Training camp

[I Eat Crow]

I like Blais. He's good at what he does, and he seems like a genuinely good guy, But he belongs nowhere near the top line or any of the PP units. He's a 4th liner who can play on the 3rd line in a pinch in case of injury. This is a 26 year old player who has never scored more than 15 points in a season or even broken .5ppg. He has one--ONE--power play point, and it came four years ago.

But the biggest issue, and the reason I don't like rolling him out on the first line, is the guy just can't stay healthy. He's missed at LEAST 25-50% of every season he's played due to an array of injuries. It's a feature, not an bug at this point. Training camp needs to be about building chemistry. Having an injury risk like Blais on the 4th line is no big deal. But we can't waste all of pre-season trying to get something going on a major unit/line just for another (inevitable) injury to force the team to figure it out during the actual season. The fact that the team has a 1st overall and a 2nd overall pick in the bottom six AND a top prospect who is also a winger makes it all the more baffling.

I'm not worried. Kakko will be in that spot when Blais inevitably gets injured or takes a couple of really bad penalties.

 

[bleedblue94]

You know what's crazy? I think PP2 could end up being really good if given some time. If Tro is on unit 1. Unit 2 is Laffy, Kakko, Kravtsov, Chytil and Trouba/Miller/Jones. I mean -- that's a lot of fire power. If Kavy and Chytil are used to retrieve pucks you then have three guys up front who can shoot it really well with KK, VK and Laffy. too bad they'll only get 17 seconds of pp a night.

Pp2 couldn't even effectively get into the zone and when they did they had no idea what to do on a setup. It isn't their fault, they usually had very limited time, but expecting them to even be just good at this point bc they are a year older would be reaching. They need a presence that is accustomed to a pp setup and qb. Trouba is not a ppqb, he is a shot bomber, not a QB. They need a forward in that group with the composure to control the halfwall. Laffy was horrible at it last year but again he didn't get much time doing it. I hate trocheck on pp1 and wish they would slot him on pp2 and slot one of the kids into pp1 to help balance things.

Well, true. But a -- Kakko was out most of the year. B -- Kravtsov has had a lot more PP usage in the KHL and is likely to help set up and puck retrieval. And c -- I think, he and Chytil together should cure the retrieval issues. As far as setting up -- I really think they need to decide on the trigger man. Who they are feeding to shoot? Is it going to be VK, KK or Trouba or Laffy? I would put VK and Kakko along the walls. Laffy in the bumper and Chytil in front. I think between Laffy and VK they should also be better and carrying it over the blue line. If they wind it up like PP1 I could see VK being the trailing Panarin that gets them into the zone.

Kravtsov plays the bumper position in high slot. That isn't a QB slot. That unit needs someone to QB it and run it.

 

[n8]

I like Blais. He's good at what he does, and he seems like a genuinely good guy, But he belongs nowhere near the top line or any of the PP units. He's a 4th liner who can play on the 3rd line in a pinch in case of injury. This is a 26 year old player who has never scored more than 15 points in a season or even broken .5ppg. He has one--ONE--power play point, and it came four years ago.

But the biggest issue, and the reason I don't like rolling him out on the first line, is the guy just can't stay healthy. He's missed at LEAST 25-50% of every season he's played due to an array of injuries. It's a feature, not an bug at this point. Training camp needs to be about building chemistry. Having an injury risk like Blais on the 4th line is no big deal. But we can't waste all of pre-season trying to get something going on a major unit/line just for another (inevitable) injury to force the team to figure it out during the actual season. The fact that the team has a 1st overall and a 2nd overall pick in the bottom six AND a top prospect who is also a winger makes it all the more baffling.

Blais played like 1/2 a season with Tarasenko in STL. I think giving him a chance to earn top line time a la Vatrano is fair. I totally agree about the PP thing though. I don't want to see him taking PP time away from the kids. Ultimately that is my metric. If Blais gets time, that is fine so long as the kids get to play too. Would love to see the kid line stick and carry their chemistry from the playoffs into the season and force the opposition to pick their poison between 3 solid lines

 

[huerter]

The PP is effective because Panarin has two catch and shoot options in his line of vision that have to be defended. Zibanejad's shot is lethal. Opponents know this. There is a reason why that lane gets opened up. Put a lefty in the bumper spot and see the road to Zibanejad get shut down. You might even call it the royal road. Thankfully, Gallant gets geometry.

