Confirmed with Link: McIlrath and NYR settle on 1yr $800k contract

[KreiderHouseRules*]

If anything, I expect AV's treatment of McIlrath to be even worse this season. He's on the hot seat big time, and the last thing I expect out of him is to give a fair shot to a youngster who he already seems not to care for.

AV should have been fired this summer. I have no confidence in his decision making, and I get this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that we're going to see a whole lot more Tanner Glass than any of us are hoping for this season.

Agreed.

I have zero faith in this coaching staff's ability to accurately assess performance. Forget about the mis-use of McIlrath and Yandle, and the love for Glass and Girardi. It took this coach 86 games to realize "hey, maybe Oldman Boyle isn't giving our team the best chance to win." That's unforgivable.

And since management brought this coach back, I have very little faith in them to make the right decisions.

 

[haveandare]

I don't know where you are getting middle-pairing defenseman from.

He adds 0 offense, and his defense was okay last season, not much more than that.

His first half of the season might've been a middle pairing defenseman, but his second half was pretty bad.

Yeah he was good when he had a solid partner and a solid spot. When he was all over the lineup playing both sides with different people he struggled. Not that surprising for a rookie and not that hard to work around imo.

 

[PromNite]

yeah, you do wonder how Mcilraths gap control will be against speedsters like the Kessel line, it might be problematic, but he can make up for that with his reach. Staal is a worse skater than Mcilrath imho...he just has better balance. Mcilraths single biggest skating issue is his balance when he pivots...needs time to develop it. I'm being totally serious when I think McIlrath has the chance to be our 2nd best defenseman next year...but thats mostly because our defense sucks balls.

Haha tell us how you really feel!

...actually I tend to agree, which makes me very sad. Our offensive lineup isn't to scary, either.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Agreed.

I have zero faith in this coaching staff's ability to accurately assess performance. Forget about the mis-use of McIlrath and Yandle, and the love for Glass and Girardi. It took this coach 86 games to realize "hey, maybe Oldman Boyle isn't giving our team the best chance to win." That's unforgivable.

And since management brought this coach back, I have very little faith in them to make the right decisions.

Does anyone think it might have been Slats or Gorton encouraging AV to change the lineup in the playoffs? Ironically the only playoff game we won was the game AV let Dylan play in.

 

[JHS]

Agreed.

I have zero faith in this coaching staff's ability to accurately assess performance. Forget about the mis-use of McIlrath and Yandle, and the love for Glass and Girardi. It took this coach 86 games to realize "hey, maybe Oldman Boyle isn't giving our team the best chance to win." That's unforgivable.

And since management brought this coach back, I have very little faith in them to make the right decisions.

You guys calling for AV to be fired are beyond lost. No front office will get rid of the coach after 2 great years. Last year was a set back and the Rangers still made the playoffs. This year will be worse but absolutely none of the decline has anything to do with AV. It's absolutely 100% on the decline of the defense. That's why, if Dylan shows promise in the pre-season in certain he gets his shot on defense to play full time. There are so few other options on the current roster.

Also, there is absolutely no evidence that AV can't manage young talent with the New York Rangers. I'll cite Krieder and Miller as evidence of this.

Chris Krieder blossomed under AV and staff and is who he is because AV and his staff let him play a fast, physical and uptempo game. When he did not play well, he got treated like many other young talent gets treated.

JT Miller has matured into a leading contender for the next 30 goal scorer in the Rangers. The organization was patient with him, sent him down to the minors when his game suffered, called him back up when he proved he was ready. I have no clue where this critique of AV and his staff is coming from in this area.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

You guys calling for AV to be fired are beyond lost. No front office will get rid of the coach after 2 great years. Last year was a set back and the Rangers still made the playoffs. This year will be worse but absolutely none of the decline has anything to do with AV. It's absolutely 100% on the decline of the defense. That's why, if Dylan shows promise in the pre-season in certain he gets his shot on defense to play full time. There are so few other options on the current roster.

Also, there is absolutely no evidence that AV can't manage young talent with the New York Rangers. I'll cite Krieder and Miller as evidence of this.

Chris Krieder blossomed under AV and staff and is who he is because AV and his staff let him play a fast, physical and uptempo game. When he did not play well, he got treated like many other young talent gets treated.

JT Miller has matured into a leading contender for the next 30 goal scorer in the Rangers. The organization was patient with him, sent him down to the minors when his game suffered, called him back up when he proved he was ready. I have no clue where this critique of AV and his staff is coming from in this area.

