you can still tank with henrik.
u play him 50 games a season, and you put a defense that is actually worse than what we have now....which is almost impossible to think about.
Selling them on the idea is fine. How do you sell the buyer?At least one of Staal or Girardi needs to be gone as well. We can't be paying $11.2M for two bottom pair defensemen. Sell them on a chance to play a bigger role on a contender, or a team on a clear upward trajectory.
Hank isn't good enough to get a defense like this near the playoffs. Thats the type of defense we should aim for next season.
McD-McI
Skjei-Boyle level veteran
Bodie-Diaz level veteran
I think Hank would want a trade. If he doesn't want to be traded, there's nothing he can do, and he'd just have to be part of the tank. As he continues to get worse, it'll only help out the tank. Big contract that helps us reach the cap floor, declining player, it'd be good. The two problems are this, I'd rather trade him because if we retain some salary, we could probably get a lot back for him. Also, what happens around 2019 or 2020 if we are good, have NHL ready goalie prospects like Shesty or Halvy, and Hank is bad? Does it turn into a Brodeur situation?
Selling them on the idea is fine. How do you sell the buyer?
Hank isn't good enough to get a defense like this near the playoffs. Thats the type of defense we should aim for next season.
McD-McI
Skjei-Boyle level veteran
Bodie-Diaz level veteran
I think Hank would want a trade. If he doesn't want to be traded, there's nothing he can do, and he'd just have to be part of the tank. As he continues to get worse, it'll only help out the tank. Big contract that helps us reach the cap floor, declining player, it'd be good. The two problems are this, I'd rather trade him because if we retain some salary, we could probably get a lot back for him. Also, what happens around 2019 or 2020 if we are good, have NHL ready goalie prospects like Shesty or Halvy, and Hank is bad? Does it turn into a Brodeur situation?
He is if they play zone. He's taken worse defenses to the playoffs. Are you sure you're not forgetting some of the scrubs we've had on our bottom pairings? Bickel, Gilroy, Woywitka, Emginer, Hamrlik, etc.
He's also a worse player now
He is if they play zone. He's taken worse defenses to the playoffs. Are you sure you're not forgetting some of the scrubs we've had on our bottom pairings? Bickel, Gilroy, Woywitka, Emginer, Hamrlik, etc.
Let us not forget the days of Malik and Roszival on the top pair.
I think that it is very hard to make an argument that at 34, he is as good as he has ever been.I'm not sure that's the case, to be honest. He faced the 2nd most high-danger shots in the league this season, and still posted a SV% more or less in line with what he always has.
I'm pretty hard on the guy when he lets in a softie, but I haven't seen anything to indicate he's truly declining yet.
No - This current group of Rangers that has had success - their window is closed.
Address that and the window is still open. Anytime you have a Vezina winning goaltender on your roster the window is open. But changes have to be made.
I'm not going to get into individual players and what to do, but the first order of business is to improve the core leadership of this team. Its stale and needs to be refreshed. I feel like that is one of the biggest issues.
Defending champs in Chicago - out in the first round. A team like Pittsburgh, thought of as by some as a non-playoff team to start the year - hottest team going in and some peoples' favorite to win the cup. Anything can turn around quickly in sports these days.
No - This current group of Rangers that has had success - their window is closed.
Address that and the window is still open. Anytime you have a Vezina winning goaltender on your roster the window is open. But changes have to be made.
I'm not going to get into individual players and what to do, but the first order of business is to improve the core leadership of this team. Its stale and needs to be refreshed. I feel like that is one of the biggest issues.
Defending champs in Chicago - out in the first round. A team like Pittsburgh, thought of as by some as a non-playoff team to start the year - hottest team going in and some peoples' favorite to win the cup. Anything can turn around quickly in sports these days.
pittsburgh has 5 thirty goal scorers on their team and what...3 or 4 40-50 goal scorers? at least historically players that have reached those levels?
Rangers have 1....Nash...and hes likely gone...so theyll have 0.
Unless Henrik is going to fix the offense, the defense, and be an all universe goalie...i dont see anything happening.
the team is FAR too dependent on scoring off the rush. it just doesnt happen in the playoffs unless u happen to be playing agsint the rangers defense.
Our goal scoring depth is pretty much unmatched around the league. Our forwards have proven every year that you don't need super stars if you have a lot of players contributing. Our weakness is not goal scoring. And as for being one-dimensional, if argue that this too had much less to do with our forwards and much more to do with our defensemen. Pittsburgh has Letang, Daley, Doumolin, lovejoy, and Schultz, who can all skate well, move the puck well, and blast pucks from the point creating options and space for their forwards up the ice and in the o-zone. We have McDonagh and yandle. Klein is also ok. Teams can collapse on us bc we have no other options but to put the puck behind the net and cycle low when in the o-zone. That's how we get contained. Not to mention the fact that the forwards have to play low in our zone to compensate for our slow/inept defense there and so any attack has to move the full 200ft of the ice.
Our goal scoring depth scored exactly 2 goals per game during the playoffs putting us at 14th out of the 16 playoff teams.
it would be nice if we could have some offensive cohesion skating through the neutral zone for controlled entries and not dump and chase literally every shift.