You compared Kreider to Bure and Keon. 10 years later, we stand with a player that’s never broken 30 goals or 60 points.
At the time we thought CK would be a C b'c of his dominant speed. I am not backing off what I said, but please let's be accurate.
I said best case scenario, it not being established what his offensive upside was, and what kind of shooting touch he had, that using that elite speed alone, not to mention the power, would make him as effective as Keon, AGAIN BEST CASE SCENARIO, as a pivot.
It then became clear that b'c CK did not have the best hands, a la MacKinnon -- and that is part of the dif -- that the best case scenario for him as a converted PF would be Bure, IF he could develop scoring touch. Turns out, CK is not Hoffman or DeBrincat and had to learn how to pot his tallies, unable to do so as a sniper, which Bure was.
It is totally fair to call me out for saying that, but again, please be accurate. I always said, best case scenario, etc.
We can see know if Kreider adding scoring/sniper touch to what we have already seen, what I said would be correct. He held up his end as to the rest of it, which I predicted, as did many others, but I was among the first, when he was a skinny kid we just drafted, and did not know what we had.
As did most. I stated that he would never advance beyond what he was without improving his skating. Do I get a cookie as well?
Kudos to you as well then.
But where were you when I was getting crucified by the win now crowd for their herd mentality, who would not consider taking a step backwards to go 3 steps forward near term, and insisted kicking the can as long as possible?
When I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and when I'm right, I'm right.
It took years for everyone to begrudgingly come to the conclusion, admit it or not, that I was right about Stepan.
@RangerBoy emphatically concurred.
I give you a lot of credit for a lot of things, and you deserve all that, no more no less,
But next time, step up, stand up with me, and then yeah, I'll not only give you a cookie, but I'll buy you a drink!
... You’ve said some things that would get you locked in a hockey fan’s version of a mental institution in the past, but this might be your worst. Nieves?!? Are you really that blinded by good skating that you can’t see that he lacks everything else to make him more than a 4th line center?...
You --- and most others -- are making the mistake of saying Nieves is equivalent to Gene Carr, Rico Fata, etc., guys who only have wheels, literally.
Let's just have the naysayers bend, buckle and break and speak to the truth.
Setting aside injuries, which we should not hold vs the player if he has overcome same, is it or is it not true that:
- Nieves did not get a fair chance under AV, who favored vets, arguably in his own self interest, not that of the team; and also
- Nieves has not gotten fair mins b'c GMJG had to showcase certain guys prior to actual or potential trade, which took mins away, and also likewise, had to see what guys like Andersson had.
If you gave Nieves a fair trial, wouldn't his results be better with more minutes and better talent beyond McLeod and co.?
And beyond a fair assessment, is it not possible that we see chemistry is an intangible, fragile but real thing. Is it so impossible to even consider higher levels of compatibility w/Kreider + correct RW, and that could lead to even more productive synergy, results higher than they would otherwise normally be?
What I don’t respect, is your condescending tone to everyone who disagrees with you after they tell you that your rationale is beyond flawed and your persistence on telling them things like they need to “open up their minds” or “think outside the box.”
Sorry, nope.
There is a herd mentality here that is adamant that we don't dare have our 7OA Andersson usurped, or that we defer Namest./Strome to Boo. That mentality IS close minded, and the proof of that is that no one there is supporting my call for an experiment, to prove it one way or the other.
Considering the mudslinging and bs deluge I get from the half dozen of my worst detractors, my rebuttal is polite and reserved.
And I make no concession, retract not a fraction of an inch, in my position, which stands until a fair test can be made.
Who is the herd to tell me to bend, buckle and break in capitulation?
Not gonna happen.
If and when it is OBJECTIVELY established that I was clearly wrong, as in the case of tysen dowzak, I will be first to stand up and admit to it.
Until then, competition of free ideas, this is America [and rest of the free world], and I will not yield to a demand to go with what is popular, regardless of if right or wrong.
The box is long gone and the minds are open.
You’re just lost in space with some of your takes.
If you actively, objectively look at the talent level, all factors considered, you will see Nieves is substandard only as a shooter, which is partly reinforced by his pass first approach. He may never substantially improve his shooting, but the rest of his game more than offsets that, particularly as his +/- very well despite difficult circumstances of fewer mins, no pp, often little or no talent on W.
If one can just recognize that talent factor, and give the kid a fair chance, his performance will improve with proportionate production results.
Until my critics objectively acknowledge that talent factor into the equation, they themselves downgrade the worth of their content.
We don’t have to protect Shattenkirk, Staal, Smith or Lundqvist as they’ll be UFA’s when the expansion draft happens. They won’t have to protect Kravtsov, Shestyorkin, Miller, Lundkvist, Rykov.
Thank heaven for small favors.
They’ll have enough protection slots.
That remains to be seen, I hope so. However, unarguably, can we agree that the more slots they have, the more flexible are their options, and the more they control, or command, their path?
As for Zibanejad, he just scored his 30th goal and 70th point of the season making him the first Rangers center to do so since Eric Lindros in 2002. He’s 25 years old with 3 years left after this and is the team’s first legitimate 1C in nearly 2 decades. Stepan was a borderline 1C who was a 55 point player who couldn’t score goals, was older and was making more money. Even with his NMC, Mika is a much safer bet going forward. Again, I don’t know how you can’t see this.
I see all this, and it is not a bad position to be 'stuck' in.
But pls remember, I said specifically this is IF we get a godfather offer, not just for reshuffling the deck.
Also we need to step up on our RD, we have nice pieces down the road, but nothing coming up near term. If you are content to let that lie, fine. If you want to actively try to change that, you have to think about moving a serious piece, most likely.
I would not be in a rush to field offers for Zib, but once the next NHL season kicks in on what, July 1?, the player calls all the shots. This is the only chance we have to (more) fully control any outcome.
Also, logic postulates a team will pay more for the full # of years on Zib now than if we wait and move him in, say, 2 years.
No my friend, while I am all too happy to keep Zib as a fallback, I do want to entertain substantial, significant offers now. Worst that can happen is we say no, not enough. Doesn't hurt to consider bids.
