Roster Building Thread IV (2022-23): Luck of the Irish

[Machinehead]

Fast I'll give you. Worked with Panarin and did all of the extra things without being bad. Always was an x-factor in the playoffs.

Buchnevich is heavily romanticized since he's was traded because people need to torture themselves. Don't get me wrong, he's a very good player, but he forced dumb backhand passes and completely disappeared for stretches when he was here. 1 goal in 20 playoff games. Every complaint about Panarin/Zibanejad/Kreider, now Kane, he does it.

If anything, Buchnevich is an example of what our forwards could be if they got away from this f***ing caveman ass team.

 

[Avery16]

We didn't 'empty the cupboard' at the deadline. But we have weakened the pipeline

View attachment 664259

The combination of the Nash, Yandle, and MSL trades bankrupted the Rangers. No first round picks in four years.

NYR will run for the cup this season and then evaluate the roster based on the performances. Tarasenko and Kane should be able to get NYR back mid round picks for early negotiating rights.

Scouting is getting more and more efficient and so the number of freebie players who slip through the cracks is slipping. This is one of the reasons why Jones, Schneider, Othmann, Cuylle's development matters. Berard obviously has had a down season offensively but he still has bottom 6 energy forward material.e

yikes

 

[Machinehead]

How long does it take for a broken finger to heal?

He's fine. You wouldn't even know about this if it happened in the playoffs and guys have played the entire playoffs through worse.

In the playoffs, Lindgren would have come right back out for his next shift.

We're being conservative and so are the Leafs, as they should.

 

[Machinehead]

We always have to be mindful that what players are elsewhere is not what they would be on the Rangers.

Maybe Tim Stutzle is just a better player than Lafreniere and that's life, but if you think he would be Tim Stutzle on the Rangers, I don't know what to tell you.

First of all, he'd be playing wing. His draft year, we have Zibanejad, fair enough. Panarin and Strome are like the f***ing Beatles but better so we can't break them up. Chytil has more 'sperience playing the "hard position," so, sorry kid, you're at wing. He'd still be at wing. We move on from Strome. Stuztle can't play with Panarin, because that's way too much flippy-do on one line (that's probably true actually). Zibanejad and Kreider are like the Rolling Stones but better, so he can't center Kreider. Chytil still has more experience playing "such a hard position."

So he's at wing. Where is he playing his draft year? Over Kreider? Over Panarin? Over Buchnevich? Over Fast who had to babysit the Beatles?

Not to mention, Stutzle is great, but he f***ing eats paint chips defensively. Was that going to fly with either David Quinn or Uncle Fester? Or Jim Dolan who wants to compete yesterday? His fangle dangles would have been reigned in to be in the right position and hit.

Not to make a litany of excuses for Lafreniere again. He's had a lot more time this year and his lack of improvement on the basics is ridiculous, but tell me where I'm wrong on how we would have f***ed around Stutzle.

Buchnevich on the Rangers was never going to be Buchnevich on the Blues.

 

[Fitzy]

The team is going to look better just by virtue of having our 2nd best defenseman back from suspension and our 4th best back from injury.

 

[UnSandvich]

We always have to be mindful that what players are elsewhere is not what they would be on the Rangers.

Maybe Tim Stutzle is just a better player than Lafreniere and that's life, but if you think he would be Tim Stutzle on the Rangers, I don't know what to tell you.

First of all, he'd be playing wing. His draft year, we have Zibanejad, fair enough. Panarin and Strome are like the f***ing Beatles but better so we can't break them up. Chytil has more 'sperience playing the "hard position," so, sorry kid, you're at wing. He'd still be at wing. We move on from Strome. Stuztle can't play with Panarin, because that's way too much flippy-do on one line (that's probably true actually). Zibanejad and Kreider are like the Rolling Stones but better, so he can't center Kreider. Chytil still has more experience playing "such a hard position."

So he's at wing. Where is he playing his draft year? Over Kreider? Over Panarin? Over Buchnevich? Over Fast who had to babysit the Beatles?

Not to mention, Stutzle is great, but he f***ing eats paint chips defensively. Was that going to fly with either David Quinn or Uncle Fester? Or Jim Dolan who wants to compete yesterday? His fangle dangles would have been reigned in to be in the right position and hit.

Not to make a litany of excuses for Lafreniere again. He's had a lot more time this year and his lack of improvement on the basics is ridiculous, but tell me where I'm wrong on how we would have f***ed around Stutzle.