Good post. Every coach is going to have some component of their team collapse if they're around long enough. The Rangers defense collapsed last year. Ulf got fired because of it. I have a semblance of confident in this team is they can retool the D cut the minutes of some former sacred cows.

If the first 30 games of this season looks like the last 60 games of last season? Then you start warming up the hot seat. The rush to bash AV last season was just that, a rush.

 

[Machinehead]

Yeah AV has nothing to do with the decline of our defense. He's only giving a bottom 5 player in the league 20+ minutes a night.

 

[Gordon Bombay]

Yeah AV has nothing to do with the decline of our defense. He's only giving a bottom 5 player in the league 20+ minutes a night.

Not to mention playing a style of defense that almost no one else in the league plays and using it with one of the slowest defense groups in the league.

 

[Beer League Sniper]

Good teams fire good coaches all the time, if it's obvious that coach isn't going to get the team over the hump.

AV force feeds inferior defensemen minutes over younger, better players. He gives the worst player in the NHL a bulletproof spot in the lineup, in the worst display of nepotism I've seen in a while, and consistently shows an inability or unwillingness to make in game adjustments. He refuses to modify his man defensive scheme when it's obvious we don't have the roster for it, at least not the guys he gives all the minutes to.

Multiple teams in our own division have won cups firing their coach mid season, so I don't buy that coaches don't get fired after having good seasons. It happens all the time, and it works.

 

[Leetch66]

Doughty is probably overrated by some people and underrated by other people. Most guys that get overrated are pretty good players. I would be happy to have him on the Rangers. Would you not want him on the Rangers?

There was a guy named Rod Langway that I fear some young stat based guys might underrate. The guy was not a big goal scorer but he would literally dominate some games without much offense at times. If I could I would encourage Dylan to watch tapes of Langway, and Jeff Beukeboom (NYR defensive coach).

Dylan probably more the Beuke type of player than Langway who was one of the best at his position ever .....still hard to believe the Habs traded him .

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Good post. Every coach is going to have some component of their team collapse if they're around long enough. The Rangers defense collapsed last year. Ulf got fired because of it. I have a semblance of confident in this team is they can retool the D cut the minutes of some former sacred cows.

If the first 30 games of this season looks like the last 60 games of last season? Then you start warming up the hot seat. The rush to bash AV last season was just that, a rush.

Ulf didn't get fired, he left for a head coaching job in the AHL

 

[darko]

Not true. Dylan is going into his 5th year. This is his 2nd contract since his ELC. 2 more years puts him at age 27. He would be UFA. Next year, barring another 1 year deal, Dylan will need to be signed long term or traded.

Gotcha. Thanks.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Dylan probably more the Beuke type of player than Langway who was one of the best at his position ever .....still hard to believe the Habs traded him .

I agree but I'd like Dylan to watch videos of both players nonetheless. Never know what he might learn from watching some of the best. I know Dylan said he likes Shea Webber as well.

 

[trilobyte]

I agree but I'd like Dylan to watch videos of both players nonetheless. Never know what he might learn from watching some of the best. I know Dylan said he likes Shea Webber as well.

Yeah, Langway was a pretty special player. I remember when I used to watch him I was impressed by how unflashy but effective he was. I don't think he needed much coaching, he seemed to just know what to do and could do it.
He was also the greatest Taiwanese player in the NHL (the only one, actually) LOL.

 

[KreiderHouseRules*]

Yeah AV has nothing to do with the decline of our defense. He's only giving a bottom 5 player in the league 20+ minutes a night.

Yeah, and he didn't play Boyle over McIlrath when he was playing great with Yandle, and then play Boyle until game #86 and bench McIlrath when he wasn't sharp after not playing for months at a time.

He didn't play Glass over Hrivik, and he didn't mis-use an offensive defenseman who we spent a ton to acquire.

He didn't put Boyle on every top PP unit for most of the season and only have Yandle come on for the last 30 seconds for a large portion of the season.

We must've been watching a different team/coach.

 

[YoSoyLalo]

Dylan probably more the Beuke type of player than Langway who was one of the best at his position ever .....still hard to believe the Habs traded him .

They're the Habs. They love trading great defenseman for lesser value.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

Ulf didn't get fired, he left for a head coaching job in the AHL

And the Rangers packed his bags and held open the door. Semantics, really.

Anyway, AV will eventually get fired. The vast majority of coaches do. And a certain faction of the board will gloat and cluck and say they told you so. It won't change the reality that they jumped the gun in 2015-2016.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

Good teams fire good coaches all the time, if it's obvious that coach isn't going to get the team over the hump.

