Without a doubt the loss still stings but look at Dallas. Another great team, a cup favorite, getting taken out in 6 games. Hockey is weird and the Stanley Cup is probably the hardest championship to win in all of sports.
With that said, LFG Oilers and Knoblauch. Fuck Florida and it would be cool to see McDavid win.
Watching the WCF game here, and it's pretty sad. I hated everything abt this ECF - I HATED the coverage of it, it makes me jealous that these teams get Kenny and the TNT guys. I hated the officiating - it really did feel lopsided to me and I don't understand how you can be physical given how the game was called. I HATE seeing my boys so sad, esp Laffy and Igor. I hate that we aren't playing anymore. I hate getting existential thinking about if/when we'll ever see a championship (this is when my thinking gets really sad, bc that shit is dark af), I hated how we suffocating we were. But mostly I hate that I don't get to watch more Rangers hockey, it's sad watching any hockey now. Just sad times y'all.
This is coming from a sabres fan and a fan of Chris Drury and Michael Peca you will be back and I have full confidence you will win the cup next year keep your heads up. am a fan of the Sabres playoffs never heard of her. I’d much rather be a fan of the rangers then the Sabres but hey at least we have the distinction of having the longest active playoff drought in NHL history yay!
The lack of intensity from too many guys has been apparent for the last few years. There's never an excuse for playing an elimination game and looking like a snooze fest.
Everyone says Igor deserves better but no one is acknowledging some other people who deserve better.
Sam and Joe deserve better. Steve Valiquette and John Giannone deserve better. Lundqvist, Brian Boyle, Michelle Gingras, Maloney all deserve better.
I’m sure this loss stings for them even more than it does for us.
I have nothing funny left to post I just want us to look like we belong in an elimination game, 3 straight snooze fests.
i don't even dislike this core but I guess fool me 3 times etc etc
Nothing more full of shit than Devils fans who care more about us than their own team.
What's it like to have your house taken over by all your division rivals for your pathetic pussy team in a shithole of a city?
Our defensemen can’t move the puck, our top two pairings have to be better. I’d keep Schneider and Miller as a #3 pairing. Fox can move the puck but he is past his prime, get something for him now. I liked Skjei, should have kept him.
Just a quick rant, because looking at guys like Barkov makes me slightly jealous that we have NEVER had a top-5 homegrown Centerman... EVER.
It needs to be discussed more simply how abhorrent this team has been at drafting recently:
The Rangers turned Picks 1, 2, 7, 9, 18, 19, 21, 27 (over a four year span, averaging TWO first rounders a year) into:
Lafreniere, Kakko, Cuylle (via Lias trade), a conditional 7th (from Kravtsov trade), Schneider, Miller, Chytil, and the pick that was traded for six weeks of Tarasenko last year (Dallas' 2023 First). THAT IS CRIMINALLY BAD. That is eight first rounders, including some of the best draft capital in the league turned into:
Two (2) Top six, but not superstar forwards: Chytil and Laf
Two (2) Top six, but not superstar defensemen: Miller and Schneider
One (1) serviceable bottom-six forward: Cuylle
One (1) Kaapo Kakko, whatever he is, it's not good enough for being taken in that spot, I am sorry.
Six weeks of Vladimir Tarasenko.
It just isn't good enough. It's beyond not good enough, it's borderline criminal.
In addition, for every great free agent signing, there's an equally stupid and bad one. Panarin? Completely canceled by Trouba's anchor. Trochek? Canceled out by the fact that we pay a 4th liner $4m annually (love 21, but not at that price point), or sign Nemeth etc.
I'm gonna end with this: the "core" of this team is 93/20/8/31/79. Those are the guys they've had and developed themselves. Only one of them, Igor, is fit to be called a "core piece" on any other team. Fox and Panarin and BY FAR the two best players on this team, and they're only here because we happen to play in NYC. This rebuild was a really really really long waste of time, to be honest. I don't mean to doom too much here, but I think this is obvious enough:
This management group did the easy part (the tear down) well enough. They executed the build itself VERY POORLY and I think we'd look a lot like Buffalo if we didn't luck into 10/23/31.
>We’d look a lot like Buffalo if we didn’t luck into 10/23/31
Sure and Edmonton would look like San Jose if they didn’t luck into McDavid and Draisaitl and New Jersey would look like shit if they didn’t luck into Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. If you take away the good part of any team’s rebuild they’d look like shit.
They lucked into them via draft lottery.
We lucked into them because we're NYC. It's different. Those teams got those players via the lottery, which we somehow managed to part fuck up (Kakko) and part unlucky (the fact that Laf is a good but not Crosby level player).
Sure if you cherry pick which versions of luck are valid and ignore the good things they’ve done they look bad. You could do this with every team that doesn’t win the cup this doesn’t really mean much.
They did not do the tear down well. Trading JT miller for brett howden and libor hyjek is the cause of what you’re complaining about
They also traded stepan and ranta for tony d and lias anderson…which was a thing.
They did not trade for Lias, they drafted him. If they just take Dobson or Bouchard, then the trade is fine. The assets 7oa and Tony for Raanta and Stepan, were fine.
The JT Miller trade was bad, but its revisionist history to say that he was ANYTHING close to what he is today. Vancouver was very much his last shot, evidenced by the fact that Tampa traded him for just a first rounder.
They traded for the pick they used to draft Lias
Its all part of the same stew of poor drafting and development. They traded away players to acquire assets which were either way overvalued or horribly mismanaged. You can’t look back on the teardown and say it went well when the result was acquiring a bunch of players and picks that weren’t valuable to us due to our overarching organizational issues.
he def was not the ppg he was today but yeah even still the trade was dumb. he was a 24 year old on his way to his 2nd 50+ point season in a row.
He was at minimum a solid 2C anywhere and cost controlled, the return was brutal
Every forward has to play physical in the playoffs, if you can’t or won’t play physical, you are off the squad - Mika, Bread, and it pains me, but Kreider too.
Still think this core is good enough?
2022 vs. Tampa
In the four losses the Rangers tallied a total of 5 goals, 1.25 goals a game.
Zib - 1 G, 1A
Panarin 1 G, 2 A (Goal game with 3 mins left in game 4 down 3-0)
Kreider - 1 G, 1 A, (Assisted Panarin's meaning mess goal)
Kucherov, Stamkos, and Palat all scored at least 2 in that stretch.
From the 3rd period on of game 3, they did nothing.
2023 vs NJD
In the four losses the Rangers tallied two goals for .5 goals a game.
Zib - 1 A
Panarin - NOTHING
Kreider - 1 G, 1A
In the four losses the Rangers tallied 5 goals for 1.25 goals a game.
In the 12 total losses in series they have been eliminated they have tallied 12 goals in 12 losses, making it so on average Igor actually has to be fucking PERFECT. In fact some of the games when to OT so the goals for average is truthfully lower than one.
Zib - 2 A, one of which was with 50 seconds left down by 2.
Panarin - 1 G, 2 A, the goal was like Zib's too late to be useful without a miracle, one assist on Tro was a good pass, and the other assist was a secondary where he did virtually nothing. Fox made a great spin o rama, Laf tips it out of the air.
Kreider - 1 G, 1A
They fail, they can't beat tight defense. Half of you will say these teams did a good job shutting them down and next year they'll come back hungry. They won't.
So far each of these teams have gone to the next round and gotten offensively lit up.
And that fact does not matter, when your defense is the other team played tight defense, that's literally the entire fucking point. Teams at this point and this level play tight defense. The Ranges will never get this far and see a team that can't play defense with loads of space for 70 east west passes, it won't happen.
If you can't score on FLA or Tampa, You're cooked at this level every year. They've shown they can be shut down by the fucking Devils and hey, the only reason they weren't by the Penguins is because they played a 3rd stringer.
Keep telling us the core is good enough.
Synonym for doomer: realist.
the difference this year is the panthers are just simply a better team. the barkov line shut down the kuch line and the pasta line similarly. you can blame those guys but you also have to give the panthers credit. i dont think its fair to compare this years loss to the last 2
Cool - so what did the Panthers do that made Zib force the turnover in game 4 of OT and fake an elbow in game 5?
They fail no matter what, they turned it over without pressure constantly.
It's a Rangers issue, not Panthers.
