Post-Game Talk: RANGERS @ some team -- 3/6

[Ola]

Strome playing like this without Panarin has really impressed me. He gets a lot of flack around here, but with Mika not himself he has stepped up. 8 points (3 G, 5 A) +6 in his last 6 games.

I think Strome is improved this year, moving towards Derek Stepan territory.

With that said, doesn't really move the arrow for me as to whether he should be resigned to a long-term deal. You are not getting a good bang for the buck, not because the bang is worthless but the buck will just be significant. I definitely think you are begging for a Kyle Turris type of contract mistake if he is locked up long-term.

Is Mika in good physical shape?

 

[CupSeeker]

someone mentioned Miller trucked Hughes? Anyone got a clip?

I noticed that Hughes throws alot of prayers out there. Most lead to turnovers. He doesn't want to be hit. Sometimes his prayers land and he gets a nice setup or assist but too much of the time he is throwing pucks into open space and hoping.

 

[Ola]

So now comes what may be a season defining week. I, along with most, felt the Rangers were the better team when they played in Pittsburgh earlier this year, however they only got one point in two games. Now they get another shot at the Penguins. Both played today. This is a real chance for those young legs to really shine.

Then it's off to Boston. Right now, the Bruins are the best in the division until someone takes them down. Hopefully the Rangers bring some momentum with them out of Pittsburgh and make it a very successful week.

5-6 points out of 4 games would feel very good right now.

We were said to be in a really tough division, but I don't know. Pittsburgh, NJ and Buffalo are not good at all. Well, Pittsburgh doesn't roll over, but they are far from "good". And all the others have issues. NYI, Washington, Boston and Philly -- we are hardly talking about dynasty level teams. Like Philly, what do they have? Is NYI good or do they just face weak opponents?

I think our division is the weakest in the NHL. We are having issues with the physical play so it might not fit us perfectly. But we should definitely be a PO team with the roster we have.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I noticed that Hughes throws alot of prayers out there. Most lead to turnovers. He doesn't want to be hit. Sometimes his prayers land and he gets a nice setup or assist but too much of the time he is throwing pucks into open space and hoping.

I think Kakko will be the much more complete player.

 

[Fitzy]

#RyanStromeIsATopSixCenterActually

 

[Chytilmania]

The Rangers during Panarin's LOA are 4-2 and have scored 25 goals in that time period.

Him and Tony are huge distractions.

 

[Chytilmania]

Laf with a 'Kreider-screen' on the Hajek goal... it doesn't show up on the score sheet but it's a beautiful thing to see.

Kakko has been doing all the little things; now to be rewarded with some big things. I feel like the floodgates will open once he gets one.

I'm ready for more screams.

 

[Fitzy]

I think Strome is improved this year, moving towards Derek Stepan territory.

With that said, doesn't really move the arrow for me as to whether he should be resigned to a long-term deal. You are not getting a good bang for the buck, not because the bang is worthless but the buck will just be significant. I definitely think you are begging for a Kyle Turris type of contract mistake if he is locked up long-term.

Is Mika in good physical shape?

Well no, and I wouldn't but I'm gonna enjoy the hell out of every point he gets here, since it's pretty much all found money from the Ryan Spooner dump trade.

 

[PuckLuck3043]

We were said to be in a really tough division, but I don't know. Pittsburgh, NJ and Buffalo are not good at all. Well, Pittsburgh doesn't roll over, but they are far from "good". And all the others have issues. NYI, Washington, Boston and Philly -- we are hardly talking about dynasty level teams. Like Philly, what do they have? Is NYI good or do they just face weak opponents?

I think our division is the weakest in the NHL. We are having issues with the physical play so it might not fit us perfectly. But we should definitely be a PO team with the roster we have.

Disagree. All the other divisions are superior? No. The only one that is better is the Central.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Him and Tony are huge distractions.

Made me laugh out loud. That damn kick is pissing everyone off.

 

[PuckLuck3043]

Well no, and I wouldn't but I'm gonna enjoy the hell out of every point he gets here, since it's pretty much all found money from the Ryan Spooner dump trade.

That Nash trade basically netted us Strome, Lindgren, and K'Andre Miller. I would say that's pretty good.

 

[Rempe73]

Just finished watching the game. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but these are my thoughts:

I’m so f***ing happy we have Fox.
Also, Fox actually developed some good speed.

That Strome backhand goal is underrated. What a shot.

Kakko and Chytil - wow. Awesome improvements. Chytil especially was FILTH today. He’s getting into above average 2C territory with the potential for a lot more. He’s starting to look more and more like Zibanejad too (the good version of Zibanejad, which showed up today).

Miller looked great today, but his reach saved his ass a few times.

Buchnevich and Lafreniere did not play as well today, but Lafreniere had a moment where he looked like MacKinnon for a second or two. I almost passed out.

Subban has looked a lot better ever since Lindsey Vonn left him. I wonder why. He also stopped making YouTube videos, which probably helps too.

Lmfao at Joe when he was hyping up Quinn. Can it be more obvious that the FO is telling him to say that?

Maltsev is one crafty, skilled, and annoying player, and has become my favorite Devils player.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

That Nash trade basically netted us Strome, Lindgren, and K'Andre Miller. I would say that's pretty good.

