Pretty sad to hear that news about Luke. The focus is more on his quality of life moving forward than on hockey. As others have said McKenzie made a very savvy move to manoeuvre with Barrie to be sure he got Dumont-Bouchard here.
Some other things said at the AGM
Steve Bienkowski said things were solid financially and this year the profit was about 265 thousand dollars. The Rangers made about 449,000 in charitable donations.
On the hockey side he said the team did not want to return to the position they were in when the draft cupboard was bare and there were not key players to build around. At the end of the 2012-13 season the draft cupboard was bare, with graduation there was a shortage of players to build around. He said we borrowed from the future for present success. He pointed out examples like Erie who do not currently have a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th draft pick in 2018 and no 2nd or 3rd until 2023. Windsor don't have a 2nd to 5th round pick in 2018 and don't have a 2nd or 3rd until 2022. London traded lots of picks at the deadline but still have their base picks and some very good players so they can compete this season too.
Since 2013 there was a direction to restock the draft cupboard, limit movement of top picks, build through the draft. Now that the draft cupboard is restocked they can make a push, but base picks must remain and there must be a good core of players from each age who remain.
Mike McKenzie spoke about keeping a high compete level from season to season. He wants the team to be good every year and not be in the place where we were. He wants to have the assets to push when it matters. He said acquiring Stanley meant Roberts would see less ice time and that's why that trade was made. He said with the Rippon trade he was a bit angry with the situation of him not wanting to play here but once he said he'd play elsewhere, he made a trade to get good assets back. With Cedric Schiemenz and Lias Andersson, he decided he wanted 2 impact players who could play this season so Schiemenz was released and Andersson put on import reserve. He is happy with the balance of ages and skill. He said he can't guarantee there aren't more moves coming.
Jay McKee was asked about the lack of edge on the team and that fans are very quiet and don't have anything to get excited about. He said that it's not just the Rangers. The league has cracked down to decrease fighting, the after whistle scrums are gone, head checking penalties are called and the days of stick swinging are over. The game has changed. Concussions are a huge factor and are serious. He pointed out that in Buffalo Barnaby had one that was so severe he temporarily couldn't see. McKee said if the defence stays healthy it will be very good. He said Stanley's skills and hands are better than he originally thought they were. He said Rickard Hugg has great speed and skill and that Liska is strong and like a bull in a china shop. He told a story of how at training camp the team started in the weight room in the morning then practiced and played a scrimmage. After the scrimmage Liska came up to him and said, we go back to weight room now coach?
Lots of positives at this meeting.
Of note though, with over 4,000 season tickets and let's say maybe half that number of individuals eligible to come to the AGM (if you buy a pair of season's tickets you only get one vote) only 116 showed up and 136 voted by proxy.