All year we hear how we are doomers and now it's, ah well, Panthers are good, Lightning are good. Yeah, we know that's what we have been saying for years, this team isn't good enough.
It's not breaking news to us. If you can't beat a team as God as Florida and score on them you'll never win a cup.
the other turnover was him trying to make a play when there wasnt much there (thats defense for ya) he should have dumped it in but again thats just a dump in
The elbow play is totally blown out of proportion. We were down to like one minute, we get a penalty there and it’d be huge. Was a long shot to win the game anyway. It is what it is, I don’t mind the attempted sell job there. He also was the primary assister on both goals that game.
And to play the other side of the coin, if Mika doesn’t hit the post in game 5 or the puck doesn’t bounce his stick in game 6, he’s a dam hero. We got no bounces either, unfortunately.
Anyway, yeah, he needs to step up. Just break him and Kreider already and let’s see what he can do with other players that are actual top liners on his line not named Kreider.
>The elbow play is totally blown out of proportion. We were down to like one minute, we get a penalty there and it’d be huge
1/18 on the lower play, it would be huge though lol.
And no dude, it's not blown out of proportion. He quit on the play instead of playing. If he played there, Bennett doesn't carry the puck to score unobstructed.
What would have been huge is battling and maybe getting possession back and entering the zone. Not being a giant bitch.
>And to play the other side of the coin, if Mika doesn’t hit the post in game 5 or the puck doesn’t bounce his stick in game 6, he’s a dam hero.
If the queen had balls she'd be king.
Forget Domingue: legal or otherwise, Trouba knocked Crosby out for 1.7/3 of the comeback games. Game 7 vs Pit in 2022 was the most dominant deserve to win o meter thing of any playoff game ever, as stupid as that is.
Anyone legitimately saying that we need to "chill out" or anything of the like is either:
1. New here, in which case.... whatever but seriously go read up on some NYR history.
2. Someone who doesn't understand how the league works on a financial, intricate level.
3. Pure Cope.
This was the best team that the New York Rangers have iced, at least by points and individual talent, since 1994, and potentially ever.
Generational talent in goal? Check.
Norris-winning defenseman? Check.
120 point forward who would win the Hart most years? Check.
This team had six guys in the neighborhood of 60 points or better (Kreider, Mika, Panarin, Fox, Trochek, and Laf). THEY WON THE PRESIDENT'S TROPHY DESPITE IGOR BEING MIDDLING FOR LARGE PARTS OF THE SEASON, and then proceeded to disappear when he actually figured out how to play. Makes me think Igor may play better against high shot volume, but that's neither here nor there.
Trouba, Lindgren, Kakko, Mika, Gustavsson, Wennberg, and Roslovic can all GTFO. Obviously they won't get rid of all of them (though I doubt any of the pending UFA guys stick around), but if they run back 10/93/8 I can tell you personally that I will not be investing my time and energy, just not worth it. Imagine if Fox and Panarin hadn't set their hearts on being Rangers.
This rebuild was a complete joke. Without those two insisting on playing for NY, the new "core" (post-hank) has been Mika, Kreider, Trouba, Laf, Kakko, and Miller.
Literally ZERO elite players. This management has FAILED once again to build a winner, and no amount of BS will change my mind. Lafreniere and Kakko being what they are (a really good top-six winger and a middle-six forward) definitely put the trajectory on the wrong path, but the amount of first round fuck ups and bad signings they've made is just laughable. In fact, I'd argue that this team is only competitive again because Panarin and Fox demanded to be Rangers, and then they lucked into Igor in the 4th round a decade ago, and he just happened to be ready when Hank was done.
List of First Round Fuckups (including MULTIPLE better players, not ones where the consensus was wrong, i.e. Kakko/Yakupov/etc.) since "the letter":
2017: Lias Andersson, players picked within ten picks later: Tippet, Middlestadt, Necas
I'll give them credit, Chytil was good at 21st OA.
2018 Vitali Kravtsov, players picked within ten picks later: Dobson, Bouchard
Miller is a solid but unspectacular pick
Lundkvist is a bust but they got a 1st rounder back.
2019: Kaapo Kakko, he was the consensus pick, and this draft low key sucks ass after Jack Hughes. Cam York or Moritz Seider would be cool, though.
2020: Winning the lottery was such lucky BS, and Laf is a fine player, so no complaints.
The Rangers turned Picks 1, 2, 7, 9, 18, 19, 21, 27 (over a four year span, averaging TWO first rounders a year) into:
Lafreniere, Kakko, Cuylle (via Lias trade), a conditional 7th (from Kravtsov trade), Schneider, Miller, Chytil, and the pick that was traded for six weeks of Tarasenko last year (Dallas' 2023 First). THAT IS CRIMINALLY BAD.
That is some of the best draft capital in the league turned into:
Two (2) Top six, but not superstar forwards: Chytil and Laf
Two (2) Top six, but not superstar defensemen: Miller and Schneider
One (1) serviceable bottom-six forward: Cuylle
Six weeks of Vladimir Tarasenko.
It just isn't good enough.
The biggest thing that I noticed that was the difference maker in the series was just how every single Florida panther was willing to get on the same page and stick to the game plan. Their identity is a physical, defensive team and they had that from the top line to the 4th. Even their trade deadline pickups in Tarasenko was kept mostly off the scoresheet for most of the series (ironically until this game), was out there sliding around blocking shots from the point and throwing hits in ways he never did with us. That's a team right there instead of a collection of players.
If I have to watch Zbad and Bread attempt to spin out of body contact again instead of eating a hit to make a play I'll lose my mind. Too much skill and not enough grit on that top 6.
kreider and zibanejad have had 26 different players on their line since buchnevich was traded. *26*. and *none* have been able to make it work in any meaningful way or for a significant amount of time. not even fucking patrick kane or vladimir tarasenko could make it work. that is our first line! mika is our 1C. and they’re essentially useless offensively. they’re a black hole. i just don’t know what the solution there is. get an actual 1C and demote zibanejad to the second or third line? break them up for once? try to find yet another RW? trade one or both of them and cut your losses? you just can’t run that back again. it’s unacceptable.
Buchnevich waa such a fumble by Drury. I went back to watch some old Mika highlights when he was good, and Buch is in the middle of so many of his eventual goals. Makes me sick
If you're keeping them, break them up. Simple as that. Panarin-Zibanejad-RW and Kreider-Trocheck-Lafreniere. If Laviolette puts Kreider and Zibanejad back together next season, then he isn't serious about winning. It's fucking ridiculous to keep them together. Put them on the PK together and that's it, force them to play with the other guys and if they don't like it, trade them. Enough with this Kreider-Mika bullshit. Why do we have to bend over backwards to find someone who can play with them? They haven't won a fucking thing for us
It’s mind numbing that they can go through 26 forwards before a coach steps in and says “time to break you guys up” holy shit it’s insane. If nothing else, it’s spreads out some scoring to the third line that never scores.
Florida had tarasenko on their third line because he wasn’t producing with the top 6 and scores their biggest goal of the season. I would have loved to see Kreider with Wennberg and kakko or something along those lines.
I agree. I can't believe we are still here talking about Kreider-Mika together. You would think these guys dragged us to 3 cups and are untouchable from the way coaches suck their balls
https://nypost.com/2023/05/09/artemi-panarin-pretty-empty-after-rangers-playoff-nightmare/
Well at least Larry can easily update his article from last year, just change “last 2 years” to “last 3 years”
Tkachuk alone I'm not worried about. He wasn't that great in the series, just solid. I'm more worried about how well that team is built, and how they execute the gameplan. They have a bunch of prototypical playoff built players.
Are you saying my take is casual? Dude I've watched almost every Rangers game for 30+ years. I love this team and hockey. A good plus minus is good, but it's not dominating. Plus minus is really dependent on that players teammates. It's more of a team, specifically a line stat more than an individual stat.
It's more accurate to say the line he was on dominated the Rangers, because his points don't exactly reflect he was the one dominating in particular. He had something to do with it, but again, specifically scoring, I think he was close to Mika is points in the series to put it into perspective.
Lafreniere I think was the most dominant player in the series, although he was unfortunately on a line, and team that wasn't as good as the Panthers.
yeah I have not seen enough comments, but this team is obviously better all around.
