Player Discussion: Ryan McDonagh

[FIRE DRURY]

McDonagh has played great this round, he clicks well with Stralman

McD played his best hockey when he was paired with Stralman in NY. Playing with Girardi was like putting a muzzle on his skill set. He excels with a mobile partner that can pass and receive the puck.

 

[FIRE DRURY]

I wonder what kind of money he is going to want next contract

He’ll definitely sign with TB for less than most other teams when you consider the tax savings, familiarity with his peers, and a winning culture. I think 7x7 gets it done. Whether SY can make that investment is a different question.

McDonagh is such a competitive player that I can’t see him chasing the biggest payday on the market to play for a **** team.

 

[FIRE DRURY]

My main reason for lurking here was to see how you guys felt about McD. Very pleased to see him contributing. He’s a likable player who I’d love to see hoist the cup. Girardi too.

Those guys were warriors for us for a long ass time. Most NYR fans have a tremendous amount of respect for those guys. Seeing Cally, Stralman and JT win a Cup would also be pleasing.

Good luck in the second round.

 

[More 2004]

My main reason for lurking here was to see how you guys felt about McD. Very pleased to see him contributing. He’s a likable player who I’d love to see hoist the cup. Girardi too.

Those guys were warriors for us for a long ass time. Most NYR fans have a tremendous amount of respect for those guys. Seeing Cally, Stralman and JT win a Cup would also be pleasing.

Good luck in the second round.

Appreciated. How did you feel about Miller? Surprised to see how well he has fit in here? (And a playoff goal)

 

[FIRE DRURY]

Appreciated. How did you feel about Miller? Surprised to see how well he has fit in here? (And a playoff goal)

Not one bit surprised with JT. He turned 25 a month ago. I think a player like Miller is going to peak later in his career, opposed to some players (forwards specifically) that peak earlier.

I think NY was a good fit for him. I don’t think Alain Vigneault was the right coach for him though. It seemed a lot of players just kind of gave up with AV. Miller and Buchnevich specifically.

He’s not a lovable personality. He comes off as kind of a dick. You know what though? You need players like that on your team imo.

The Rangers under Vigneault were softer than wet toilet player. Miller has the size and demeanor to play a more aggressive role. He never really got that opportunity here.

Has he been getting into scrums during games? His playmaking ability is an aspect that’s kind of underrated imo. When he starts gelling you’ll see more wtf did he just do kind of plays.

The Namestnikov/Miller swap we made is the only aspect I absolutely hate. The trade might not have happened without that though.

Win the cup please. We could use another 1st round to accelerate our rebuild

 

[VoluntaryDom]

Not one bit surprised with JT. He turned 25 a month ago. I think a player like Miller is going to peak later in his career, opposed to some players (forwards specifically) that peak earlier.

I think NY was a good fit for him. I don’t think Alain Vigneault was the right coach for him though. It seemed a lot of players just kind of gave up with AV. Miller and Buchnevich specifically.

He’s not a lovable personality. He comes off as kind of a dick. You know what though? You need players like that on your team imo.

The Rangers under Vigneault were softer than wet toilet player. Miller has the size and demeanor to play a more aggressive role. He never really got that opportunity here.

Has he been getting into scrums during games? His playmaking ability is an aspect that’s kind of underrated imo. When he starts gelling you’ll see more wtf did he just do kind of plays.

The Namestnikov/Miller swap we made is the only aspect I absolutely hate. The trade might not have happened without that though.

Win the cup please. We could use another 1st round to accelerate our rebuild

Miller has been phenomenal here. Couldn’t ask for more.

 

[Stormbreaker]

 

[Stammertime91]

I thought McDonagh was very good this round. Certainly makes some mistakes but he's like having a light version of Hedman out there that other teams would be icing to shut down our top lines...yet he's on our 2nd pairing. He came up with some big blocks, few nice hits and made quite a few nice interceptions that were key. That 2 on 1 in the 3rd I think where he got a piece of it...not to knock Coburn but imagine if that was him? Or Sustr? Or Dotchin? Yeah...

 

[LonLon Lei]

I thought McDonagh was very good this round. Certainly makes some mistakes but he's like having a light version of Hedman out there that other teams would be icing to shut down our top lines...yet he's on our 2nd pairing. He came up with some big blocks, few nice hits and made quite a few nice interceptions that were key. That 2 on 1 in the 3rd I think where he got a piece of it...not to knock Coburn but imagine if that was him? Or Sustr? Or Dotchin? Yeah...

This?

would like to see him clear a few bonehead plays and his offense show up more cuz he can, but considering the amount of task he and Strals were asked to do(more than Heddy I Think) he certainly has helped the team a lot so far.
Both Point and 27-6 pair's response after the bad game (happened in the 1st round, too) was really encouraging.

 

[These Are The Days]

Lol judging by his affect he almost seems bummed out. He will never top Connolly though. That guy talks like his dog just got put down

 

[Steazy Doo]

Lol judging by his affect he almost seems bummed out. He will never top Connolly though. That guy talks like his dog just put down

Just put down what? An bone?

 

[These Are The Days]

Just put down what? An bone?

An edit cuz Sunny be on his phone and be an erroring

 

[Steazy Doo]

An edit cuz Sunny be on his phone and be an erroring

An error? I have my girlfriend proof read everything I post. What the h is Lady Sunny doing?

