Post-Game Talk: The D

[McRanger92]

You had me until your last sentence. No one has a right to a roster spot just because. We've been winning so no reason to change things.

He took Kravtsov out after the win against STL...

 

[bernmeister]

I don't think my "assumption" is false or even far fetched.

The operative word in your post is "should" -- there are a lot of things Dolan "should" do (or "should" have done). Unfortunately, his past actions say otherwise.

bold: disagree

underline, yes and no.
his instinct may be to go all vintage Steinbrenner, but with age hopefully he remembers it WAS a GOOD thing that Gene Michael talked him out of dealing Jeter.
In parallel, he has done some STUPID things with the Knicks.
Hopefully now he realizes there may be an occasional opportunity, but there are no shortcuts.

Listen to bern
we have quality youth = more than half the battle
go w/youth over vets
deal Vesey
play Krav

I'm not sure where he should play.....but correct that he should be in , I'm sure it might not hurt Blais/Vesey to sit out a couple.....might make them go a bit harder when they got back in which I am sure is what the brass wants to see from Kravs when he is playing.

deal Vesey go Krav full time

 

[bernmeister]

You had me until your last sentence. No one has a right to a roster spot just because. We've been winning so no reason to change things.

Krav is entitled to an opportunity Drury/GG are withholding. Krav has performed well despite extremely limited chances

 

[Unpredictable1]

I'm not sure where he should play.....but correct that he should be in , I'm sure it might not hurt Blais/Vesey to sit out a couple.....might make them go a bit harder when they got back in which I am sure is what the brass wants to see from Kravs when he is playing.

For me, whenever they decide, it's not to be on the 4th line. If Blais comes out for a spell, which I support, Krav has to be top 9. Vesey can go to the 4th.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Kravtsov should be traded for a piece that they can hopefully use for the 4th line. He isn't going to make an impact on the top 9 and he can't really play in a 4th line role (where we do need help.)

Our top 9 help is going to have to come in the form of another deal. The lesser of the evils that will be available will be Tarasenko who I don't love as its Panarin enabling, but less so than Kane and at least he can score.

 

[Deleted member 23124]

bold: disagree

underline, yes and no.
his instinct may be to go all vintage Steinbrenner, but with age hopefully he remembers it WAS a GOOD thing that Gene Michael talked him out of dealing Jeter.
In parallel, he has done some STUPID things with the Knicks.
Hopefully now he realizes there may be an occasional opportunity, but there are no shortcuts.

Listen to bern
we have quality youth = more than half the battle
go w/youth over vets
deal Vesey
play Krav


deal Vesey go Krav full time

Sorry - I don't have the faith you do.....his overreaction in firing Gorts and JD is a prime example.

 

[Matt Rentfree]

The Devils just got more sluggish as the game went on...

They were pretty much rolling 3 forward lines last night. 4th line barely got ice time. I'd say that was part of the reason.

 

[Machinehead]

Jesus wept.

I know I hammer on this team needing more skill but there has to be a middle ground somewhere.

 

[Unpredictable1]

Kravtsov should be traded for a piece that they can hopefully use for the 4th line. He isn't going to make an impact on the top 9 and he can't really play in a 4th line role (where we do need help.)

Our top 9 help is going to have to come in the form of another deal. The lesser of the evils that will be available will be Tarasenko who I don't love as its Panarin enabling, but less so than Kane and at least he can score.

Dealing Kravtsov for a 4th liner to me would be the final declaration of failure on the whole scenario with him. Just my opinion though.

edit: typo of while/whole

 

[egelband]

A few positives:

Panarin has been playing much better. Cleaned up his sloppy play. And has shown considerable grit in battles these last few games. It makes a big diff.

Schneider stepped up big time. Wasn’t perfect but was very good for long stretches. Miller had a similar imperfect game but ultimately was strong.

Chytil, great.

Gauthier looked better. Brodzinski was decent. Kakko was pretty good.

That Kakko goal could be a legit turning point for the team. The speed and decisiveness of that goal was in stark contrast to the rest of the season. Chances are it won’t be. But that’s the kind of confidence booster the team has needed for a while.

The mediocre/bad.