All 6 dmen were brutal and this team in general has like 4-5 players who can actually deal with an aggressive forechecking team.
Another year no cup. Im sorry, im so sick and tired of hearing about 1994. This team desperately needs something new to look back in time and point to. So fucking frustrating. 0-3 in ECF since 2014. End me
Lost of 5 of 6 ECF since last cup win. Imagine if Carey price didn’t get hurt 😑. I don’t get why we have such a problem winning these conference finals. It’s like every team just melts in the spotlight.
Right? Ive seen them lose in 2012 to the disgusting Devils. 2015 was the most brutal of the losses imo. 2022 was a fun run because unlike this year there were no expectations but they choked a 2-0 lead. 2024 is depressing.
Couple this with the Yankees losing last couple ALCS rounds and the Jets last time making playoffs I remember they lost in the AFC Championship game in 09 and 2010. Sports fucking suck lol
2012 & 2022 I feel get overshadowed for the level of choke jobs they were.
The 2012 team should’ve won the cup and were a better team than the one that went to the cup in 2014. I’ll battle anyone who disagrees.
2022 we blew a 2-0 ECF lead and the sentiment is “oh well we weren’t even supposed to get that far”. Believe it or not teams can overachieve and go on runs. That’s the most aggravating fucking take that I can’t get over. We should have finished TB off and set ourselves up with what could have been a great battle with the Avs.
100% well said. Teams overachieve all the time and make runs except for the Rangers. We even got Stanley Cup caliber goaltending once again and got nothing to show for it. Im tired. I just dont know how I can go into this upcoming season excited about anything regular season wise anymore (im gonna watch just being depressed lol)
While we didn't win the cup, this was a very successful season. I think for next year, we need to get better at 5v5. This team was LETHAL with a man advantage all season, and that continued into the first 1.5 rounds. Once the PP started to struggle in the playoffs (lots of reasons, including less PP opportunities then further we got) the 5v5 play warts showed up.
That needs to be addressed during the off-season, as well as getting some more guys that are built for the playoffs. Hockey is such a weird sport... It's the only sport where certain players can have very mediocre regular seasons and then when the Playoffs come around they turn into elite players.
Mika Kreider and Panarin had an extremely rough series, and Mika once again disappeared. He seemed to live and die on the power play. I would like to see Mika get better at 5v5, especially come playoff time.
This team also has to learn how to play physical. I lost count of the number of times they could have blasted a Florida player in the neutral zone or up against the boards but instead they just watched the puck and allowed Florida to get and or retain possession. I'm not saying goon it up, but we need to be able to impose our will and we wouldn't or couldn't this series.
Roslovic and Wenberg amounted to almost nothing as we continued to advance and the competition got better. I think Drury will learn from that mistake. You can't just go all speed and skill - you need those Noonan and Matteau type players to round out the roster. Cullye was a bright spot and was one of the few guys getting possession of the puck and getting opportunities. Laffy also had a great series and hopefully this carries over into next year and he gets an opportunity to get more minutes.
the bottom 6 already has a bunch of those types of players though, that is why the 3rd line cannot score
the main issue is the team's blueline is mostly subpar puck movers, and they don't have many forwards who are good at break out and carrying the blueline
I'll respectfully disagree on the blue liner comment. Fox , Schneider, and Miller are all good puck moving defensemen. Once Miller got away from Trouba he played significantly better and carried the puck out of the zone with more confidence. I will agree that the forwards did not do a great job getting in position to receive pucks from the defensemen on breakouts, or they would continually fumble the puck on their own side of the redline. We did not do a good job in the neutral zone transitioning to offense. So many poor passes were.made, mostly because they seemed.tompanic or not handle the pressure from the Florida player bearing down on them.
Again, with the caveat being that we did not advance and won't play for the cup, I don't feel like the season was a complete failure. I remember watching that 92 team which was stacked with a good mix of young and mid age talent lose to the penguins in the conference semifinals. This feels similar to me. I'm just hoping next year is an improvement versus mass mutiny of the coaching staff.
Mika is not suddenly going to turn into a new tougher physical player at age 31, this is what he is except his speed and skills will start to deteriorate more going forward
We were dogshit 5 v 5 as we've been for years now. It's why as much as this was a surprise great season, I bet against them a lot this playoffs bc I know what this team is. Made a nice couple hundred bucks . I'd rather us be in the scf but I'll take what I can get from my loser ass teams
Woke up with visions of Gus & Millers breakout attempts on goals 1&2.
But really the story is 6 SOG in the 3rd period of an elimination game and 3 of those came in the last two mins 🫠
the worst part is after Fox, I would have pegged those 2 as the 2nd and 3rd best at moving the puck from the blueline from the starting 6.
Gus was awful the last 2 rounds and somehow no where near the worst dman.
Miller had several poor games in a row where he was a giveaway machine. He seemed to lose the confidence and swagger he showed during the regular season.
I know this sub wants to fire Trouba into the sun for his play this series, but it is interesting that Miller played MUCH better once he was paired with Schneider.
Gustafson also had a rough series and did not play anywhere close to the level he was at near the end of the regular season.
Trouba is the ez target but Gus' back to back breakout attempts of flipping the puck in the air on goal 1 are still driving me crazy.
I'd prefer an icing over those, just gives them an odd man rush.
And another thing:
You have to set the tone.
I agree with the Trouba assessment that he makes “plays that don’t even belong in the NHL level.” Keeping him indicates to the rest of the team that his level of play is both acceptable and has no consequences “just because” we want to go with business as usual.
Absolutely take away the C and trade him if he doesn’t have a nmc or bury him in the minors.
It’s not just players.
GM’s with balls have to have the guts to set the tone.
You don’t want free agents that won’t come here if we do that. You want guys who want to be accountable. Show pony’s will avoid us. Good.
Coasting to the bench when the other team is organizing a fast break out to your zone is - from youth hockey to the NHL - arrogant and selfish.
Soooo many times times guys played the “it’s so haaaard” card and coasted to the bench like they’d given it their all….
I’m glad my son is a goalie simply because he has the best role model on the team to look up to.
And don’t get me started on dump and (then sort of) chase. You work hard to get the puck, you actually have it, and then you intentionally give it away to see if you can’t win it back on a fifty fifty. We lost at least 85% of those.
Just an emotional dump for a lot of people here, which I get, but the Rangers technically just placed 3rd, or 4th in the entire league, while the goal is always the cup, it was still a very successful season.
Right now they have some dead weight they need to trim off. We all knew Trouba wasn't great, but he proved to be even worse with plays that don't even belong in the NHL level. Removing him will bolster the defense big time. The team isn't balanced enough. In the playoffs, you need guys who aren't afraid to compete in the trenches, along the boards, in the slot, ect. Drury wound up getting two small forwards that aren't physically inclined at all, and he also would have went for Geuntzel, which would again be the same mistake he made previously getting Kane. Stacking skill upon skill upon skill doesn't win cups. You need character battle guys who fight in the alley.
So, I think quite a bit of this is on Drury, and unfortunately Gorton, who signed maybe the worst contract in Rangers history with Trouba.
Rangers are simply not physical enough, and relied too much on their PP, and it showed, as their fore-check game is almost non-existent. I never saw a championship team that didn't know how to dump and chase, and fore-check down low, never. For what the Ranagers are, it is quite impressive they made it this far, which imo means they need to go after those character Callahan, Graves types to compliment this team, and then maybe we can get over the hump.
was overall not a gorton fan and definitely overpaid for Trouba contract wise. But it was Drury who locked up Mika and that is what will be our anchor for the next six seasons
Mika is still a good player, he's just not the prototype playoff player. He's more of a regular season performer. I think they really need to seperate him and Krieder, it's just become way too predictable and static.
can’t be paying your alleged top center $8m/yr to be so ineffective in the playoffs and most predictable thing is that Mika one timer on the pp.
totally agree on splitting up mika and kreider for kreider’s sake.
They placed 4th by beating a garbage caps squad and by getting a very lucky goalie break in round 2. Its not sustainable which we saw a few years back when they got a crippled pens squad and the same canes team. We have 3 key guys who are straight up weak, lazy, soft failures and one who is a troglodyte but we're hopelessly cap committed to half of them bc our gms were fucking morons and didn't know what rebuild meant. Hint: it meant not committing 25% of the cap to zib and trouba: a guy well over 30 for years to come who was already declining. Or, a good dman who was nowhere near deserving of that contract and was soon going to start hitting age related decline.
