Confirmed with Link: Rangers agree to terms with Patrick Khodorenko

[NYSPORTS]

Omg omg omg

would the Rangers have to protect him during the expansion draft? Didn’t know if a FA signing made a difference.

 

[NYSPORTS]

He's a better skater than Barron. He's more of a "skill player" though, while Barron is stronger and plays a better board game.

why would you compare them? Center?

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

why would you compare them? Center?

Same age, same position, both in college, both joining Hartford.

 

[Mac n Gs]

I like him already because his last name rhymes with Fedotenko, and I strangely liked Ruslan more than a lot of our other players. Plus, Gary Thorne's goal call for Fedotenko is elite.

 

[NYSPORTS]

Same age, same position, both in college, both joining Hartford.

different games though. Love Barron while intrigued by any college kid we can get for only cash.

 

[eco's bones]

How was he a legit 1D? He was with McDonagh most of his career. Doesn’t make him a 1D. Skjei and Trouba were our first pairing d-men too. But that’s because we didn’t have many options.

Ovechkin was once asked who was the hardest defenseman to play against and he said Dan Girardi. It's like this guy blocked 10000 shots and had 8000 hits and probably took as many just in the John Tortorella years and almost never missed a game---the Rangers once played this ridiculous OT game in the playoffs against the Caps that went almost 3 overtimes and he put in like an hour of ice time. He played through all kinds of injuries--I don't know how many times I said to myself well he's done for tonight and probably done for a month or two and he'd be back on the ice to start the next period. In a way Girardi's a legend and it seemed at times like he was absolutely indestructible but all those blocked shots and hits took their toll especially in his last few years. He didn't fight much but he's one of the toughest players to ever play the game.

 

[Calad]

If you don't 'remember Girardi being much of an impact player' then you haven't been watching hockey for much more than 5 years or so. Girardi when he first came up reminds me a lot of Lindgren. Steady player who was a warrior and didn't have a second thought when it came to sacrificing his body for the W. He was a mainstay on our top pair for 5 years and haunted Ovechkin throughout the playoffs in his tenure here. Yes his body broke down after time and he turned into a shadow of the player he once was, but that doesn;'t erase the ~7 great seasons he gave us.

Talk about revisionist history

 

[RangerLifer]

If you don't 'remember Girardi being much of an impact player' then you haven't been watching hockey for much more than 5 years or so. Girardi when he first came up reminds me a lot of Lindgren. Steady player who was a warrior and didn't have a second thought when it came to sacrificing his body for the W. He was a mainstay on our top pair for 5 years and haunted Ovechkin throughout the playoffs in his tenure here. Yes his body broke down after time and he turned into a shadow of the player he once was, but that doesn;'t erase the ~7 great seasons he gave us.

Talk about revisionist history

True. Torts put a lot of hard miles on Girardi and that ruined him.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

different games though. Love Barron while intrigued by any college kid we can get for only cash.

Khodorenko is better offensively while Barron is better along the boards, but their potential impact is still similar.

Adding Khodorenko for free is a good move. Hartford needs help down the middle

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

would the Rangers have to protect him during the expansion draft? Didn’t know if a FA signing made a difference.

Anyone signing their ELC now is exempt

 

[Calad]

True. Torts put a lot of hard miles on Girardi and that ruined him.

In the last 3 years of Torts' tenure(2010-11 through 2012-13), Girardi had an ATOI of 24:35, 26:15, and 25:25. His playoff ATOI in those same 3 seasons were 27:01, 26:52, and 25:59. In the 11-12 season he was 6th in the Norris voting, 22nd the following year.

 

[eco's bones]

Hartford could use some help right now. Hopefully this is a good signing and though not every one turns out the Rangers have made a number of very good free agent signings in the past.

 

[gravey9]

Georgiev, Zuccarello and Girardi are the best more recent udfa signings. FWIW Pionk has a legit top 4 NHL career currently and we turned him into Trouba.
Hayes and Vesey were unsigned draftees.

Former Rangers Dan Boyle and Martin St. Louis were also undrafted.
Nick Fotiu, Pavelich and Walt Tkachuk were also undrafted.

Of course there are dozens of players signed that amount to nothing in the NHL. But this team needs more pro-ready prospect depth, especially at forward and center. This is likely a smart move.

