Did anyone catch the Dave Maloney and Kenny Albert interview with Jeff Gorton on Wednesday night between first and second period?
Maloney sent out a tweet before the game and I listened to it. I have tried to find a clip on post here but they didn’t post it anywhere.
It was a good listen. A good % of the 17 minute intermission.
Gorton was asked about the status of the rebuild. Gorton said the plan is for the Rangers to be a good team for a every long time. Not one of these teams which is good for a few years and then has to retool again. The Rangers have traded away so many good players and people but it was necessary. He mentioned a few of them.
Gorton likes Chytil at center. He has more room to skate and create.
They like Georgiev’s progress. Gorton said now is the right age for Shestyorkin to come over to the NHL. Same age as when Hank came to New York. The Rangers will see how much of an adjustment Shestyorkin has to make to playing in North America. He didn’t say anything about trading Georgiev. They didn’t ask him.
He was asked about the three first round picks from last June. They want Kravstov here for next season. They really like the progress made by Miller at Wisconsin. Gorton compared Lundkvist to Stralman. They hope Miller and Lundkvist can be a top pairing for the Rangers in the future.
Maloney asked about free agency. Gorton said the Rangers are looking for veteran character players to help the young players play the right way.
Everything was about the long term. Be patient with this player and that player. Waiting for the young players to develop. He didn’t sound like someone eager to accelerate the rebuild with a huge free agent signing. Time will tell.
To me that all makes perfect sense.
I think they did accelerate the rebuild by selling stuff before it was not worth anything. In that process he added extra picks to their own, added a couple younger on the cusp prospects, stuff a team who waits too long to rebuild has trouble doing.
They seem to have maybe found something in ADA, Buch, where they have the talent to play above the 3rd pair, 3rd line, some of the prospects look, well promising.
Why not keep on that track and see what comes out of it all?
In the mean time they are not in danger of losing anything important to expansion, they can see what happens with the CBA, whether opt out or natural end, see what changes are made and adjust accordingly.
2021 Four of the biggest contracts on the team go away if not before hand. Same off-season is the first round of entry level contracts ending.
How flexible can they be that off-season? I'd say almost completely as long as they keep enough in reserves to make the next couple rounds of entry level contracts happen.
Between now and then need be, sign some older vets to contracts that do not go beyond the 2021 off-season. If they have to overpay on the cap hits so be it. If those players can be sold the same deadline as Shattenkirk, Staal, Smith, awesome that is a bonus, if not they all end that off-season.
Rangers get their mentoring/shielding vets who are not good enough to really change their draft position all that much, they see what all this youth does and does not do in between, and they are set up cap structure wise to make tons of choices in the 2021 off-season and beyond. If by that point they need to add some UFAs, or make some hockey trades they will be in great position to do so. If some trade comes up between now and then where a good younger player is on the block, they can look into that as well.
The concerns I still have should they do that,
The ceilings of the current NHL/AHL prospects, I'm patient and all yet it sure would be nice to see some more glimpses of good plays out of them. Some have shown more than others, I think that is normal, yet again, would just be nice to see more promise.
Their drafting, it is of the utmost importance they get it right. They have the ammo to do so, trust factor has to come into play. They need to get some elite/near elite stuff out of that. If they have to trade up to get those talents, whatever they have to do has to be done or else pretty much this is all for naught. High ceilings over high floors I believe needs to apply.
The AHL environment, I don't get to see the games so I do not have much insight yet it seems from an outside perspective they should be doing better.
My biggest concern is probably whether or not the organization has the patience to see it through. It's going to be bad for a couple seasons, progress is not linear, is there a breaking point there where they decide to rush it?
Temptations will arise, even right now with a couple expensive UFA on the market, some trade may present itself where it's close but just not quite the right fit, can they resist? Can they set limits on offers and just stick to them?
What becomes of the 3 NHL goalies situation should Shestyorkin come over? Can they they give him and Georgiev enough games, and still keep Lundqvist somewhat happy or is the idea to have him play less and less to the point maybe he starts to think about retiring instead of staying around for his last contract year?
Even once beyond that I question their pro NHL scouting somewhat, I mean they traded for and signed Smith, they signed Shattenkirk, is there something wrong with their NHL player evaluations? Yet on the flip side they also traded for Zbad, Strome, which were pretty savvy moves. Perhaps they need to figure out a way to differential between what is worthwhile and what is not. That mini odd retool thing with the whole Girardi buy-out, Stepan trade, still confuses me as to what their intentions were. Is there a faction within management who still thinks retooling is possible or was that a compromise that had to be made among management which has now past with the letter?
All in all I do think this can work, eventually make them a really solid team that can contend, yet to beat out the other contenders who they'll face in the playoffs, they are going to need some elite/near elite stuff just as the other contenders have. Some luck, good scouting, patience and I think they can get that stuff, yet until that happens and develops that is still going to be the big question mark.
I like what they are doing, I'm hoping all of management and ownership is also supporting it, comprehends how long the process can take even in the face of possible declining financial indicators, understands there are no guarantees only better and worse odds, and they have the right talent evaluation people in the right places.
I guess we'll see what they do, yet I'm far more optimistic about this direction should they stick with it than I was during any other era which was built around two or three big names.
