Speculation: Anyone else think we'll better than we think?

[SnowblindNYR]

No, I don't think we'll be a contender or even a playoff team. I think we'll be bottom 3rd in the league but closer to #20 than #31. Does anyone else get this feeling? We still have Hank who is past his prime but I think coupled with hopefully a more defensively aware system could keep the goals down enough where it's respectable. We also have some good NHLers like Zib, Zucc, Kreider, Hayes, Buch (this is also a projection), Skjei, Shatty, Smith (another projection). We have some good young players who are before their prime, but it's not like they're plugs like Chytil, Lias, ADA, and Pionk. Thoughts?

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[YoSoyLalo]

Yes

I think we’ll challenge for a spot and potentially make it

Mostly depends on our goaltending. If Hank/Gyorg play well then we’ll probably be decent

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

I think they’ll be middle of the pack until Henrik gets injured

I want them to compete but also concede long term it’s better if they f***ing suck

 

[Kupo]

I think we’ll start off good, but the long grind through the season is going to be overwhelming for our youngsters.

We’re going to lose a lot. I just hope we go out swinging instead of folding like bitches.

 

[E-Train]

My only question is will they be bottom 10 or bottom 5. Low likelihood on anything better than that. Offense will be inconsistent, D will be weak as currently constituted. Don't know what form Hank will be in throughout.

 

[Kovalev27]

I think well be better than expected as well which is why I was screaming that we didn’t move more guys out because it puts up in that 8-12 range.

The only way I see us in bottom 5 is if Hank plays horribly and I think that’s a very real possibility.

 

[Ori]

If they decide to use both Lias & Chytil, and Libor Hájek this season we might qualify for playoffs with an okey goalie, and we don`t need C. Price kind of goal performance to make it. My reasoning under AV our defense has always been kind of meh - we always had to rely on Henrik stand on his head in his system due to bad defensive structure. But now coach Quinn`s system looks better defensive and Henrik can still be a very good NHL goalie. My big question is lack of a sniper and will Kevin Shattenkirk manage to stay healthy throughout the season?

 

[Thirty One]

I don't think we'll be better than I think we'll be, no.

 

[LeetchisGod]

I think we'll find a way to be a bubble team. Unfortunately finishing bottom five would be better for the franchise.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

No.

All the positive vibes and smoke and mirrors will die the second this team hits a rough patch.

They aren't making up a 20 point gap to become a playoff team this year. The talent isnt there.

 

[Ori]

But I don`t know if it`s good for our rebuild to reach playoffs so we will see what is going to happen. I`m still surprised he did not move some of the contracts this summer, but maybe they enjoy the last cup run for Henrik who knows..

Pro Tank "Lose for Hughes" kind of topics on HF. Yes true most of the bad NHL teams now hope to draft him next summer @LeetchisGod

But it`s really hard with an elite goalie, but how good is Henrik this season? And why did Gorton keep Hayes, Zucc, Nam, Spooner in this summer window, no options to move them?

I believe that they have a plan to reach the playoffs, or hope they can reach the playoffs for Henrik. And if they are far off playoffs in points due to new coaching staff who is not that experienced in NHL, and if so we will certainly see changes near TDL next year and the rebuild will continue for sure.

 

[kovazub94]

Almost every single player has a chip on shoulder, some - a pretty hefty monkey.
Names, Vesey and Fast are likely to be 4th liners.
Baring key injuries this roster can compete, at least until TDL.
Until further notice I will stand by my 7-12 prediction.

 

[Ghost of jas]

Injuries will bury this team. The forward group is mediocre. The defense is worse. The goalie has another year of mileage on him. None of that screams playoff contender.

 

[and 99 others]

They are who we thought they were

 

[nyr2k2]

I said a while back, I think we'll be in the 25-20 range rather than the 31-26 range. That was before any "good feelings" emerged; it's just my assessment of the roster and my assumptions about how the team will develop and adapt to the new system as the year goes on.

