Where do the Rangers go from here?

[MakeTheGoalsLarger]

improve an already great team.

If I'm the owner of the team, a president's trophy + conference final is a very successful season.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

improve an already great team.

If I'm the owner of the team, a president's trophy + conference final is a very successful season.

When do you get impatient tho? Wasted Henrik's career. Igor's next?

 

[GAGLine]

When do you get impatient tho? Wasted Henrik's career. Igor's next?

What's the alternative? It's not like they aren't trying to win. There are no guarantees.

 

[ColbyChaos]

If the only way to define 'fine' is 'winning the Stanley Cup,' then no, they aren't fine. But if looking like the 2nd best team in the league can constitute as 'fine,' then yes, they are.

They lost to the best team in the league, people wanna tear it down? Add some more youth, deadline deals repeat and hope it's enough.

Rangers fans thinking their team is fine because they went to 6 games against Florida (while looking pathetic) is the same trap idiot Detroit fans fell for thinking their team was still a contender after 2013.

They were a mediocre team offensively whose issues got masked by Igor playing great. They dont make it past Carolina without Igor.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Rangers fans thinking their team is fine because they went to 6 games against Florida (while looking pathetic) is the same trap idiot Detroit fans fell for thinking their team was still a contender after 2013.

They were a mediocre team offensively whose issues got masked by Igor playing great. They dont make it past Carolina without Igor.

I somewhat get what you're saying but that's also on Carolina since it's a clear reoccurring issue with their roster come playoffs. Their inability to not making a consistent stretch pass in the Florida series doomed them, that should get better if Drury understands his assignment. They should have another good 2-3 years at the least. Their biggest competition in the division are a paper tiger Canes team that has the weakest mental since the 2010 Caps/Sharks + Devils team that is still confused on what they want to be + roster holes. The rest of the metro is just a mismatch of randomness. The Flyers can compete with Michkov + goalie move. CBJ is rudderless atm, Pens/Caps/Isles are retirement homes.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

as an isles fan, here are what I see wrong with the Rangers. Rangers fans do not go after me for some of these things, this is literally how I view things

-Kreider is about to fall off a cliff in a couple of seasons. Right now is his final hurrah of dominance.
-Panarin, Zibanajed, Trochek and the aforementioned Kreider are also not getting any younger, they all are gonna get to the wrong side of 30 soon
-Lafreniere legit deserves PP1 time
-Cuylle looks to be a legit player and I would start making him the 3C over Chytil at this point
-You are not trading Trouba, but he easily is the worst defender on the roster
-Any Rangers fan wanting to see Lindgren go is wrong. I think he's their best defensive defenseman
-Schneider is their best defenseman overall in a few more years, I prefer his game over Fox.
-They need to find a way to score 5v5 soon. I would argue trading away Zibanajed but that contract is not going anywhere.

Really, they are stuck with this core until they age out. I dunno how good the other prospects are like Othmann, Berard, or Perrault but if I wanted to go for an "all in" push, I would've done it this season.

Schneider/Miller are the two guys that can make that defensive core go from average to elite. They're still young, Miller's mistakes are probably more annoying since he's a bit older but the both of them have bone headed plays which you expect from young dmen but where the Rangers are they need guys to play a safer game (if that's even the right word). Miller was pretty high on my Devils draft list in 2018 but the warts in his game still haven't gone away since his college days. When he's on his game, he's tremendous. When he's not, he can easily sink you on any given night. And I think that's the dilemma with the Rangers defense behind Fox which is a tough dilemma for a contender to deal with.

As for the Lindgren point, they already went through the same thing with Dan Girardi and Marc Steal. You can't repeat the same mistake with Lindgren. Lindgren has played some of his best hockey for them already and you can see the cliff coming for him. Do you pay him for his past performances or move on and try to get better on the backend? I think most people would argue for the second one, specifically NYR fans.

 

[PlushMinus]

Can the answer be: "To another galaxy, far, far away"?

