- Jul 20, 2005
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He's a defenseman with 38 career NHL games and hasn't played regularly since last February?
Waived: Dylan McIlrath (UPDATE: Cleared)
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He's a defenseman with 38 career NHL games and hasn't played regularly since last February?
Kaapo Cabana
Next name: Admiral Kakkbar
While we all sit here and pretend to know everything, there may be a reason that he wasn't claimed that nobody here has thought of yet.
Personally, I'm surprised that he wasn't claimed. Does that make the GMs wrong? No it makes me wrong. Not saying that GMs always make the right decisions, but the inability to look inward and think "well maybe I'm missing something here" is a rampant problem on these boards.
Is it possible that McIlrath is undervalued around the league? Yes. Is it also possible that we overvalue McIlrath? Yes. Both of these can be true.
Personally, I'm surprised that he wasn't claimed. Does that make the GMs wrong? No it makes me wrong. Not saying that GMs always make the right decisions, but the inability to look inward and think "well maybe I'm missing something here" is a rampant problem on these boards.
Is it possible that McIlrath is undervalued around the league? Yes. Is it also possible that we overvalue McIlrath? Yes. Both of these can be true.
Ah yes. Thank you for bringing up ******** excuse #2 behind the good ol boys conspiracy theory. The people who defended McIlrath and roasted the coach at incessant levels definitely declared that McIlrath is an NHL-regular defenseman, no? If you don't agree with that, just stop reading because you're lying to yourself.
With that being the reality of the situation, I have to wonder how the experts on hfboards, who also didn't see McIlrath play regularly since February, could continue to make such declarative statements. What did they see that every other general manager in the league didn't see? Right defense is arguably the toughest position to find quality depth in this league. I'm not pushing a strawman that McIlrath was being presented as some superstar around here, but he certainly was being pushed as a no brainer capable NHL regular on the right side. I am sorry, but if that were actually true, several GMs would be clamoring for him on the waiver wire.
- May 30, 2013
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My quote had absolutely nothing to do with McIlrath, so please keep your contrarian fairy tale horse **** to yourself, thank you.
SingnBluesOnBroadway
Retired
I think last week was a good example of a player's value when all emotion is removed for the scenario.
As Ranger fans, we see McIlrath differently. He was a #10 pick (discuss who they missed on or who they should have taken, if you like), we have waited as the organization has shown patience with him, we have responded to opposing fans mocking/criticizing of the pick and we have used him as a way to project displeasure with the coach.
Strip away all that, consider that not one other team claimed and I think we get a better view of what this kid is right now.
As Ranger fans, we see McIlrath differently. He was a #10 pick (discuss who they missed on or who they should have taken, if you like), we have waited as the organization has shown patience with him, we have responded to opposing fans mocking/criticizing of the pick and we have used him as a way to project displeasure with the coach.
Strip away all that, consider that not one other team claimed and I think we get a better view of what this kid is right now.
silverfish
got perma'd
A bottom-pairing d-man with middle-pairing potential where it wasn't worth it for other organizations to use one of their contract spaces on him when he'll likely not meet the standard to not be a UFA next season and then go ahead and lose him anyway?
Don't think anyone disagrees with that. They might disagree with the sentence structure, which is horrifying
- May 30, 2013
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Well for me, and a few others, he's a symptom of a bigger problem. I don't really care much about him as a player. I care about the process that lead to him being waived. I cared about the merit process that stunted (or, even reversed) his development last year. And I care about the coach not doing anything to help him succeed /last year/.
The frustration has definitely amped up a lot seeing a career "loser" like Nick Holden, who hasn't accomplished a damn thing in his NHL career, taking top pair minutes with no repercussions while that same courtesy couldn't be extended to a player that was basically our only hope of being an NHL RHD. Especially considering all we heard last year was hot air about how Girardi was a vet with leadership qualities and tenure in the organization and that's why he would never be displaced for a rookie like McIlrath. Yet, here comes Holden blowing that logic to smithereens.
I see a lot of people do doing this however, but it seems to be connected with the idea that AV hates toughness and McIlrath was the ensuring death blow to this team ever picking up another fighting major.
SingnBluesOnBroadway
Retired
All fair.
1) Knocking the guy playing over him is far from an endorsement of him
2) If AV hates toughness, explain the perceived love-fest for Tanner Glass
ZiGOODejad
intangibles
- Nov 30, 2013
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Has anyone seen his game in the A yet? Curious to see who he's paired with and what he's actually working on.
- May 30, 2013
- 42,900
- 18,250
It's not and I don't mean it to be. I'm attacking the process. Not the players.
I don't think he hates toughness. And even if he did I couldn't care less. It certainly matters to other posters though.
I wouldn't talk much about McIlrath if I were you either.
No matter who you are talking about, it just highlights an off the charts belief that you know best.
