Confirmed with Link: NYR Fire John Davidson and Jeff Gorton

[SnowblindNYR]

Chris Drury has a former teammate with NHL coaching experience who is looking for a job right now if the Rangers want to get really weird.

Roy?

 

[Savant]

Call me crazy, but I'm keeping Strome over Zibanejad at this point, if I had to keep one.

Strome will command less, so that's a big one right there.

And I think the problem with Strome is that for a guy putting up 60-65 points, he thinks he's Patrick Kane and plays like it. He does too much with the puck and checks out on defense. But he was always that.

Zibanejad just looks like a f***ing zombie to me. And I liked Zibanejad. I was ready to give him the captaincy which would have been a bad decision, admittedly. This season, he just looks done with hockey. I think head injuries are catching up with him. And I don't care what the Rangers say, he hurt himself going into the boards early in the season.

If I have to make a choice, I'm taking the flawed player who's flawed because he's just always been flawed over the player who declined towards that.

I think you (unfortunately) have to deal Mika in the summer. He isn’t going to get a long term deal and he has the most value. Needs to bring a center back though.

Strome can stay, but don’t think he is long for the Rangers either. Think he goes closer to the deadline. Just don’t see them wanting to pay to extend those guys with the ELCs coming up and too much committed to Kreider, Panarin, Trouba, etc.

 

[Doctyl]

Call me crazy, but I'm keeping Strome over Zibanejad at this point, if I had to keep one.

Strome will command less, so that's a big one right there.

And I think the problem with Strome is that for a guy putting up 60-65 points, he thinks he's Patrick Kane and plays like it. He does too much with the puck and checks out on defense. But he was always that.

Zibanejad just looks like a f***ing zombie to me. And I liked Zibanejad. I was ready to give him the captaincy which would have been a bad decision, admittedly. This season, he just looks done with hockey. I think head injuries are catching up with him. And I don't care what the Rangers say, he hurt himself going into the boards early in the season.

If I have to make a choice, I'm taking the flawed player who's flawed because he's just always been flawed over the player who declined towards that.

You just cant hand Zib that elite 1C contract he is going to get, right? Like I know his numbers rebounded against the Flyers this year, but he just looks like a shell of the player he was the past 2 years. The production is there, but the play isnt

 

[Savant]

Roy?

Patrick Roy indeed. Some big Pros and BIG Cons but that would be a swing.

 

[LiveLongandProspal]

With the seismic shift happening today, I could see Torts returning.

We fired him AFTER we made three consecutive Playoffs with him. I think that bridge is burned to a crisp.

 

[n8]

Ya know its possible they go in a different direction come the offseason.

For sure but after the Rangers rebuffed two attempts from other teams to talk to Drury, I doubt that different direction includes a different GM. The ship (and leash) is his.

 

[mas0764]

If this team miraculously wins a Cup in the near future is anyone really going to credit Drury? We’d have to be looking at a pretty dramatic overhaul of the roster for it to not be Gorton’s team.

I’m rooting for Drury, but the foundation is laid, the framing is up, the electrical and the walls are in. He’s pretty much starting at the painting phase.

One trade (ie Zibanejad) could totally remake the shape of the team.

 

[Synergy27]

As far as I know, Gorton and Drury both like Quinn, but Drury may have been more willing to budge.

I definitely get the feeling that Gorton and JD were given an ultimatum and went against Dolan, just based on the timing.

If the split were amicable, it comes at the end of the season. There was vocal disagreement over some aspect and it may have been Quinn.

I find it impossible to believe that a disagreement over Quinn is at the heart of this. There’s no way those long term, highly respected hockey men died on the hill of a mediocre coach that the fan base is mostly split on. If they did, well, good riddance.

 

[Edge]

Call me crazy, but I'm keeping Strome over Zibanejad at this point, if I had to keep one.

Strome will command less, so that's a big one right there.

And I think the problem with Strome is that for a guy putting up 60-65 points, he thinks he's Patrick Kane and plays like it. He does too much with the puck and checks out on defense. But he was always that.

Zibanejad just looks like a f***ing zombie to me. And I liked Zibanejad. I was ready to give him the captaincy which would have been a bad decision, admittedly. This season, he just looks done with hockey. I think head injuries are catching up with him. And I don't care what the Rangers say, he hurt himself going into the boards early in the season.