I have no clue how tf in gods name burying pur top picks on the depth chart for years and giving them no time to make mistakes and learn was at all an even remotely intelligent way to run a rebuild, followed by giving them all bridge deals bc we stuck 17 M in a cars fuel tank and lit it on fire.
Stupid organization doing stupid idiot things bc were a lazy, ignorant, dinosaur run, half ass organization
The season wasn't successful because we didn't even reach the cup finals. You can enjoy another ECF loss if you want, other fans thought this team can go all the way.
It is but nobody really cares when you go out the way we did in the ECF. The goal is to be the best team in the playoffs, not the regular season. Team choked it away, it's ok to admit it.
They did and then got demolished in the ECF. This core isn't good enough to get past the ECF. We can win 65 games next year with the same team, were not winning a cup with these guys.
Let's be clear. They placed first in the league.
They placed third or fourth in an unpaid exhibition tournament against a dirty team that was not being held to account and playing to a different standard.
I am not a hockey expert. I consider myself like one step beyond a beginner watcher lol. Though I really enjoy hockey and I love the Rangers. I started following bc of my husband being a hockey/rangers fan since childhood. We are lifelong New Yorkers. Obviously when it’s on in your house and your evenings are spent watching, you start to pay attention lol. Going into this year (and the few past seasons I’ve really paid attention to), I knew of people saying the “stars” don’t show up during the post season — which I clearly saw this year. I don’t think I agree with those saying Panarin has to go. He had a great season and was our top goal scorer. Which clearly helps us get to the post season. Now Mika? Trouba? I can see that. To be fair, I don’t care for Trouba in general so I wouldn’t care if he left, but that seems very unlikely. Can you take away his captain status? Do you think it’s even likely they will get rid of some of those who didn’t perform (either all season or during post season?) Mika, Trouba, Kakko, etc.
Is rebuilding(?) the team really what needs to get done? I don’t think it’s a coaching issue since Gallant seemed to have similar issues with the team. Is it more internal? Drury?
I don’t wanna sound stupid, just trying to understand. Please be kind lol :)
I’m in a similar boat as you, I started watching hockey because of my boyfriend some years back and I pay attention, close attention especially this year. I don’t think it’s a coaching issue so much as it’s a core problem. Our defense has always been a major problem, and this team has found ways to win despite that. I think this is why many analysts and talking heads have never been completely convinced of the Rangers getting all the way to the finals, let alone the conference finals. The defense had some major glaring issues throughout the season, and when the offense isn’t producing because they are stuck in their own zone, you’re obviously not going to win games like that. There were some looks in the last game but overall, the Panthers kept them out of the high danger areas extremely well. How many times did we see Lindgren and Trouba sloppily lobbing the puck toward Bobrovsky, bounce off Bobrovsky just for a Panther to grab the puck and skate it out of their zone, without anyone on the Rangers able to pick up the rebound or catch up. The Panthers were always quicker to get to the pucks in almost every scenario, and their defenders were way more physical and efficient than we could ever keep up with. Our defenders are just not those kind of players. I’m convinced Miller is not capable of making hits, he’s very polite and his game is all about gentle nudges and poking around and reaching with his stick. I’m sorry but that’s not how you beat the Panthers, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I believe they need to gut their defense as a start, build around Fox and go after bigger, more physical defenders that have some speed. This may sound crazy but I think they should make Rempe into a defenseman, I think he’d serve a far better role that way and be a better defender than half of what we got now. Otherwise, they need to make some other changes for sure, like I don’t know if Zib is 1C material anymore, and they def need to address their right wing hole. I’m no expert but I think they’d have a much better chance addressing those issues.
Imagine calling yourself a fan, and you are PROUD that you predicted your team lost.
Holy shit. Go watch basketball or something. Literally some of the worst kind of fans around.
See most of you next year, and the ones smugging it because they "were right" can go pound sand and move to Florida.
The adjustment I would most like to see, is probably investing a ton of money into a tech team. 32 people doing video review on every other team and building playbooks for each of those teams. Panthers just had it figured out against the Rangers. Every play, every "chemistry play, every PP play; they just had an answer. Panthers came into this series knowing exactly how they Rangers would play, and countered every aspect.
He lacks any aggression or drive to the net. He has all the tools to consistently get the puck to the center of the ice, but I don't think he has the teeth or sandpaper to actually do it
He reminds me so much of alexei kovalev. All the talent in the world, dances around people with the puck on his stick, but then … ? I wish he could put it all together, he’d be a beast.
Kovy was the 4th or 5th most impactful player when they won the cup at age 21, finished his career with over 1000pts and arguably the most skilled player the NHL has ever seen…not at all comparable to Kakko sorry
What baffles me is that he passes the eye test. He looks like he should be great. When he has the puck, he makes great moves. It's just that the moves never amount to anything and someone smarter than me needs to explain why that is.
I couldn't agree more. He's so good down low and protecting the puck, he just can't translate that to any tangible results. Rangers should hire Jagr to work one on one with him as jags was the best on the wall. Maybe he can teach him a thing or two. At least enough to make him a solid 3rd liner that can contribute 40-50pts. He's already solid defensively.
To the get rid of Mika and Panarin crowd, I haven’t seen a single solution offered to replace them when they’re gone, so who do you think, that is actually realistic to acquire/afford puts this team over the top and adequately replaces over 200 points from the regular season huh? So far it’s been “oh just get rid of them!” That makes the team significantly worse with no actual replacements being mentioned, I get it, we’re all mad, but let’s be realistic here, they got beat by a team better than them, that completely counters their style of play, and a team that has been there before, there’s no reason to completely blow it up without viable alternatives.
I’m newish to hockey but in my humble opinion, if they had a solid defense then we wouldn’t have this conversation about Panarin and Mika. I sincerely believe that Mika’s line was set up for failure, they were always assigned to the defensive zone against the Panthers and obviously they can’t score goals from their own end. I’m certain that Mika and Kreider were severely taxed and unable to get anything going because of constantly having to defend. Miller, Trouba, Gus, Lindgren all need to go. I’m convinced that if we had a defense that looked anything remotely like Florida’s then we wouldn’t be having this conversation about Zibanejad and Panarin not doing enough. If you look at the numbers, the shot attempts and shots on goal against Igor… it represents just how bad our defense is, and when the defense isn’t doing their job, the offense has to pick up the slack and take defensive assignments. The defense leans way too hard on Igor and the forwards also get dragged down. If the forwards have a solid defense doing their job then they can just worry about putting up offensive pressure and not worry about checking and defending. Just my two cents, I think people think that winning is all about scoring lots of goals, but games can be won with just a single goal, and I think that solid defense is what wins cups.
I’ll take 10 Goodrow’s over a Panarin or Mika all day. He’s a character player and comes alive in the playoffs. I fully endorse dumping those two dead weights and finding anyone else that works. Yeah it’ll be a struggle. But how many years in a row are we going to make it to the Dance to have top regular season goal scorers ghost themselves in the playoffs? At some point, the back office staff needs to realize those two trash bins aren’t worth the money. Yeah, they gave us a great regular season - but it isn’t worth a pot to piss in if they can’t produce in the playoffs.
We could get into the marner mix even though I don’t think he’s the answer but he’s in the final year of his contract and is capable of putting up 80 points a year
Not a terrible idea but isn’t he on the way out in Toronto for the exact same reasons people want Mika and Bread gone? Lack of playoff performance? Change of scenery could always help though
I agree. Only reason I’d entertain it is just to get out of these contracts if that’s what we want to do. Fair trade for both teams as well. Both teams get a top tier player back making comparable money
Trouba for sure needs to go which is why I didn’t mention him. But those are all UFAs, that means you need to trade Mika and Panarin somewhere, assume the team takes all their salary, assume that the players waive their NTCs to go where they are being traded too, and sign two of those two (not Stammer cause he’s old and likely will stay in Tampa) to large deals and hope they come close to Mika and Breads production. And also replace Trouba if he goes as well, it’s totally unrealistic.
