Speculation: Roster Building Thread Part VII: Now with less frenzy!

[Inferno]

The forward group is mediocre, the defense is bad and the goalie is another year older...the head coach has no head coaching experience at the NHL level, a team that was the worst in the league after January 1, and only subtracted pieces, while not adding depth...boy does that scream team that fights for a playoff spot!

I don't think they're a playoff team...I just don't think they are the worst team in the nhl. I think you're grossly overrating some of the crap other teams throw out there. The isles finished like 2 points ahead of us..added 40 4th line players and lost their superstar franchise player...they're not finishing behind us.

Sens are a tire fire. The Habs don't have weber so a crap defesne is that much worse. One of the weakest center groups in the nhl. Their top forward is being forced off the team and their next 2 best forwards are pass first guys with nobody to pass to. They will live and die with Carey price.

The rangers are better than those teams. The Canucks lost the sedins and added 2 4th liners to big contracts.
They were already worse and got even more crappy.

Yours and sabres are t.b.d. I wonder a lot about the canes. Losing Skinner for nothing was dumb.

I think we're a bottom 10 team for sure...just not sure we're a bottom 3 or 5 team...I'm thinking more like 7th.

 

[RangerBoy]

The forward group is mediocre, the defense is bad and the goalie is another year older...the head coach has no head coaching experience at the NHL level, a team that was the worst in the league after January 1, and only subtracted pieces, while not adding depth...boy does that scream team that fights for a playoff spot!

Lundqvist also has a bad left knee. He injured that knee(grade 1 sprain of the MCL) in the 2017 World Championships. He re-injured the same knee in late October. The knee injury lingered during the entire season. Lundqvist received platelet-rich plasma treatment after the season. PRP injections. Does that stuff even work? PRP hasn't been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as being an effective treatment.

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

I’m in the minority, but I think Vancouver is clearly better than we are, on paper at least.

no way

the sedins may be old af but they were still big contributors. they’re a big loss.

their D is also questionable and their best blueliners (Edler and Tanev) are unreliable at best.

If Petersson bursts onto the scene, it might be a different story. We’ll see.

 

[Rongomania]

Do the Rangers end up with a better record if they play the prospects, or if they play the vets and leave the prospects down in the AHL? By vets I mean Holland, McLeod, Beleskey.

I guess I see it, I want the Rangers to have better lottery odds, I also want to see their better prospects yet those two things kind of contradict one another as I think their best prospects probably make the team a little better than they would be without them.

Since I think the lottery odds are more imperative, and I'm not sure the prospects are really ready anyway, and if they are not on the roster for 40 games they do not accrue a season towards UFA status, I kind of have to go with actually wanting to see Holland, McLeod, Beleskey make the roster since I can not have it both ways.

I like the idea that’s been floated around here recently by some - leave the kids in the A this year and build a winner by atmosphere there, it’s been too long and we’ve got a serious amount of kids who could use some time there.

Personally, I’d only keep a Lias, Chytil, Hajek, Lindgren, Day down there if they didn’t completely blow everyone’s mind in camp/preseason. Which I can see MAYBE 1F & 1D truly sticking. I am also in the camp of “Please let’s not fuc* these kids up completely by putting them on a dumpster fire NHL squad.”

So many question marks.

 

[Webster]

Here's Hank & Zucc in a fresh interview. Hank is talking about his meeting with Quinn, and also what they think about the future.

Thanks to foreverblueshirts.com for the translate.

https://foreverblueshirts.com/rangers-teammates-discusses-upcoming-season-from-norway/

 

[Ghost of jas]

I don't think they're a playoff team...I just don't think they are the worst team in the nhl. I think you're grossly overrating some of the crap other teams throw out there. The isles finished like 2 points ahead of us..added 40 4th line players and lost their superstar franchise player...they're not finishing behind us.

Sens are a tire fire. The Habs don't have weber so a crap defesne is that much worse. One of the weakest center groups in the nhl. Their top forward is being forced off the team and their next 2 best forwards are pass first guys with nobody to pass to. They will live and die with Carey price.

