it's a valid point. Why I was all for LTIR'ing Lindgren to make sure he's a 100 percent. Right now he's important to slotting the defense the way it should be. I don't mind seeing Harpur play 20 plus minutes a night the rest of the way as long as he doesn't see the ice in the playoffs.

I don't know the cap implications off the top of my head but I'd like to see us use these fairly meaningless games to see what else is available. We're very much in "literally couldn't be worse" territory.

NHL team once again going with the NHL player in name only because he's big.

 

[bl02]

I don't know the cap implications off the top of my head but I'd like to see us use these fairly meaningless games to see what else is available. We're very much in "literally couldn't be worse" territory.

NHL team once again going with the NHL player in name only because he's big.

1000 percent. I'm no capologist or whatever we call them but how does Boston rest 3 of their best players again today (minor injuries??? whatever)? Can we not try to do that? I'm guessing we can't since we have no flexibility? Maybe Trouba or Kreider can fake a cold for a few days?

 

[gravey9]

Most exciting development was seeing Kakko smacking stick on the ice, several times. Demanding the puck. Shooting the puck. The crossbar shot was also very encouraging.

Glad GG is riding the kid line more in games like these. Hope that continues the rest of the regular season. We need them to enter the playoffs confident. Kid line eats up slower teams that play with less structure. It's a good step for those kids to dominate against the lesser NHL teams. The next step we need from them is dominating against the defensively stout teams. But few lines can do that consistently.

In general, this team looks great against the bottom half of the league when they put in the effort. They look like fairly even matches against the top 7 or 8 teams in the league. They look a bit overmatched against the Bruins. Honestly the teams I'm most worried about are the Islanders, followed by the Devils.

Still very concerned with the top 6 being effective at 5v5 come playoffs. In general those lines are still forcing too many passes at 5v5. Too much east west in the NZ. They either don't get it deep with regularity or they don't seem to want to cycle if they do it get it in. That's a theme that's existed for years with Kreids and Mika. They pull the puck off the wall too quickly and force a low percentage pass into the slot and then both are racing to get back as the puck very quickly transitions back up the ice. They just need to start cycling more. Even if it doesn't lead to goals, it leads to zone time, which wears out opposition. The Tarasenko/Panarin connection does work way better against these weaker teams. They're able to generate quite a bit with more space. But their turnovers, including Trocheck's occasional risky play in a dangerous area makes them a hard line to keep together against the best teams. It's a bit of a predicament as I don't see the top 6 as being able to ice 2 lines that can consistently generate chances and wear down opposition against the tougher teams at 5v5. I'm just praying that Kane, Kreider, Zib and Panarin are able to bring their game to another level of work ethic and puck management come the playoffs. It feels like they're only able to play GG's ideal style in small spurts. Feels like they've been pacing themselves all year long. Whereas you look at the Bruins, Canes and the Devils and they're just consistently bringing it every night -- even if they're not always effective. We go into the playoffs only being able to dominate for 20-30 minutes a game and look slow the rest of the time, and it's gonna lead to one grinding 7-game series after another until we wear ourselves out. As much as I love the kid line, esp after a game like today, they're not ready to carry us to a Stanley Cup just yet. We need at least one of our top 6 lines to show up in the playoffs and provide that big goal when we need it. But nonetheless, it's awesome to see Kid line play with swagger.

I also do wonder if having Mikkola around has been a big positive for Kakko. Adding a countrymen that he's already friends with and also having an idol like Kane around has been a boost for him it seems.

A little worried that the 4th line isn't as dominate as they were when they were originally assembled. Hoping they are just conserving energy as well. Vesey in particularly isn't buzzing around like he was 10 games ago.

Anyone expecting an LD to come up from Hartford and be better than Harpur is not really up to date on Hartford. Robertson has improved but isn't better than Harpur for this season, and in any case, is week to week with an injury. Hajek hasn't looked great, even in HFD. Clendening is just a more experienced version of Jones. Jones, as much as I am rooting for this kid to make it, is really not great around his own net. He can win some board battles. He's not untalented in that way. He's gotten stronger. But he's not going to be trusted in the playoffs to clear the front of his own net. I hope he grows his netfront game a bit more. The rest of what's in HFD doesn't necessarily seem quite ready. I like Scanlin and Emberson. But there's no way they're any better than the aforementioned guys ahead of them. If we need someone beyond Harpur, the replacement isn't likely going to be an upgrade. At least this season.

