Very happy to move on, and we face our next challenge with the Bruins rivals, the Canadiens. Those french swine. We hope to move to the Stanley Cup final! Here's why:
FORWARDS
Max Pacioretty ($1.625m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Erik Cole ($4.500m)
Martin Havlat ($5.000m) / Brad Richards ($6.667m) (A) / Alexander Ovechkin (A) ($9.538m)
Rangers have the more talented and elite top line.
Rene Bourque ($3.333m) / Tomas Plekanec ($5.000m) / Brian Gionta ($5.000m)
Radim Vrbrata ($3.000m) / Ryan Getlzaf ($5.325m) / Ryan Callahan (C) ($4.275m)
The 2nd line of the Rangers is also more effective and has more quality with scoring and hard-nosed players.
Jussi Jokinen ($3.000m) / David Desharnais ($0.850m) / Petr Sykora ($2.250m)
Chris Kreider ($1.325m) / Brian Boyle ($1.700m) / Andrei Kostisyen ($1.000m)
The Rangers 3rd line has a better combination of skill, goal scoring and speed. The Habs 3rd line is a bit small and soft.
Mason Raymond ($2.275m) / Jiri Tlusty ($1.600m) / Jamie Langenbrunner ($1.500m)
Tim Brent ($0.750m)
Taylor Pyatt ($1.550m) / Jochen Hecht ($0.525m) / Brian Rolsten ($0.525m)
Carl Hagelin ($0.875m)
The Rangers 4th line is full of grit and our reserve can play any position (on F) and fill it reasonably well. Doubt Tim Brent could do that. Again the Habs line here is quite soft.
DEFENSEMEN
Erik Karlsson ($6.500m) / Josh Gorges ($3.900m)
Marc Staal ($3.975m) / Ryan Mcdonagh ($1.300m)
This one here is a tough match-up however I give favour to the Rangers as Staal and McDonagh have been proven performers in the playoffs.
P.K. Subban ($4.500m) / Nicklas Kronwall ($4.750m)
Alex Goligoski ($4.600m) / Jay Bouwmeester (A) ($6.800m)
Very similar line here, I cannot give the edge to either team as they are too similar.
Andrei Markov ($5.750m) / Alexei Emelin ($2.000m)
Michael Sauer ($1.250m) / Stu Bickel ($0.750m)
Markov is still battling an injury and has rarely played the past 3 seasons, no telling where his conditioning is at.
GOALTENDERS
Carey Price ($6.500m)
Steve Mason ($3.000m)
Henrik Lundqvist ($6.875m)
J.S. Giguere ($1.250m)
Rangers have the more elite tandem of goalies, while Price is good on a bad team, Henrik is great on a great team that lead the Eastern Conference. JS Giguere also won a Stanley Cup in his time! Mason is not quite the best goalie, even as back-up.
VOTE
[FIELDSET="Roster & Cap Hit"]
CAPGEEK.COM USER GENERATED ROSTER
FORWARDS
Martin Havlat ($5.000m) / Brad Richards ($6.667m) (A) / Alexander Ovechkin (A) ($9.538m)
Radim Vrbrata ($3.000m) / Ryan Getlzaf ($5.325m) / Ryan Callahan (C) ($4.275m)
Chris Kreider ($1.325m) / Brian Boyle ($1.700m) / Andrei Kostisyen ($1.000m)
Taylor Pyatt ($1.550m) / Jochen Hecht ($0.525m) / Brian Rolsten ($0.525m)
Carl Hagelin ($0.875m)
DEFENSEMEN
Marc Staal ($3.975m) / Ryan Mcdonagh ($1.300m)
Alex Goligoski ($4.600m) / Jay Bouwmeester (A) ($6.800m)
Michael Sauer ($1.250m) / Stu Bickel ($0.750m)
GOALTENDERS
Henrik Lundqvist ($6.875m)
J.S. Giguere ($1.250m)
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $70,200,000; CAP PAYROLL: $67,658,334;
CAP SPACE (21-man roster): $848,871
[/FIELDSET]
To start off we have a perfect mix of top-6 forwards who can score, hit and shut-down. With Ovechkin being fed by with Havlat and Richards, this line will hit and score consistently. Then our second line is much the same with Getzlaf, being paired with the 30+ goal scorer in Vrbrata and our Captain in Ryan Callahan. Our third line is a perfect mixture of size and grit (Boyle), speed (Krieder) and scoring (Andrei). Our 4th line is tough but can also pot goals to provide some depth scoring. As Hagelin as a reserve, he is capable of filling any void when an injury occurs. Our defence is looking outstanding too. With 4 #1 Defenders. We have McDonagh paired with Marc Staal and they form a solid duo. Then we have Jaybo with Goligoski who are both all-star defenders. Our third pairing form a more shut-down role. Finally, our all-star goaltending duo of King Henrik and J.S. Giguere will propel us in the playoffs. It's not like Henrik ever falters, but if he did, the J.S. would revel the opportunity to play for another Cup on an extremely competitive team.
Vote
Thanks for reading!