The reports make it sound like this kid is hard to play against in the corners when he's on his game. Kids like this, Gauthier and Barron are exactly what we need in the system.

We need to collect more kids that can develop into our Greenway or Sundqvist. Big, fast, hard to play against. Power forwards that may or may not develop into top 6 power forwards but are never the less extremely effective.

 

[Ola]

Loved this kid when he was still playing for the NTDP. Had a disappointing freshman year, went undrafted which I could not understand at the time. But he came back stronger, improved immensely in his sophomore year, had a good junior year and his senior year he basically carried the team on his back after Hirose left.

He isn't going to set the league on fire, and honestly, I don't expect him to make the Rangers team until at least 2022, but Hartford can definitely use him. Offensively, he is a good addition. I think he's slightly better than Barron, and they are the same age.

Not the fastest kid, but definitely a good pick up for free.

I like the concept of this signing.

There is a shift in how depth lines and grinders are built around the league. I like Karson Kuhlman in Boston a lot. And kids like him are popping up all over. Strong on the puck. Great at taking away ice without it. Smaller stockier forwards. High intensity players, but definitely not without skill. It’s just as important to be able to be strong on the puck, to be able to turn away from defenders and protect it as well as move it in high pressure situations as it is to win pucks when you don’t have it.

When these guys do come out of college as undrafted and make it in the NHL it’s often because there is a change in what people are looking for. Like the last years Ds are let loose a lot more and guys like Pionk and Stetcher in Vancouver pops up and does fairly well in the NHL. Ppl hate on Pionk, but he is on pace this season to score more pts than Kreider ever have in the NHL. He isn’t totally useless.

I think he is a great add. I also think that we need a little generation shift in HFD. This kid can definitely come in and replace guys like Vinnie L and co long-term. That is valuable too. I like it.

 

[Ola]

That's what I was trying to say! Need pieces like that to complete the puzzle on a competing team. Not to mention they are cheap.

Yeah, and like, we all talk about the need of having a good farm system. Where are those guys supposed to come from? You need it to be solid from top to bottom in an organization. Good hard-working guys. This kid seems prepared to take the long road and he likes to be a part of building something. Could be a ‘win’ even if he doesn’t play a single game in NY.

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

If you don't 'remember Girardi being much of an impact player' then you haven't been watching hockey for much more than 5 years or so. Girardi when he first came up reminds me a lot of Lindgren. Steady player who was a warrior and didn't have a second thought when it came to sacrificing his body for the W. He was a mainstay on our top pair for 5 years and haunted Ovechkin throughout the playoffs in his tenure here. Yes his body broke down after time and he turned into a shadow of the player he once was, but that doesn;'t erase the ~7 great seasons he gave us.

Talk about revisionist history

He committed the unforgivable sin of being overpaid and

 

[Trxjw]

View attachment 333597
Meh

Weird way to go with this considering who is leading this team in scoring.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Weird way to go with this considering who is leading this team in scoring.

"But that's different"

 

[Rempe73]

Here's a bulletin...

You don't remember correctly.

I’m only 23 so I don’t know

 

[Rempe73]

Ovechkin was once asked who was the hardest defenseman to play against and he said Dan Girardi. It's like this guy blocked 10000 shots and had 8000 hits and probably took as many just in the John Tortorella years and almost never missed a game---the Rangers once played this ridiculous OT game in the playoffs against the Caps that went almost 3 overtimes and he put in like an hour of ice time. He played through all kinds of injuries--I don't know how many times I said to myself well he's done for tonight and probably done for a month or two and he'd be back on the ice to start the next period. In a way Girardi's a legend and it seemed at times like he was absolutely indestructible but all those blocked shots and hits took their toll especially in his last few years. He didn't fight much but he's one of the toughest players to ever play the game.

There’s no doubt he was a warrior, and I respect him. But he bled shots/shot attempts and wasn’t good offensively. I say his bad years cancelled out any good he ever did. But I will admit that I may have been wrong about him not being an impact player.

 

[Rempe73]

Girardi was a first pairing defenseman on the Rangers when they were legitimate contenders. It's not really an arguable point, whether he was an impact player or not. He got all the tough matchups and played PK1 and even some PP too.