Buchnevich on the Rangers was never going to be Buchnevich on the Blues.

The only part of this I really disagree with is the last line. KZB was dependable enough that even coach caveman probably would’ve stuck to it.

Also tbh, with Laf it really strikes me as a confidence thing more than anything else. When he’s tentative out there he looks like trash, but when he’s playing like he means business he’s one of our better F’s

 

[The Gloaming]

It is true though. The Rangers develop cavemen while other teams develop scorers. That's why we always have to go and get developed scorers from other teams.

Fox is a f***in unicorn.

 

[Profet]

We always have to be mindful that what players are elsewhere is not what they would be on the Rangers.

Maybe Tim Stutzle is just a better player than Lafreniere and that's life, but if you think he would be Tim Stutzle on the Rangers, I don't know what to tell you.

First of all, he'd be playing wing. His draft year, we have Zibanejad, fair enough. Panarin and Strome are like the f***ing Beatles but better so we can't break them up. Chytil has more 'sperience playing the "hard position," so, sorry kid, you're at wing. He'd still be at wing. We move on from Strome. Stuztle can't play with Panarin, because that's way too much flippy-do on one line (that's probably true actually). Zibanejad and Kreider are like the Rolling Stones but better, so he can't center Kreider. Chytil still has more experience playing "such a hard position."

So he's at wing. Where is he playing his draft year? Over Kreider? Over Panarin? Over Buchnevich? Over Fast who had to babysit the Beatles?

Not to mention, Stutzle is great, but he f***ing eats paint chips defensively. Was that going to fly with either David Quinn or Uncle Fester? Or Jim Dolan who wants to compete yesterday? His fangle dangles would have been reigned in to be in the right position and hit.

Not to make a litany of excuses for Lafreniere again. He's had a lot more time this year and his lack of improvement on the basics is ridiculous, but tell me where I'm wrong on how we would have f***ed around Stutzle.

Buchnevich on the Rangers was never going to be Buchnevich on the Blues.

We never got the X's/O's coach. So this window is doomed for failure.

Doomed... Doomed I say...

 

[Machinehead]

The only part of this I really disagree with is the last line. KZB was dependable enough that even coach caveman probably would’ve stuck to it.

Also tbh, with Laf it really strikes me as a confidence thing more than anything else. When he’s tentative out there he looks like trash, but when he’s playing like he means business he’s one of our better F’s

I'm not saying they wouldn't have given Buchnevich plenty of ice time but he was annoying on the Rangers like all of our forwards are annoying.

I think people just discard from their memories how annoying he is.

If he was as great here as he's been there, they wouldn't have traded him.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

I'm not saying they wouldn't have given Buchnevich plenty of ice time but he was annoying on the Rangers like all of our forwards are annoying.

I think people just discard from their memories how annoying he is.

If he was as great here as he's been there, they wouldn't have traded him.

The Buchnevich people also do not want to acknowledge just how meh he was during St Louis' run in the playoffs last year.

The stat line looked a lot better than he was as he picked up a bunch of points for basically touching the puck and existing while other guys did all the work. It wasn't Zuccarello bad, but it was pretty bad.

 

[Machinehead]

It is true though. The Rangers develop cavemen while other teams develop scorers. That's why we always have to go and get developed scorers from other teams.

Fox is a f***in unicorn.

Fox is a unicorn, for sure.

He's not the only one. Zibanejad exploded here and I have a hard time believing Kreider has a better career anywhere else.

We have a type and those guys work here - big, toolsy athletes, not really relying on skill or playing with speed (I'm talking rushing and passing speed, not sprinting like Kreider), and even then, they're late bloomers. Chytil fits the mold of a good athlete who's not exactly The Hands and I think he's trending fine for the prospect he was.

Lafreniere and Kakko are big but they're not stallion athletes like Zibanejad and Kreider. They're skill players. This team just seems to pulverize skill. The guys that have it (Panarin, Buchnevich) are on an island and they're forced to either adapt to the style or just start passing and praying. Eventually they get through, and you take the points with bad.

Now with Kane, I would argue he was always that and that's just the player he is.

 

[Fitzy]

If Fox played on the Oilers he’d be scoring 100 points a season

 

[Leonardo87]

Fox is a unicorn, for sure.

He's not the only one. Zibanejad exploded here and I have a hard time believing Kreider has a better career anywhere else.