 

[wetcoast]

Igor makes 5.5 million for 1 more season and mostly everyone is returning. You run it back.

Exactly and maybe one day people will realize how hard it is to win the SC and even moreso in a 32 team league.

 

[LaffyTaffy13]

This is some weapons grade copium.

Hard to deny rangers are easily top 5 franchises set for success for the next 5 years. And theyre not 5 nor 4

 

[AD1066]

Try again next year? They're still a contender and have a few more years of window. Playoffs are a dice roll to some extent and the best team doesn't necessarily win every year. That said, the Panthers exposed some flaws and they're currently relying too much on Shesterkin to be elite night in and night out.

 

[Grifter3511]

Rangers fans thinking their team is fine because they went to 6 games against Florida (while looking pathetic) is the same trap idiot Detroit fans fell for thinking their team was still a contender after 2013.

They were a mediocre team offensively whose issues got masked by Igor playing great. They dont make it past Carolina without Igor.

The old, 'a goaltender isn't really a part of the team' argument.

How is taking Shesterkin off Rangers any different than taking Bobrovsky or barkov off Florida, or Aho off Carolina, McDavid off Oilers, swayman or Pasta off Boston, etc etc.

'You take away their best player and they won't win.' Thanks for that.

The thing is, Igor is on the team, and while they are getting older their core is now right in the same age range as capitals core when they won their cup. So while the team isn't perfect, they are not too old just yet, and they do have a world class goalie and a team that has been to the conference finals twice in three years and the Presidents Trophy.

They're in good shape. Of course there are teams that they COULD lose to, but that's why you play the games and why the playoffs are a war or attrition as much as talent.

 

[Grifter3511]

Schneider/Miller are the two guys that can make that defensive core go from average to elite. They're still young, Miller's mistakes are probably more annoying since he's a bit older but the both of them have bone headed plays which you expect from young dmen but where the Rangers are they need guys to play a safer game (if that's even the right word). Miller was pretty high on my Devils draft list in 2018 but the warts in his game still haven't gone away since his college days. When he's on his game, he's tremendous. When he's not, he can easily sink you on any given night. And I think that's the dilemma with the Rangers defense behind Fox which is a tough dilemma for a contender to deal with.

As for the Lindgren point, they already went through the same thing with Dan Girardi and Marc Steal. You can't repeat the same mistake with Lindgren. Lindgren has played some of his best hockey for them already and you can see the cliff coming for him. Do you pay him for his past performances or move on and try to get better on the backend? I think most people would argue for the second one, specifically NYR fans.

It's actually crazy how night and day Miller's play looks when paired with Trouba (his main partner) vs away from him.

 

[ColbyChaos]

The old, 'a goaltender isn't really a part of the team' argument.

How is taking Shesterkin off Rangers any different than taking Bobrovsky or barkov off Florida, or Aho off Carolina, McDavid off Oilers, swayman or Pasta off Boston, etc etc.

'You take away their best player and they won't win.' Thanks for that.

The thing is, Igor is on the team, and while they are getting older their core is now right in the same age range as capitals core when they won their cup. So while the team isn't perfect, they are not too old just yet, and they do have a world class goalie and a team that has been to the conference finals twice in three years and the Presidents Trophy.

They're in good shape. Of course there are teams that they COULD lose to, but that's why you play the games and why the playoffs are a war or attrition as much as talent.

To the surprise of no one a Rangers fan doesn’t understand how having a goalie as your best player, having a putrid offense and not having a #1 Center isn’t a recipe for success

 

[TGWL]

Rangers fans thinking their team is fine because they went to 6 games against Florida (while looking pathetic) is the same trap idiot Detroit fans fell for thinking their team was still a contender after 2013.

They were a mediocre team offensively whose issues got masked by Igor playing great. They dont make it past Carolina without Igor.

And Carolina doesn't make it past NYR without better goaltending. They finished 1st in the league despite Igor not being as good as he was in the playoffs. Do they have flaws? Absolutely. Quite a bit. But let's not pretend they weren't legit contenders.