 

[PuckLuck3043]

You haven't seen Harpur in the playoffs yet, and our most likely matchup is the fastest team in the league.

Nemeth sucked in the playoffs but we went in knowing he was a regular and everyone was fine with it until the shit hit the fan. The team was not planning on replacing him. Even for his standards, it was an extraordinarily bad series, forcing us to put Braun in and play our third pairing guys on the weak side. It was more unforeseen than you're giving it credit for.

Harpur is a #7 and we're sitting here praying everyone's healthy, probably putting them in anyway if they can physically stand, and fully expecting a repeat of Nemeth if he does play, which was one of the worst series in Rangers history. My friends and I will be old men saying "man, remember Nemeth against the Penguins?!" and that type of historic performance is where the bar is set for Harpur just on another Wednesday.

Also @duhmetreE touches a great point which I just read; we're talking about Harpur now the way we talked about Nemeth, not against Crosby every night, not with all the chips on the line, not on national tv. Nemeth made us panic in the playoffs but Harpur is making people panic in basically exhibition games at this point.

It's a scary thought because Harpur would be a train wreck against either the Devils or Canes but I believe they are keeping Lindgren out this long to make sure he is 100% and thankfully they have the luxury to do that.

 

[PuckLuck3043]

Most exciting development was seeing Kakko smacking stick on the ice, several times. Demanding the puck. Shooting the puck. The crossbar shot was also very encouraging.

Glad GG is riding the kid line more in games like these. Hope that continues the rest of the regular season. We need them to enter the playoffs confident. Kid line eats up slower teams that play with less structure. It's a good step for those kids to dominate against the lesser NHL teams. The next step we need from them is dominating against the defensively stout teams. But few lines can do that consistently.

In general, this team looks great against the bottom half of the league when they put in the effort. They look like fairly even matches against the top 7 or 8 teams in the league. They look a bit overmatched against the Bruins. Honestly the teams I'm most worried about are the Islanders, followed by the Devils.

Still very concerned with the top 6 being effective at 5v5 come playoffs. In general those lines are still forcing too many passes at 5v5. Too much east west in the NZ. They either don't get it deep with regularity or they don't seem to want to cycle if they do it get it in. That's a theme that's existed for years with Kreids and Mika. They pull the puck off the wall too quickly and force a low percentage pass into the slot and then both are racing to get back as the puck very quickly transitions back up the ice. They just need to start cycling more. Even if it doesn't lead to goals, it leads to zone time, which wears out opposition. The Tarasenko/Panarin connection does work way better against these weaker teams. They're able to generate quite a bit with more space. But their turnovers, including Trocheck's occasional risky play in a dangerous area makes them a hard line to keep together against the best teams. It's a bit of a predicament as I don't see the top 6 as being able to ice 2 lines that can consistently generate chances and wear down opposition against the tougher teams at 5v5. I'm just praying that Kane, Kreider, Zib and Panarin are able to bring their game to another level of work ethic and puck management come the playoffs. It feels like they're only able to play GG's ideal style in small spurts. Feels like they've been pacing themselves all year long. Whereas you look at the Bruins, Canes and the Devils and they're just consistently bringing it every night -- even if they're not always effective. We go into the playoffs only being able to dominate for 20-30 minutes a game and look slow the rest of the time, and it's gonna lead to one grinding 7-game series after another until we wear ourselves out. As much as I love the kid line, esp after a game like today, they're not ready to carry us to a Stanley Cup just yet. We need at least one of our top 6 lines to show up in the playoffs and provide that big goal when we need it. But nonetheless, it's awesome to see Kid line play with swagger.

I also do wonder if having Mikkola around has been a big positive for Kakko. Adding a countrymen that he's already friends with and also having an idol like Kane around has been a boost for him it seems.

A little worried that the 4th line isn't as dominate as they were when they were originally assembled. Hoping they are just conserving energy as well. Vesey in particularly isn't buzzing around like he was 10 games ago.

Anyone expecting an LD to come up from Hartford and be better than Harpur is not really up to date on Hartford. Robertson has improved but isn't better than Harpur for this season, and in any case, is week to week with an injury. Hajek hasn't looked great, even in HFD. Clendening is just a more experienced version of Jones. Jones, as much as I am rooting for this kid to make it, is really not great around his own net. He can win some board battles. He's not untalented in that way. He's gotten stronger. But he's not going to be trusted in the playoffs to clear the front of his own net. I hope he grows his netfront game a bit more. The rest of what's in HFD doesn't necessarily seem quite ready. I like Scanlin and Emberson. But there's no way they're any better than the aforementioned guys ahead of them. If we need someone beyond Harpur, the replacement isn't likely going to be an upgrade. At least this season.