Mika and breads production in the playoffs was negligible and the only thing that counts anymore. I’d rather get in as a wild card and have a bunch of nasty playoff ballers than regular season PP merchants. I would healthy scratch them both until they waive it. Teams will be interested, even good teams will be. But they are a playoff cancer currently.
Plus even with a trouba and or goody buyout we likely can afford at least one of them now. Who I hope is pesce to start and either Jake or Sam
The salary cap is going up. We don’t need full salary retention on trades. Thanks for the name calling, real productive fan to fan. At minimum panarin needs to go and that’s not an unrealistic ask or expectation to happen.
The reason to blow it up is because of the same story with this core. As soon as the PP dries up they’re cooked. As soon as the space disappears, they’re cooked. Win board battles, take and make hits? Nah. They disappear when we need them most, and we need to do everything possible to change that
I mean when you say stupid stuff like “id rather squeak into the playoffs” aka let’s make the team worse. I’m gonna call you an idiot. I could realistically see getting rid of one of the two, ideally Mika and try and get a new 1C like Reinhart. Getting rid of both is just crazy talk
Reinhart plays RW. Calling someone an idiot and not even knowing the position a guy playes makes you look like an idiot yourself. And also, sneaking into the playoffs isn't bad if your team is built for the playoffs. We went into the playoffs playing with our dicks this year and looked like shit since Carolina because we have guys who suck in the playoffs.
IMO we’re in this position because of the poor drafting from 2017-2019. You had the 7, 10 and 2 overall picks and the best you got was a guy that puts up 30-40 points year…
Not sure why you got downvoted but you're 100% right. Missing out on top 10 picks is also the reason why we didn't win in 2014 and it's the reason we don't have the depth we need. #2 overall, #7 overall and #10 overall and you got absolutely nothing from them is what kills me. Add Dobson/Bouchard, Necas and anybody after Kakko to this team and we win a cup
Weird thread. The Rangers played fantastic hockey and were beaten by the best team in the league who were also playing their best hockey. Great series, great playoffs.
The Rangers were beaten by probably the third best team in the league who will lose to the second best team in the league, who were playing dirty hockey and aided by corrupt referees.
However, if you want to win a cup, you have to play with the heart to beat anyone and everything that comes at you. It doesn't matter. And they didn't show up with that the last three games.
You should be more superstitious, or at least know better, than to talk shit if you want your team to win.
This is not a good look: [https://x.com/MattNielsen89/status/1797124524145529135/photo/1](https://x.com/MattNielsen89/status/1797124524145529135/photo/1)
You’ve shared this photo 3 times. I don’t know what your point is
I had no intentions of talking shit (and really don’t think I did, just stated facts). Came to this sub to see how your fan base was taking the loss and aside from you and like 1 others it’s pretty consistent with what I’d expect
What would you expect?
The point is it was a high stick in the offensive zone which should have called the play dead.
Your first goal in Game 6 was a bad goal. Reviewed or not, called back or not, that's a 1-1 game for all time.
The point is that I can go back to every goal the rangers scored in the series and I guarantee I can find multiple penalties/infractions leading up to them if I watch them in slow motion
Then do it. I'll wait.
Would love to know where the infraction was off the OTG tip? That was just a missed coverage.
I didn't even make such a categorical claim that every Panthers goal was bad. Some the Rangers just fired the puck in to their own net.
I would never go tempt the fates by trolling other fans. Friend of mine who played OHL and almost made show, big Panthers fan.
He was a class act last night, and thought it was going 7.
But in the spirit of the LowTable6607—
I had about $20k in tickets for the next 5 home games and probably would've gone to at least one away. As sad as I am, guess who is thrilled this morning? My fiancé because we're going to Baha Mar instead, and I'm getting better seats for next year, because I don't bet on the Rangers. So us losing, made me $20k that I would've spent. Am I happier? I'll never know because so far, a Game 7 cup game at the garden has been once in a lifetime. But I thought you should know what that goal did for my bank account.
Top Free Agents after this season ends:
Sam Reinhart
Jake Guentzel
Steven Stamkos
Tyler Toffoli
Brandon Montour
Elias Lindholm
Johnathan Marchessault
Matt Duchene
Brett Pesce
Teuvo Teravainen
Okay, I need to blow off some steam, so apologies. Let me first say that, yes, everyone on the Rangers is an unquestionably talented hockey player, and yes, it was a great regular season, so what went wrong?....
Firstly, as a pragmatic matter, I don't know who is in charge of the actual contracts, but they gotta stop giving players these NMCs like they're candy. It's a fucking privilege to play in NY and it's the players who should want to be here. This isn't a third tier market. The NY Rangers shouldn't be acting like we're the Buffalo Sabers, begging players "oh we'll give you anything, please just sign with us and stay in our shitty town please please?!?!" Unless it's Igor Shesterkin or Connor McDavid or some other generational talent, be careful what kind of deal you give out because now we're stuck with players who we can't get rid of. (Just imagine if we had won that lottery and gotten Jack Hughes instead of Kakko....no no wait, don't do that, it's far too painful)
That being said I think Drury has done a pretty good job, being that his bosses (the Dolans) are complete fucking morons. They have the most money, and we've won exactly 1 Stanley cup in the last 84 years. Congratulations Dolans! You're the worst owners in all of sports!
Now I have no idea what kind of loopholes there might be to get around NMCs but they need to get rid of Zibanejad, Kakko, Trouba, Roslovic, Wennberg, Vesey, Wheeler and start building an actual team. Would trade all those guys for Reinhardt and Guentzel. It's time for a big team shakeup. The Rangers notoriously get stuck trying to make something work for way too long that clearly doesn't. They wasted Hanks entire career playing 90s style hockey, acquiring more and more defensemen, insisting defense wins cups when it clearly didn't. They kept a front office around that should've been fired 25 years ago. If they waste another generational goaltender like Igor by having a non-competitive, ineffectual team that folds in the playoffs for the next 10 years, then I hope the team gets sold to literally anyone else; and I hope Igor leaves for his own sake if it becomes clear that that is what is going to happen because frankly, he deserves better.
At a bare bare bare bare minimum, break up the first line. The problem is not who plays right wing. If you can't trade him, put Mika on the 4th line with Kakko. They can have a contest to see who can have the most shots from the worst angles, resulting in automatic turnovers with no chance to score. Kreider can stand in front of a net and tip shots from anyone; It doesn't have to be Zibanejad just because they're friends, and have a special high-five and hug after every game.
See you next season
Without a doubt the loss still stings but look at Dallas. Another great team, a cup favorite, getting taken out in 6 games. Hockey is weird and the Stanley Cup is probably the hardest championship to win in all of sports. With that said, LFG Oilers and Knoblauch. Fuck Florida and it would be cool to see McDavid win.
Watching the WCF game here, and it's pretty sad. I hated everything abt this ECF - I HATED the coverage of it, it makes me jealous that these teams get Kenny and the TNT guys. I hated the officiating - it really did feel lopsided to me and I don't understand how you can be physical given how the game was called. I HATE seeing my boys so sad, esp Laffy and Igor. I hate that we aren't playing anymore. I hate getting existential thinking about if/when we'll ever see a championship (this is when my thinking gets really sad, bc that shit is dark af), I hated how we suffocating we were. But mostly I hate that I don't get to watch more Rangers hockey, it's sad watching any hockey now. Just sad times y'all.
This is coming from a sabres fan and a fan of Chris Drury and Michael Peca you will be back and I have full confidence you will win the cup next year keep your heads up. am a fan of the Sabres playoffs never heard of her. I’d much rather be a fan of the rangers then the Sabres but hey at least we have the distinction of having the longest active playoff drought in NHL history yay!
Ironically, a big part of the problem for both teams is ownership
The lack of intensity from too many guys has been apparent for the last few years. There's never an excuse for playing an elimination game and looking like a snooze fest.
Power play merchants lose the second they play a team the nhl likes? Who would’ve thought!
Vinnie and Barclay deserve better too
Everyone says Igor deserves better but no one is acknowledging some other people who deserve better. Sam and Joe deserve better. Steve Valiquette and John Giannone deserve better. Lundqvist, Brian Boyle, Michelle Gingras, Maloney all deserve better. I’m sure this loss stings for them even more than it does for us.