 

[Rangers in 7]

I had a very nice conversation with Sam Rosen on Monday in regards to how frustrating it is to listen to people to say a player is a bust at 21/22. I think we are going to see big things from Kakko and laf this year. He also had some interesting things to say about kravtsov as well

 

[2014nyr]

Pp2 couldn't even effectively get into the zone and when they did they had no idea what to do on a setup. It isn't their fault, they usually had very limited time, but expecting them to even be just good at this point bc they are a year older would be reaching. They need a presence that is accustomed to a pp setup and qb. Trouba is not a ppqb, he is a shot bomber, not a QB. They need a forward in that group with the composure to control the halfwall. Laffy was horrible at it last year but again he didn't get much time doing it. I hate trocheck on pp1 and wish they would slot him on pp2 and slot one of the kids into pp1 to help balance things.


Kravtsov plays the bumper position in high slot. That isn't a QB slot. That unit needs someone to QB it and run it.

i definitely want laf running pp2. he was filthy in juniors playing up high on the left. watch him at the world juniors using the space that spot creates to walk down and wire seeds/whip crisp cross ice passes on the tape - hes got phenomenal vision and hes one of the better players ive seen at using deception to open up lanes. hes nasty at both selling shot and looking off. get him in that spot with krav on the opposite dot wound up past noon...ideally jones would be roaming the blue line, guessing itll be trouba, although with laf being a lefty kandre makes more sense as a shot option....only problem is his only real issues are a tendency to grenade perfect passes and leave pucks behind at times which could be a real liability if still happening too regularly. allow kakko to roam the goal line, below and popping out underneath the hash marks curling for a shot / backdoor pass/ as a backdoor option. i dont really care whos in front...maybe blais, chytil, coould be reaves for all i care - just get in the way, be physical on loose pucks, and keep their stick on the ice with a heavy bottom hand..cant be grenading or not ready for hard passes backdoor with empty nets staring at them

 

[BBKers]

Jones should run PP2, if he makes the team. KAndre is a dark horse too.

 

[GregMcKegg]

I had a very nice conversation with Sam Rosen on Monday in regards to how frustrating it is to listen to people to say a player is a bust at 21/22. I think we are going to see big things from Kakko and laf this year. He also had some interesting things to say about kravtsov as well

Anything in particular that you can share?

 

[McRanger92]

Jones should run PP2, if he makes the team. KAndre is a dark horse too.

It shouldn’t be Trouba. He was a liability there in the playoffs. K’Andre might actually be able to get them into the zone

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Jones should run PP2, if he makes the team. KAndre is a dark horse too.

Unfortunately it won't really matter. I expect more of the same this year, the first unit will play 80-90 seconds, and the second unit will get on with the puck in their zone after the other team dumps it and get one chance to gain entry and set something up quickly (which rarely happens).

 

[eco's bones]

Zibanejad and Panarin averaged 19+ minutes, Kreider 18+, Strome 18+. Lafreniere and Chytil averaged around 13. Thats the 3rd line. Where's the extra time coming from? If Lafreniere were on PP1 that would offset it and give him a boost of offensive chances. Otherwise they're going to be under the microscope to produce at unrealistic rates with the time a 3rd line gets. Even if Lafreniere gets stapled onto PP1 that'll only boost his ice time to like 16 minutes. Better than 13 minutes. But a #1 overall pick should be getting 17-18 minutes at his age. Jack Hughes averaged over 19 minutes the last two seasons. Stutzle averaged over 18. Lafreniere averaged in the 13 range. Still scored 19 even strength goals. More than Stutzle and one less than Hughes. If he got on PP1 he would be putting up a lot of points his confidence would grow.

I'll give Gallant credit for even considering Kakko on the PK. He should be. He's one of the better defensive wingers in the league.

I'm not as concerned about Chytil. He has no upward progression available. The minute Trocheck was signed Chytil was relegated to a Rangers career no higher than the 3rd line. All I hope from him moving forward is to get better at faceoffs and be dependable defensively.

If the Rnagers want to win a Cup they need Lafreniere and Kakko to break out and become go-to guys.


100% on the money.

when a forward gets 20 minutes average it’s usually because he’s playing all situations not just 5v5 but power play, penalty kill….and also late in games to protect one goal leads or to get a goal to take a lead or tie the game. Those with the highest minutes also tend to get more OT time simply because they’ve been the most productive but also defensively reliable enough and use to or able to cover more ice on 3v3 shifts.