Trouba is fighting it with his injury and against better opponents it’s hard to watch.
Laffy had a rough night. He needs to play even more aggressive. Kid line likely gets more if Laffy was better at the little things in this game. He ruins possession too often because he’s not forceful enough in traffic and then when he does have the puck in space he’s lacking confidence. Gonna have to give him more ice to work through it
Zibby is really fighting it right now. Just kinda lost a bit. He’ll find his way but he’s out of sync, with himself.

Gotta bring back Jones at some point, no? Maybe can’t afford to bring him up re cap but he is much stronger as a player than Libor is. Libor looked over matched by the speed of the Devils.

I think Hajek has been a mixed bag. He’s fine as the 7D. I really hope Jones gets another shot after working on his game in Hartford.
It’s pretty clear they’ll get a vet LD in the new year though.
One other thing. Please play VK. Sit Blais a bit. Then when Blais has a rest he can come back in for Brodz or Vesey.

 

[egelband]

Well put. We were an Igor penalty shot save away from this potentially being a blowout.

There’s some glaring deficiencies with this team that are as noticeable as the 4 game win streak.

Does not mean we aren’t happy with the win. I hate the devils more than anything, so of course I’m amped up for the win. But it wasn’t like this was some domination and outside of the Vegas game the other 3 wins haven’t been domination either. It’s okay to have a little trepidation despite a win streak, just like it was okay for the majority of the board to talk about puck luck and posts.

Well, you could also say the Devils had no business getting two goals in the first five mins. Both those goals were complete flukes. And the second should have been a penalty on the Devils.

 

[will1066]

My thermostat currently shows 74, if it means any sign.

 

[TominNC]

The Kakko goal was very nice and might very well be a confidence booster. That being said, Devils fell asleep on that goal. Maybe they were a bit shellshocked by the Trocheck game-tying goal. Miller with a conventional dump-in, Chytil gets in first and finds an activated Miller, who manages to slip behind two Devils and sends it across to Kakko, who also slipped past his man.

They fell asleep but the kids also had to do something to take advantage. Look at the pile up after the goal. Who’s the oldest one there? Chytil? That was some great stuff.

 

[romba]

My thermostat currently shows 74, if it means any sign.

Would hate to have your heating bill!

 

[TheGortonConspiracy]

Krav is entitled to an opportunity Drury/GG are withholding. Krav has performed well despite extremely limited chances

Drury has probably already taken calls on Krav... young players with top 6 upside on cheap deals are rarely available on the market. No doubt multiple teams wanted Eeli Tolvanen off waivers this week.

Drury probably doesn't want him to get another injury, a more major injury, else suitors will try to negotiate a discount

Also consider it's been a tough quarter-season for the team, Panarin has been somewhat mercurial, the locker room seems to building or renewing a bond and mutual respect, I get why Drury is in no rush to throw in a young Ruski winger and give Panarin a reason to unplug from the english speaking core.

A player being scratched a few games, sure it's a coach's decision. This many games is a decision coming from upstairs make no mistake

 

[JHS]

It's not my stance based on a feeling, he leads the team in P/60 at 5v5 by a fairly comfortable margin, 38th in the entire league. Not sure why you overlooked his assist and point totals in favor of just goals either.

No it’s not a knock on him- I was merely pointing out that if the stats support a conclusion that he’s been our best forward then I’m concerned about how ineffective a lot of other forwards have been.

 

[bernmeister]

Sorry - I don't have the faith you do.....his overreaction in firing Gorts and JD is a prime example.

I am not sure like inside info sure
but
I don't think the firings were done by Dolan on merit.

IMO what happened was ...
due to crazy bad luck where every size guy Rangers had got hurt at once
as a result, they were muscled and Wilson ragdolled bread
Dolan went nuts
someone mouthed off to NHL and told off Parros

it is unclear and unknown to me who did that, some believe it was Dolan himself

Bettman that had to extract blood from Rangers b'c NHL offices were publicly humiliated

it was possibly communicated that if a head or two didn't roll, NYR would lose its 1st round pick, at min

so regardless of who lit the fuse and if w/w'o Dolan knowledge/permission
Dolan had to throw JD and JG under the bus

It's bad enuf that turned out that way, would have been better if fired from position, but, stayed on payroll and retained as consultants when things died down.

