Rumor: Trade Rumor/Speculation Thread XIX: The Olympic Freeze

[Barnaby]

No fans want one of two things.

Resigned to a fair long term deal.

or

Traded for a good return of assets....including a player who can play now and a solid pick and/or prospect.

This really is just a situation as a result of poor planning by Sather and management. Why does he wait till the last minute to make important decisions regarding key players like this? Over their famous "summer meetings" things like this should have been decided......resigned or traded? Not lets just see how we do then make a decision on the spot.

How do we know that they haven't made the decision already, and are waiting for the deadline when players seem to get the greatest return (Guys like Moulson, Cammalleri etc who will likely be traded are being held to the end)? They may have drawn a line in the sand money wise, and when they couldn't get Callahan to that number then they made the call. Let's see what the result is before we criticize the process.

 

[Nash Money]

How do we know that they haven't made the decision already, and are waiting for the deadline when players seem to get the greatest return (Guys like Moulson, Cammalleri etc who will likely be traded are being held to the end)? They may have drawn a line in the sand money wise, and when they couldn't get Callahan to that number then they made the call. Let's see what the result is before we criticize the process.

Actually, I think the opposite is true. One should not criticize the process based on results. Seems absurd, but hear me out. A poker player goes all-in knowing there's only one card that could be turned for him to lose. He loses. Was it a bad decision? (No.) Basically, Sather could play this perfectly but something odd (like an injury to a player that causes a potential trade partner to fall out of the race) could alter the ending.

The issue with criticizing the process is that none of us really know what "the process" consisted of. We weren't at any of the summer meetings, etc.

 

[Barnaby]

I'm not convinced that Stastny will even reach free agency...

I'm also not convinced that I want to pay a player 7.5 million over 6-7 years to be a 60 point center.

 

[Barnaby]

Actually, I think the opposite is true. One should not criticize the process based on results. Seems absurd, but hear me out. A poker player goes all-in knowing there's only one card that could be turned for him to lose. He loses. Was it a bad decision? (No.) Basically, Sather could play this perfectly but something odd (like an injury to a player that causes a potential trade partner to fall out of the race) could alter the ending.

The issue with criticizing the process is that none of us really know what "the process" consisted of. We weren't at any of the summer meetings, etc.

Exactly. So how do we criticize it when we have no idea what's going on. I'm not praising them, but I'm not criticizing either… I'm waiting for the result.

 

[RangerBoy]

By the way, 5,178 miles away from Broadway, it was of all people, Bylsma, the coach of the Penguins, who gave the Rangers a possible solution to the puzzler of how to replace Dan Girardi if the right-side, first-pair defenseman doesn’t sign a contract extension before March 5 and is thus dealt at the deadline.

The coach did that by moving McDonagh, a lefty who has played the left side his entire career, to the right side so he could partner with Ryan Suter on a shutdown pair that was on either against the Kovalchuk-Datsyuk-Alexander Radulov unit or the Alexander Ovechkin-Evgeni Malkin-Alex Semin combination.

McDonagh handled the assignment as if he had been on the right side his entire life, getting 23:39 of ice, second on the club to Suter’s 29:56. So, if need be, the Rangers could move McDonagh to the right (and Marc Staal up to partner with him), but, ah, they would need another lefty from someplace to play on the top four.

http://nypost.com/2014/02/15/americans-get-biggest-hockey-win-since-miracle/

Its easier to find a lefty than a righty.

 

[Kakko]

http://nypost.com/2014/02/15/americans-get-biggest-hockey-win-since-miracle/

Its easier to find a lefty than a righty.

And... have you found a lefty?

 

[Barnaby]

http://nypost.com/2014/02/15/americans-get-biggest-hockey-win-since-miracle/

Its easier to find a lefty than a righty.

I hear it, but I don't like it. Ryan McDonagh is probably the best player on this team outside of maybe Lundqvist. I think your best players should be at their top position to succeed. If you tell me that you're somehow acquiring a top 5 defenseman, then fine, but if Girardi is gone then I'd rather keep Mcd where he is, and resign Stralman, keep Klein, and look for a UFA on the right side. Lose Girardi, and partner Staal-McDonagh, and who is your 2nd and 3rd pairing. I think it's very bad for depth…

 

[Ola]

It's easier to play the off side on the big ice for a D. A little more time al over the place. Time with the puck is really the issue. You loose a second or two.

 

[Fitzy]

He looked deliberate. It's one game, but I think his style suits the left better. As great as a Staal-McDonagh pairing would be, it can't be that hard to come to reasonable terms with Girardi.

 

[RangerBoy]

Ryan Callahan, a forward for the United States, is one of them. Callahan is the captain of the Rangers, who are very much in the playoff picture. Yet negotiations to extend his contract seem deadlocked. His agent, Steve Bartlett, said Friday that he had not talked to the Rangers’ Glen Sather or any other general managers recently.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/s...l-trading-block.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=2

Bartlett is on Sochi. Pat Leonard wrote Bartlett was going to Sochi. Bartlett's son Scott is also an agent and tweeted a picture from the game today. The father owns the agency.

https://twitter.com/SCGscott/status/434775416906452992

You can see a picture of Callahan on the profile page

In 1989,Neil Smith wanted to hire Bartlett as his AGM but Bartlett didn't want to leave his business.

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

I hear it, but I don't like it. Ryan McDonagh is probably the best player on this team outside of maybe Lundqvist. I think your best players should be at their top position to succeed. If you tell me that you're somehow acquiring a top 5 defenseman, then fine, but if Girardi is gone then I'd rather keep Mcd where he is, and resign Stralman, keep Klein, and look for a UFA on the right side. Lose Girardi, and partner Staal-McDonagh, and who is your 2nd and 3rd pairing. I think it's very bad for depth…

Agree, I look at this as a nice to know he can.