We have a type and those guys work here - big, toolsy athletes, not really relying on skill or playing with speed (I'm talking rushing and passing speed, not sprinting like Kreider), and even then, they're late bloomers. Chytil fits the mold of a good athlete who's not exactly The Hands and I think he's trending fine for the prospect he was.

Lafreniere and Kakko are big but they're not stallion athletes like Zibanejad and Kreider. They're skill players. This team just seems to pulverize skill. The guys that have it (Panarin, Buchnevich) are on an island and they're forced to either adapt to the style or just start passing and praying. Eventually they get through, and you take the points with bad.

Now with Kane, I would argue he was always that and that's just the player he is.

I think Laf and Kakko will be good players but nothing to the hype of their draft year. Is it the Rangers organization's fault or were they just overhyped and players like Stutzle are just better?

People throw Kreider under the bus, dude had a 50+ goal season last year, is pacing for over 35+ goals this year with a 60 point pace, and he was a drafted homegrown Ranger. He should get more respect from the fans, imho.

Also, Good point with Mika, he was a 2C in Ottawa, exploded here and has become one of the top 1C's in the league.

 

[haohmaru]

If Fox played on the Oilers he’d be scoring 100 points a season

And their D would be a hell of a lot better.

 

[Machinehead]

I think Laf and Kakko will be good players but nothing to the hype of their draft year. Is it the Rangers organization's fault or were they just overhyped and players like Stutzle are just better?

People throw Kreider under the bus, dude had a 50+ goal season last year, is pacing for over 35+ goals this year with a 60 point pace, and he was a drafted homegrown Ranger. He should get more respect from the fans, imho.

Also, Good point with Mika, he was a 2C in Ottawa, exploded here and has become one of the top 1C's in the league.

It's impossible to say because obviously, we'll never get a sample of them elsewhere at this age.

What I do know is, it's not like Lafreniere was just the favorite to go 1OA. Tim Stutzle's mom would have taken Lafreniere first. Throw Kakko into the mix, who was closer to Hughes than 3OA was to Kakko, and I find it hard to believe that every scout f***ed it up that bad twice.

A point that's been bandied about recently that I think is so on the nose, is that the Rangers have the hard stuff that other teams wish they could do down, and can't do the easy stuff.

They hid Zibanejad's weaknesses and turned him into the big-body 1C that everyone craves. They took a phenomenal athlete but limited hockey player in Kreider and it was like "here's exactly how you adapt this into being a star." K'Andre Miller is right in that cohort of profiles the Rangers succeed with and it's insane that he's played 195 NHL games already considering what a project he was. I would go so far as to say most teams don't have Miller this far along.

Meanwhile, our consensus 1OA and 2OA picks can't receive a pass.

Like, literally do we just need to work on basics more? I often wonder.

 

[Hire Sather]

He's fine. You wouldn't even know about this if it happened in the playoffs and guys have played the entire playoffs through worse.

In the playoffs, Lindgren would have come right back out for his next shift.

We're being conservative and so are the Leafs, as they should.

Don't think we're being conservative enough. Lindgren should've been LTIRed already and we wouldn't be playing 1-2 short for so long

 

[Crease]

Don't think we're being conservative enough. Lindgren should've been LTIRed already and we wouldn't be playing 1-2 short for so long

I have been wondering if the league is not allowing the Rangers to LTIR Lindgren (or at least grant them the temporary cap relief that comes with LTIR) for the same reason they declined to allow an emergency recall—the Rangers had cap space to recall a defenseman from the AHL when Lindgren got hurt, but they chose to use that cap space to acquire Kane instead.

 

[IDvsEGO]

How long does it take for a broken finger to heal?

Somewhere between 4-8 weeks depending on the type of break.

 

[GAGLine]

I have been wondering if the league is not allowing the Rangers to LTIR Lindgren (or at least grant them the temporary cap relief that comes with LTIR) for the same reason they declined to allow an emergency recall—the Rangers had cap space to recall a defenseman from the AHL when Lindgren got hurt, but they chose to use that cap space to acquire Kane instead.

No. It's entirely the Rangers' choice not to LTIR him.

 

[Guyute]

Defense leads to offense. Y’all saying we suck at offense are on crack. When we finally have the puck in the offensive zone or on the rush, we get shit tons of high quality chances.

We make dumb high chance plays in the D or neutral zone that leads to a turnover and gives the other team a free zone entry with possession. We spend an insane amount of time trying to get the puck back, and by the time we do, our extremely gifted forwards have nothing to do but dump and change.

