bernmeister
Registered User
Not even. AV killed any value he had.
Last year the Rangers best defense pairing during the regular season was Keith Yandle and Dylan McIlrath. He isn't a star by any stretch, but he's absolutely ready for a bigger role and real NHL minutes. The organization is going to regret trading him within a year.
For future reference, when people call you out for being a poster who has an anti-Rangers bias, it is because of posts like this, where you clearly demonstrate that you have no idea what you are talking about. McIlrath is fine with the puck on his stick. He's actually one of the calmer players on the team and excels at controlled exits out of the zone.
As for this "longer leash" that you think he "hung himself" with, what exactly are you referring to? He only got ONE extended run of games last season. It was due to injury. During that run of games, he was part of what was statistically our best pairing of the season. Even though that pair was playing amazingly well, AV still benched McIlrath in favor of Girardi with his busted kneecap. After that, AV only put McIlrath in for a game here and a game there (including one particularly idiotic game where he tried to play McIlrath as a winger). AV only played McIlrath in one of our five playoff games. It's the one game the Rangers actually won.
He'll never be a top pairing guy, but the second he gets away from AV and onto a team with a coach who will actually reward play rather than "warrior" reputations, he will very likely show himself to be what he was last season when given a chance--a very capable 2nd pairing guy who can cover for a more offensive partner and fire bombs from the point.
For previous examples of AV totally ****ing up his judgement on defensemen, see Michael Del Zotto, Anton Stralman, and Keith Yandle.
What you "observed" bears no resemblance to the player in question, so yeah, I'd say you were mis-judging his play. You literally identified things that are his strengths as weaknesses, and made a comment about him being "given rope that he hung himself with" that, objectively speaking, never happened.
You'll generally find two camps of Rangers fans when it comes to McIlrath, incidentally: those who see him developing into a unique asset and those who will never forgive him for not being Tarasenko. That latter group likes to refer to him as a fringe defenseman. Incidentally, McIlrath outplayed every RHD in camp this preseason save maybe one (Clendenning put up great offensive play but was really shaky on the defensive end). He outplayed Girardi. He outplayed Holden. He outplayed Klein. He outplayed Skjei by a country mile. Yet AV has already told him he's not in the top six. It's a credit to this kid that he hasn't asked for his release yet, because there is literally nothing more he can do here. He will never get a real chance to prove himself under AV.
Bottom line is that you are incorrect about him not being able to handle the puck. You are incorrect about him ever being given any kind of rope.
If AV does succeed in getting the team to move McIlrath, then I truly believe that yet another team will be the beneficiary of AV's inability to tell good defensemen from bad. I think that would be a huge mistake, because I'd be shocked if AV still had a job by Christmas.
He hasn't been a disaster either. He also hasn't had any real opportunity other than that brief run with Yandle. And none of Yandle's OTHER partners performed as well with him. As for issues in the neutral zone, he does have a bit of a problem in transition but that's the kind of thing that can be fixed with time. He actually does contribute offensively. He put up a couple of beauts in the preseason, including one where he walked the blue line and just fired a rocket into the net. He's never going to be mistaken for a PMD, but that shot of his is big enough and dangerous enough that it will force teams to respect it (drawing them out a bit and opening up space). The Rangers have been looking for a shot like that for literally more than a decade (since before Kalinin).
I would agree that McIlrath would look even better in a system other than AV's, but I'm also of the opinion that AV's system is the biggest problem the Rangers have right now (because if pre-season showed anything, it was that AV learned nothing from last year's 87 game debacle).
AV has already been allowed to run three good defensemen out of town. It's time for a new coach and a real opportunity. The team needs the former, and McIlrath has earned the latter.
Bottom line is that this is a player who has improved every year. We always knew he was going to be a project player. The project is finally paying off, and AV wants to get rid of him because he idiotically thinks Girardi is a first pairing defenseman.
Wasn't he better than Cam Fowler like 8-9 months ago, as per Rangers fans?
Rangers should lose AV, keep McIlrath
IF IF IF IF IF IF IF IF IF IF IF IF IF IF IF
every single other avenue were closed, Girardi would be bought out before exp draft.
Stupid to lose McIl value but cutting him cheap now.
Staal I don't see bought out, but I could see Staal moved at 3-4m depending on the return.
Although that is the other side, that is still a roster spot, and some of NY guys can go either side.
Staal moving alternatively would likewise = roster space
Sadly, you are right.