The rangers are better than those teams. The Canucks lost the sedins and added 2 4th liners to big contracts.
They were already worse and got even more crappy.

Yours and sabres are t.b.d. I wonder a lot about the canes. Losing Skinner for nothing was dumb.

I think we're a bottom 10 team for sure...just not sure we're a bottom 3 or 5 team...I'm thinking more like 7th.

And you’re overrating what the Rangers have in place. From January 1st they were the worst team in the league. They have done nothing to change any of that in the short term. They are easily bottom 5 and likely bottom 3.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Lundqvist also has a bad left knee. He injured that knee(grade 1 sprain of the MCL) in the 2017 World Championships. He re-injured the same knee in late October. The knee injury lingered during the entire season. Lundqvist received platelet-rich plasma treatment after the season. PRP injections. Does that stuff even work? PRP hasn't been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as being an effective treatment.

It works.

PRP doesn’t keep Father Time away though.

 

[SA16]

This team, as presently constructed, is nowhere near as bad as people think it is (or more likely, want it to be). I think they will be better than they were last year (provided we don't see significant players moved out prior to the start of the season).

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

This team, as presently constructed, is nowhere near as bad as people think it is (or more likely, want it to be). I think they will be better than they were last year (provided we don't see significant players moved out prior to the start of the season).

Tend to agree.

I think we’ll be closer to 8th than 15th. I know the thought of a 9th place finish terrifies people, but I just don’t see this roster being as bad as some think.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

This team, as presently constructed, is nowhere near as bad as people think it is (or more likely, want it to be). I think they will be better than they were last year (provided we don't see significant players moved out prior to the start of the season).

Better than being the worst team in the league, which they were after the turn of the new year? Sure, I agree with this.

Playoff contending gonna surprise everyone cuz Vegas did it and everyone is going to play with a chip on their shoulder? We have a better shot at finishing last.

We have a bottom 10 offense, a bottom 5 (or worse) defense and a top 10 goalie who has played a ton of hockey and is 36.

 

[Cag29]

Tend to agree.

I think we’ll be closer to 8th than 15th. I know the thought of a 9th place finish terrifies people, but I just don’t see this roster being as bad as some think.

A ninth place finish does us no good. You get a good prospect but a bottom 3 finish you get a great prospect. And that’s the Rangers problem all along. Mediocrity.
Pens bottom out they get super Mario and Syd the kid and JJ. 3 generational talents
It really makes a difference.
Adding Jack Hughes to this group we now have would be incredible and worth going thru a tough season. IMHO.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Tend to agree.

I think we’ll be closer to 8th than 15th. I know the thought of a 9th place finish terrifies people, but I just don’t see this roster being as bad as some think.

About a half dozen things would have to go right for that to even be possible IMO.

Only 1 or 2 things would have to go wrong to see them be a bottom 5 team - and that’s not including losing hank for long term or a drastic drop in his play.

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

play vets, shelter kids = ouch = top 3 lottery odds

KZB
Spooner Hayes Zucc
Vesey Nam Fast
Nieves holland Beleskey
McCorsi

Skjei Shatty
Staal Smith
Claesson Postma/Franson
Kampfer

 

[RangerBoy]

The Rangers had 77 points last season. 8th worst overall. 5th and 6th were tied with 73 points. The Rangers weren't that far away from a bottom 5 finish. The Rangers were motivated after the letter and after the trading deadline. They beat Calgary, Winnipeg,(after the letter) Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton(after the deadline). If they don't get all 10 points out of those games, the Rangers would have been a bottom 5 team last season. The Rangers went 0-6-1 because those two winning streaks.

The D is awful. Staal stinks. He was better last season which isn't saying much. Smith stinks. He lost 15 pounds this summer. I am sure we will hear about that 15 minutes per pre-season broadcast next month. Hopefully,Sammy is more coherent this September and doesn't wonder why OT is 3 on 3. Smith still stinks. Skjei needs to be much better. Shattenkirk needs to be healthy. The Rangers lied about the seriousness of his knee surgery. He was supposed to be back before the end of the regular season. Shattenkirk shut down his comeback after experiencing knee soreness. Even if Shattenkirk is healthy, he is not making much of a difference by himself.