Honestly, Torts hockey with this group would be very successful imo. If we avoided making the dumbest and laziest mistakes, we would have the puck way more often.

 

[effen]

Machinehead you're way over thinking this. Laf and Kakko are disappointing because they aren't plus skaters and the only way to be a top end youngster and be an average or worse skater is to have god tier hands, strength, and offensive zone sense like Robertson or Draisaitl.

Stutzle, Hughes , Raymond, whoever, they all can really get where they need to via skating. Laf and Kakko can't. Byfield can't either and guess what, he sucks too. Scouts miss on 3 guys?

Sometimes its that simple.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

People gotta find something else to do than pile on the kids, they're log jammed behind high level players in their prime on a team with cup aspirations. If Laf was on pp1and getting top 6 mins he would likely be running close to s point a game and nobody would be saying a word.

 

[egelband]

Of course there is a lot of doom and gloom around here, but im gonna try to stay positive.

The way I see it - The Rangers need some time off, get some practices in, get out on the road as a group (good timing) and figure out some things like the PP.

I was encouraged to see some decent things in the first 40 minutes in the game against Boston. Closest thing to a playoff style I've seen from them in a while.

With that said my keys to the final 20 games

• Get the PP working again. This will be uber important, a hot PP could do wonders in the postseason. No doubt they have the personnel. They need to guard against overpassing and keep it simple. Utilize Kreider more. Doing so puts the focus where it should be - to the net.

• Build more of an identity/find a role for each line. Mikas line needs to be a strong two way line that can match up against the other teams best. Breads line needs to be creative while managing the puck. Kid line can be a strong forechecking line that hems the other team in their zone and also finish checks. 4th line forechecks and can be strong defensively. Clear roles contribute to common goal.

• Play within yourself. There is pretty diverse set of skilled players. I firmly believe that if everyone raises their level of focus and plays to their strengths this team is very difficult to beat. Be a team, but also provide the best that you can provide instead of differing to each other all the time. Its a mindset they need to do a better job of controlling.

• Igor needs to find his game, but he needs help. I see little improvements in his game, but the team has to rally around him and give him some easy nights going forward. He could use a shutout or two. A 1 goal against game or two. Go in with that mentality of lifting him up and his game will follow.

• Patience. I saw a little bit of it in the Boston game. They have to be ok with letting the game come to them and attack. When they are out of sorts they are forcing passes and coverages in the D zone. There needs to be a calmer, long approach to games with a greater patience. They have the skill to do this.

The funny thing is all 5 of these things go on between the ears. They have enough skill in all areas to go places.

Excellent. I’d also add, as @leetch99 mentioned as well, the forwards as a group need to attack the net more frequently. Not even every shift. But enough to keep the defense on the back foot.

 

[duhmetreE]

Machinehead you're way over thinking this. Laf and Kakko are disappointing because they aren't plus skaters and the only way to be a top end youngster and be an average or worse skater is to have god tier hands, strength, and offensive zone sense like Robertson or Draisaitl.

Stutzle, Hughes , Raymond, whoever, they all can really get where they need to via skating. Laf and Kakko can't. Byfield can't either and guess what, he sucks too. Scouts miss on 3 guys?

Sometimes its that simple.

I refuse to believe we finally get a #1 and #2 pick and they're bottom6 grinders.

I wont allow it

 

[Machinehead]

Machinehead you're way over thinking this. Laf and Kakko are disappointing because they aren't plus skaters and the only way to be a top end youngster and be an average or worse skater is to have god tier hands, strength, and offensive zone sense like Robertson or Draisaitl.

Stutzle, Hughes , Raymond, whoever, they all can really get where they need to via skating. Laf and Kakko can't. Byfield can't either and guess what, he sucks too. Scouts miss on 3 guys?

Sometimes its that simple.

Not this badly.

They were slam dunk picks and they're not even really decent in the NHL so far.

Their lack of speed never held them back at lower levels.

I don't believe Robertson is fundamentally more capable than Lafreniere and Draisaitl is a complete lummox.

You can absolutely succeed in the NHL not being a plus skater.

Adam Fox isn't a plus skater and he's an all-world defenseman in the fastest NHL ever. Patrice Bergeron isn't a plus skater and he's still the best 5v5 player in the league at 37.

Joe Pavelski honest-to-God CAN'T skate. He's 5'11". He's 38 years old. Nobody will accuse him of having "God tier" hands. 55 points in 63 games this year.

The skating is a complete copout.