Player Discussion Lias Andersson

[FireGerardGallant]

your ahl affiliate is only as good as your drafting....

there's a reason the syracuse crunch produce good nhl players.

ill leave it at that

If we drafted a lot of those same guys and put them in Hartford they wouldn't end up as good as they are on the Lightning. I all but guarantee that if Hajek was on the Crunch he would be producing a lot better rn

 

[Savant]

your ahl affiliate is only as good as your drafting....

there's a reason the syracuse crunch produce good nhl players.

ill leave it at that

Syracuse has one of the best coaches in the AHL, if not the best in Groulx. That is a tremendous help. TB isn't a godly drafting team, but their AHL development staff is their differentiator.

The Rangers have no attention to their AHL team. Gernander did close to nothing, and could have done much better than McCambridge. I dont believe the correct developmental staff is in Hartford

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Much like the Rangers, Hartford is also in a transition period, the GM is in his second year, the vets aren’t good enough to carry a team, the kids are either too young or just not good enough, they literately can’t trust any goalie to make a save, etc etc

 

[pblawr]

I don't think it's the quality of the players / scouting. There was the weird situation with Cole Schneider where we traded him for pennies on the dollar. Bobby Butler scored almost a ppg in the AHL last year and looks terrible now. O'Gara and Bigras were good AHL players before coming over. There are plenty of guys on the team who have demonstrated the ability to play well in the AHL and now look worse.

The issue is the whole team just seems disengaged. They don't seem to give a ton of effort and they play like they don't know where they're supposed to be or what their responsibilities are. It seems like they're horribly coached, but it's weird because McCambridge was a successful coach in the AHL before. So I don't know what the issue is, but they've looked terrible and it seems like there's a problem when players who have been successful in other situations come over and struggle.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Syracuse has one of the best coaches in the AHL, if not the best in Groulx. That is a tremendous help. TB isn't a godly drafting team, but their AHL development staff is their differentiator.

The Rangers have no attention to their AHL team. Gernander did close to nothing, and could have done much better than McCambridge. I dont believe the correct developmental staff is in Hartford

Who would they be developing? The only guys worth wasting time on there are Andersson, Gilmour and Hajek and they have to play with a bunch of nobody's on a losing team. You need players to push each other, getting beat down every night doesnt do anything for motivation or anything else other than the motivation to increase your own stats any way possible in order to get a call up. Someone mentioned Bigras and Ogara, two of the least intriguing prospects we have.

 

[Savant]

Who would they be developing? The only guys worth wasting time on there are Andersson, Gilmour and Hajek and they have to play with a bunch of nobody's on a losing team. You need players to push each other, getting beat down every night doesnt do anything for motivation or anything else other than the motivation to increase your own stats any way possible in order to get a call up. Someone mentioned Bigras and Ogara, two of the least intriguing prospects we have.

Coaching matters much more at the AHL level than at the NHL level. The Rangers have not gotten good coaching at that level. If you want to bring drafting into it, that's fine but it's a bit chicken or the egg

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Coaching matters much more at the AHL level than at the NHL level. The Rangers have not gotten good coaching at that level. If you want to bring drafting into it, that's fine but it's a bit chicken or the egg

There's no evidence that the coaching is bad that's what I'm saying. If wins and losses and lack of talent emerging from the Wolfpack is the reason you feel the coaching isnt good its definately the chicken or the egg because we have traded all our quality draft picks away the last decade before Gorton took over and the team stinks. Show me a good team and I'll show you a good coach. Coaching can only do so much for a roster like that, its embarrassingly bad. Peter Holland is our leading scorer and that should tell you all you need to know about that roster.

 

[Savant]

There's no evidence that the coaching is bad that's what I'm saying. If wins and losses and lack of talent emerging from the Wolfpack is the reason you feel the coaching isnt good its definately the chicken or the egg because we have traded all our quality draft picks away the last decade before Gorton took over and the team stinks. Show me a good team and I'll show you a good coach. Coaching can only do so much for a roster like that, its embarrassingly bad. Peter Holland is our leading scorer and that should tell you all you need to know about that roster.

I think there is plenty of evidence the coaching is bad. For example, the standings and the lack of NHL ready talent.

Look at Groulx in Syracuse. Great coaching pedigree. Maximizing 3rd rounders and undrafted players. Tampa actually has not drafted particularly well in the 1st rounf. They live in rounds 2-4, and then they let their AHL staff do work. Also I don't want to hear about wasting drafr picks when you see what Groulx does with undrafted players.

Look at Scott Gordon in Philly. Great program with the Phantoms, gets the big job and the Flyers are surging. And that is another team that invested in their AHL squad.

Carolina paid to keep Vellucci in Charlotte, and he will get head coaching interviews this offseason he has done a tremendous job with the Checkers.