I would take nearly any of those Dmen you mentioned over Harpur. He is slow and soft and would be a disaster in a series against a quick team like the Canes or Devils.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

The loser points certainly helps bring those numbers up.

People complaining about loser points so much they don't make the much better argument against shootouts and 3 on 3 overtime.

 

[gravey9]

It's a scary thought because Harpur would be a train wreck against but either the Devils or Canes but I believe they are keeping Lindgren out this long to make sure he is 100% and thankfully they have the luxury to do that.

There's 3 theories for Lindgren's injury.

a - he's mostly fine and they're being extra cautious and conserving him for the playoffs...

b - his shoulder is pretty jacked and needs surgery to repair it fully but it's a 3-4 month recovery process, so theyre holding off on it. They know if he plays on it's likely not going to get much worse. So, they're just trying to rest it, strengthen the muscles around it to stabliize it as much as possible so he can try to get through some of the playoffs.

c - somewhere in between.

I'd love to believe it's a. But based on being a Rangers fan for 40 years and most of those years with Jim Ramsay as the medical trainer and seeing many many players (including Lindgren from last season), I tend to think the truth is closer to B and than A.

The way GG is talking about Lindgren is par for the course with how he talks about injured players. He tries to sell everyone on the idea that the injury isn't that bad because he's trying to convince the rest of the league there's no point in trying to target the injury if the player does manage to get back and play with the nick.

The way Lindgren got reinjured. Merely by extending his arm out and relying on his shoulder muscles to hold off the opposing forward leads me to believe that area is pretty weak. That's a position D men like Lindgren put their bodies in with some regularity. That usually does not cause an injury to a healthy player with a healthy shoulder. Those dudes are strong. I tend to think Lindy is just not going to be 100% until after surgery. And he's likely going to gut it out through quite a bit of pain in the playoffs. I just hope he's not doing any long term damage. McDonagh was never quite as explosive after playing on that broken foot during the Stanley Cup finals run.

Just hope the guy's okay sooner than later as he would be a huge add if healthy. If not healthy, I just hope Rangers medical staff doesn't let this kid overly damage his shoulder to the point where it's constantly an issue the rest of his career. Back in the day, I know things like separated shoulders, if they're big enough injuries, can recur a lot. Played with a guy whose shoulder was constantly popping out.

 

[PuckLuck3043]

People complaining about loser points so much they don't make the much better argument against shootouts and 3 on 3 overtime.

I personally don't care for the 3 point games. I don't like 3 on 3 OT and despise the shootout. Neither is real hockey and doesn't happen in the playoffs so why use it in the regular season. I was ok with a tie and each team getting a point. You want 2 points then win the game in regulation.

 

[McRanger92]

Kakko has shut me up the last few games. He is looking more like a player who can have a Chytil like playoff breakout. Please just keep going to the net and shooting the puck.

 

[gump116]

I don't know the cap implications off the top of my head but I'd like to see us use these fairly meaningless games to see what else is available. We're very much in "literally couldn't be worse" territory.

NHL team once again going with the NHL player in name only because he's big.

Cap wise we can’t fit anyone else, which is why we only have 20 healthy players with Lindgren out. Only options are an emergency call up if someone else gets hurt in order to ice a full lineup or send someone down to make room.

At this point, think it’s worth it to put Harpur on waivers to call someone else up. Yes, he’s currently our #7 d on the depth chart, but it’s unlikely he’d be claimed and it’s worth the risk. As many others have stated, it’s hard to imagine that Jones, Hajek, or even Robertson could be worse right now, and Jones especially should be better and worth a shot.

If Lindgren is healthy, sending Harpur down would the also give the Rangers the option of a 13th forward like Brodinski or Cuyle so they get a little prep for the playoffs and can give guys like Kreider or Zibanejad a night off prior to the playoffs.

 

[SA16]

I would take nearly any of those Dmen you mentioned over Harpur. He is slow and soft and would be a disaster in a series against a quick team like the Canes or Devils.

I would just play 5D.