What approach should they go with? They've had 11 wingers play with Kreider and Zibanejad since trading Buchnevich. So, do you go out and get a clear #1 RW and hope that solves the issue, or do you try to move out pieces and hope you don't take a step back? Clearly they refuse to split them.

If moving out Zibanejad got you a better center, don't you think they would have done that? That's clearly not a possible outcome. You can't reconstruct your entire team when you're trying to win now. Selling players mostly like brings back picks and prospects, not better players.

So, yes, they need to replace Lindgren and lock Trouba away in some unknown basement. They need a 1RW. They need better 4th line and not one where Matt Rempe makes the team because you have nobody better. But offsetting their core won't bring that back plus players good enough to take their spot. This is the way the team was build after speeding through the rebuild and they can't just toss that away because of flaws with consistent 5 on 5 play/scoring.

 

[Grifter3511]

To the surprise of no one a Rangers fan doesn’t understand how having a goalie as your best player, having a putrid offense and not having a #1 Center isn’t a recipe for success

Wouldn't standings and history dictate otherwise? The results support that statement. They were the best team in the regular season, and as things stand right now, they had the tightest series of any against the probable Cup champions. I'd say that puts them as the 2nd or 3rd most successful team in the league. You add in the fact that they got to the same spot two seasons previously implies that it isn't a fluke, but a rather successful approach.

I stated above and multiple times, Rangers aren't in the best position of any team. But clearly their approach is getting them more results than 90% of the league.

You can point to advanced stats and metrics all you want, but at the end of the day wins and losses are what matter and Rangers recipe is getting them more wins than most. Even this year with their PP merchant offense they have the 2nd best winning % in the playoffs.

Will this recipe win them the Cup? Probably not. But that's the same answer for every single team (IE -will ____ win the Stanley Cup this year? -regardless which team you put in that blank, the answer is probably not).

So again, a 'recipe for success' is a very subjective term. Success as in winning the Cup? Probably not, as all things being equal they have a what, 3.3% chance of winning at the start of the year and 6.6% come the start of the playoffs? But success defined as doing better than most other teams and going deep in the playoffs? They've definitely done that, multiple times.

 

[BB88]

The old, 'a goaltender isn't really a part of the team' argument.

How is taking Shesterkin off Rangers any different than taking Bobrovsky or barkov off Florida, or Aho off Carolina, McDavid off Oilers, swayman or Pasta off Boston, etc etc.

'You take away their best player and they won't win.' Thanks for that.

The thing is, Igor is on the team, and while they are getting older their core is now right in the same age range as capitals core when they won their cup. So while the team isn't perfect, they are not too old just yet, and they do have a world class goalie and a team that has been to the conference finals twice in three years and the Presidents Trophy.

They're in good shape. Of course there are teams that they COULD lose to, but that's why you play the games and why the playoffs are a war or attrition as much as talent.

How often has the Cup been won as the goaltender being the best player?

 

[Grifter3511]

How often has the Cup been won as the goaltender being the best player?

Well, since the turn of the century the Conn Smythe has been won by the winning team's goaltender 5 times, so roughly 20% of the time?

I don't really know what you want me to say. I consider the Rangers season to be a success. Not the ultimate successful season, but successful. I see no reason why they can't find similar success next year. The fact that they've done it multiple times, and it's not just a goalie getting hot at the right time as they also won the regular season, indicates they can do this sustainably until either Shesterkin is gone or the aging core ages too much. Will they win the Cup, probably not, as 31 out of 32 teams don't win the Cup, but they have a better shot, as indicated by their playoffs this year, than most.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

It's actually crazy how night and day Miller's play looks when paired with Trouba (his main partner) vs away from him.

100%, Miller/Schneider were great when Trouba was out which begs the question why Trouba wasn't LTIR and the Rangers go even more ballistic at the deadline. Very baffling on that front

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

And Carolina doesn't make it past NYR without better goaltending. They finished 1st in the league despite Igor not being as good as he was in the playoffs. Do they have flaws? Absolutely. Quite a bit. But let's not pretend they weren't legit contenders.

