First of all i never said the Rangers were a Cup "favorite", just that the core in place is the one they plan on going to battle with for the next 5-7 years. My whole point is that the timeline to win a Cup is with these guys signed, none of them are going anywhere in the near future.
Right, but my point is, I don't agree with that approach because I don't think they are a Cup favorite with that core.
I mean, maybe it's what the team is planning to do, go to war with a second round playoff exit roster for the next half decade, but that's a bad idea, is what I'm saying. I said I understand, it's not impossible to win, look at the Blues, but if you are starting from the perspective of a tear-down you shouldn't be AIMING to be the Blues, you should be aiming to be the Blackhawks or Penguins. After landing the first and second overall picks, the latter should be more our goal than the former. The elite teams win a lot more Cups than the one-offs. You increase your odds dramatically if you can amass that elite amount of talent. Why aren't we trying for that?
And as much as it pains me to say, Laf/Kakko/Chytil have done very little for me to be worried about their future contracts.
Well that is terrible news for our chances of winning a Cup.
What we have right now if Laf and Kakko are not stars is not likely to win it all.
It'll be entertaining, will result in many playoff appearances, but we've been there, done that. The odds are extremely likely it ends the same way.
That's not what we were told was the objective when the Letter went out. And I don't know why everyone is suddenly so eager to get on with being a mere playoff team.
Kreider/Trouba are indispensable to this team right now and going forward, the Rangers aren't thinking about moving them because of what those guys might make if they ever show any progress. That's not how teams that are contending operate. Everything the Rangers have done in the past 6 months proves that they are focused on contending.
"Because it's just not how teams do things," is the argument I keep hearing without any justification. Because we say so.
Well that's just not gonna cut it for the Rangers if they want to be an elite team, but it seems like the owner has stepped in and said he's ok with being a playoff gate revenue team and the fans are lining up behind him.
I guess it's true, you can't rebuild in New York.