Brooks wrote this in late June

Kevin Shattenkirk has begun skating while continuing his rehab from the left knee surgery he underwent in January that sidelined him for the remainder of the season. The defenseman, who is getting married in a few weeks, is expected to be unencumbered when training camp commences in September.

https://nypost.com/2018/06/28/rangers-eyeing-veteran-golden-knights-bruiser-in-free-agency/

5 months after the surgery,Shattenkirk has started skating. It was supposed to a 6-8 week injury.

The rest of the D is Pionk who was good at times last season. ADA. Who knows about that guy. Claesson. Gilmour. O'Gara. Hajek and Lindgren will probably need AHL time. Maybe the Rangers bring them up in the 2nd half of the season. Kampfer. Anyone else?

 

[Ghost of jas]

Better than being the worst team in the league, which they were after the turn of the new year? Sure, I agree with this.

Playoff contending gonna surprise everyone cuz Vegas did it and everyone is going to play with a chip on their shoulder? We have a better shot at finishing last.

We have a bottom 10 offense, a bottom 5 (or worse) defense and a top 10 goalie who has played a ton of hockey and is 36.

This roster has not one player who’s reached the 30 goal plateau, only one player whoever reached 60+ points, and whole lot of ‘if’, that also lost a 27 goal scorer from the bottom six. There’s a lot of ‘meh’ in the forward group. The defense is even worse. And, what no one can address is the absolute lack of depth. They had to play the likes of O‘Gara and Gilmour is the excuse for reason the defense was bad last year. You know what? That’s what thry’ll have to do this year, too, when injuries hit. But, ‘youth’, as if no one else is adding youth.

 

[redwhiteandblue]

And you’re overrating what the Rangers have in place. From January 1st they were the worst team in the league. They have done nothing to change any of that in the short term. They are easily bottom 5 and likely bottom 3.

I think it's pretty fair to say that by January 1st the team had given up on AV. There's a reason he's gone.

 

[Off Sides]

play vets, shelter kids = ouch = top 3 lottery odds

KZB
Spooner Hayes Zucc
Vesey Nam Fast
Nieves holland Beleskey
McCorsi

Skjei Shatty
Staal Smith
Claesson Postma/Franson
Kampfer

That is pretty close to how I'd go but would not be adding in anyone.

Something like

Zbad, Hayes, Name, Holland, Kreider, Zucc, Buch, Spooner, Fast, Vesey, Beleskey, McLeod (12)

Shattenkirk, Pionk, ADA, Skjei, Smith, Staal, Claesson, Kampfer (8)

Nieves, Lettieri, Bigras, O'Gara are the call-ups or if they beat out Beleskey, Holland, Kampfer, Claesson they do, or one of the forwards becomes the 13th F.

Goalies, for betterment of the AHL team, maybe keep up Mazanec over Georgiev?

I think the AHL roster would be pretty good. If they are not so good it's probably time to see what is going wrong down there.

I know that looks like a tank roster and it is, also kind of odd to to say they are rebuilding without any of their best prospects on the team, but if they sell it as for the betterment of the AHL team, not having to waive players, prospects just not quite ready, I think they could improve the optics of it.

 

[eco's bones]

This roster has not one player who’s reached the 30 goal plateau, only one player whoever reached 60+ points, and whole lot of ‘if’, that also lost a 27 goal scorer from the bottom six. There’s a lot of ‘meh’ in the forward group. The defense is even worse. And, what no one can address is the absolute lack of depth. They had to play the likes of O‘Gara and Gilmour is the excuse for reason the defense was bad last year. You know what? That’s what thry’ll have to do this year, too, when injuries hit. But, ‘youth’, as if no one else is adding youth.

There is that.....and pretty much all that is true.

OTOH the Rangers are counting on some guys taking another step. Like Zibanejad, Buchnevich, Kreider for instance. One would think Namestnikov will be a better player for us than he was. How ready to be NHL'ers will Chytil and Andersson be? One would hope that Andersson is going to be a lot better after a summer where he wasn't running all over the place. But if most of that hopeful kind of stuff doesn't happen we will be really bad.