If I have to make a choice, I'm taking the flawed player who's flawed because he's just always been flawed over the player who declined towards that.

I think 2 of 3 among Zibanejad, Buch and Strome get moved. But not all three.

I'm going to speculate here, but I think it's quite possible Zibanejad and Buch go sooner --- potentially to bring in a younger center and some depth pieces.

Depending on how that goes plays out, and the subsequent performance, I think they could self-rent Strome and then move on afterwards.

 

[PuckLuck3043]

If Drury is in charge of the build then I'm ok with that as he has been groomed for a few years now. If Dolan is going to start meddling and getting involved in hockey decisions like he did with basketball decisions then this is truly frightening.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Look, some of these people are good friends. We talk while having a beer. Even in the news media you hear "Dolan thinks the Rangers" unachieved compared to the phrase "The Rangers are widely seen as having underachieved."

For better or worse that's just not the perception out there. Now, if this was next season, I think those rumblings would be very loud. But it's just not there as a whole, even now.

If anything, I think there's more "Surprised" by the fact that some fans were expecting more. And those reactions aren't new to this situation. It was the same reaction before the season. "Are they really thinking this is a likely outcome?"

And we talked about that before the season even started.

Here's the deal, the Rangers came close to making the playoffs last year (probably would have missed in 82). You add a top defensive coach, subtract a bottom defensive coach, and add a Norris candidate. Now there were other issues we had this year, but if you're going to give Quinn a break because of that you have to equally criticize him for having players that most teams IN the playoffs didn't have and would only dream of.

Do you not think that "league circles" are far more likely to defend a hockey guy (coach) than owner? They're far less likely to criticize one of their own. These guys are probably super conservative about the stuff too. I don't honestly take their word as gospel.

 

[Rempe73]

Or some of are part of his family

Literally me

 

[MysticLeviathan]

If Drury is in charge of the build then I'm ok with that as he has been groomed for a few years now. If Dolan is going to start meddling and getting involved in hockey decisions like he did with basketball decisions then this is truly frightening.

this is where I’m at

 

[mas0764]

With or without Gorton, this team is at a very weird point with guys like Zibanejad, Strome, and Buch.

What concerns me is a mandate that you have to instantly get better. That's always the goal. No GM ever heads into any situation aiming to get worse (be it short-term or long-term).

But I'm worried about the quest for a magic remedy. Because that's how you end up shipping someone like Kakko to Buffalo for Eichel and start gambling with the mortgage money.

So what’s the move if you are Drury, and you want to appease your boss without selling the rebuild out by moving the Crown Jewels in Laf, Kakko, Fox, Nils, Kravtsov and Miller?

Who do you make a run at this offseason? Are players like Krebs off the table as too young? Is Toews a consideration despite his advanced age? Lindholm again? Or trying to get a guy you hope is about to blossom like Hayton?

 

[Matt Rentfree]

I think 2 of 3 among Zibanejad, Buch and Strome get moved. But not all three.

I'm going to speculate here, but I think it's quite possible Zibanejad and Buch go sooner --- potentially to bring in a younger center and some depth pieces.

Depending on how that goes plays out, and the subsequent performance, I think they could self-rent Strome and then move on afterwards.

If we're just talking about the players involved as players, I move Zibanejad and Strome before I move Buchnevich without thinking twice. Unfortunately Buch is not a center

 

[bouds]

Zib does look like a lost man, but he's not the only one that looks checked out at times. Not an easy situation simply because other roster mistakes have cut us at the knees.

One trade (ie Zibanejad) could totally remake the shape of the team.

Obviously he needs to be traded if he's not in the team's long term plan, but it's not a forgone conclusion that the trade will be a net benefit. It could be like moving Brassard, it could be like McD/Miller (although Nils may save part of it), or something in between. Lots of luck involved.

 

[Machinehead]

I find it impossible to believe that a disagreement over Quinn is at the heart of this. There’s no way those long term, highly respected hockey men died on the hill of a mediocre coach that the fan base is mostly split on. If they did, well, good riddance.

Logic would dictate that you're right, but all I've ever heard is that JD and Gorton loved Quinn.