 

[mandiblesofdoom]

There's 3 theories for Lindgren's injury.

a - he's mostly fine and they're being extra cautious and conserving him for the playoffs...

b - his shoulder is pretty jacked and needs surgery to repair it fully but it's a 3-4 month recovery process, so theyre holding off on it. They know if he plays on it's likely not going to get much worse. So, they're just trying to rest it, strengthen the muscles around it to stabliize it as much as possible so he can try to get through some of the playoffs.

c - somewhere in between.

I'd love to believe it's a. But based on being a Rangers fan for 40 years and most of those years with Jim Ramsay as the medical trainer and seeing many many players (including Lindgren from last season), I tend to think the truth is closer to B and than A.

The way GG is talking about Lindgren is par for the course with how he talks about injured players. He tries to sell everyone on the idea that the injury isn't that bad because he's trying to convince the rest of the league there's no point in trying to target the injury if the player does manage to get back and play with the nick.

The way Lindgren got reinjured. Merely by extending his arm out and relying on his shoulder muscles to hold off the opposing forward leads me to believe that area is pretty weak. That's a position D men like Lindgren put their bodies in with some regularity. That usually does not cause an injury to a healthy player with a healthy shoulder. Those dudes are strong. I tend to think Lindy is just not going to be 100% until after surgery. And he's likely going to gut it out through quite a bit of pain in the playoffs. I just hope he's not doing any long term damage. McDonagh was never quite as explosive after playing on that broken foot during the Stanley Cup finals run.

Just hope the guy's okay sooner than later as he would be a huge add if healthy. If not healthy, I just hope Rangers medical staff doesn't let this kid overly damage his shoulder to the point where it's constantly an issue the rest of his career. Back in the day, I know things like separated shoulders, if they're big enough injuries, can recur a lot. Played with a guy whose shoulder was constantly popping out.

Opponents will target that shoulder.

McDonagh injured his shoulder late in 2014 regular season.

Kakko has shut me up the last few games. He is looking more like a player who can have a Chytil like playoff breakout. Please just keep going to the net and shooting the puck.

good to see him lift that one puck today

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Cuylle will eventually be that guy.

I don't consider Cuylle a heavy weight, feel he's in the same category as Goodrow fighting wise. Was more thinking of a guy to deal with the Wilson types.

 

[IDvsEGO]

I don't consider Cuylle a heavy weight, feel he's in the same category as Goodrow fighting wise. Was more thinking of a guy to deal with the Wilson types.

Cuylle is big, but I dont think he's an effective fighter. wilson would be a similar comparison.

 

[ohbaby]

View attachment 680606

I hate the Ninja Turtles but COWABUNGA is growing on me. LOL!

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

Solid win. Didn't suck in the first, Igor was terrific, Kid line was excellent, Tarasenko goal, Kane's pass on Mika's goal was awesome. Nobody got hurt. Caps pooping their diapers at the end was a nice touch.

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

Btw I know it’s beating a dead horse at this point but the digital board ads were exceptionally bad today. Seemingly every time a play was behind the goal line they were disappearing into the ad, it happened with Igor a number of times. The puck itself was disappearing into the ad too. The ads have been pretty ‘okay’ for a couple months now but todays game was the worst I’ve seen them on a nationally televised game.

 

[Ben Grimm]

Apparently it's okay with the refs if OV hits the NYR with his stick repeatedly.

 

[egelband]

Apparently it's okay with the refs if OV hits the NYR with his stick repeatedly.

There's a law in russia that allows it...

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

Rewatching the Ovechkin scrum again.

Just horrible, biased officiating. Nobody on the Rangers could get away with that shit. He literally committed 5 different penalties on the play.

Then he was the gall to clap at the refs? Unbelievable.

 

[huerter]

Mikkola at 2.5-3 plus assets in a Lindgren trade>1 year left of Lindgren.

Vintage Fox >>>>

Thus Lindy stays.

 

[TopShelfSnipes]

Most exciting development was seeing Kakko smacking stick on the ice, several times. Demanding the puck. Shooting the puck. The crossbar shot was also very encouraging.

Glad GG is riding the kid line more in games like these. Hope that continues the rest of the regular season. We need them to enter the playoffs confident. Kid line eats up slower teams that play with less structure. It's a good step for those kids to dominate against the lesser NHL teams. The next step we need from them is dominating against the defensively stout teams. But few lines can do that consistently.

