This is a Bad Hockey Team 2017-18

[Ghost of jas]

Roster with Kevin Hayes as a 2C is not fine. Carey and Desharnais aren't quality NHLers either. It's Zibanejad and crap at the most important position to build a team around.

If last night is any indication going forward, Hayes is not the 2nd line center, Miller is.

 

[True Blue]

Almost all systems have flaws. Whether they have been exploited -- or whether elite talent or superior work ethic conceals them -- is a different issue.

If the flaws keep getting exposed, shouldn't the creator find ways to make adjustments? Adjustments that put the players into better positions for success?

 

[ReggieDunlop68]

It starts...

The servers are expensive. It keeps the site going. The server runs on salt.

 

[offdacrossbar]

its way too early to panic. need 3 weeks to see where we are. until then, not going to worry.

the top 9 is good to very good. they just cant score yet. it will come.

the top 4 on defense is also very good. hank has been so-so. but his s0-s0 is still very good because we are so spoiled. he's been great for so long but he's now trending to just very good.

the pp is excellent and will continue to be deadly.

the pk needs work but we have the pieces. fast will help.

imo, its AV thats the problem. his micro managing and tinkering seems counter productive.

this team and peter laviolette as coach would make me happy.

 

[Irishguy42]

its way too early to panic. need 3 weeks to see where we are. until then, not going to worry.

the top 9 is good to very good. they just cant score yet. it will come.

the top 4 on defense is also very good. hank has been so-so. but his s0-s0 is still very good because we are so spoiled. he's been great for so long but he's now trending to just very good.

the pp is excellent and will continue to be deadly.

the pk needs work but we have the pieces. fast will help.

Yes yes yes. Things will even out across the league. Players who are overperforming will begin to have a "drought" and players who are underperforming will start scoring. Scoring is always higher at the beginning of the season and will die down/go back to normality within a few weeks.

It happens every. single. year.



Coaches know it. They aren't phased by the sudden surge. They aren't idiots.

I'm not going to push the panic button on the Rangers until Game #20.

Hank has been good the past two games. Hard to tell where he'll be this season. Will it be another 30 win season? Hard to tell.

PP is AMAZING.

PK will be better when Fast gets back.

 

[NYR]

Other than the stat guys…
Are any of you really that surprised at the way this team looks?
You could’ve called it from a mile away.
Players are being played in roles they’ve never played before and with reason.
Shattenkirk is good on the PP as advertised but that’s about it.
Zbad, while good on the PP hasn’t done much 5-5.
Smith is a disaster but that’s apparently AV’s fault.
AD, I’d like to see on the 3rd pair and while he’s got the raw skills the kid has a lot to learn.
AV NEEDS TO GO AND TAKE GMJG WITH HIM because he has done an incredibly shitty job these past few years.
He’s allowed AV to continue his shenanigans while gutting the heart and soul of this team.
Dsteps, Hags, Brass, Linberg..
Proven playoff performers that should’ve been SUPPLIMENTED rather than lost but that never happened.
Instead we have nothing but cheap plugins..
Where are all the stat geek arguments now that the defense is so dramatically upgraded BS??

 

[Mac n Gs]

Just play zone defense for f***s sake and follow suit with the rest of the league.

 

[NYR]

Just play zone defense for ****s sake and follow suit with the rest of the league.

That would be a great start!

 

[CasusBelli]

If the flaws keep getting exposed, shouldn't the creator find ways to make adjustments? Adjustments that put the players into better positions for success?

Fully agree — and that’s the ultimate sign of a flawed creator.

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

its way too early to panic.

You've been around her long enough to know that it's never too early to panic....

 

[RiceCooker]

I'm definitely not panicking but for the first time in a long time , I'm actually worried about our goal tending situation . At least when Hank faltered or went into a cold spell we had serviceable guys like Talbot or Raanta who could pick up the slack and do a good job till he found his game again . I don't feel that way with Pavs and if Lundqvist sucks, we're screwed .
This and the lack of any centers besides Zib, is going to bury this team .