Inferno
Registered User
offdacrossbar
misfit fanboy
I've held my tongue on this issue since he was both waived and subsequently not claimed.
sad day really. wasted opportunity to have an impact player turned into a wasted pick. who here wouldn't love to trade mcilrath for cam fowler right now ? ill wait for show of hands.....
"fowler sucks" bah blah bah...... amirite ?
while many here are being handed their menus and are deciding, as we speak, how they would like their crow prepared (smoked with apple and hickory wood with a nice spicy rub is my recommendation), i continue to chuckle at all those who continue to cling to the sinking ship.
like somehow its a good thing he was waived and not claimed ?
thats like saying, i couldn't sell my junky car so now i can keep it and keep making the payments on something that doesnt work and i dont need anymore. darn am i happy no one bought it ! huh ?
when you are waived and not claimed by 30 other gm's thats bad. in fact, it means you arent an nhl player. period.
from someone (many would say the leader of the pack) who was never a fan from the get go, i feel like draft decisions like this one put the organization back on its heels. gordie got some splainin to do.
on the flip side, for every mcilrath there are draft opportunities like lundqvist, buchnevich, shestyorkin and robin kovacs that you can grab from lower rounds and turn out to be steals and certainly the kevin spicolis and jimmy veseys that you can sign for free help alot as well.
for all the long term skeptics from day one on the whole mcilrath draft decision- BRB and bluenote both come to mind plus a very few others i cant remember, it wasnt that hard to call this one. the fact that it came to this, atleast for me, is but confirmation of what I've known from day one.
dylan mcilrath just isnt that good at hockey and the only reason- THE ONLY REASON, he's still here is no one else wanted him.
let that sink in.
sad day really. wasted opportunity to have an impact player turned into a wasted pick. who here wouldn't love to trade mcilrath for cam fowler right now ? ill wait for show of hands.....
"fowler sucks" bah blah bah...... amirite ?
while many here are being handed their menus and are deciding, as we speak, how they would like their crow prepared (smoked with apple and hickory wood with a nice spicy rub is my recommendation), i continue to chuckle at all those who continue to cling to the sinking ship.
like somehow its a good thing he was waived and not claimed ?
thats like saying, i couldn't sell my junky car so now i can keep it and keep making the payments on something that doesnt work and i dont need anymore. darn am i happy no one bought it ! huh ?
when you are waived and not claimed by 30 other gm's thats bad. in fact, it means you arent an nhl player. period.
from someone (many would say the leader of the pack) who was never a fan from the get go, i feel like draft decisions like this one put the organization back on its heels. gordie got some splainin to do.
on the flip side, for every mcilrath there are draft opportunities like lundqvist, buchnevich, shestyorkin and robin kovacs that you can grab from lower rounds and turn out to be steals and certainly the kevin spicolis and jimmy veseys that you can sign for free help alot as well.
for all the long term skeptics from day one on the whole mcilrath draft decision- BRB and bluenote both come to mind plus a very few others i cant remember, it wasnt that hard to call this one. the fact that it came to this, atleast for me, is but confirmation of what I've known from day one.
dylan mcilrath just isnt that good at hockey and the only reason- THE ONLY REASON, he's still here is no one else wanted him.
let that sink in.
Inferno
Registered User
offdacrossbar
misfit fanboy
we did not draft him.
he was drafted by the yotes in round 2 of the 2004 draft.
acquired for torpedo IN A TRADE. both players needed a new start.
he played 57 nhl games for us
mcilrath 37 games (so far)
lisin wasnt a wasted draft pick like mcilrath, but im sure you knew that......
and webster is russian so he's the better player
i win
Inferno
Registered User
please you practically looked like Randy Marsh in south park after he got his internet access back (google it) when we traded for Lisin...we did not draft him.
he was drafted by the yotes in round 2 of the 2004 draft.
acquired for torpedo IN A TRADE. both players needed a new start.
he played 57 nhl games for us
mcilrath 37 games (so far)
lisin wasnt a wasted draft pick like mcilrath, but im sure you knew that......
and webster is russian so he's the better player
i win
offdacrossbar
misfit fanboy
offdacrossbar
misfit fanboy
always seemed like a great kid.
in fact, i knew some people in the whl back then that said he was very nasty but really a great kid with good character and leadership skills.
his interview was great from what i read.
one small problem, he never got better at hockeying.
RempireStateBuilding
Registered User
1) It's an endorsement of giving a rookie a longer leash considering he could have been part of the future if he was allowed a little more leeway to develop in the NHL and work through his mistakes and allowed to think it's okay to make mistakes because he'll get another swing at it next shift. There was never "the next shift" for him. Everything this year was do or die with him at all moments. There seems to be an enormous disconnect between the patience the organization has shown towards him since being drafted ~6 years ago and the honest chances he's been given at sticking on the Rangers. They seem to have known for a while that he had no shot which makes everything even more perplexing. Have all his stints just been showcases then? I still find it really hard to believe not a single team in the league had a spot for him somewhere. And I find it hard to believe nobody would have bit on SOME kind of trade after seeing him with Yandle. The guys playing above him make errors that were/are just as bad or worse and are given 22+ minutes a night in every situation, but with a kid trying to learn in McIlrath, he gets benched after 6. But it's a non-issue now. We have to look towards a guy like Graves now and hope he can push for a spot in the future.