In general, this team looks great against the bottom half of the league when they put in the effort. They look like fairly even matches against the top 7 or 8 teams in the league. They look a bit overmatched against the Bruins. Honestly the teams I'm most worried about are the Islanders, followed by the Devils.

Still very concerned with the top 6 being effective at 5v5 come playoffs. In general those lines are still forcing too many passes at 5v5. Too much east west in the NZ. They either don't get it deep with regularity or they don't seem to want to cycle if they do it get it in. That's a theme that's existed for years with Kreids and Mika. They pull the puck off the wall too quickly and force a low percentage pass into the slot and then both are racing to get back as the puck very quickly transitions back up the ice. They just need to start cycling more. Even if it doesn't lead to goals, it leads to zone time, which wears out opposition. The Tarasenko/Panarin connection does work way better against these weaker teams. They're able to generate quite a bit with more space. But their turnovers, including Trocheck's occasional risky play in a dangerous area makes them a hard line to keep together against the best teams. It's a bit of a predicament as I don't see the top 6 as being able to ice 2 lines that can consistently generate chances and wear down opposition against the tougher teams at 5v5. I'm just praying that Kane, Kreider, Zib and Panarin are able to bring their game to another level of work ethic and puck management come the playoffs. It feels like they're only able to play GG's ideal style in small spurts. Feels like they've been pacing themselves all year long. Whereas you look at the Bruins, Canes and the Devils and they're just consistently bringing it every night -- even if they're not always effective. We go into the playoffs only being able to dominate for 20-30 minutes a game and look slow the rest of the time, and it's gonna lead to one grinding 7-game series after another until we wear ourselves out. As much as I love the kid line, esp after a game like today, they're not ready to carry us to a Stanley Cup just yet. We need at least one of our top 6 lines to show up in the playoffs and provide that big goal when we need it. But nonetheless, it's awesome to see Kid line play with swagger.

I also do wonder if having Mikkola around has been a big positive for Kakko. Adding a countrymen that he's already friends with and also having an idol like Kane around has been a boost for him it seems.

A little worried that the 4th line isn't as dominate as they were when they were originally assembled. Hoping they are just conserving energy as well. Vesey in particularly isn't buzzing around like he was 10 games ago.

Anyone expecting an LD to come up from Hartford and be better than Harpur is not really up to date on Hartford. Robertson has improved but isn't better than Harpur for this season, and in any case, is week to week with an injury. Hajek hasn't looked great, even in HFD. Clendening is just a more experienced version of Jones. Jones, as much as I am rooting for this kid to make it, is really not great around his own net. He can win some board battles. He's not untalented in that way. He's gotten stronger. But he's not going to be trusted in the playoffs to clear the front of his own net. I hope he grows his netfront game a bit more. The rest of what's in HFD doesn't necessarily seem quite ready. I like Scanlin and Emberson. But there's no way they're any better than the aforementioned guys ahead of them. If we need someone beyond Harpur, the replacement isn't likely going to be an upgrade. At least this season.

There's 3 theories for Lindgren's injury.

a - he's mostly fine and they're being extra cautious and conserving him for the playoffs...

b - his shoulder is pretty jacked and needs surgery to repair it fully but it's a 3-4 month recovery process, so theyre holding off on it. They know if he plays on it's likely not going to get much worse. So, they're just trying to rest it, strengthen the muscles around it to stabliize it as much as possible so he can try to get through some of the playoffs.

c - somewhere in between.

I'd love to believe it's a. But based on being a Rangers fan for 40 years and most of those years with Jim Ramsay as the medical trainer and seeing many many players (including Lindgren from last season), I tend to think the truth is closer to B and than A.

The way GG is talking about Lindgren is par for the course with how he talks about injured players. He tries to sell everyone on the idea that the injury isn't that bad because he's trying to convince the rest of the league there's no point in trying to target the injury if the player does manage to get back and play with the nick.

The way Lindgren got reinjured. Merely by extending his arm out and relying on his shoulder muscles to hold off the opposing forward leads me to believe that area is pretty weak. That's a position D men like Lindgren put their bodies in with some regularity. That usually does not cause an injury to a healthy player with a healthy shoulder. Those dudes are strong. I tend to think Lindy is just not going to be 100% until after surgery. And he's likely going to gut it out through quite a bit of pain in the playoffs. I just hope he's not doing any long term damage. McDonagh was never quite as explosive after playing on that broken foot during the Stanley Cup finals run.