 

[Irishguy42]

Raanta and Talbot were not better than what Pavs is when they were first our backups. They became better.

Same will happen with Pavs.

Hank has also been fine in the last two games. Lets see where it goes.

 

[Igor Shestyorkin]

The biggest problems on this team to me are 1) The coach and the system he plays. 2) The team's very weak center depth. I think those two things need to be addressed. I just hope AV is on a short leash, because he really doesn't deserve a long one.

As for center depth, it's either rely on Miller to step into the 2nd line C role and leave a gap on the wing, or try and make a deal for AA or Shipachyov. Take your pick. I can't think of many other possibilities as of now.

I personally don't see goalie as a big problem like others may, and I think the defense just needs the correct pairings and correct players playing. McD, Shatty, Skjei, Tony D, Smith should all be playing. 6th spot could go to any of Graves, Pionk, Beargloves. Just not to Staal, Holden, or Kampfer. Kampfer is a fine 7th D and so is Holden, but no more Staal. It's getting old even if he's played a solid 4 games.

 

[TheTakedown]

Don't worry, AV is just making them "earn it." It's just a prank bro!

All part of the "pro-cess" -_-

 

[TheTakedown]

Nash is the biggest disappointment. Everyone will point at him and say that he's doing all the right things but he's snakebitten. I'm not buying that story anymore. Nash is cooked, I can almost promise he puts up no more than 40 ppints this year, which ironically would be almsot the same as his 36 and 38 point seasons the last 2 years....

 

[haveandare]

Other than the stat guys…
Are any of you really that surprised at the way this team looks?
You could’ve called it from a mile away.
Players are being played in roles they’ve never played before and with reason.
Shattenkirk is good on the PP as advertised but that’s about it.
Zbad, while good on the PP hasn’t done much 5-5.
Smith is a disaster but that’s apparently AV’s fault.
AD, I’d like to see on the 3rd pair and while he’s got the raw skills the kid has a lot to learn.
AV NEEDS TO GO AND TAKE GMJG WITH HIM because he has done an incredibly ****ty job these past few years.
He’s allowed AV to continue his shenanigans while gutting the heart and soul of this team.
Dsteps, Hags, Brass, Linberg..
Proven playoff performers that should’ve been SUPPLIMENTED rather than lost but that never happened.
Instead we have nothing but cheap plugins..
Where are all the stat geek arguments now that the defense is so dramatically upgraded BS??

Who is in a role they've never played before aside from Miller playing center?

Smith is a "disaster" based on 2 regular season games after he was incredible all playoffs long.

JG has done a fine job IMO, good to very good.

Stepan's NMC was about to kick in. He's getting slower every year while the league gets faster.

Hagelin was a core guy for sure, but the cap exists and he's a $4M 20-30 point scorer. We don't have the luxury of carrying a player like that, and we got Grabner instead who also has insane wheels, costs 1.6 or so and put up more goals last year than Hagelin did points. I guess a guy who handily outscores Hags for a fraction of his money is just a "cheap plugin" - the cheap part is accurate at least.

Brassard fell short of 40 points last year for the first time in 5 years. And he got paid $5m to do it. I really doubt you'd be talking about how great he was if he were playing like that on this team last year.

I liked Oscar as much as anyone, if not more than most, but he was never a significant part of "the heart and soul of this team." He was a very good 4C who was here for two seasons. Really lowering the bar for heart and soul with him. Having said that, I do wish they would have given Vegas a pick to keep him.

You don't need to be a "stat geek" to know that this defense is upgraded from last year. All you need is the slightest bit of patience and memory of how the beginning of every NHL season goes - scorers score like wild, defenses are largely out of whack league wide and then things come together and the opposite happens for the rest of the year and into the playoffs.

 

[LeetchisGod]

Nash is the biggest disappointment. Everyone will point at him and say that he's doing all the right things but he's snakebitten. I'm not buying that story anymore. Nash is cooked, I can almost promise he puts up no more than 40 ppints this year, which ironically would be almsot the same as his 36 and 38 point seasons the last 2 years....