 

[Bolt 45]

Lol judging by his affect he almost seems bummed out. He will never top Connolly though. That guy talks like his dog just got put down

Lol, I think McD's just a serious, professional guy. Holds himself to a high standard, and probably felt bad about taking that last penalty. Wouldn't surprise me if he was already mentally preparing for the next series, too.

 

[Machinehead]

I thought McDonagh was very good this round. Certainly makes some mistakes but he's like having a light version of Hedman out there that other teams would be icing to shut down our top lines...yet he's on our 2nd pairing. He came up with some big blocks, few nice hits and made quite a few nice interceptions that were key. That 2 on 1 in the 3rd I think where he got a piece of it...not to knock Coburn but imagine if that was him? Or Sustr? Or Dotchin? Yeah...

He has be solid but I don't think you guys have even gotten a glimpse of good McDonagh yet. He doesn't do it consistently and even less so after the injuries, but every now and then he awakens something that's truly on the Hedman/Doughty/Subban level.

If beast McDonagh comes out now, the Lightning are going to win the Cup.

 

[TeslaCoilFan]

He has be solid but I don't think you guys have even gotten a glimpse of good McDonagh yet. He doesn't do it consistently and even less so after the injuries, but every now and then he awakens something that's truly on the Hedman/Doughty/Subban level.

If beast McDonagh comes out now, the Lightning are going to win the Cup.

McDonagh does show some flashes of excellence at times, especially now that he's been paired mostly with Strålman.

McD did have some struggles at first but coming off an injury into a totally new defensive system, most of us were willing to cut him some slack. Though I'll admit to being more critical of him than most. lol He was first put with Girardi on the second pair while Hedman/Strålman were back together on the top pairing, but it wasn't working very well. So Coop moved Strålman down to pair with McDonagh and Girardi to be with Hedman (though not actually a true top pairing if you look at TOI where G definitely has his minutes managed while Heddy swaps RD partners).

The McD/Stråls pairing did take some time to gel. I think it's partly because Mac was trying to do too much on his own as he was not used to being able to trust his partner as much as he can trust Strålman to do the right thing. It had been years since Mac and Stråls had their brief TOI together in NY. Now the pair is showing some solid, dominant defensive shutdown play against the opponent's top lines leaving Viking God-Mode Hedman free to feast on the other lines.

 

[The Macho King]

McDonagh does show some flashes of excellence at times, especially now that he's been paired mostly with Strålman.

McD did have some struggles at first but coming off an injury into a totally new defensive system, most of us were willing to cut him some slack. Though I'll admit to being more critical of him than most. lol He was first put with Girardi on the second pair while Hedman/Strålman were back together on the top pairing, but it wasn't working very well. So Coop moved Strålman down to pair with McDonagh and Girardi to be with Hedman (though not actually a true top pairing if you look at TOI where G definitely has his minutes managed while Heddy swaps RD partners).

The McD/Stråls pairing did take some time to gel. I think it's partly because Mac was trying to do too much on his own as he was not used to being able to trust his partner as much as he can trust Strålman to do the right thing. It had been years since Mac and Stråls had their brief TOI together in NY. Now the pair is showing some solid, dominant defensive shutdown play against the opponent's top lines leaving Viking God-Mode Hedman free to feast on the other lines.

I also look at it like this -

Hedman has gotten to the point where it doesn't really matter who is partner is. He is long enough and fast enough to play a shutdown role even with a subpar partner. Stralman isn't as rangey (nor is McDonagh), so them working together makes more sense than Stralman and Hedman, since you get similar effectiveness out of Hedman and Girardi/Coburn.

 

[TeslaCoilFan]

I also look at it like this -

Hedman has gotten to the point where it doesn't really matter who is partner is. He is long enough and fast enough to play a shutdown role even with a subpar partner. Stralman isn't as rangey (nor is McDonagh), so them working together makes more sense than Stralman and Hedman, since you get similar effectiveness out of Hedman and Girardi/Coburn.

Hedman definitely can shut things down all on his own as you said. The speed he has for such a big guy is unbelievable! Heck, he was able to do it paired with Dotchin before the kid fell off a cliff. Girardi, even with his less minutes, is definitely a step up from either Dotchin or Sustr on RD with Hedman.

But I do find it interesting that Cooper will still put 77 & 6 together in those close game, final minute protect the lead scenarios.

So, yeah, McDonagh has turned out to be a great acquisition for the Lightning! May he and Stråls hit the same level of defensive prowess while shutting down Ovi as they did vs Bergeron/Pasternak/Marchand.

 

[VoluntaryDom]

Nice to see ya here @Machinehead !

 

[AndreRoy]

Nice to see ya here @Machinehead !

I hear he’s better than the rest.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Absolute monster so far this season and easily our best defenseman.

 

[Flat Ronnie]

That was some game by him last night. Holy hell....

 

[Todd1a]

is hedman our top defenseman anymore or is Mack Truck ?

 

[JoVel]

is hedman our top defenseman anymore or is Mack Truck ?

I mean McDonagh has been impressive but this is pretty ridiculous to even ask.

 

[Cmac66]

A full pre season behind him with us and he looks a complete different player, also signs a new deal in the off season and he is playing with a lot of confidence. Happy to see that he has settle in now. Looking forward to having Ryan round for the long haul.