That's something that fell off the grapevine pretty consistently.

 

[Zamboner]

Hate this so much. Kinda sums up what a terrible organization this is in the hockey sense. Greenlight a rebuild, then hold it against the people rebuilding for not making the playoffs? And if it's not that, but because ownership thought it was a rebuild that was "too soft" in personnel, well, that's stupid in 2021. But even if it wasn't stupid, like, just insist on getting a hardnosed talent during the offseason. It's literally only one player away in this day and age, and a relatively cheap thing to acquire. And you don't have to blow everything up and look totally volatile and unserious as an organization.

 

[Esa 10]

So what’s the move if you are Drury, and you want to appease your boss without selling the rebuild out by moving the Crown Jewels in Laf, Kakko, Fox, Nils, Kravtsov and Miller?

Who do you make a run at this offseason? Are players like Krebs off the table as too young? Is Toews a consideration despite his advanced age? Lindholm again? Or trying to get a guy you hope is about to blossom like Hayton?

I think you bring in an established NHL coach and see what he can get out of this roster. Philly, NYI and Carolina made play-offs with largely the same players after changing coaches in the summer.

I want to see what these players can do in a different system with a different voice calling shots. We probably make a move with a guy or two for contract reasons, but it should be a long term play for similarly aged players. Coaching change can give Dolan more immediate success without depleting long term talent.

 

[Edge]

Here's the deal, the Rangers came close to making the playoffs last year (probably would have missed in 82). You add a top defensive coach, subtract a bottom defensive coach, and add a Norris candidate. Now there were other issues we had this year, but if you're going to give Quinn a break because of that you have to equally criticize him for having players that most teams IN the playoffs didn't have and would only dream of.

Do you not think that "league circles" are far more likely to defend a hockey guy (coach) than owner? They're far less likely to criticize one of their own. These guys are probably super conservative about the stuff too. I don't honestly take their word as gospel.

I feel like I've already answers this though, so I'll probably just skim my main points.

I think some things are better, some aren't. I think timing is everything. I think we're in a tougher division. That's why were a playoff team in divisions outside our own.

I feel like if we added 6 pluses, we also added 7 or 8 minuses. So personally, it feels like a net loss for me.

The thing is, it's not just staff. It's reporters too. It's people who used to work in the industry. Reporters aren't shy about pointing to under-achievements. That's just not the most prominent narrative.

 

[mas0764]

Call me crazy, but I'm keeping Strome over Zibanejad at this point, if I had to keep one.

Strome will command less, so that's a big one right there.

And I think the problem with Strome is that for a guy putting up 60-65 points, he thinks he's Patrick Kane and plays like it. He does too much with the puck and checks out on defense. But he was always that.

Zibanejad just looks like a f***ing zombie to me. And I liked Zibanejad. I was ready to give him the captaincy which would have been a bad decision, admittedly. This season, he just looks done with hockey. I think head injuries are catching up with him. And I don't care what the Rangers say, he hurt himself going into the boards early in the season.

If I have to make a choice, I'm taking the flawed player who's flawed because he's just always been flawed over the player who declined towards that.

Plus flawed player is cheaper and declining player brings back more in trade.

 

[Rempe73]

Oh boy. Shipping out Kakko for someone like Eichel is going to kill me. I hate Dolan, but if he makes Drury trade one or more of Lafreniere, Kakko, or Kravtsov for anyone not named McDavid, I’m going to hate him a lot more and it’s going to be VERY hard to stay a fan. I don’t care how good Eichel is. You build around guys like Lafreniere, Kakko, and Kravtsov. PLEASE don’t be the Rangers of old. I want a long window. Ultimately, I just want a MF CUP.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Plus flawed player is cheaper and declining player brings back more in trade.

Is Mika really declining? He's 28 and just coming off a career season before this one. I guess compared to a 60 goal pace season every season will look like a declining season.

 

[CLW]

THIS is what people should be at least partially concerned about.

And not just Eichel.

Kopitar. Toews. Etc.

All of those become possibilities, and not necessarily in the most strategic fashion.

This is really depressing.

And with a boring old recycled dino coach as cherry on top. Oh joy of joys.

 

[Savant]

And with a boring old recycled dino coach as cherry on top. Oh joy of joys.

Who?