Player Discussion Neal Pionk

[Inferno]

How has he looked in extended D zone play? I get that his skill set should lead to less D zone time but our team really loses their **** after 17 seconds hemmed in, it’d Be nice to have some poised players who can make the smart play in those situations.

Teams know you have to have patience in our zone, keep cycling calmly, and someone will free up in the slot momentarily lol. No need to always force high risk plays to covered guys that may turn into a good chance the other way, what a concept! if only the opposition always played man to man d too...

I actually think by and large he's looked very good...particularly when you're speaking of within the scope of this system. He's almost always where he should be and his battle level is very high.
Man overload can make the best defenseman look like crap...honestly I think He's been one of if not our very best defenseman in his own zone since being recalled.being shelled in plus minus is way more of a function of being hung out to dry by Holden whose really been abysmal.

 

[mrmovies779]

How has he looked in extended D zone play?

How have all the players looked in extended D zone play in this system?yeah,exactly my point.It's kind of silly to try and judge his effectiveness playing in this disaster of a system with half an AHL roster on it.

 

[romba]

I actually think by and large he's looked very good...particularly when you're speaking of within the scope of this system. He's almost always where he should be and his battle level is very high.
Man overload can make the best defenseman look like crap...honestly I think He's been one of if not our very best defenseman in his own zone since being recalled.being shelled in plus minus is way more of a function of being hung out to dry by Holden whose really been abysmal.

Sounds quite encouraging. At the very least he seems to have progressed on his D game in the AHL which I know was his aim.

 

[romba]

How have all the players looked in extended D zone play in this system?yeah,exactly my point.It's kind of silly to try and judge his effectiveness playing in this disaster of a system with half an AHL roster on it.

Good point, some may look better than others but what works and does not work in today’s system should hopefully be different next season.

You can get idea of ‘who completely dropped the ball’ on defensive gaffes though which is what I was looking for.

 

[mrmovies779]

Good point, some may look better than others but what works and does not work in today’s system should hopefully be different next season.

You can get idea of ‘who completely dropped the ball’ on defensive gaffes though which is what I was looking for.

I think next year,with a new coach and new system put in place,we will be able to judge him better and truly see how far along he has come or how much more work he still needs to put in.

 

[Off Sides]

Extended in zone, the overload behind ones own goal line just creates an odd man situation in front. Every single Ranger player does it, it has to be by design, a bad design. It's not even man to man, it's them sending two players after one, or three after two behind their own net.

When the overload fails to regain possession, which is often, it traps more defenders behind their own net than are still in front of it.

 

[Zibanejbread]

Just wanted to get this guys thread on the first page over someone like O'Gara. Very much enjoy watching him so far and, in my opinion, has surpassed ADA on the RHD depth chart for this year and going into next.

 

[Irishguy42]

Dude has been eating minutes so far. Love it.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Not a bad bottom pairing D. Gets overmatched at times by better players, but he can play in the NHL, in my opinion.

 

[eco's bones]

I actually think by and large he's looked very good...particularly when you're speaking of within the scope of this system. He's almost always where he should be and his battle level is very high.
Man overload can make the best defenseman look like crap...honestly I think He's been one of if not our very best defenseman in his own zone since being recalled.being shelled in plus minus is way more of a function of being hung out to dry by Holden whose really been abysmal.

His +/- after 10 games is -3. That's not bad at all considering where the team has been since his recall and considering that he's averaged 21 minutes a night and that these are his first NHL games. He's been thrown into the deep end and responded really well. He has a lot of poise. He does look to me like putting 10 lbs. on during the off season wouldn't hurt him though. I'd like to see him coming to training camp a few pounds heavier and a little bit stronger. I'm kind of thinking he'll make the team out of training camp next year. Gilmour's kind of in the same boat though I don't think he's been quite as good. He's been getting 18 minutes a night and a little bit more sheltering. Gilmour has played a lot better than I expected he would. One thing I'm thinking though is how many undersized defenseman you can get away with carrying and still be competitive against the better teams?

