Player Discussion Future Zibenajed/Chytil one-two punch down the middle

[SnowblindNYR]

One thing that we never had that most cup winning teams did was an excellent one-two punch down the middle. I know it's early and we're just doing projections (even on Zib), but is it possible that this duo will be good enough given a strong rest of the team to make us cup contenders by traditional standards? I know they won't be Crosby/Malkin, but maybe they'll be good enough. Also Lias as a 3rd line center would be pretty amazing.

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[Pavel Buchnevich]

Will it be better than Stepan-Brassard?

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Will it be better than Stepan-Brassard?

Well, I hope it will be. Zib is much more talented than Stepan but doesn't have his hockey IQ. Chytil I would be a bit disappointed if he's not at least as good as Brassard. Maybe he was a late bloomer but remember that Brassard was considered a bust before coming to the Rangers.

 

[Savant]

Will it be better than Stepan-Brassard?

Hopefully, at the least, offensively

 

[Irishguy42]

Way too early to tell with Chytil

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Way too early to tell with Chytil

I know, but I'm too excited to wait another year or two, haha.

 

[AWall THE CLAW]

Zibanejad - Chytil - Andersson - Nieves is going to be PRETTTTTY sweet in a couple years. Maybe next year.

 

[FoxysExpensiveNYDigs]

Zibanejad - Chytil - Andersson - Nieves is going to be PRETTTTTY sweet in a couple years. Maybe next year.

Nieves will obviously have ascended to 1c by then.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Nieves will obviously have ascended to 1c by then.

With Zib moving to RW because he is better there

 

[Vinny DeAngelo]

Zibanejad played like a bonafided 1C last year until he got hurt. Now hes fully healthy again and putting up points.. Hes also very underrated Defensively(on par with Stepan past couple years).

Chytil-Andersson settles into 2-3 roles. Chytil at worst can't be Hayes like 3C. Andersson will be tough to play against and smart. Andersson can be the shutdown guy.

Nieves clearly commanding the 1st line with his speed will be McDavid-lite

 

[Larrybiv]

So are we considering Hayes a bust? I mean should we be looking trade him? Okay, being a bit sarcastic here, but in a perfect Rangers world, does it ever become Zbad/Chytil/Andersson and Hayes as a 4c with PK duties? Could be as soon as 2 years from now.

On edit.....forgot about Nieves. Just imagine if he ever "ascended" to a 2c, that would be some serious depth.

 

[SnowFort]

As it stands, it looks like Zib - Chytil will be 1C and 2C, unless Chytil busts or surpasses Zib. Lias will likely become our shutdown 3C who also offers decent offense. And then whatever 4C who wins the spot.
I don’t know what will happen with Hayes going forward.. Looks like we might end up with too many centers next year if both Lias and Chytil wins a spot in the lineup.

 

[Algernop Kreider]

So are we considering Hayes a bust? I mean should we be looking trade him? Okay, being a bit sarcastic here, but in a perfect Rangers world, does it ever become Zbad/Chytil/Andersson and Hayes as a 4c with PK duties? Could be as soon as 2 years from now.

On edit.....forgot about Nieves. Just imagine if he ever "ascended" to a 2c, that would be some serious depth.

I think Hayes is pretty clear candidate for odd man out, especially considering he, Miller and Skjei are all up for new contracts this year, and the organization is most likely looking to lock up the latter two long term.

 

[Fvital92]

I think Hayes is pretty clear candidate for odd man out, especially considering he, Miller and Skjei are all up for new contracts this year, and the organization is most likely looking to lock up the latter two long term.

Maybe a sign and trade with Hayes?

 

[Beacon]

The hype train has left the station!

We drafted 3 similar centers before in a similar spot - two of them at 7th overall and one at 8th overall: Malhotra, Sundstrom and Dahlen. All of them turned into 3rd liners. Sundstrom played on the second line a couple of seasons, but was much more a passenger there than a driver. Dahlen's reputation right now is viewed more than it ever was during his playing days, maybe because he had 3 seasons of high scoring, and then ran up points late in his career by playing with superstars Jagr, Bondra and Gonchar, but it was in a high scoring era and he never was on his team's top-3 scorers. Most of his career he was a very good third liner in his worse seasons or an average second liner in his better seasons except for 3 seasons when he was a good second liner. So let's be generous and count Dahlen as a career second liner. Malhotra, meanwhile, was a bottom-6 players every single season, often a 4th liner. He had fewer than .3 ppg (24 points per 82 games) over his career and his career high was 35 points.

Looking back, Duhlen, Sundstrom and Malhotra were all probably higher touted as prospects than Lias today. If Lias becomes anything more than a middle-6 forward throughout his career, it will be a surprise. Anything can happen, he can become a bust or a superstar, but at this point there's no reason to believe Lias becomes a better center than Hayes (different styles, but I'm talking about value).