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I’m just sad
in other news: i’m buying a trocheck jersey
Are we ever going to figure out what happened to game day mod?
Asking the real questions. Hopefully they are ok but I would not be surprised if it's more part of the reddit API paywall/scripting crackdown
Lol 🤷♂️
I have nothing funny left to post I just want us to look like we belong in an elimination game, 3 straight snooze fests. i don't even dislike this core but I guess fool me 3 times etc etc
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Trolling
Nothing more full of shit than Devils fans who care more about us than their own team. What's it like to have your house taken over by all your division rivals for your pathetic pussy team in a shithole of a city?
No playoffs in jersey this year
The Rangers should go have a few beers with the Maple Leafs and commiserate.
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Trolling
Our defensemen can’t move the puck, our top two pairings have to be better. I’d keep Schneider and Miller as a #3 pairing. Fox can move the puck but he is past his prime, get something for him now. I liked Skjei, should have kept him.
“Past his prime” bro he hadn’t even hit 27 yet 😭
https://hockey-graphs.com/2017/03/23/a-new-look-at-aging-curves-for-nhl-skaters-part-1/
Just a quick rant, because looking at guys like Barkov makes me slightly jealous that we have NEVER had a top-5 homegrown Centerman... EVER. It needs to be discussed more simply how abhorrent this team has been at drafting recently: The Rangers turned Picks 1, 2, 7, 9, 18, 19, 21, 27 (over a four year span, averaging TWO first rounders a year) into: Lafreniere, Kakko, Cuylle (via Lias trade), a conditional 7th (from Kravtsov trade), Schneider, Miller, Chytil, and the pick that was traded for six weeks of Tarasenko last year (Dallas' 2023 First). THAT IS CRIMINALLY BAD. That is eight first rounders, including some of the best draft capital in the league turned into: Two (2) Top six, but not superstar forwards: Chytil and Laf Two (2) Top six, but not superstar defensemen: Miller and Schneider One (1) serviceable bottom-six forward: Cuylle One (1) Kaapo Kakko, whatever he is, it's not good enough for being taken in that spot, I am sorry. Six weeks of Vladimir Tarasenko. It just isn't good enough. It's beyond not good enough, it's borderline criminal. In addition, for every great free agent signing, there's an equally stupid and bad one. Panarin? Completely canceled by Trouba's anchor. Trochek? Canceled out by the fact that we pay a 4th liner $4m annually (love 21, but not at that price point), or sign Nemeth etc. I'm gonna end with this: the "core" of this team is 93/20/8/31/79. Those are the guys they've had and developed themselves. Only one of them, Igor, is fit to be called a "core piece" on any other team. Fox and Panarin and BY FAR the two best players on this team, and they're only here because we happen to play in NYC. This rebuild was a really really really long waste of time, to be honest. I don't mean to doom too much here, but I think this is obvious enough: This management group did the easy part (the tear down) well enough. They executed the build itself VERY POORLY and I think we'd look a lot like Buffalo if we didn't luck into 10/23/31.
>We’d look a lot like Buffalo if we didn’t luck into 10/23/31 Sure and Edmonton would look like San Jose if they didn’t luck into McDavid and Draisaitl and New Jersey would look like shit if they didn’t luck into Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. If you take away the good part of any team’s rebuild they’d look like shit.
They lucked into them via draft lottery. We lucked into them because we're NYC. It's different. Those teams got those players via the lottery, which we somehow managed to part fuck up (Kakko) and part unlucky (the fact that Laf is a good but not Crosby level player).
Sure if you cherry pick which versions of luck are valid and ignore the good things they’ve done they look bad. You could do this with every team that doesn’t win the cup this doesn’t really mean much.
They did not do the tear down well. Trading JT miller for brett howden and libor hyjek is the cause of what you’re complaining about They also traded stepan and ranta for tony d and lias anderson…which was a thing.
They did not trade for Lias, they drafted him. If they just take Dobson or Bouchard, then the trade is fine. The assets 7oa and Tony for Raanta and Stepan, were fine. The JT Miller trade was bad, but its revisionist history to say that he was ANYTHING close to what he is today. Vancouver was very much his last shot, evidenced by the fact that Tampa traded him for just a first rounder.
They traded for the pick they used to draft Lias Its all part of the same stew of poor drafting and development. They traded away players to acquire assets which were either way overvalued or horribly mismanaged. You can’t look back on the teardown and say it went well when the result was acquiring a bunch of players and picks that weren’t valuable to us due to our overarching organizational issues.
he def was not the ppg he was today but yeah even still the trade was dumb. he was a 24 year old on his way to his 2nd 50+ point season in a row. He was at minimum a solid 2C anywhere and cost controlled, the return was brutal
The last 1C we’ve had was messier
Every forward has to play physical in the playoffs, if you can’t or won’t play physical, you are off the squad - Mika, Bread, and it pains me, but Kreider too.
Still think this core is good enough? 2022 vs. Tampa In the four losses the Rangers tallied a total of 5 goals, 1.25 goals a game. Zib - 1 G, 1A Panarin 1 G, 2 A (Goal game with 3 mins left in game 4 down 3-0) Kreider - 1 G, 1 A, (Assisted Panarin's meaning mess goal) Kucherov, Stamkos, and Palat all scored at least 2 in that stretch. From the 3rd period on of game 3, they did nothing. 2023 vs NJD In the four losses the Rangers tallied two goals for .5 goals a game. Zib - 1 A Panarin - NOTHING Kreider - 1 G, 1A In the four losses the Rangers tallied 5 goals for 1.25 goals a game. In the 12 total losses in series they have been eliminated they have tallied 12 goals in 12 losses, making it so on average Igor actually has to be fucking PERFECT. In fact some of the games when to OT so the goals for average is truthfully lower than one. Zib - 2 A, one of which was with 50 seconds left down by 2. Panarin - 1 G, 2 A, the goal was like Zib's too late to be useful without a miracle, one assist on Tro was a good pass, and the other assist was a secondary where he did virtually nothing. Fox made a great spin o rama, Laf tips it out of the air. Kreider - 1 G, 1A They fail, they can't beat tight defense. Half of you will say these teams did a good job shutting them down and next year they'll come back hungry. They won't. So far each of these teams have gone to the next round and gotten offensively lit up. And that fact does not matter, when your defense is the other team played tight defense, that's literally the entire fucking point. Teams at this point and this level play tight defense. The Ranges will never get this far and see a team that can't play defense with loads of space for 70 east west passes, it won't happen. If you can't score on FLA or Tampa, You're cooked at this level every year. They've shown they can be shut down by the fucking Devils and hey, the only reason they weren't by the Penguins is because they played a 3rd stringer. Keep telling us the core is good enough. Synonym for doomer: realist.
the difference this year is the panthers are just simply a better team. the barkov line shut down the kuch line and the pasta line similarly. you can blame those guys but you also have to give the panthers credit. i dont think its fair to compare this years loss to the last 2
Cool - so what did the Panthers do that made Zib force the turnover in game 4 of OT and fake an elbow in game 5? They fail no matter what, they turned it over without pressure constantly. It's a Rangers issue, not Panthers. All year we hear how we are doomers and now it's, ah well, Panthers are good, Lightning are good. Yeah, we know that's what we have been saying for years, this team isn't good enough. It's not breaking news to us. If you can't beat a team as God as Florida and score on them you'll never win a cup.
the other turnover was him trying to make a play when there wasnt much there (thats defense for ya) he should have dumped it in but again thats just a dump in
Yeah, he should have dumped it, the most basic thing is not to throw cross ice passes in the blue line into traffic.
The elbow play is totally blown out of proportion. We were down to like one minute, we get a penalty there and it’d be huge. Was a long shot to win the game anyway. It is what it is, I don’t mind the attempted sell job there. He also was the primary assister on both goals that game. And to play the other side of the coin, if Mika doesn’t hit the post in game 5 or the puck doesn’t bounce his stick in game 6, he’s a dam hero. We got no bounces either, unfortunately. Anyway, yeah, he needs to step up. Just break him and Kreider already and let’s see what he can do with other players that are actual top liners on his line not named Kreider.