Blasphemy! The great Rick Nash will lead us to the promised land. You'll see.

 

[NickyFotiu]

This is a mediocre team (most in NHL are) that is playing badly.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Nash is the biggest disappointment. Everyone will point at him and say that he's doing all the right things but he's snakebitten. I'm not buying that story anymore. Nash is cooked, I can almost promise he puts up no more than 40 ppints this year, which ironically would be almsot the same as his 36 and 38 point seasons the last 2 years....

I'd be fine with the Nash (not at 7.8 mill) I saw pass the puck to others the other night vs MTL. I just do not like the black hole version of Nash that would rather take a 70 foot wrist shot while covered by 2 guys than dish the puck to the open man.

 

[RiceCooker]

It's sad that I forget Nash is even on this team sometimes ... that's how much of a non factor he's become .

 

[mcsauer2738]

I'm really trying to get back into it but the game has just become so boring, the rangers in particular. I think the lack of fighting is really hurting the game from an entertainment standpoint. Anyone have stats on how bad the ratings have dropped correlated with fighting dropping? It's crazy how much the game has changed in the past 5 years.

 

[Igor Shestyorkin]

If not seeing fighting ruined the game for you, I'm not sure if you could call yourself a full fledged "hockey fan".

 

[RangerBlues]

The first 20 games of the season are meaningless.

 

[Synergy27]

This thread is fun every year, but I'll admit that this is the first year in a long time that I think there's a chance that they might actually be bad.

That said, this seems to be a good year to suck. Imagine this:

Complete collapse.
Rangers draft Dahlin or Svechnikov.
Henrik retires out of pride a la Naslund.
Rangers use newfound cap space to sign Tavares.

I mean, I'd assume that a large majority of the posters here would sign up for that, no?

 

[NYR]

Who is in a role they've never played before aside from Miller playing center?

Smith is a "disaster" based on 2 regular season games after he was incredible all playoffs long.

JG has done a fine job IMO, good to very good.

Stepan's NMC was about to kick in. He's getting slower every year while the league gets faster.

Hagelin was a core guy for sure, but the cap exists and he's a $4M 20-30 point scorer. We don't have the luxury of carrying a player like that, and we got Grabner instead who also has insane wheels, costs 1.6 or so and put up more goals last year than Hagelin did points. I guess a guy who handily outscores Hags for a fraction of his money is just a "cheap plugin" - the cheap part is accurate at least.

Brassard fell short of 40 points last year for the first time in 5 years. And he got paid $5m to do it. I really doubt you'd be talking about how great he was if he were playing like that on this team last year.

I liked Oscar as much as anyone, if not more than most, but he was never a significant part of "the heart and soul of this team." He was a very good 4C who was here for two seasons. Really lowering the bar for heart and soul with him. Having said that, I do wish they would have given Vegas a pick to keep him.

You don't need to be a "stat geek" to know that this defense is upgraded from last year. All you need is the slightest bit of patience and memory of how the beginning of every NHL season goes - scorers score like wild, defenses are largely out of whack league wide and then things come together and the opposite happens for the rest of the year and into the playoffs.

@haveandare
I can appreciate your optimism and I am patient.
I know this team will get better at some point than right now but I have a lot to dislike as well.

To address some of your questions..
Half the team is playing in roles they’ve never been in before.
-Zbad has never been a #1C.
Do you think he can fill Dsteps or even Brassard's role defensively while still creating offense?
-Hayes has never been a #2C.
-Shattenkirk hasn’t played on the top pair since he’s been drafted.
-Smith, outside of having a decent series against a horrible Montreal team, hasn’t even had a roster spot.

Look at the above history.

This defense has only upgraded in ONE area and that’s on the PP where Shattenkirk absolutely excels.

Who would you rather have right now? Hags @ $4 or Smith @ $4+?
Hags has brought a lot to the table while winning 2 cups..