Who is calling McCambridge for NHL job? Where is Gernander? The AHL has been an after thought for the Rangers. McCambridge is neither Quinn's guy, nor has he developed anyone. Why should they keep him? AHL is to funnel NHL ready players to the big club. You either do that by having a developmental guy, or by having someone picked by the coaching staff to implement a play style. The Rangers have neither.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

I think there is plenty of evidence the coaching is bad. For example, the standings and the lack of NHL ready talent.

Look at Groulx in Syracuse. Great coaching pedigree. Maximizing 3rd rounders and undrafted players. Tampa actually has not drafted particularly well in the 1st rounf. They live in rounds 2-4, and then they let their AHL staff do work. Also I don't want to hear about wasting drafr picks when you see what Groulx does with undrafted players.

Look at Scott Gordon in Philly. Great program with the Phantoms, gets the big job and the Flyers are surging. And that is another team that invested in their AHL squad.

Carolina paid to keep Vellucci in Charlotte, and he will get head coaching interviews this offseason he has done a tremendous job with the Checkers.

Who is calling McCambridge for NHL job? Where is Gernander? The AHL has been an after thought for the Rangers. McCambridge is neither Quinn's guy, nor has he developed anyone. Why should they keep him? AHL is to funnel NHL ready players to the big club. You either do that by having a developmental guy, or by having someone picked by the coaching staff to implement a play style. The Rangers have neither.

So far you have named some of the most deepest prospect pools in the league. Ours sucks. You cant make diamonds out of dog crap. Your wording seems to have more of a problem with the drafting and free agent signings than the coaching or anything that is happening in the Ahl. Sather had little interest in keeping draft picks or signing college players and using them as an advantage. Jeff Gorton was handed an empty cupboard,he is trying to fill it. There is literally no way of knowing how the Wolfpack develops players as the last good player we drafted before Gorton got here was Kreider and he went straight to the NHL. Hartford's best player is Peter Holland,its a joke.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

I think there is plenty of evidence the coaching is bad. For example, the standings and the lack of NHL ready talent.

Look at Groulx in Syracuse. Great coaching pedigree. Maximizing 3rd rounders and undrafted players. Tampa actually has not drafted particularly well in the 1st rounf. They live in rounds 2-4, and then they let their AHL staff do work. Also I don't want to hear about wasting drafr picks when you see what Groulx does with undrafted players.

Look at Scott Gordon in Philly. Great program with the Phantoms, gets the big job and the Flyers are surging. And that is another team that invested in their AHL squad.

Carolina paid to keep Vellucci in Charlotte, and he will get head coaching interviews this offseason he has done a tremendous job with the Checkers.

Who is calling McCambridge for NHL job? Where is Gernander? The AHL has been an after thought for the Rangers. McCambridge is neither Quinn's guy, nor has he developed anyone. Why should they keep him? AHL is to funnel NHL ready players to the big club. You either do that by having a developmental guy, or by having someone picked by the coaching staff to implement a play style. The Rangers have neither.

As usual, it's the caliber of the players in this situation. That said, the situation in Hartford is a tire fire and it could use a complete face lift. But even when that's complete, the reality will be that the Rangers are really just beginning to pump capable young players into their system. We were predisposed with some close calls/actually competing during the timeframe, but we are really seeing the effects of abandoning the pipeline for a good 5 years from 2012-2017

 

[Savant]

So far you have named some of the most deepest prospect pools in the league. Ours sucks. You cant make diamonds out of dog crap. Your wording seems to have more of a problem with the drafting and free agent signings than the coaching or anything that is happening in the Ahl. Sather had little interest in keeping draft picks or signing college players and using them as an advantage. Jeff Gorton was handed an empty cupboard,he is trying to fill it. There is literally no way of knowing how the Wolfpack develops players as the last good player we drafted before Gorton got here was Kreider and he went straight to the NHL. Hartford's best player is Peter Holland,its a joke.

This teams I mentioned didnt start out with elite systems. Their AHL players especially bv were coached up. They overachieved. These werent slam dunk picks

 

[Savant]

As usual, it's the caliber of the players in this situation. That said, the situation in Hartford is a tire fire and it could use a complete face lift. But even when that's complete, the reality will be that the Rangers are really just beginning to pump capable young players into their system. We were predisposed with some close calls/actually competing during the timeframe, but we are really seeing the effects of abandoning the pipeline for a good 5 years from 2012-2017

I dont know that I buy that. I don't think the coaching has been good enough to elevate those players it's obvious who the good AHL coaches are the rangers don't have one

 

[haveandare]

You don’t need an entire team of kids you drafted. You can build an ahl team with cheap ahl vets. We have bad coaching down there and we don’t have good enough players with and around our prospects imo.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

We went 4 years without a 1st rounder and 2 of those years we never picked until the 3rd round. It's why you end up with Adam Tambellini ,Gropp, Kovacs etc as the players in your system.

 

[True Blue]

You don’t need an entire team of kids you drafted. You can build an ahl team with cheap ahl vets. We have bad coaching down there and we don’t have good enough players with and around our prospects imo.

