Adding on to this post:
Rookies-
Chytil-as expected. Amazing vision/hands/creativity/speed but has to add strength to his lanky size even though he’s apparently 200+ lbs. He back checks and has really good puck stripping abilities but has little defensive awareness. Shot needs to improve as well. Has 2 points in 3 games so far and his end to end rushes are fun
For a big guy he has a great burst to his skating so when he goes he's just suddenly up the ice and making something happen. Very nice hands and he's making a lot of real nice passes that have caught the other team off guard. His vision for that stuff is great. Works hard for the backcheck but yeah needs to work on his positioning defensively. I don't think he needs to get strong exactly but rather just learn how to leverage his size better. He tries to go 1 on 1 or 1 on 2 a lot when there's no other play which is a mixed bag...might as well try it as he has the skill to do it but it's always going to be a low percentage play.
Hasn't gotten a lot of shots on net, doing more passing off etc. I can't say this shot needs to improve so much as he needs to shoot more.
But for a barely 19 year old he looks good and can create a scoring play out of almost nothing.
Howden-absolute beast. I was surprised at how developed his defensive game is, every game it feels like he has 2-3 really good defensive plays. Good around the net as well. Also has 2 points in 3 games. Can’t see him being much more than a really good middle 6 C but should be great behind Chytil and Lias as the 3C in the future. Very mature and poised game, Quinn seems to really like him so far.
Nice size and speed and just plays a good north south game but has shown a real knack for getting passes to teammates through opposing players sticks, etc. Maybe it's luck, maybe it's intentional, but he has gotten a lot of passes through that space between an opposing players stick and their skates, where they can't easily block it, and it has resulted in goals and chances. It's early but it's tough to not see this guy as real good 3rd line center at least. I think his faceoffs have been good as well.
Lettieri-he really upped his game this year. Most people don’t really know about him but he can end up a really solid bottom 6er. Brings energy and is a shoot first player, but what surprised me this year vs last was a new grittier/pesty game. He needs to work on his defensive game though to be a bottom 6 staple. I think he can end up a poor mans Gallagher/Cally
I'm always back and forth on Lettieri. Skates a lot and as you say is playing more in your face this year, but still feel he needs to add something else to his game to really be a quality bottom six player (not just defensively, I mean offensively).
Pionk-good offense and great stickchecking. Needs to improve defensive IQ and strength though. Could end up as a poor mans Ryan Ellis that can put up 25-30 points and be a solid 4D.
I think he's trying to do too much and kind of getting burned for it. Without the puck he kind of gets out of position, eh. I dunno, I like him but I think the Rangers are kind of selling him as someone who has more skill than he does, or at least someone who can handle more than he can right now. Scale it back a bit and play simple and then go from there.
Deangelo-honestly after last year I’d lost some hope for him but under Quinn he’s been a completely different dman. Deangelo was our best dman in preseason and it looks like he’s added a pesty game as well. Defense is improved too. Very, very happy with him so far. The Deangelo-Skjei pairing is amazing, Skjei is playing like Brian Leetch 2.0 this season which is very exciting to see.
Does stuff with the puck that no one else on the team does...he's a 40+ point defenseman waiting to break out if he can just convince coaches to keep him in the lineup and bear with some of the riskier plays he sometimes makes. His shot isn't good but he's great at selling a shot until an opposing player commits to a block and then moving around them to open up a shooting lane. Gets a lot of shots through because of that and can create chances off rebounds because of it. Great stretch passes too (but you'll always have the downside of sometimes those passes get picked off).
Georgiev-had a great season last year, really sucked in his game against the Canes and let up a wrist shot from the blue line with a clear line of sight. Some Rangers fans really liked him and thought he could be a starter but I never really saw it with him. Could be a good backup though
Yeah not a great game he had but he's actually younger than Shestyorkin and has the ability to put up some good games as well. I think he's a solid backup this season but he's always probably going to get shuffled to the back in terms of future goaltender unless he turns it on later this year and somehow takes the starter position from Lundqvist.
New Acquisitions-
McQuaid-been very steady and pretty much as expected. Nothing really to report here but I do like him
Eh. Some problems trying to hold the blueline but that's system wide so far, players still getting used to that idea. About what you'd expect from McQuaid.
Namestnikov (does he count as new?)-pretty trash so far. More of a negative than a positive when he’s out on the ice and was scratched in favor of McLeod. Also rolled his eyes and threw up his hands when Quinn told him to go serve the TMM penalty which stirred up some controversy. He looked better against the Canes though. What I will say is that he looks nothing like he did in Tampa (even before last season.) feels/looks like he thinks he’s good now so he tries some stupid moves and f’s it up. His defensive game (which was once pretty good) isn’t there anymore. Hope we trade him this TDL.
I think he was pretty poor against Nashville, and pretty good against Carolina. He needs to find his niche with the Rangers as he seems unsure of how he wants to play.
Spooner (see Namestnikov)-invisible when he plays. Can’t even notice him on the ice but somehow ends up with 1-2 assists. Point-wise he’s been good for us but he certainly fails the eye test
Seems about right. Always gonna be that guy who doesn't stand out a ton but facilitates some points. Works best with some time and space like on the PP