Meanwhile Chytil is very unproven. Goneau had 10 points in 10 games, then collapsed. Vorobiev had about a point a game through his first dozen games, winning a spot on the RW with Messier and Graves, then disappeared.

 

[Griffinbw]

The hype train has left the station!

We drafted 3 similar centers before in a similar spot - two of them at 7th overall and one at 8th overall: Malhotra, Sundstrom and Dahlen. All of them turned into 3rd liners. Sundstrom played on the second line a couple of seasons, but was much more a passenger there than a driver. Dahlen's reputation right now is viewed more than it ever was during his playing days, maybe because he had 3 seasons of high scoring, and then ran up points late in his career by playing with superstars Jagr, Bondra and Gonchar, but it was in a high scoring era and he never was on his team's top-3 scorers. Most of his career he was a very good third liner in his worse seasons or an average second liner in his better seasons except for 3 seasons when he was a good second liner. So let's be generous and count Dahlen as a career second liner. Malhotra, meanwhile, was a bottom-6 players every single season, often a 4th liner. He had fewer than .3 ppg (24 points per 82 games) over his career and his career high was 35 points.

Looking back, Duhlen, Sundstrom and Malhotra were all probably higher touted as prospects than Lias today. If Lias becomes anything more than a middle-6 forward throughout his career, it will be a surprise. Anything can happen, he can become a bust or a superstar, but at this point there's no reason to believe Lias becomes a better center than Hayes (different styles, but I'm talking about value).

Meanwhile Chytil is very unproven. Goneau had 10 points in 10 games, then collapsed. Vorobiev had about a point a game through his first dozen games, winning a spot on the RW with Messier and Graves, then disappeared.

Though I recognize that LA may not end up being 1st line material, saying he won’t be more than a middle 6 player because we’ve never taken a top 2 center in picks 5-10 is a poor argument. Different GMs, different scouts, and of course now we have stats. You can’t look at draft trends over that long of a period.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Though I recognize that LA may not end up being 1st line material, saying he won’t be more than a middle 6 player because we’ve never taken a top 2 center in picks 5-10 is a poor argument. Different GMs, different scouts, and of course now we have stats. You can’t look at draft trends over that long of a period.

We also never had a HOF goalie drafted in the 7th round before Lundqvist.

 

[darko]

As good as those 3 could be offensively, here's the best part. Ziba is very good defensively. Lias plays 2-way hockey. Chytil has the tools to be above average / good defensively. 3 Cs that play 200 foot hockey.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Idk, dont think any of them have elite 1C potential.

Think we'll be in the same situation with Stepan/Brassard, two good 2Cs but no real #1

 

[Fvital92]

Idk, dont think any of them have elite 1C potential.

Think we'll be in the same situation with Stepan/Brassard, two good 2Cs but no real #1

If Zib keeps playing in this level he'll be better than Stepan. I'm really hoping for Chytil to be a monster, but I'll admit that I can't evaluate prospects to make this affirmation.

 

[darko]

Idk, dont think any of them have elite 1C potential.

Think we'll be in the same situation with Stepan/Brassard, two good 2Cs but no real #1

Ziba is already #1C.

Stepan was #1C. Lower end 1C but still one.

 

[Beacon]

Though I recognize that LA may not end up being 1st line material, saying he won’t be more than a middle 6 player because we’ve never taken a top 2 center in picks 5-10 is a poor argument. Different GMs, different scouts, and of course now we have stats. You can’t look at draft trends over that long of a period.

The point is that we didn't mess up at 7-8 in the past, we got what we expected. A draft does not have 5-12 guaranteed future All-Stars on top of all the late round surprises.

At 6-12 overall, you can go for a high risk guy and get lucky with Leetch... or get stuck with McIlrath and Jessiman.

But if you draft a safe player, you're most likely to get a good third liner who will have a couple seasons on the second line during his career-high years.

The reasonable expectation for Lias is the most likely ourcome, not the best (or the worst) case scenario.

 

[Fitzy]

Chytil strikes me as a winger in this league, tbh. Been wrong before, but he has those elements of his game that usually translate to wing in the NHL.

I just hope he doesn't max out where Tomas Hertl is. Nationality aside, they've got some similarities, and I hope Chytil's ceiling is higher.

 

[Raspewtin]

a 4-punch of Zib-Lias-Chytil-Nieves in the very near future sounds super appealing.

 

[WeRa]

I know, but I'm too excited to wait another year or two, haha.

Me too. Can you imagine a good 19 year old #2C ... in Rangers?