You can do that but that's not what you want; to have your top minor league with cheap AHL vets. The Rangers had that not all that long ago. You want your draft picks developing there.

I do agree with coaching. You can't have someone with AV's philosophy down there.

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

I mean, it doesn't help Hartford that lots of the Rangers top prospects are playing elsewhere.

They had 5 1st round picks in the last 2 years and only 1 is playing there.

They've drafted lots of well performing talent in recent years that could be playing in Hartford but are either in college or overseas so they're not in the AHL right now:

Kravtsov, Chytil, Miller, Lundkvist, Shestyorkin, Reunanen, Barron, Sjalin, Keane.

These are good prospects that are having good years. So it's not as simple as Hartford being bad is a direct indictment on poor drafting.

 

[Edge]

I think a number of guys have come through Hartford over the years and turned out just fine.

I don't think the problem is necessarily individual development, the problem has been team-wide success.

Part of the challenge when looking at Hartford is that the Rangers lacked a lot of top 60 draft talent from 2013-2016, and typically the more talented players were only there for a layover. That even holds true over the last two seasons. Chytil, Howden, Pionk, ADA and Georgiev have all been on the NHL rosters for just about the entire season. Kravtsov is in the KHL, Miller in College, Lundkvist in Sweden, Shesterkin in the KHL.

Only 2 of the Rangers top 11 prospects are in the AHL, and only three of the top 14 or 15 at a given time.

 

[haveandare]

You can do that but that's not what you want; to have your top minor league with cheap AHL vets. The Rangers had that not all that long ago. You want your draft picks developing there.

I do agree with coaching. You can't have someone with AV's philosophy down there.

Yeah, I'm not saying it's ideal, but just countering the idea that the team is bad because of drafting. The drafting has been rough the last few years, we went 4 years without a first round pick, but you could build a good Ahl team without draft picks. Hartford is bad for a number of reasons.

 

[True Blue]

Yeah, I'm not saying it's ideal, but just countering the idea that the team is bad because of drafting. The drafting has been rough the last few years, we went 4 years without a first round pick, but you could build a good Ahl team without draft picks. Hartford is bad for a number of reasons.

Certainly true. They have been swinging and missing on second rounders, which is all they had for a while.

 

[Off Sides]

Trying to differentiate between it being a lack of talent versus a coaching/development problem at the core should happen one way or another. Just letting them not be good should not really be an option. If that means maybe they keep some of their better younger prospects down, it does. If that means they need to make some deals just for the AHL it does.

I think one area where they could use their financial prowess and rebuilding stage, they could sign more of those group 6 UFAs as well as some others who would get two ways anywhere else to contracts at the max which would could be cap buried with the allure of both them being paid what they'd make in the NHL even if in the AHL, and also giving them a shot here and there of being on the NHL roster, at least for a cup of coffee as a rebuilding team should probably be doing that anyway.

 

[Edge]

I'd probably argue that Hartford's challenge has been finding the right mix of veterans to compliment the younger talent.

They've had a high number of graduates, but the overall record has been lacking. To me that points to more of a veteran problem than a development problem.

 

[SlapshotTheMovie]

I'd probably argue that Hartford's challenge has been finding the right mix of veterans to compliment the younger talent.

They've had a high number of graduates, but the overall record has been lacking. To me that points to more of a veteran problem than a development problem.

I forget what Boston coach said for a building team you should have 1 vet per line with 2 developing players. Went on to say that you keep the young players together but switch around the vets every other month or so to help round out the kids games. I am sure thats a lot easier said then done but it made sense to me.

 

[JHS]

I don't think it's the quality of the players / scouting. There was the weird situation with Cole Schneider where we traded him for pennies on the dollar. Bobby Butler scored almost a ppg in the AHL last year and looks terrible now. O'Gara and Bigras were good AHL players before coming over. There are plenty of guys on the team who have demonstrated the ability to play well in the AHL and now look worse.

The issue is the whole team just seems disengaged. They don't seem to give a ton of effort and they play like they don't know where they're supposed to be or what their responsibilities are. It seems like they're horribly coached, but it's weird because McCambridge was a successful coach in the AHL before. So I don't know what the issue is, but they've looked terrible and it seems like there's a problem when players who have been successful in other situations come over and struggle.

Maybe they look disengaged because they are?!?! It’s easy to blame the coach but if young kids are not engaged in making themselves stand out and get a shot that speaks volumes to their character as players.

 

[haohmaru]

Maybe they look disengaged because they're on a team that sucks?

19-20 year old centers playing in the NHL is an anomaly, not a standard and Lias has played a lot of hockey over the past two years. Definitely a guy I want to see get a little bit older before I close the book on him.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Maybe they look disengaged because they're on a team that sucks?

19-20 year old centers playing in the NHL is an anomaly, not a standard and Lias has played a lot of hockey over the past two years. Definitely a guy I want to see get a little bit older before I close the book on him.

Also, not every player develops at the same pace.

Zuccarello did not become an NHL regular until the 2013-14 season, when he was 26.