Would you rather finish bottom-5 this season or fight for the playoffs?

[Edge]

Well, the other thing aside from this dynamic, were the choices presented. The ol' issue of how phrasing can impact a poll.

I mean, take me for example. I've been a pretty clear and consistent voice for rebuilding since I joined this site 15 years ago. But my approach has always been 1) remain focused on the long-term in any and all trades, while 2) always playing hard, and 3) never losing "on purpose." The advent of the lottery only strengthened my views on this strategy. (Though admittedly, over the last 2+ years watching the team steal unnecessary loser points in games in March and April has been caused me to give a rueful chuckle every now and again.)

But because of the choices provided, "finish bottom-5 " or "fight for the playoffs", I went with the latter option. Because I'm always going to want the team to do their damndest to fight to reach the playoffs.

I'm just not in favor of the GM making deals to get there – and indeed, am in favor of him making deals that, in the short term, may negatively impact the team's ability to do so.

And that's the thing for me, it's not that I "want" to finish in the top 5. What I want is to build a championship dynasty in the 2020s. That's what has been relayed to me from people close to the situation and I think that approach is spot-on. So I'm all-in on doing that.

So the question becomes, how do I think we best get there, and what does that path include for this particular point in time?

For this particular point in time, I lean heavily toward getting more ammo. Now, that doesn't mean I intentionally sabotage progress to get there. I'm not going to bench Kakko, ADA, etc. to lose games. But it may mean I trade older players, or players on expiring deals.

But those deals aren't done with the intention of losing, they are done with the intention of accumulating. Now, the short term result might include more losing, but that's why there is distinction between short term goals/results and long term goals/results.

But I'm also pretty vocal about the concept that my priorities start to change next season. To me, that's when we are past the point of multiple UFA contracts coming up, or all of our prospects being rookies and teenagers.

Next season we should have just about all of our core pieces under control, and some of older prospects (drafted in 2014-2017) should be giving us a better idea of who they are as NHL players. Those guys from the 2014 draft will be 24/25 to start next season, the 2016 draft will be have players who are 22/23, etc. etc. So we will be entering the state where it's not just all projections and junior level results.

For me, this summer is when the shuffling starts. And with a lot of those moves comes increased expectations for younger talent to start making this "their team" moving forward. That starts with guys like ADA, and it extends down to someone like Kakko. Now, I'm not expecting miracles, but I can tell you that my desire next season is not going to be "one more potentially piece of ammo."

Next season begins the, "alright, your ammo is what it is, now we start to push ourselves into the picture" phase of this process.

 

[Off Sides]

I'm not sure their cap structure quite lines up very well with them making major moves.

~7.5M in buyout space, Smith/Staal ~10M, and factor in Lundqvist if he stays at 8.5M.

That is a lot of cap space which could impede their ability to improve the roster by all that much compared to where they are now.

Organic growth, sure I want to see that as always, if that gets them to the playoffs, sure.

Them trying to finagle a "make the playoffs" roster around that cap disadvantage, not something I hope to see.

 

[Edge]

I'm not sure their cap structure quite lines up very well with them making major moves.

~7.5M in buyout space, Smith/Staal ~10M, and factor in Lundqvist if he stays at 8.5M.

That is a lot of cap space which could impede their ability to improve the roster by all that much compared to where they are now.

Organic growth, sure I want to see that as always, if that gets them to the playoffs, sure.

Them trying to finagle a "make the playoffs" roster around that cap disadvantage, not something I hope to see.

They'll have room, depending on who they keep or decide to pay.

That goes back to the whole, you can keep some of them, but not all of them approach I've seen rolling with in the roster building thread. (Which doesn't need to be debated here.)

 

[Off Sides]

They'll have room, depending on who they keep or decide to pay.

That goes back to the whole, you can keep some of them, but not all of them approach I've seen rolling with in the roster building thread. (Which doesn't need to be debated here.)

My point was more along the lines of, if they have ~26M (~30% of total cap space) dedicated to Buyouts, Smith/Staal/Lundqvist, and they make the playoffs, they must have made some amazing progress or they went with short term improvements to just make the playoffs.

 

[Kaapo Cabana]

That view is as a constant. Which will not happen for at least two reasons: 1) you need to take strength of schedule into account 2) you need to take what happens at TDL into account.

obviously

but neither of us know for sure what the case will be so the best guess at this point is continuation of what has been going on thus far

TBH I think its likely we will have to be even worse than .320. I was being conservative in my judgement as the teams below us who are already worse than us are likely to be sellers as well.

 

[True Blue]

but neither of us know for sure what the case will be so the best guess at this point is continuation of what has been going on thus far

We DO know that the Rangers have one of the hardest schedules left. We DO know that they will be sellers and for what they will be selling there is nothing stepping in to fill the void this year.