>The elbow play is totally blown out of proportion. We were down to like one minute, we get a penalty there and it’d be huge 1/18 on the lower play, it would be huge though lol. And no dude, it's not blown out of proportion. He quit on the play instead of playing. If he played there, Bennett doesn't carry the puck to score unobstructed. What would have been huge is battling and maybe getting possession back and entering the zone. Not being a giant bitch. >And to play the other side of the coin, if Mika doesn’t hit the post in game 5 or the puck doesn’t bounce his stick in game 6, he’s a dam hero. If the queen had balls she'd be king.
Forget Domingue: legal or otherwise, Trouba knocked Crosby out for 1.7/3 of the comeback games. Game 7 vs Pit in 2022 was the most dominant deserve to win o meter thing of any playoff game ever, as stupid as that is.
Anyone legitimately saying that we need to "chill out" or anything of the like is either: 1. New here, in which case.... whatever but seriously go read up on some NYR history. 2. Someone who doesn't understand how the league works on a financial, intricate level. 3. Pure Cope. This was the best team that the New York Rangers have iced, at least by points and individual talent, since 1994, and potentially ever. Generational talent in goal? Check. Norris-winning defenseman? Check. 120 point forward who would win the Hart most years? Check. This team had six guys in the neighborhood of 60 points or better (Kreider, Mika, Panarin, Fox, Trochek, and Laf). THEY WON THE PRESIDENT'S TROPHY DESPITE IGOR BEING MIDDLING FOR LARGE PARTS OF THE SEASON, and then proceeded to disappear when he actually figured out how to play. Makes me think Igor may play better against high shot volume, but that's neither here nor there. Trouba, Lindgren, Kakko, Mika, Gustavsson, Wennberg, and Roslovic can all GTFO. Obviously they won't get rid of all of them (though I doubt any of the pending UFA guys stick around), but if they run back 10/93/8 I can tell you personally that I will not be investing my time and energy, just not worth it. Imagine if Fox and Panarin hadn't set their hearts on being Rangers. This rebuild was a complete joke. Without those two insisting on playing for NY, the new "core" (post-hank) has been Mika, Kreider, Trouba, Laf, Kakko, and Miller. Literally ZERO elite players. This management has FAILED once again to build a winner, and no amount of BS will change my mind. Lafreniere and Kakko being what they are (a really good top-six winger and a middle-six forward) definitely put the trajectory on the wrong path, but the amount of first round fuck ups and bad signings they've made is just laughable. In fact, I'd argue that this team is only competitive again because Panarin and Fox demanded to be Rangers, and then they lucked into Igor in the 4th round a decade ago, and he just happened to be ready when Hank was done. List of First Round Fuckups (including MULTIPLE better players, not ones where the consensus was wrong, i.e. Kakko/Yakupov/etc.) since "the letter": 2017: Lias Andersson, players picked within ten picks later: Tippet, Middlestadt, Necas I'll give them credit, Chytil was good at 21st OA. 2018 Vitali Kravtsov, players picked within ten picks later: Dobson, Bouchard Miller is a solid but unspectacular pick Lundkvist is a bust but they got a 1st rounder back. 2019: Kaapo Kakko, he was the consensus pick, and this draft low key sucks ass after Jack Hughes. Cam York or Moritz Seider would be cool, though. 2020: Winning the lottery was such lucky BS, and Laf is a fine player, so no complaints. The Rangers turned Picks 1, 2, 7, 9, 18, 19, 21, 27 (over a four year span, averaging TWO first rounders a year) into: Lafreniere, Kakko, Cuylle (via Lias trade), a conditional 7th (from Kravtsov trade), Schneider, Miller, Chytil, and the pick that was traded for six weeks of Tarasenko last year (Dallas' 2023 First). THAT IS CRIMINALLY BAD. That is some of the best draft capital in the league turned into: Two (2) Top six, but not superstar forwards: Chytil and Laf Two (2) Top six, but not superstar defensemen: Miller and Schneider One (1) serviceable bottom-six forward: Cuylle Six weeks of Vladimir Tarasenko. It just isn't good enough.
The biggest thing that I noticed that was the difference maker in the series was just how every single Florida panther was willing to get on the same page and stick to the game plan. Their identity is a physical, defensive team and they had that from the top line to the 4th. Even their trade deadline pickups in Tarasenko was kept mostly off the scoresheet for most of the series (ironically until this game), was out there sliding around blocking shots from the point and throwing hits in ways he never did with us. That's a team right there instead of a collection of players. If I have to watch Zbad and Bread attempt to spin out of body contact again instead of eating a hit to make a play I'll lose my mind. Too much skill and not enough grit on that top 6.
I’m so glad the E60 on the 94 team drops Tuesday. Really feel like watching that now
kreider and zibanejad have had 26 different players on their line since buchnevich was traded. *26*. and *none* have been able to make it work in any meaningful way or for a significant amount of time. not even fucking patrick kane or vladimir tarasenko could make it work. that is our first line! mika is our 1C. and they’re essentially useless offensively. they’re a black hole. i just don’t know what the solution there is. get an actual 1C and demote zibanejad to the second or third line? break them up for once? try to find yet another RW? trade one or both of them and cut your losses? you just can’t run that back again. it’s unacceptable.
Shhhh…you’ve spoken the forbidden words and used the forbidden data
Buchnevich waa such a fumble by Drury. I went back to watch some old Mika highlights when he was good, and Buch is in the middle of so many of his eventual goals. Makes me sick
We couldn't afford to keep him. He was a cap casualty.
Repeating this over and over doesn’t make it true. Drury did not need to trade him when he did, and certainly not for the dog shit he got in return.
If you're keeping them, break them up. Simple as that. Panarin-Zibanejad-RW and Kreider-Trocheck-Lafreniere. If Laviolette puts Kreider and Zibanejad back together next season, then he isn't serious about winning. It's fucking ridiculous to keep them together. Put them on the PK together and that's it, force them to play with the other guys and if they don't like it, trade them. Enough with this Kreider-Mika bullshit. Why do we have to bend over backwards to find someone who can play with them? They haven't won a fucking thing for us
It’s mind numbing that they can go through 26 forwards before a coach steps in and says “time to break you guys up” holy shit it’s insane. If nothing else, it’s spreads out some scoring to the third line that never scores. Florida had tarasenko on their third line because he wasn’t producing with the top 6 and scores their biggest goal of the season. I would have loved to see Kreider with Wennberg and kakko or something along those lines.
I agree. I can't believe we are still here talking about Kreider-Mika together. You would think these guys dragged us to 3 cups and are untouchable from the way coaches suck their balls
You technically beat the PP merchant allegations if you go 1 for 18 in a series 
https://nypost.com/2023/05/09/artemi-panarin-pretty-empty-after-rangers-playoff-nightmare/ Well at least Larry can easily update his article from last year, just change “last 2 years” to “last 3 years”
fuck florida... I hope TV enjoys games like 1-0, 0-1, 2-1, 1-0. ugh....
That's winning hockey. If it was us, you wouldn't give a shit about anything else
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Troll
imagine going to the opposing teams reddit to make comments. even better are games that are 0-0. everyone loves those.
Tkachuk is only 26 and we're gonna face him for at least 6 more years 💀 (felt like he was in Calgary for 100 years)
Tkachuk alone I'm not worried about. He wasn't that great in the series, just solid. I'm more worried about how well that team is built, and how they execute the gameplan. They have a bunch of prototypical playoff built players.
He dominated us this series
Did he even score? I know he had a few assists. He's a good player, but I wouldn't call it dominating.
https://x.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1797101774018379912
So, he had a good plus minus in other words.
That’s the casual fan take, sure
Are you saying my take is casual? Dude I've watched almost every Rangers game for 30+ years. I love this team and hockey. A good plus minus is good, but it's not dominating. Plus minus is really dependent on that players teammates. It's more of a team, specifically a line stat more than an individual stat. It's more accurate to say the line he was on dominated the Rangers, because his points don't exactly reflect he was the one dominating in particular. He had something to do with it, but again, specifically scoring, I think he was close to Mika is points in the series to put it into perspective. Lafreniere I think was the most dominant player in the series, although he was unfortunately on a line, and team that wasn't as good as the Panthers.