AV force feeds inferior defensemen minutes over younger, better players. He gives the worst player in the NHL a bulletproof spot in the lineup, in the worst display of nepotism I've seen in a while, and consistently shows an inability or unwillingness to make in game adjustments. He refuses to modify his man defensive scheme when it's obvious we don't have the roster for it, at least not the guys he gives all the minutes to.

Multiple teams in our own division have won cups firing their coach mid season, so I don't buy that coaches don't get fired after having good seasons. It happens all the time, and it works.

There's a lot wrong with your post, but I'll start and end by saying its woefully ignorant of the Rangers roster realities. I can buy certain arguments about issues that could, eventually, cost AV his job.

But to frame it like firing him could have helped put this ranger team over the top??? That's pure malarkey.

 

[NickyFotiu]

They're the Habs. They love trading great defenseman for lesser value.

That was a huge trade. 5 or 6 darn good players from both teams. Rick Green and Ryan Walter were not as good as Rod Langway but early on they had a lot of value as well. Doug Jarvis, Brian Engblom, and Craig Laughlin were legit players as well. The Habs still had Larry Robinson and Serge Savard back then. Their defense was huge.

Nowadays I don't know if that trade gets made because people put so much value in draft placement. Rick Green was the #1 pick and Ryan Walter was the #2 pick in their drafts.

 

[Dagoon44]

this is a scary contract for me.. It is very easily traded. AV and the front office are very much on different pages with DM.. AV is not a fan and the front office this is NHL ready.. this will be a touchy subject most of the year..

 

[Bluenote13]

this is a scary contract for me.. It is very easily traded. AV and the front office are very much on different pages with DM.. AV is not a fan and the front office this is NHL ready.. this will be a touchy subject most of the year..

It's really not that and it's really not that complex of a situation the kids either going to earn his ice timeor eventually he's going to be traded.

Not too many teams invest six years of a guy's development and then just trade him after he performs like a rookie, they know what he is, it's time to start putting up on his end, forget about all the other problems with injuries and coaches and bad veterans, that's all in the past.

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

It's really not that and it's really not that complex of a situation the kids either going to earn his ice timeor eventually he's going to be traded.

Not too many teams invest six years of a guy's development and then just trade him after he performs like a rookie, they know what he is, it's time to start putting up on his end, forget about all the other problems with injuries and coaches and bad veterans, that's all in the past.

Very well put.

 

[Dagoon44]

very very off here.
Kid played well and maybe the best of any D for a 3 week period then benched

Coach has no confidence in him
coach played a defensemen with a broken knee and thumb over him
Coach hates with a passion the fact kid is physical
and even went as far as to warn him against fighting.

AV would rather play Diaz LOL

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

It's really not that and it's really not that complex of a situation the kids either going to earn his ice timeor eventually he's going to be traded.

Not too many teams invest six years of a guy's development and then just trade him after he performs like a rookie, they know what he is, it's time to start putting up on his end, forget about all the other problems with injuries and coaches and bad veterans, that's all in the past.

Good post. This is the year that will chart out McIlrath's Ranger's future.

I think the narrative that McIlrath was such a no-brainer slam dunk choice last season has run a bit wild. I saw a kid who was very up and down, as should be expected. Even while declining, Im not so sure Girardi should have been fully supplanted -- and certainly not considering where this team has been. Those vets earned one last shot.

Anyway, I expected a spirited and fair competition this season and if McIlrath can step up to the challenge, I think he'll secure a future here. Its really as simple as that.

 

[NYRFAN218]

Good post. This is the year that will chart out McIlrath's Ranger's future.

I think the narrative that McIlrath was such a no-brainer slam dunk choice last season has run a bit wild. I saw a kid who was very up and down, as should be expected. Even while declining, Im not so sure Girardi should have been fully supplanted -- and certainly not considering where this team has been. Those vets earned one last shot.

Anyway, I expected a spirited and fair competition this season and if McIlrath can step up to the challenge, I think he'll secure a future here. Its really as simple as that.

McIlrath was up and down but when paired with Yandle they formed an excellent pair which was inexplicably broken up.

Considering that team had Cup aspirations, it is absolutely beyond comprehension that AV decided to play Dan Girardi every single game he could while playing on pretty much one leg due to his knee and scrapping the rest Dan Boyle plan in November/December.

You have a kid who's playing well and you have defenders that are getting up their in age and miles on their body so why is the rookie the one sitting again? You should not be playing guys into the ground in January if your goal is to play in June.