The defense is a mess too. Shattenkirk as a 2RD and Skjei as a 2LD would be very workable. After that it's all a ?

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

I think it's pretty fair to say that by January 1st the team had given up on AV. There's a reason he's gone.

They were playing shitty hockey well before that.

 

[Ghost of jas]

There is that.....and pretty much all that is true.

OTOH the Rangers are counting on some guys taking another step. Like Zibanejad, Buchnevich, Kreider for instance. One would think Namestnikov will be a better player for us than he was. How ready to be NHL'ers will Chytil and Andersson be? One would hope that Andersson is going to be a lot better after a summer where he wasn't running all over the place. But if most of that hopeful kind of stuff doesn't happen we will be really bad.

The defense is a mess too. Shattenkirk as a 2RD and Skjei as a 2LD would be very workable. After that it's all a ?

Exactly. There are a lot of questions. And even if a lot of questions get answered positively, that still doesn’t mean it will be reflected in the record necessarily being better.

 

[offdacrossbar]

love this discussion.

this team isnt any where near as bad as most here think. now having said that, they are not constructed to make the playoffs either. too many other teams that are better and too many ?? at this point to pencil them anywhere but outside looking in.

quin will make a difference. a new staff and a new approach to playing defense will make a difference too. i think this team will play a different game this year. AV being gone is a huge addition by subtraction.

this defense looks sketchy but, and its a big but, if shatty is healthy and plays alot of minutes with skjei, thats your first pair right there. staal and smith make a decent 2nd pair. staal actually played better last season. the 3rd pair is unknown but theres something there that will form a decent 3rd pair. this whole group can skate. theres really no dogs that will lumber around. they all move the puck pretty well too-s and staal who handles the puck like a live rattle snake.

where will the goals come from ? thats my question. the top 9 isnt on par with other playoff teams.

hank, if healthy, will be ready. he's a warrior and will give his 110% but his emotions and pride seem to get in his way sometimes. georgie needs to have another solid season.

this is a bubble team. right now, they are likely out but they arent a bottom 3 team. no way.

 

[Beer League Sniper]

Lundqvist also has a bad left knee. He injured that knee(grade 1 sprain of the MCL) in the 2017 World Championships. He re-injured the same knee in late October. The knee injury lingered during the entire season. Lundqvist received platelet-rich plasma treatment after the season. PRP injections. Does that stuff even work? PRP hasn't been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as being an effective treatment.

Every year under AV, the team got worse at suppressing high-danger scoring chances. We were at the very bottom of the league by the time he was finally fired.

Even with getting shelled every game, and a bum knee, Hank's SV% was still .915. With a competent defensive system, I don't see any way this team finishes near the bottom of the league. We may not make the playoffs, but I just don't see a bottom-5 finish. I think we'll finish higher than last season.

 

[SA16]

Why is ever rebuttal "they had the worst record after the new year"? Using arbitrary endpoints to argue a point really doesn't tell you anything. If you're using that then I could say "but they were 21-13-5 through 1/1 so clearly they have talent and can perform when healthy and now they've added a new coach when the old one was widely considered to be detrimental" and it would be almost just as meaningful.

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

A ninth place finish does us no good. You get a good prospect but a bottom 3 finish you get a great prospect. And that’s the Rangers problem all along. Mediocrity.
Pens bottom out they get super Mario and Syd the kid and JJ. 3 generational talents
It really makes a difference.
Adding Jack Hughes to this group we now have would be incredible and worth going thru a tough season. IMHO.

Of course it would be incredible.

Unfortunately we can’t intentionally finish last to get him like the Pens did with Lemieux.

It all comes down to luck. Even if we finish last, we have an 82% chance of NOT getting 1st overall. So, relying on first overall picks to build a championship team is a fool’s errand. That should not be the goal or focus.

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

In the current draft format, planning to build your team around top-2 picks is akin to trying to pay your rent with lottery tickets. If you win, everything is perfect, but if you don’t, you just wasted a shit ton of time and money for the $50 bonus.