Be that as it may, I don't think that was impulsive or done for any reason other than as I described.

And like I said, Dolan has learned hard way from experience...
mistakes cost
impulse can lead to mistakes
\think before you act

like measure twice, cut once

listen to bern, JD
listen to bern

like Billy Joel's The Stranger
"he isn't always evil, and he is not always wrong"

For me, whenever they decide, it's not to be on the 4th line. If Blais comes out for a spell, which I support, Krav has to be top 9. Vesey can go to the 4th.

not bad, but unless you are rehabbing Blais, I'd just move Vesey and play Blais

 

[bernmeister]

Drury has probably already taken calls on Krav... young players with top 6 upside on cheap deals are rarely available on the market. No doubt multiple teams wanted Eeli Tolvanen off waivers this week.

Drury probably doesn't want him to get another injury, a more major injury, else suitors will try to negotiate a discount

Also consider it's been a tough quarter-season for the team, Panarin has been somewhat mercurial, the locker room seems to building or renewing a bond and mutual respect, I get why Drury is in no rush to throw in a young Ruski winger and give Panarin a reason to unplug from the english speaking core.

A player being scratched a few games, sure it's a coach's decision. This many games is a decision coming from upstairs make no mistake

Your analysis is prob spot on, but make no mistake\
bern is right
Drury is wrong

I'm calling 'em out.
Anything other than immediately giving Krav all Vesey mins in top 6 is disaster

 

[TheGortonConspiracy]

Your analysis is prob spot on, but make no mistake\
bern is right
Drury is wrong

I'm calling 'em out.
Anything other than immediately giving Krav all Vesey mins in top 6 is disaster

top 9 even - third line with Kreider and Trocheck would still be a great place for him. Makes no sense to have Vesey playing his off wing there

 

[Unpredictable1]

not bad, but unless you are rehabbing Blais, I'd just move Vesey and play Blais

Unfortunately I can't support that with Vesey being better at just about at everything than Blais right now save for a french accent. (especially with Vesey's contract)

But, that's IMO.

 

[bernmeister]

Unfortunately I can't support that with Vesey being better at just about at everything than Blais right now save for a french accent. (especially with Vesey's contract)

But, that's IMO.

you are entitled to your opinion, which bern does not ony not begrudge you, but as a champion of free speech, encourages, whether you agree or disagree.
Just ask we all keep it civil and do the effort to objectively back up subjective opinion when possible.

As re Sammy v Jimmy
I give JV the overall edge, except obviously as to toughness
And that could be overriding.
Because Krav replacing Vesey will profit the offense and be neutral on defense
But if we lose Blais
that works vs us as to limiting if we move Goodrow

And remember, we likely have to scrape every nickel to have Chytil, Kakko, Krav, LaF extended on min bridge and doing best long term give KAM a multiyear deal, all while the interim solution, redeplaying Trouba's 8m per is 2 seasons hence and bread's ultimate 11+m per is another coupla yrs after that.

So as much as I hate to go there
even
doing other bern magic
- plan a big thread this w'e btw
even still, Goodrow may have to go

in which case def wanna keep Blais if cheap

 

[Larrybiv]

Still losing hope in this team.

yeah 2pts, great.

I dont see a way we win 4 7-game series with this level of hockey

Wouldn't even win 1, but they're working towards it. The "mindset" has got to change. Need more shots and bodies in front. Period Of, and it wouldn't hurt for a little more physicality other than Lindgren and Trouba. Yes, I am looking directly at my avatar. He has got to be better. He's so talented but something is missing.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Dealing Kravtsov for a 4th liner to me would be the final declaration of failure on the whole scenario with him. Just my opinion though.

edit: typo of while/whole

Nah, that would be losing him on waivers for nothing (which is also possible at this point.)

 

[duhmetreE]

My thermostat currently shows 74, if it means any sign.

that's disgusting... are you tropical or something?

 

[will1066]

Would hate to have your heating bill!

that's disgusting... are you tropical or something?

The middle floor of my house is naturally warm. Doesn't take much to heat it. It's the summers that are a b, having the AC on blast nearly all the time. It's also a central system, so my wife constantly complains it's cold on the 1st floor.