2) His lovefest for Glass stemmed from "reliability" and "you know what you're getting with him" and he's a "glue guy". I'm confident Gorton could have found literally any other sort of "glue guy" that wasn't ****ing awful as a hockey player these last few years. Glass is the worst "tough guy" this team has had since Voros and about just as much of a punching bag. I feel like his stupid little scrums took more out of the Rangers than it really helped. He made it look like he was doing a lot by just running around, but never really did much of anything. That's the sort of thing AV loves, looking like you're trying despite any sort of results. AV loves the effort Glass would put in (off-ice, in the locker room) and completely adored and separated and rewarded that from what Glass the player was doing on the ice.
At any rate, it seems that almost all of the opinions of McIlrath are colored by his stint with Yandle and that we as fans have to be missing a huge chunk of something. The whole situation just seems like it was handled incorrectly.
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Tawnos
A guy with a bass
I think we all got fooled by his stint with Yandle last year, which as time has gone on has looked more and more like McIlrath playing hot than anything sustainable. Maybe he would have kept it up if he hadn't gotten taken out of the lineup when the other RD got healthy. He's certainly regressed since then.
That being said, he came into camp in just about the best possible situation for him. He had success to build on last year. There was a 3RD spot wide open. The Rangers D coach is someone who is familiar with him and is someone who supports him. Instead of taking advantage of the situation, he got outplayed by 4 other players for an RD spot, including a lefty for a head coach who abhors using D on their off side.
It's not out of the realm of possibility that this Hartford stint will do him some good and he can rediscover how he played last year. I'm certainly rooting for that. At this point, my hopes are not up.
That being said, he came into camp in just about the best possible situation for him. He had success to build on last year. There was a 3RD spot wide open. The Rangers D coach is someone who is familiar with him and is someone who supports him. Instead of taking advantage of the situation, he got outplayed by 4 other players for an RD spot, including a lefty for a head coach who abhors using D on their off side.
It's not out of the realm of possibility that this Hartford stint will do him some good and he can rediscover how he played last year. I'm certainly rooting for that. At this point, my hopes are not up.
Brooklyn Rangers Fan
Change is good.
- Jul 20, 2005
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You seem to be having issues differentiating between facts and excuses. There is a difference. For example, if I was having difficulty explaining simple concepts to a person and I asked them why that was and they responded "My teachers were lousy", that would be an excuse. It might be true, but its also an excuse. On the other hand if they responded "I'm not particularly bright" that's not exactly an excuse. Its more just the reality of the situation. When I tell people I haven't exercised in a long time because I am lazy and I really just don't want to exercise, people typically don't tell me to stop making excuses.
Keeping that difference in mind, here are some facts.
1) McIlrath played last year in the NHL, and regularly for a few months.
2) McIlrath played well last year.
3) McIlrath hasn't played regularly since February.
4) McIlrath is 24 years old and has only 38 total NHL games played.
5) The Rangers defense has not played very well this season.
6) The Rangers have played D men out of position instead of playing McIlrath.
Keeping those facts in mind, here are my opinions.
1) Its not hard to see why some people, especially those who watched him last season, see him as being able to play in the NHL. It probably has something to do with the fact that he already has played in the NHL. And when he did play, he played well. There is no guarantee that a person can do again something that he has already done before, but the concept isn't exactly novel or controversial.
2) Its also not exactly hard to see why some people think McIlrath might be a better option over what we have now on defense. It probably has something to do with our defense not playing very well. It also has to do with McIlrath being a somewhat unknown commodity. He played well but there's no guarantee he can do so for a longer period of time; just because we are icing some defensemen who are lousy doesn't mean McIlrath will be any better. But trying something new might be better than rolling with something you know doesn't work.
3) It was not a huge surprise a team did not claimed him. He hasn't accomplished much in his career and he hasn't played much for a long time. He's old to still be developing. The fact that he needs to play and his lack of experience makes him a questionable 3rd pair D and a terrible 7th D. Like most tweeners he has more value to his current team than any potential other team.
4) Clearing waivers doesn't disqualify you from being an NHL player.
That's it. Feel free to dispute my facts or views. I numbered them so you can address them directly. Or don't. All I ask is that if you respond, you respond to the argument I am making and not one that comes from someone else or one that exists only in your mind.
Tawnos
A guy with a bass
Number 2 on your list there is subjective and not fact. He was good for a short stint last year. He was mediocre for another short stint.
Inferno
Registered User
he was good for an extended stint..got benched for no reason..and then got put in as a right winger on the 4th line...got benched again...and got put in with the corpse of Dan Boyle playing the left side for the first time in his 900 year career, and shockingly they sucked as a pair.
thats a more accurate depiction of what really happened.
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