I dream of the year it could have been with Arber, Sebrango and Vuk holding down the fort. And Bergkvist and Ville as a supporting cast. That might have been one of the greatest 6 packs ever! (Your choice for the 6th)
What might have been? Here’s what might have been for the Rangers if not for Covid.
Now that it seems Covid delays may be a thing of the past, here’s a look at how Covid has affected our team negatively from the suspension of the 19-20 season onwards:
We went all in, in 19-20. After spending huge assets to go on a deep run,
(IN: Liam Hawel, Serron Noel, Jacob Ingham, Holden Wale. OUT: Ryan Stepien. 2nd x 5. 3rd x 6. 5th x 2. 6th x 1. 8th x 1), it was all for not. The season was cancelled. We lost what should have been a great post season. We lost a ton of talent due to graduation putting us directly into a rebuild mode.
Had there been a 20-21 season, Donovan Sebrango doesn’t get a chance to play in the AHL as an underager and Ville Ottavainen plays in Kitchener instead of Europe. Also, based on his 20-21 season in the pros (1 AHL GP. 13 ECHL GP), Jacob Ingham likely plays his OA season in Kitchener. Since we were hit hard by graduation after the 19-20 season, there was a decent chance we sell off graduating assets at the 2021 deadline. Micheal Vukojevic and Ingham would have been in demand and should have brought significant assets.
With the ruling that underage players with 20 or more games played in the 20-21 AHL season, could play AHL this year, we lost the services of Donovan Sebrango for the 21-22 season. Had he been a Ranger this year, MM, with a freshly stocked cupboard with the presumed selling of Vukojevic and Ingham, may have found the Rangers in a position to contend. Especially since Ottavainen (4th ‘21 Seattle) would have still been here too. But, if we were in sell mode at the deadline, we could have moved these guys as well along with the selling of Xhekaj and McDonnell.
In any event, our 21-22 defence out of camp would have been:
Sebrango (Det)
Xhekaj (Mtl)
Ottavainen (Sea)
Schmidt (TB)
Motew
J LeBlanc
Andonovski.
Perhaps we still bring in Harper to round out the bottom pairing on D.
That D alone tells me we contend. Use the assets recouped by moving Vukojevic and Ingham the previous deadline to bolster the forwards and we’re all good.
Petizian-Pinelli-McDonnell
Valade-Serpa-Martin
Rehkopf-Sop-A LeBlanc
Mercer-Zidlicky-Swick
Sebrango-Xhekaj
Ottavainen-Schmidt
Motew-Harper
J LeBlanc-Andonovski
Cajan
Parsons
We likely don’t trade for Hollett. We may not have have signed Pugliese or Miseljevic mid season. We likely don’t trade for Nolet. With Sebrango and Ottavainen on the roster, we may have gone to a forward to fill the 3rd OA spot. Maybe we’re in on Cody Morgan, Emmett Sproule or Joe Carroll.
Once you bring in an OA F and a top six forward, that lineup above would have been one of the best in the league I’m thinking.
I’m sure there are other teams who were hit just as hard as we were by Covid. But I’m just as sure that there were a lot who were not.
So at the end of the day Covid cost the Rangers a bunch of draft picks that we were unable to recoup plus probably two contending seasons. (19-20 and 21-22)
Of course, you know what they say about “ifs” and “buts”.