There is no doubt that Gallant isn’t rushing either Lafreniere’s or Kakko’s development or that those players production lags behind guys like Hughes, Stutzle, Zegras or Raymond but Lafreniere and Kakko also don’t play for the Devils, Senators, Ducks or Red Wings and looking at this as some kind of scoring race between peers is entirely missing the point that our guys are in a much more stable environment and on a team whose playoff window is now open which also could be called a Stanley Cup contender after the run they went on last year. You can’t have everything including all the contradictions. Gallant’s job is to coach a team…..(not just two players) and to win as many games as possible. The idea even under Quinn when he was coach was to get our team back into playoff contention as quickly as possible. Not sure when that’s going to happen for some of these other kids teams. The Rangers organization has never wavered on that goal since the letter came out. For these other young kids on other teams it could be a while before they see the postseason.

 

[Clark Kellogg]

I had a very nice conversation with Sam Rosen on Monday in regards to how frustrating it is to listen to people to say a player is a bust at 21/22. I think we are going to see big things from Kakko and laf this year. He also had some interesting things to say about kravtsov as well

Go on…

 

[GENESISPuck94]

when a forward gets 20 minutes average it’s usually because he’s playing all situations not just 5v5 but power play, penalty kill….and also late in games to protect one goal leads or to get a goal to take a lead or tie the game. Those with the highest minutes also tend to get more OT time simply because they’ve been the most productive but also defensively reliable enough and use to or able to cover more ice on 3v3 shifts.

There is no doubt that Gallant isn’t rushing either Lafreniere’s or Kakko’s development or that those players production lags behind guys like Hughes, Stutzle, Zegras or Raymond but Lafreniere and Kakko also don’t play for the Devils, Senators, Ducks or Red Wings and looking at this as some kind of scoring race between peers is entirely missing the point that our guys are in a much more stable environment and on a team whose playoff window is now open which also could be called a Stanley Cup contender after the run they went on last year. You can’t have everything including all the contradictions. Gallant’s job is to coach a team…..(not just two players) and to win as many games as possible. The idea even under Quinn when he was coach was to get our team back into playoff contention as quickly as possible. Not sure when that’s going to happen for some of these other kids teams. The Rangers organization has never wavered on that goal since the letter came out. For these other young kids on other teams it could be a while before they see the postseason.

That's fair. Laf and Kakko are in a different situation than Hughes and Stutzle. 100%.

But, Drury specifically left two spots wide open in the top 6 for them. One went to Kravtsov, whatever. Blais?! Lafreniere should have been the first thought in any rational coach. There was a spot left wide open on PP1. Lafreniere again should have been the first thought.

Even if Gallant is bent on keeping Lafreniere down at 5v5 for some stupid reason considering he was one of the teams top 5v5 goal scorers, he should pin Lafreniere to the top PP unit. There's no excuse. And did we read correctly that Kreider is taking faceoffs on that unit? So what's the point of Trocheck there? There's no logic. Put Lafreniere on PP1. Trocheck can kill penalties. Pair Trocheck and Kakko together on the PK.

 

[GENESISPuck94]

Unfortunately it won't really matter. I expect more of the same this year, the first unit will play 80-90 seconds, and the second unit will get on with the puck in their zone after the other team dumps it and get one chance to gain entry and set something up quickly (which rarely happens).

Exactly. Gallant isn't going to suddenly stop doing things the way he always does things.

 

[RagFinMet]

I think Kk needs PP1 time
It will improve his confidence and he's already signed
Blais should be nowhere near the PP
But i do like him with kz
But if the kid line consistently outplays the other lines 5v5 lije we saw in the POs will he give them more icetime?
Doubt it...
In fact he'll then break them up to get the other lines going..
There will be a lot of lines jumbling around all season..
But sadly not PP1. It will be kztpf and only an injury will change it..

 

[eco's bones]

As far as power plays go people should also keep in mind that the first unit is most often going to get the first minute or more. That you really don't make player changes when you're pressuring the other team in their own end and it's because you need to wear them down with passing, shots and puck retrieval and bringing players back to the bench takes pressure off them. The opposition really has to get the puck down the ice for our team to regroup before a wholesale change can be made. Given time and space in manpower situations guys like Panarin and Fox can pick a team apart. Mika is really the shooter and Kreider the screener, garbageman, deflector and general overall nuisance in front of the net and all these guys are really good at puck retrieval and keeping plays alive.