 

[Edge]

My point was more along the lines of, if they have ~26M (~30% of total cap space) dedicated to Buyouts, Smith/Staal/Lundqvist, and they make the playoffs, they must have made some amazing progress or they went with short term improvements to just make the playoffs.

Put me in the camp that doesn't expect a lot of buyouts. On this topic, I'm more or less in agreement with Uncle Larry.

 

[Synergy27]

I don't believe in the notion of purposely being bad for draft picks and draft picks don't guarantee anything. Does they improve your odds, sure? But not guaranteed. So yeah, in a way lottery odds and picks is up to the Gods.

There is a difference between purposely being bad and prematurely trying to be good.

 

[Off Sides]

Put me in the camp that doesn't expect a lot of buyouts. On this topic, I'm more or less in agreement with Uncle Larry.

They are already slated at ~7.49M in buyout space for next year.
Smith, Staal combine for 10M.
Lundqvist 8.5M.

So while I agree they can and will likely shuffle stuff around, if those three player elements are all on the Rangers cap next year along with the buyout hit they will have, that is lot in cap hit for them to overcome and still make the playoffs.

 

[Pawnee Rangers]

There is a difference between purposely being bad and prematurely trying to be good.

If you read my earlier post, I said they shouldn't be buyers at the deadline or anything like that. To me, it's more important for guys already on the roster like Kakko, Chytil, Fox, and Howden to experience playoff like hockey down the stretch than it is to fantasize about finishing with the worst record in the league. Whatever happens, happens. I care about the players we have, not the ones we may get in June.

 

[Synergy27]

I care about the players we have, not the ones we may get in June.

Why not both?

Those guys will experience plenty of playoff and playoff like hockey during their careers. I’d personally prefer that they do so with another high end player riding shotgun.

 

[BBKers]

Bounce

 

[Ghost of jas]

Doesn't look like we have a choice now. Just strap in and enjoy the ride.

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

Doesn't look like we have a choice now. Just strap in and enjoy the ride.

We beat a bad team last night. Still a whole month of games vs teams fighting for their lives.

 

[Ghost of jas]

We beat a bad team last night. Still a whole month of games vs teams fighting for their lives.

They've won 9 straight on the road,

 

[klingsor]

There is something seriously wrong with this poll.

I don't seem to be able to vote for both options.

 

[Leonardo87]

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

My question is how will 4 or 5 more games help instead of 1 more pick that will solidify this rebuild

 

[Crease]

This is always the correct response.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

My question is how will 4 or 5 more games help instead of 1 more pick that will solidify this rebuild

Columbus last year was also supposed to get 4 or 5 games.

 

[Edge]

15 of the Rangers remaining 19 games are against teams in either a virtual tie with them in the standings, or ahead of them.

If they get into the playoffs, they will have earned it.

If they miss the playoffs, they will likely have been knocked out by teams that had a reasonable chance to beat them.

The goal is for the kids to work hard, get a taste of what a race feels like, make progress, and then apply whatever lessons they learn next season.

 

[Inferno]

Yeah..at this point I hope they miss the playoffs by 1 point... Toronto and Carolina miss the playoffs

Then the leafs win 3oa, and the rangers and canes win 1 and 2...

So.we end up with lafreniere and byfield ona. Team that was just about a playoff team.

Hey...a man can hope can't he?

 

[Ghost of jas]

My question is how will 4 or 5 more games help instead of 1 more pick that will solidify this rebuild

Who is this mythical pick that's going to "solidify" the rebuild? You've already got a top 9 that includes Panarin, Kreider, Zibanejad, Buchnevich, Strome, Kakko and Chytil, with Kravtsov waiting in the wings, and ample assets to possibly trade for another forward, not to mention a wild card like Gauthier. As it is, you've got two 1sts in the upcoming draft. This team is learning what it takes to win in this league, and develop from that challenge is very important, and you can't quantify. Again, everyone here would love to win the lottery. But, at this point, you bet your ass I want to see this team keep winning and pressing for a playoff. If they fall short, so be it.

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

Yeah..at this point I hope they miss the playoffs by 1 point... Toronto and Carolina miss the playoffs

Then the leafs win 3oa, and the rangers and canes win 1 and 2...

So.we end up with lafreniere and byfield ona. Team that was just about a playoff team.

Hey...a man can hope can't he?

At this point Zary will do lol.

 

[EpicDing]

For a team with so many young/rookie players, this playoff stretch run is invaluable.

Think about it, none of these players have experienced one yet:

Kakko
Chytil
Fox
Lindgren
Howden
DeAngelo
Gauthier
Georgiev
Shesterkin

That's half our defence, a third of our forwards, and potentially our goaltending duo. This will be huge for their development.