 

[TheGuarantee]

If they decide to use both Lias & Chytil, and Libor Hájek this season we might qualify for playoffs with an okey goalie, and we don`t need C. Price kind of goal performance to make it. My reasoning under AV our defense has always been kind of meh - we always had to rely on Henrik stand on his head in his system due to bad defensive structure. But now coach Quinn`s system looks better defensive and Henrik can still be a very good NHL goalie. My big question is lack of a sniper and will Kevin Shattenkirk manage to stay healthy throughout the season?

Price stinks

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Injuries will bury this team. The forward group is mediocre. The defense is worse. The goalie has another year of mileage on him. None of that screams playoff contender.

I was saying closer to 20th than 31st, not really calling them a playoff contender.

 

[silverfish]

They certainly didn't have to be as bad as they're going to be.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

I was saying closer to 20th than 31st, not really calling them a playoff contender.

Even so, I don't see 11 teams being worse than them.

All of the "Rangers can surprise!" arguments can be applied to almost every team that is expected to be bad this year.

 

[DanielBrassard]

I go back and forth on this. I think ultimately the team isn't bad enough to be bottom 5 but it still wouldn't surprise me if they were.

 

[Trxjw]

They'll live and die by Lundqvist as they have previously. I expect some players to take steps forward, but it's inevitable that a player or two will step backwards. Plus there's Staal who continues to regress, but will probably see notable minutes simply based on reputation and contract.

 

[silverfish]

They'll live and die by Lundqvist as they have previously. I expect some players to take steps forward, but it's inevitable that a player or two will step backwards. Plus there's Staal who continues to regress, but will probably see notable minutes simply based on reputation and contract.

Good news though, we can find this GM and trade Staal to him. Unless it's Gorton. But I doubt it.

 

[Bob Richards]

I think they're better than some of the sentiment that was being expressed that they'd be a 55 loss team or something.

Reasonably mediocre would be fine as a building block imo

 

[GAGLine]

I think we'll dig ourselves a hole to begin the year. Around the 20 game mark, we'll start to play better, but it won't be enough to seriously challenge for the playoffs. We'll sell again at the deadline and fade, finishing about 6th or 7th worst.

 

[Tawnos]

I've been having this debate with @Go Away Staal in another thread. The truth is that I would not in any way be surprised to see this team in the bottom-5... nor would I be surprised to see them snag a Wild Card spot.

The point I've been making is that, when you compare this team to the last Rangers team to make the playoffs, it isn't a huge difference. Let me run down the roster. In one case, I purposely compared Stepan to Hayes and Hayes to a rookie C, because I'm more concerned with role than with individual players. There's one caveat about Smith in there, but in no way am I basing this on players having career years, or anything like that.

16-17 vs 18-19
Kreider = Kreider
Vesey = Vesey
Nash >= Spooner
Stepan >= Hayes
Zibanejad = Zibanejad
Hayes -- Chytil/Andersson (this is the biggest question mark in the comparison)
Zuccarello = Zuccarello
Grabner >= Namestnikov
Buchnevich = Miller (is that a stretch? I don't think so)
Fast = Fast
Lindberg = Holland/Fogarty/Fontaine/Whoever 4C
Glass = McLeod (worst case scenario)

McDonagh > Skjei (unequivocally)
Girardi < Shattenkirk
Staal = Staal
Smith = Smith (big caveat... this is dependent on Smith really being back)
Holden < Pionk/DeAngelo
Klein = McQuaid (we're talking about 16-17 Klein, who had all kinds of problems)

Lundqvist = Lundqvist

I'm sorry, I just don't see a HUGE difference in the lineups, with the exception of the 1D spot, which is admittedly a huge role. Some would debate that Nash and Grabner are both definitively better than Spooner and Namestnikov, but I think their overall impact on the offense is about the same. Yeah, those other guys scored more goals, but they did it without impacting the offense much when they weren't.

I also don't think many of the question-mark teams are so significantly ahead... NJD, FLA, CBJ, NYI, CAR, BUF... all of these teams have significant flaws... while we compare much more favorably to OTT, MTL, DET. That's 9 teams we could be better than... and that's a playoff spot right there.