Regardless, the point was that it's not really debatable whether or not he had an impact as an undrafted player. He unquestionably did. Whether you think he was good or dislike him as a player for what he was, its inarguable that he was our top RHD for almost his entire time here. Doesn't matter if he was propped up by Staal and McD (he was) or if it was only because we didn't have better options.

You can not be a big fan of his and think he was overused and stuff like that, I certainly have issues with the last few years of his time here. But there's no arguing that he was a key player for many years on the Rangers. Contracts and him falling off a cliff aside, to have an undrafted free agent turn into a player who can play top pair minutes and be a key player for a contending team and even make an all star team and get some norris votes...that's basically among the best case scenarios for players who are UDFA.

Ok those are great points. You’ve convinced me.

 

[Rempe73]

Staal-Girardi was a great pairing. Gave Ovechkin fits. McDonagh-Girardi was a really good pairing. For probably six or seven years, Girardi was a legitimately good defenseman. Very good.

Then the game got faster, and he couldn't keep up. The fact that he blocked more shots than anyone and didn't miss a game in four years or whatever probably contributed.

If you think he was good for one or two years, you either have a weird bias against him or were too young to remember/weren't watching hockey at the time.

The second option sounds like me. I’m 23 and I’ve been a fan all my life, but I took a break watching the Rangers for a few years due to social stuff. Before that, I would watch the games, but I don’t remember much. I went back to watching games consistently in 2014 and got really into hockey in 2016 or 2017.

 

[eco's bones]

Georgiev, Zuccarello and Girardi are the best more recent udfa signings. FWIW Pionk has a legit top 4 NHL career currently and we turned him into Trouba.
Hayes and Vesey were unsigned draftees.

Former Rangers Dan Boyle and Martin St. Louis were also undrafted.
Nick Fotiu, Pavelich and Walt Tkachuk were also undrafted.

Of course there are dozens of players signed that amount to nothing in the NHL. But this team needs more pro-ready prospect depth, especially at forward and center. This is likely a smart move.

The reports make it sound like this kid is hard to play against in the corners when he's on his game. Kids like this, Gauthier and Barron are exactly what we need in the system.

We need to collect more kids that can develop into our Greenway or Sundqvist. Big, fast, hard to play against. Power forwards that may or may not develop into top 6 power forwards but are never the less extremely effective.

Walt Tkachuk came out of a time when the draft was an afterthought for a small number of unaffiliated young players. He played for the Rangers junior team in Kitchener in the early/mid 60's and players back then playing for Kitchener were automatically Rangers property. Rangers used to have a team in Guelph Ont. too. Rod Gilbert and Jean Ratelle childhood friends from Montreal went to Guelph to play for the Biltmores. If they had stuck around and played in the Montreal area they would have been Canadiens property--there was a 50 mile radius rule where all players within 50 miles of the city automatically belonged to the Canadiens. Likewise Toronto. Gilbert and Ratelle left the suburbs of Montreal as kids because they thought chances of making it were better with another team. Montreal was a powerhouse---NYC's 50 mile radius at the time might as well have been in the middle of Death Valley. The Bruins likewise used to have all the players on the Oshawa Generals and Niagara Falls Flyers back then. Junior teams were really farm teams. It was different back then.

Fotiu started out in the WHA.

A recent guy no one's mentioned that hung around for a while works in the Rangers front office is Jed Ortmeyer.

 

[haohmaru]

Ovechkin was once asked who was the hardest defenseman to play against and he said Dan Girardi. It's like this guy blocked 10000 shots and had 8000 hits and probably took as many just in the John Tortorella years and almost never missed a game---the Rangers once played this ridiculous OT game in the playoffs against the Caps that went almost 3 overtimes and he put in like an hour of ice time. He played through all kinds of injuries--I don't know how many times I said to myself well he's done for tonight and probably done for a month or two and he'd be back on the ice to start the next period. In a way Girardi's a legend and it seemed at times like he was absolutely indestructible but all those blocked shots and hits took their toll especially in his last few years. He didn't fight much but he's one of the toughest players to ever play the game.

Giroux also called him "the most underrated player in the NHL" if you recall.

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

"But that's different"

Hockey is different here.