 

[RangerBoy]

And... have you found a lefty?

That's the responsibility of Rangers management. Lefty defensemen do play the right side. Fedor Tyutin. Dion Phaneuf. Jonas Brodin is a lefty who plays the right side with Ryan Suter.

 

[Hire Sather]

Be careful of the Rangers propaganda regarding their prospects. Every team in every sport has the "our scouting staff had this player much higher than we took him" line down pat after every draft. The Rangers didn't have a pick in the first 2 rounds last season. That will come back to haunt them down the road.

Will it? Chances of us getting a player as good as Rick with that 1st round pick are slim.

Losing some 2nds for Clowe wasn't smart but it happens

 

[Fitzy]

With the progress Duclair and Buchnevich have made, it's not outlandish to suggest that they might do better than many 1st and 2nd round picks from the 2013 draft.

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

Yeah, I don't know about McD on the right...sure, he can probably play it just as well as the left side, but I think having Staal and McDonagh on separate pairings does wonders for our depth. It certainly was nice to have against Crosby and Malkin in our last win.

 

[Miller Time NYR]

Having Mac and Staal on the left side is one of the best 1-2 punches in the league, resign Girardi, nothing to figure out here.

 

[NYR Viper]

Back when Ryan Suter was available in free agency I was one of the few people who said to make him a priority. The guy is ANA amazing player.

In saying that, if McDonagh can play on the right side, that makes moving Girardi easier. McIorath is a RD. Allen is a LD. Whoever wins the spot, that determines what side McDonagh plays.

If no talks are occurring right now, the Rangers need to have this all sorted out by the time the players come back from Sochi. Callahan is playing well. He is upping his value.

If Girardi won't sign, move on.

Losing assets for nothing is the only unacceptable course.

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

Back when Ryan Suter was available in free agency I was one of the few people who said to make him a priority. The guy is ANA amazing player.

In saying that, if McDonagh can play on the right side, that makes moving Girardi easier. McIorath is a RD. Allen is a LD. Whoever wins the spot, that determines what side McDonagh plays.

If no talks are occurring right now, the Rangers need to have this all sorted out by the time the players come back from Sochi. Callahan is playing well. He is upping his value.

If Girardi won't sign, move on.

Losing assets for nothing is the only unacceptable course.

He's actually a lefty who plays RD. But I can't imagine he'd have much trouble transitioning to his "natural" side.

 

[LiveLongandProspal]

I guess it depends on what they think of John Moore, Conor Allen and Justin Falk and if they could be a second-pairing LHD.

 

[LiveLongandProspal]

I mean if you want to look at it like that (assuming we don't sign a defenseman and don't re-sign Stralman either):

Staal---McDonagh
Moore---Klein
Allen/Falk --- McIlrath
Falk/Allen



Yikes. That's a serious downgrade from what we have now

 

[Jabroni]

I mean if you want to look at it like that (assuming we don't sign a defenseman and don't re-sign Stralman either):

Staal---McDonagh
Moore---Klein
Allen/Falk --- McIlrath
Falk/Allen



Yikes. That's a serious downgrade from what we have now

I think it would be wise to keep one of Girardi or Stralman. Would be tough to lose 2 top-4 RHD.

 

[LiveLongandProspal]

I think it would be wise to keep one of Girardi or Stralman. Would be tough to lose 2 top-4 RHD.

I agree, obviously

 

[Jabroni]

I agree, obviously

Will be interesting to see what happens there. Would be a but of a logjam to keep both though.

What happened to your picture of The People's Champion?

 

[Leetch3]

Having Mac and Staal on the left side is one of the best 1-2 punches in the league, resign Girardi, nothing to figure out here.

yeah no question having them as the 1st and 2nd pairs so one or the other is on the ice for nearly the entire game is a huge plus. so the ideal scenario is clearly to either keep girardi or replace him with another top pair RHD (easier said than done)...

but it also certainly doesn't hurt to know that mcdonagh is just as awesome on the right as he is on the left and we now have another possible option...

and lets be serious here. we aren't going to move him to the right side so we can make moore/klein the 2nd pair and let connor allen play. in the one in a million chance that even considered it, it would be because they can acquire another legit top 4 guy that plays the left side to replace girardi (if we lose him). to the point that you might even put that new guy with mcdonagh so you can leave staal on the 2nd pair.

 

[RangerBoy]

Back when Ryan Suter was available in free agency I was one of the few people who said to make him a priority. The guy is ANA amazing player.

In saying that, if McDonagh can play on the right side, that makes moving Girardi easier. McIorath is a RD. Allen is a LD. Whoever wins the spot, that determines what side McDonagh plays.

If no talks are occurring right now, the Rangers need to have this all sorted out by the time the players come back from Sochi. Callahan is playing well. He is upping his value.

If Girardi won't sign, move on.

Losing assets for nothing is the only unacceptable course.

Suter is from Wisconsin and he played in Nashville. Suter didn't want to play in a major US city. He was used to the quiet life. It could have been a different story if Suter had played in a major US city when he was 20/21 years old and had become used to living in Manhattan or the NY suburbs like McDonagh and Stepan.

The Rangers and Girardi are supposed to begin talks again this week. Brooks wrote the Rangers and Newport will talk before the Rangers first practice on Thursday. The roster freeze ends next Sunday night/Monday morning.