 

[Matz03]

I've thoroughly enjoyed watching him progress and he's doing so rather quickly. Just like in Hartford, he first focused on playing sound defense and then the offensive side emerged and the points started to pile up. Hopefully we'll a similar pattern here and he's really emerging as the top "pro" D prospect we have (outisde of Rykov). Great signing by Groton, he seems to be much more than just some depth or plug on D. He has a safer two way game that ADA and Gilmour struggle with, not as flashy as the other two but also skates, shoots, passes really but can play D. I'm really high on his game. Outside of Chytil, he's probably the best prospect story all year. Also people forget he's the same age as Deangelo, so if he hasn't passed Ada I really don't think it will be too long.

 

[Edge]

I've thoroughly enjoyed watching him progress and he's doing so rather quickly. Just like in Hartford, he first focused on playing sound defense and then the offensive side emerged and the points started to pile up. Hopefully we'll a similar pattern here and he's really emerging as the top "pro" D prospect we have (outisde of Rykov). Great signing by Groton, he seems to be much more than just some depth or plug on D. He has a safer two way game that ADA and Gilmour struggle with, not as flashy as the other two but also skates, shoots, passes really but can play D. I'm really high on his game. Outside of Chytil, he's probably the best prospect story all year. Also people forget he's the same age as Deangelo, so if he hasn't passed Ada I really don't think it will be too long.

I think Pionk has one of the highest hockey IQs of any of our prospects. He understands where he needs to be, he understands what he has to do, he understands what he is capable of, what he can get away with, and what he can't.

For Pionk the X-factor will be upside. He'll continue to face competition for a time from options that are bigger, or have more offensive potential, or have more of a nasty side, etc.

 

[darko]

What a signing this guy could turn out to be.

Free asset. Kudos to front office.

 

[Matz03]

I think Pionk has one of the highest hockey IQs of any of our prospects. He understands where he needs to be, he understands what he has to do, he understands what he is capable of, what he can get away with, and what he can't.

For Pionk the X-factor will be upside. He'll continue to face competition for time from options that are bigger, or have more offensive potential, or have more of a nasty side, etc.

I agree about the IQ's, he's a very smart player and you can see the other elements of his game emerge as he gains confidence. That's where I see him pulling ahead of the other rookie D on the team. He's not really being sheltered like ADA & Gilmour. He's already beaten out bigger Sproul and lucky for him no other righty D prospects to beat out. I know its early but we might have found our own Ryan Ellis'esque type of D in Pionk?

 

[Edge]

I agree about the IQ's, he's a very smart player and you can see the other elements of his game emerge as he gains confidence. That's where I see him pulling ahead of the other rookie D on the team. He's not really being sheltered like ADA & Gilmour. He's already beaten out bigger Sproul and lucky for him no other righty D prospects to beat out. I know its early but we might have found our own Ryan Ellis'esque type of D in Pionk?

Time will tell. I’ll be curious to see how he does as the Rangers next wave of defensive prospects come along.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

I had always thought he was the college free agent prize from last summer

Glad to see him succeeding

Just a reminder that we have stolen like 4 college free agents from the Blackhawks the last handful of years

 

[Nickmo82]

How did he go undrafted? What's his story?

 

[Gospel of Prospal]

I had always thought he was the college free agent prize from last summer

Glad to see him succeeding

Just a reminder that we have stolen like 4 college free agents from the Blackhawks the last handful of years

He's no Will Butcher

 

[nevesis]

Kid is a BEAST. Great attitude on him as well. Character!

 

[SnowblindNYR]

He's a great player to watch, definitely a keeper.

 

[Gospel of Prospal]

Give it to me! Give it to me, Neal!

 

[Savant]

How did he go undrafted? What's his story?

On the small side. Bit of a late bloomer.

Not complaining to have him on board. That’s kind of the model with NCAA dmen at times. Find the kids that can play.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

He's no Will Butcher

Yeah he’s better than Butcher

 

[Savant]

Yeah he’s better than Butcher

Butcher is a 3rd pairing power play specialist. Pionk may not be as valuable with the man advantage but I don’t see why he can’t have a higher defensive ceiling.

 

[nyr2k2]

Pionk will be on the second pair for years to come, once he fully matures.