HockeyBasedNYC
Feeling it
Feel like we should start a season appreciation thread to put our final thoughts down on a magical run.
Regardless, it was a hell of a season. This team showed a lot of guts but let’s be honest, they ran out of gas. If they found a way win game 6 they are looking at 2 days off before game 7 and 5 out of 6 for game 1 of the final if they got there. I wonder if we would’ve seen a recharged team offensively.
Alas, we need to be thrilled about the trajectory this club is on. Way ahead of schedule reaching the conference finals, getting great experience learning from a potential three-peat dynasty team. There will be some changes but a large portion of the core will remain. Which is why the Kakko scratch was a head scratcher to me… but that aside we saw some kids come up big in big spots.
Fox showed his Norris game can translate into the postseason and that’s huge.
Miller to me may be the biggest bright spot for the future. There were moments of extremely impressive, almost Norris like defense showings, several times throughout the playoffs. For a kid still learning the position this is a huge plus for the team. His raw talent is panning out.
Lafreniere showed that not only is his game suited for the playoffs but he can be a leader. For such a young kid stepping up physically and on the score sheet in tough elimination games, he may actually be ahead of schedule in that regard. We need gamers to win Cups and he certainly is.
Chytil took a huge leap this playoffs, finally finishing his chances. The “shift” and his stretch of goal scoring against the Canes and Lightning was amazing and we saw a kid turning into a man.
Lindgren and Trouba showed that they can be rocks on D playing heavy minutes matching up against the other teams best, playing a hard game. Troubas physicality was the turning point in many games and both of their leadership qualities add to a very strong room.
We should have a little more trust in the management of this team. Drury, the scouts and co. made great calls identifying what players needed to be brought in to help this team. Copp, Vatrano, Motte and Braun all were very useful and fit into this team so well. And they didn’t give up much to acquire them. I wish we could go to war with the same group next season, but at the very least this run certainly makes other free agents want to come here and the chances of resigning any of them greater.
Mika had a fantastic playoffs. He was less effective on the road but he really played his heart out and elevated his game on both sides of the rink.
These are the positives that stand out to me. I’d rather not get into Panarin, Kakko and Strome and some other little things that are bugging me. Because this was an immensely positive season.
Oh… and one last thing.
Igor Shesterkin showed that he’s the best goaltender in the galaxy. He is the sole reason the Rangers got this far and the fact he’s locked up for any amount of years for less than 6m is biggest positive coming out of the last calendar year.
He put this team on his back, showed incredible resilience and mental fortitude after some really tough games against Pitt. He was absolutely stellar and he did it consistently. All the Rangers need to focus on going forward is building the defensive structure around him and improving the 5 on 5 offense. If they can give this guy 3 goals in the playoffs on the regular they have a real chance at winning a Cup. He changes the complexion of a series and has already built a reputation for himself that will affect how a team approaches games against the Rangers. We are so lucky and spoiled to have elite goaltending for all of these years.
Regardless, it was a hell of a season. This team showed a lot of guts but let’s be honest, they ran out of gas. If they found a way win game 6 they are looking at 2 days off before game 7 and 5 out of 6 for game 1 of the final if they got there. I wonder if we would’ve seen a recharged team offensively.
Alas, we need to be thrilled about the trajectory this club is on. Way ahead of schedule reaching the conference finals, getting great experience learning from a potential three-peat dynasty team. There will be some changes but a large portion of the core will remain. Which is why the Kakko scratch was a head scratcher to me… but that aside we saw some kids come up big in big spots.
Fox showed his Norris game can translate into the postseason and that’s huge.
Miller to me may be the biggest bright spot for the future. There were moments of extremely impressive, almost Norris like defense showings, several times throughout the playoffs. For a kid still learning the position this is a huge plus for the team. His raw talent is panning out.
Lafreniere showed that not only is his game suited for the playoffs but he can be a leader. For such a young kid stepping up physically and on the score sheet in tough elimination games, he may actually be ahead of schedule in that regard. We need gamers to win Cups and he certainly is.
Chytil took a huge leap this playoffs, finally finishing his chances. The “shift” and his stretch of goal scoring against the Canes and Lightning was amazing and we saw a kid turning into a man.
Lindgren and Trouba showed that they can be rocks on D playing heavy minutes matching up against the other teams best, playing a hard game. Troubas physicality was the turning point in many games and both of their leadership qualities add to a very strong room.
We should have a little more trust in the management of this team. Drury, the scouts and co. made great calls identifying what players needed to be brought in to help this team. Copp, Vatrano, Motte and Braun all were very useful and fit into this team so well. And they didn’t give up much to acquire them. I wish we could go to war with the same group next season, but at the very least this run certainly makes other free agents want to come here and the chances of resigning any of them greater.
Mika had a fantastic playoffs. He was less effective on the road but he really played his heart out and elevated his game on both sides of the rink.
These are the positives that stand out to me. I’d rather not get into Panarin, Kakko and Strome and some other little things that are bugging me. Because this was an immensely positive season.
Oh… and one last thing.
Igor Shesterkin showed that he’s the best goaltender in the galaxy. He is the sole reason the Rangers got this far and the fact he’s locked up for any amount of years for less than 6m is biggest positive coming out of the last calendar year.
He put this team on his back, showed incredible resilience and mental fortitude after some really tough games against Pitt. He was absolutely stellar and he did it consistently. All the Rangers need to focus on going forward is building the defensive structure around him and improving the 5 on 5 offense. If they can give this guy 3 goals in the playoffs on the regular they have a real chance at winning a Cup. He changes the complexion of a series and has already built a reputation for himself that will affect how a team approaches games against the Rangers. We are so lucky and spoiled to have elite goaltending for all of these years.