I do think the bumper spot is something that both Lafreniere or Kakko would be good at. Strome was always the weakest link and IMO I'd rather Trocheck centering a second unit.....one that was better than last year's which to me almost came down to throwing whoever out there. On the second unit I would prefer two defensemen if only because if it transitions back to 5v5 we're not caught with four forwards for a brief period of time. Trouba as a shooter doesn't bother me but if Jones made the team he would be the real puck mover from the point. Trocheck the center and whichever of Lafreniere/Kakko wasn't on the first unit then would be one of the wings and figure out the other which could be Kravtsov, Chytil or Blais (who is strong on the puck and a good puck mover).

Maybe Gallant will get to something like that eventually but for now it looks like it Trocheck's spot on the first unit to lose.

 

[EdJovanovski]

Does anyone know if camp continues on the weekend or is there nothing until the preseason starts Monday?

 

[Vitto79]

Seems inevitable that it'll be a Jones/Hajek rotation unless Robertson or someone else usurps. Can't wait for Jones' trade request.

Nah Jones W start in that spot . Hajek will spare
It’s early in camp

 

[The New Russian Five]

I had a very nice conversation with Sam Rosen on Monday in regards to how frustrating it is to listen to people to say a player is a bust at 21/22. I think we are going to see big things from Kakko and laf this year. He also had some interesting things to say about kravtsov as well

Leaving us with that ambiguous comment is just not fair

 

[GAGLine]

Does anyone know if camp continues on the weekend or is there nothing until the preseason starts Monday?

I think there's another scrimmage today and the 3rd team will be practicing. Maybe they get tomorrow off and then skate Monday morning before the game.

 

[LORDE]

I haven't read anything about ESPN+ airing pre-season games... anyone know if they are or not?

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

Second pic is the son of the horny neighbor from F is for family

 

[nyr2k2]

I haven't read anything about ESPN+ airing pre-season games... anyone know if they are or not?

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

I really have no issue with the lines. I don’t think Blais will stick in that spot because I don’t think he’s the fit for Zib and Kreider but you never know. He could cause chaos and open space and he has demonstrated some hands in the past. Regardless, Kravtsov with Panarin makes some sense to try and get him comfortable with a countryman and the kid line was good together so it’s not a travesty to keep them together. Roll the three lines with equal-ish ES time and it’s not a big deal. I also could see Blais and Krav flip flopping and Laf and Blais flip flopping depending on early results or game situation.

Also, if Laf has one more year on the third line and ends up with an affordable bridge contract, it’s kind of a win. If he knocked off 70 points this year we’d be looking at Stutzle contract that we can’t afford yet. And it’s literally day 2 of camp. We haven’t even played a preseason game, let alone a meaningful one. The overreaction in here is … well, I wanted to say baffling, but honestly not really unexpected.

I think it's good to note it's only 3 people I've seen go crazy. Sa, genesis and I forgot the third.

Pretty tame w almost every1 else being reasonable

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

Zibanejad and Panarin averaged 19+ minutes, Kreider 18+, Strome 18+. Lafreniere and Chytil averaged around 13. Thats the 3rd line. Where's the extra time coming from? If Lafreniere were on PP1 that would offset it and give him a boost of offensive chances. Otherwise they're going to be under the microscope to produce at unrealistic rates with the time a 3rd line gets. Even if Lafreniere gets stapled onto PP1 that'll only boost his ice time to like 16 minutes. Better than 13 minutes. But a #1 overall pick should be getting 17-18 minutes at his age. Jack Hughes averaged over 19 minutes the last two seasons. Stutzle averaged over 18. Lafreniere averaged in the 13 range. Still scored 19 even strength goals. More than Stutzle and one less than Hughes. If he got on PP1 he would be putting up a lot of points his confidence would grow.

I'll give Gallant credit for even considering Kakko on the PK. He should be. He's one of the better defensive wingers in the league.

I'm not as concerned about Chytil. He has no upward progression available. The minute Trocheck was signed Chytil was relegated to a Rangers career no higher than the 3rd line. All I hope from him moving forward is to get better at faceoffs and be dependable defensively.

If the Rnagers want to win a Cup they need Lafreniere and Kakko to break out and become go-to guys.


100% on the money.

Kreider zib line gets 2-3 less mins, panarin line gets 1-2 less, kids get 2 -4 more.

What do I win?