What approach should they go with? They've had 11 wingers play with Kreider and Zibanejad since trading Buchnevich. So, do you go out and get a clear #1 RW and hope that solves the issue, or do you try to move out pieces and hope you don't take a step back? Clearly they refuse to split them.

If moving out Zibanejad got you a better center, don't you think they would have done that? That's clearly not a possible outcome. You can't reconstruct your entire team when you're trying to win now. Selling players mostly like brings back picks and prospects, not better players.

So, yes, they need to replace Lindgren and lock Trouba away in some unknown basement. They need a 1RW. They need better 4th line and not one where Matt Rempe makes the team because you have nobody better. But offsetting their core won't bring that back plus players good enough to take their spot. This is the way the team was build after speeding through the rebuild and they can't just toss that away because of flaws with consistent 5 on 5 play/scoring.

I give them and the Canes the top of the Metro until some of the younger teams consistently find a way to make the playoffs. The Devils are the closest and probably the next up but they still have to prove 22-23 wasn't a fluke. Flyers/CBJ are in this weird holding pattern where they have picks/prospects but they're just waiting for a superstar to carry them. I think Waddell will do wonders for CBJ + Flyers are probably just waiting for a Michkov arrival and they also need a goalie after the Hart stuff. The way the Rangers win in the regular season and playoffs scream one off Cup win but I don't think any NYR fan will care if that's the case obviously. They were super close this year but at the same time I don't know if you can rely on a similar type of run again. Pro sports are fluky in nature.

 

[ColbyChaos]

Well, since the turn of the century the Conn Smythe has been won by the winning team's goaltender 5 times, so roughly 20% of the time?

I don't really know what you want me to say. I consider the Rangers season to be a success. Not the ultimate successful season, but successful. I see no reason why they can't find similar success next year. The fact that they've done it multiple times, and it's not just a goalie getting hot at the right time as they also won the regular season, indicates they can do this sustainably until either Shesterkin is gone or the aging core ages too much. Will they win the Cup, probably not, as 31 out of 32 teams don't win the Cup, but they have a better shot, as indicated by their playoffs this year, than most.

Look at the teams Vasilevski, Quick, Tim Thomas, Cam Ward, and Patrick Roy had. Then look at the team JSG was on as the only losing Conn Smythe goalie.

You will notice the winning goalies played on a team that had an elite player at a certain position one could even call that position the Centerpiece to winning

 

[Grifter3511]

Look at the teams Vasilevski, Quick, Tim Thomas, Cam Ward, and Patrick Roy had. Then look at the team JSG was on as the only losing Conn Smythe goalie.

You will notice the winning goalies played on a team that had an elite player at a certain position one could even call that position the Centerpiece to winning

So you're saying the odds of Rangers winning a Cup is small? How many timed have I said that exact same thing?

 

[BB88]

Well, since the turn of the century the Conn Smythe has been won by the winning team's goaltender 5 times, so roughly 20% of the time?

I don't really know what you want me to say. I consider the Rangers season to be a success. Not the ultimate successful season, but successful. I see no reason why they can't find similar success next year. The fact that they've done it multiple times, and it's not just a goalie getting hot at the right time as they also won the regular season, indicates they can do this sustainably until either Shesterkin is gone or the aging core ages too much. Will they win the Cup, probably not, as 31 out of 32 teams don't win the Cup, but they have a better shot, as indicated by their playoffs this year, than most.

& how many of them were considered the best player on the roster?

Even if Bob wins everyone knows Barkov is the best player on Florida. Rangers don’t have Barkov level forward on their roster.

Rangers are a flawed team and they can’t hide their weaknessess the same in the postseason as they can in the regular season

Yes this season was a success but I bet it was the peak and not the norm going forward

Building around goaltending basically never results into winning Stanley Cup