Just hope the guy's okay sooner than later as he would be a huge add if healthy. If not healthy, I just hope Rangers medical staff doesn't let this kid overly damage his shoulder to the point where it's constantly an issue the rest of his career. Back in the day, I know things like separated shoulders, if they're big enough injuries, can recur a lot. Played with a guy whose shoulder was constantly popping out.

Mostly agree with all of this except for Harpur.

At this point, I don't think Hajek would be a downgrade by any stretch. Hajek is a better skater, was more willing to throw his weight around early in the season, is quicker to move the puck, and if we're just talking about somebody who can dump it to the redline, Hajek is better at that too. Harpur, for all his size, as today shows, completely sucks at clearing the front of the net and I don't think Hajek would be worse - maybe the same as Harpur at worst - at this. Harpur's size is meaingles because he doesn't really use it effectively, so it just makes him a bigger screen for Igor when he gets in a shooting lane if he can't block the shot.

I don't think Robertson is ready, which introduces all sorts of other variables that don't come into play - things like braindead plays from complete lack of experience, so I don't think he's the way to go this year. Jones is just too small and weak, and he has all the same problems moving the puck as Schneider, which is why that D pair was such a disaster and would be again. Jones would be better offensively (although his shot is still nothing special), but what the Rangers need from the third pair is more reliable zone exits, gap control, and the ability to clear the front of the net when needed, and he doesn't provide that.

While Hajek will still be a well below average defenseman with horrible metrics, I think he'll be better than Harpur and if anything should happen with Lindy in the playoffs should be the 6D and not Harpur.

As for Lindgren, depending on what the prognosis for recovery was, Rangers should've shut him down LTIR'ed him - probably even done surgery if it was a 6-8 week recovery - picked up or promoted another D with the savings and not had to do all the cap gymnastics to get here. If they'd acquired another D, there'd even already be a non-Harpur insurance plan. It's very disconcerting Lindgren got hurt that easily on such a harmless play in his first game back, and it doesn't bode well for the playoffs. He's not going to be much use to the team if he's in Dan Girardi spare part cyborg form in the playoffs, and if heaven forbid he is, I'd rather see Mikkola on the top pair with Fox and Lindgren sheltered on the 3rd pair than vice versa, and it should strongly inform how the team looks at his contract status. The guy's a warrior, and a great Ranger, but I've always felt this fanbase as a whole has trouble valuing those players appropriately and understanding when to let go. If the cap doesn't go up significantly after next season, this team will be in stupid financial straights...crap like this is why I always hated the idea of the communist-ass cap dictating things and always preferred the luxury tax model baseball adopted if there had to be a "cap". But in a world where that's the case, Lindgren needs to prove he's fully healthy, earn back his ice time, and not have any indication that there are long term effects to this injury precisely because this is exactly the kind of injury that can be long term and set a player's career trajectory on a vastly different path than it had been on.

 

[TopShelfSnipes]

People complaining about loser points so much they don't make the much better argument against shootouts and 3 on 3 overtime.

My biggest issue with 3 on 3 is how it's played these days. At some point you might even see an NBA "backcourt violation" style rule change proposal to discourage teams on offense from regrouping to the wrong side of the redline to re-enter the zone - perhaps resulting in an automatic D zone faceoff if the puck goes back on the defensive side of the redline without being touched by the opposition.

IMO the whole point of 3 on 3 is fast, mayhem blitz offense to try to end the game before the shootout. Not a team playing backyard rink keep away through 2 minutes and 3 line changes while not even generating a single shot attempt.

 

[ohbaby]

I bet Turk feels like a proud papa...

 

[GAGLine]

5 games left. Kakko and Laf need 3 points each to reach 41. I feel like the half point per game plateau is a significant benchmark in a player's career, one that people don't really talk about. And it helps that neither are doing it in a shortened amount of games. Barring injury, Kakko will play 82 games and Laf 81.

Fil is at 44 points. I'd love to see him hit 50, especially now that he has already signed his contract. A bit of a tall order, but totally possible. He had a stretch in late Feb/early March where he scored 8 points in 5 games.

Hopefully all 3 of them can feast on St. Louis and Columbus. Buffalo could be out of it by the time we play them, and Toronto will probably be resting players for the last game. We probably will too, which could mean more ice time for the kids. Let them play that game as the #1 line. Let them play the full PP and top minutes at even strength. Play them on the PK too. Why not.