Post-Game Talk: End of Season Discussion

[Inferno]

i think we need to start transitioning our team from a forechecking pack em in hard hitting team, to a puck possession team.

i say this because our personnel is switching to be more like than than we were.

We've got way more guys who are adept at playing puck possession than we do at playing a forechecking smashmouth game.

It really depends on what the coaching staff and management can agree on.

I say this because, that's what I feel is our problem, just a complete lack of identity brought on by a coach who couldn't get many different types of pieces to play 1 way, and a GM who brought in a mishmash of players.

Get more skilled, and faster.

Ericksson would be a great start. as would a kid like Burmistrov. Hell, bring em both in.

 

[hella rights]

Rangers will not be set until they have 2 dmen with good offense. So far they have none.

In the playoffs you need to generate offense from your defense. No team is worse than the Rangers at this.

If it were not for Hank they would be a mediocre team. The Bruins going on with a mediocre goaltender underscores the weakness the Rangers currently face. As highly thought of as Hank is I believe he is underrated.

 

[Kreider Typical]

Rangers will not be set until they have 2 dmen with good offense. So far they have none.

In the playoffs you need to generate offense from your defense. No team is worse than the Rangers at this.

If it were not for Hank they would be a mediocre team. The Bruins going on with a mediocre goaltender underscores the weakness the Rangers currently face. As highly thought of as Hank is I believe he is underrated.

del zotto is a good offensive defenseman. he was 18th in production last year. he was 28th as a rookie. his offense is not a problem when the pp is going... UNFORTUNATELY his offense relies on the powerplay. the powerplay is clearly a system issue at this point being as it doesn't matter who we put on it, it's still useless. PARTLY lacking a RD to handle the other side... but del zotto is a good offensive defenseman... idk what you expect from the blue line. definitely not a player i like, but the guy knows how to move the puck.

moore is likely going to be our 2nd best offensive guy (albeit we all thought mcdonagh should've developed better this season). he doesn't have the puck movement del zotto has, but he has a better shot.

we lack a RD and that i'll agree with, but the LD offense is covered.

not every team is going to have a letang/karlsson/subban-- certainly not 2 of them

other teams crowd the crease. other teams deflect the puck in front. we don't. that's an issue we need to address. whichever goal in the playoffs boyle and somebody else screen the goalie on-- that's what we need to see more of. i don't think the defense deserves much if any of the blame for production. can't beat a goalie that can see the puck. usually they shoot wide when they A: have no lane or B: the goalie faces a clean shot if they shoot on him

torts complained about not having a rocket from the point already this season. it's probably the next thing we address and i can almost guarantee you that it doesn't fix the pp

 

[SupersonicMonkey*]

del zotto is a good offensive defenseman. he was 18th in production last year. he was 28th as a rookie. his offense is not a problem when the pp is going... UNFORTUNATELY his offense relies on the powerplay. the powerplay is clearly a system issue at this point being as it doesn't matter who we put on it, it's still useless. PARTLY lacking a RD to handle the other side... but del zotto is a good offensive defenseman... idk what you expect from the blue line. definitely not a player i like, but the guy knows how to move the puck.

moore is likely going to be our 2nd best offensive guy (albeit we all thought mcdonagh should've developed better this season). he doesn't have the puck movement del zotto has, but he has a better shot.

we lack a RD and that i'll agree with, but the LD offense is covered.

not every team is going to have a letang/karlsson/subban-- certainly not 2 of them

The issue with Del Zotto is his lack of foot speed. He doesn't have the foot speed to carry the puck and establish entry into the offensive zone, not even on the power play. Theoretically, have Leetch coaching the power play, with a kid like Ryan Murphy, and things would look a lot different on the power play. Watching Krug single handedly pick apart the Rangers, shows what value there is in having a player like that.

 

[eco's bones]

Krug was very impressive and I liked more than just his shot. I liked the way he efficiently moved the puck around. The Rangers did not hit him a lot or enough--whether because he was too elusive for our forwards I don't know. Some of his skills seemed a notch above Del Zotto's. OTOH he's a bit smaller than MDZ and size is something that's always hampered Del Zotto and I expect Krug is going to have some problems with that too. Most likely he'll always need to be paired with a big, physical stay at home guy.

To be honest--Del Zotto's improved his defense a bit since he's come into the league. He's still not that great and can be the weak link at times. In our own zone McDonagh, Girardi and Staal seem light years ahead of him and Stralman and Moore are also much better. His offense has not really improved. He rarely breaks anyone with a stretch pass anymore. His shot can be inaccurate and is kind of average as far as velocity. He tries to force plays often that just aren't there. As far as the pwp let's ask ourselves what a pwp qb actually does. He runs the pwp--he's a go to set up guy. Brings the puck up the ice and makes plays that lead to scoring opportunities.

 

[NYR94]

I think in today's Newsday it was reported that the Rangers were 3rd in the playoffs in 5-on-5 scoring. But the struggling power play cost them.

I think the Rangers need a significant upgrade on the blueline in terms of legit offensive ability as well. I'm tired of being constantly sold on the "potential" of McDonagh that we're still waiting on where he becomes some offensive force on the power play or at even strength. When does the point come where management accepts the fact that certain aspects of his game may never flourish the way they hope? Let him focus on being a great skating defensive defenseman without the demands of having to significantly improve his offensive game as well.

Top teams put players like Keith, Boyle, Letang and Doughty out there as top scoring defensemen. Players who are comfortable and able to play the point successfully. Sather hasn't given Tortorella the same caliber of player so his hands are tied and he's forced to rotate the likes of Del Zotto, McDonagh, Girardi, Stralman and Moore on a weak power play. Very few players in this league can handle the defensive assignments that McDonagh and Girardi get and produce offense. It is time for Sather to address this need which has been a problem for years now and lessen the burden on the current group of defensemen, who are being asked to do things offensively that they just don't have the skill to do consistently.

 

[Crease]

A lot of overlap in the discussion here and in the Speculation/Be a GM thread. You can continue there. Here's the link.