I'm shocked Lindgren is as good as he is. If you were to ask me who was going to be the top pairing guy and who was going to be the bottom pairing guy between Lindgren and Hajek I would have had them flipped. Mind you this is not from watch them but from what I've heard about them.

 

[Rempe73]

#RyanStromeIsATopSixCenterActually

Sometimes he is, sometimes he’s not even close. There’s something that bothers me about him. I’m just never gonna have complete faith in his abilities, but he is very skilled.

 

[kovazub94]

So now comes what may be a season defining week. I, along with most, felt the Rangers were the better team when they played in Pittsburgh earlier this year, however they only got one point in two games. Now they get another shot at the Penguins. Both played today. This is a real chance for those young legs to really shine.

Then it's off to Boston. Right now, the Bruins are the best in the division until someone takes them down. Hopefully the Rangers bring some momentum with them out of Pittsburgh and make it a very successful week.

5-6 points out of 4 games would feel very good right now.

I will happily take 5-6 points if 4 are against the Pens.

Georgie please!

 

[FireGerardGallant]

someone mentioned Miller trucked Hughes? Anyone got a clip?

 

[kovazub94]

We were said to be in a really tough division, but I don't know. Pittsburgh, NJ and Buffalo are not good at all. Well, Pittsburgh doesn't roll over, but they are far from "good". And all the others have issues. NYI, Washington, Boston and Philly -- we are hardly talking about dynasty level teams. Like Philly, what do they have? Is NYI good or do they just face weak opponents?

I think our division is the weakest in the NHL. We are having issues with the physical play so it might not fit us perfectly. But we should definitely be a PO team with the roster we have.

Canadian is the weakest division AINEC.

Our division is the steadiest, the most evenly spread when it comes to 1st to 6th, and even 7-8 are not too far behind.

 

[bmoak]

I actually like the Dev's reverse retros.

 

[duhmetreE]

Strome playing like this without Panarin has really impressed me. He gets a lot of flack around here, but with Mika not himself he has stepped up. 8 points (3 G, 5 A) +6 in his last 6 games.

Kreider doesn't get enough credit for these things. I got shit for it 2-3 years ago, saying Kreider helps Zibs A LOT and he drives the line. He helps his center/linemates get into a groove and he creates a lot of space for them. I actually really like Kreider Strome Kakko. I'd keep them together

Zibs is still really struggling. I'd bump up Chytil with Laf and Buch. If Gauthier can replicate the speed down the wing, he could have the Kreider effect. Zibs needs to be taken off of PP1.

Kreider Strome Kakko
Laffy Chytil Buch
Lemmy Zibs Gauthier
Howden Rooney Blackwell

 

[duhmetreE]

someone mentioned Miller trucked Hughes? Anyone got a clip?

 

[Rongomania]

Glorious.

And Kakko hadn't played in 6 games and looked better than Hughes.

 

[smoneil]

Made me laugh out loud. That damn kick is pissing everyone off.

As someone who has torn multiple knee ligaments, I gotta tell you I cringe every time I see that kick. Scares the hell out of me.

 

[2014nyr]

We were said to be in a really tough division, but I don't know. Pittsburgh, NJ and Buffalo are not good at all. Well, Pittsburgh doesn't roll over, but they are far from "good". And all the others have issues. NYI, Washington, Boston and Philly -- we are hardly talking about dynasty level teams. Like Philly, what do they have? Is NYI good or do they just face weak opponents?

I think our division is the weakest in the NHL. We are having issues with the physical play so it might not fit us perfectly. But we should definitely be a PO team with the roster we have.

i dont know about weakest, but i do agree the reputation it gets as the best is probably not true. i think a lot of that was predicated on the assumption buffalo would be contending for a spot as well. theres definitely a case to be made for most competitive still, either this or the west. and every "top" east team has flaws for sure...but looking around the league, theres no one you can't say that about. i think what it is is in your traditional east, we ended up with a lot of the teams that would have made up the meat of the playoff squads, but probably not the 1 or 2 seed. for my money the team i've been most impressed with by the eyeball test is florida...big and fast and skilled. have 2 superstars. i think they, tampa, and carolina would be the class of the east this year. then toronto, and then 4 teams from our division.

as for us, i think we have no excuse to not be a playoff team talent wise. that said, the stars sort of aligned to put us at as big of a disadvantage as they probably could have to begin the season with the setup given the youth and new faces w/ a short camp/no preseason/division realignments. on top of that we've had a cruel run of injuries/virus/international affairs/the d'angelo situation continuously take top players / add off ice drama to deal with. we had our top c basically lose the ability to play hockey at all for most of the year. so to be where we are is really not bad at all, and quite honestly we should be in even better shape if not for some brutal luck in a few early games. i've long felt the b's and caps are teams primed to fade over the season - the sprint will season will be taxing on veteran teams into the finish. its on us to be consistent enough from here on out and i'm mildly optimistic we're really turning that corner. contextually speaking it would be hard to have expected much better to date, and i don't think its questionable that theres no team in the east with more potential marginal improvement btw now and seasons end

 

[duhmetreE]

At least Blackwell was taken off the PP in the 2nd half of the game... now onto Mika... He should not be leading forwards in PP ice time. It's borderline absurd that he is. Can we please make the simple and obvious choices. Play the hot hands.

 

[egelband]

The Devils guy is Un-cool-ikov.