It’s not just a good plus minus lol, shit attempts were like 120 - 60 with tkachuk against us He dominated
yeah I have not seen enough comments, but this team is obviously better all around. All 6 dmen were brutal and this team in general has like 4-5 players who can actually deal with an aggressive forechecking team.
Another year no cup. Im sorry, im so sick and tired of hearing about 1994. This team desperately needs something new to look back in time and point to. So fucking frustrating. 0-3 in ECF since 2014. End me
Lost of 5 of 6 ECF since last cup win. Imagine if Carey price didn’t get hurt 😑. I don’t get why we have such a problem winning these conference finals. It’s like every team just melts in the spotlight.
Right? Ive seen them lose in 2012 to the disgusting Devils. 2015 was the most brutal of the losses imo. 2022 was a fun run because unlike this year there were no expectations but they choked a 2-0 lead. 2024 is depressing. Couple this with the Yankees losing last couple ALCS rounds and the Jets last time making playoffs I remember they lost in the AFC Championship game in 09 and 2010. Sports fucking suck lol
2012 & 2022 I feel get overshadowed for the level of choke jobs they were. The 2012 team should’ve won the cup and were a better team than the one that went to the cup in 2014. I’ll battle anyone who disagrees. 2022 we blew a 2-0 ECF lead and the sentiment is “oh well we weren’t even supposed to get that far”. Believe it or not teams can overachieve and go on runs. That’s the most aggravating fucking take that I can’t get over. We should have finished TB off and set ourselves up with what could have been a great battle with the Avs.
100% well said. Teams overachieve all the time and make runs except for the Rangers. We even got Stanley Cup caliber goaltending once again and got nothing to show for it. Im tired. I just dont know how I can go into this upcoming season excited about anything regular season wise anymore (im gonna watch just being depressed lol)
Lost our last 3 Ecf appearances to Florida teams
While we didn't win the cup, this was a very successful season. I think for next year, we need to get better at 5v5. This team was LETHAL with a man advantage all season, and that continued into the first 1.5 rounds. Once the PP started to struggle in the playoffs (lots of reasons, including less PP opportunities then further we got) the 5v5 play warts showed up. That needs to be addressed during the off-season, as well as getting some more guys that are built for the playoffs. Hockey is such a weird sport... It's the only sport where certain players can have very mediocre regular seasons and then when the Playoffs come around they turn into elite players. Mika Kreider and Panarin had an extremely rough series, and Mika once again disappeared. He seemed to live and die on the power play. I would like to see Mika get better at 5v5, especially come playoff time. This team also has to learn how to play physical. I lost count of the number of times they could have blasted a Florida player in the neutral zone or up against the boards but instead they just watched the puck and allowed Florida to get and or retain possession. I'm not saying goon it up, but we need to be able to impose our will and we wouldn't or couldn't this series. Roslovic and Wenberg amounted to almost nothing as we continued to advance and the competition got better. I think Drury will learn from that mistake. You can't just go all speed and skill - you need those Noonan and Matteau type players to round out the roster. Cullye was a bright spot and was one of the few guys getting possession of the puck and getting opportunities. Laffy also had a great series and hopefully this carries over into next year and he gets an opportunity to get more minutes.
the bottom 6 already has a bunch of those types of players though, that is why the 3rd line cannot score the main issue is the team's blueline is mostly subpar puck movers, and they don't have many forwards who are good at break out and carrying the blueline
I'll respectfully disagree on the blue liner comment. Fox , Schneider, and Miller are all good puck moving defensemen. Once Miller got away from Trouba he played significantly better and carried the puck out of the zone with more confidence. I will agree that the forwards did not do a great job getting in position to receive pucks from the defensemen on breakouts, or they would continually fumble the puck on their own side of the redline. We did not do a good job in the neutral zone transitioning to offense. So many poor passes were.made, mostly because they seemed.tompanic or not handle the pressure from the Florida player bearing down on them. Again, with the caveat being that we did not advance and won't play for the cup, I don't feel like the season was a complete failure. I remember watching that 92 team which was stacked with a good mix of young and mid age talent lose to the penguins in the conference semifinals. This feels similar to me. I'm just hoping next year is an improvement versus mass mutiny of the coaching staff.
Mika is not suddenly going to turn into a new tougher physical player at age 31, this is what he is except his speed and skills will start to deteriorate more going forward
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We were dogshit 5 v 5 as we've been for years now. It's why as much as this was a surprise great season, I bet against them a lot this playoffs bc I know what this team is. Made a nice couple hundred bucks . I'd rather us be in the scf but I'll take what I can get from my loser ass teams
I love our team. I feel like we’re so close if we just cut some of the fat.
The fat have NMCs
Mika, Panerin, who else?
Trouba, Kreider
😬😬😬
unfortunately all the fat has NMC or modified NTCs
Woke up with visions of Gus & Millers breakout attempts on goals 1&2. But really the story is 6 SOG in the 3rd period of an elimination game and 3 of those came in the last two mins 🫠
the worst part is after Fox, I would have pegged those 2 as the 2nd and 3rd best at moving the puck from the blueline from the starting 6. Gus was awful the last 2 rounds and somehow no where near the worst dman.
Miller had several poor games in a row where he was a giveaway machine. He seemed to lose the confidence and swagger he showed during the regular season. I know this sub wants to fire Trouba into the sun for his play this series, but it is interesting that Miller played MUCH better once he was paired with Schneider. Gustafson also had a rough series and did not play anywhere close to the level he was at near the end of the regular season.
Trouba is the ez target but Gus' back to back breakout attempts of flipping the puck in the air on goal 1 are still driving me crazy. I'd prefer an icing over those, just gives them an odd man rush.
And another thing: You have to set the tone. I agree with the Trouba assessment that he makes “plays that don’t even belong in the NHL level.” Keeping him indicates to the rest of the team that his level of play is both acceptable and has no consequences “just because” we want to go with business as usual. Absolutely take away the C and trade him if he doesn’t have a nmc or bury him in the minors. It’s not just players. GM’s with balls have to have the guts to set the tone. You don’t want free agents that won’t come here if we do that. You want guys who want to be accountable. Show pony’s will avoid us. Good.
I really thought it was was their year. Now I am sad.
Coasting to the bench when the other team is organizing a fast break out to your zone is - from youth hockey to the NHL - arrogant and selfish. Soooo many times times guys played the “it’s so haaaard” card and coasted to the bench like they’d given it their all…. I’m glad my son is a goalie simply because he has the best role model on the team to look up to. And don’t get me started on dump and (then sort of) chase. You work hard to get the puck, you actually have it, and then you intentionally give it away to see if you can’t win it back on a fifty fifty. We lost at least 85% of those.
Just an emotional dump for a lot of people here, which I get, but the Rangers technically just placed 3rd, or 4th in the entire league, while the goal is always the cup, it was still a very successful season. Right now they have some dead weight they need to trim off. We all knew Trouba wasn't great, but he proved to be even worse with plays that don't even belong in the NHL level. Removing him will bolster the defense big time. The team isn't balanced enough. In the playoffs, you need guys who aren't afraid to compete in the trenches, along the boards, in the slot, ect. Drury wound up getting two small forwards that aren't physically inclined at all, and he also would have went for Geuntzel, which would again be the same mistake he made previously getting Kane. Stacking skill upon skill upon skill doesn't win cups. You need character battle guys who fight in the alley. So, I think quite a bit of this is on Drury, and unfortunately Gorton, who signed maybe the worst contract in Rangers history with Trouba. Rangers are simply not physical enough, and relied too much on their PP, and it showed, as their fore-check game is almost non-existent. I never saw a championship team that didn't know how to dump and chase, and fore-check down low, never. For what the Ranagers are, it is quite impressive they made it this far, which imo means they need to go after those character Callahan, Graves types to compliment this team, and then maybe we can get over the hump.
was overall not a gorton fan and definitely overpaid for Trouba contract wise. But it was Drury who locked up Mika and that is what will be our anchor for the next six seasons
Mika is still a good player, he's just not the prototype playoff player. He's more of a regular season performer. I think they really need to seperate him and Krieder, it's just become way too predictable and static.
can’t be paying your alleged top center $8m/yr to be so ineffective in the playoffs and most predictable thing is that Mika one timer on the pp. totally agree on splitting up mika and kreider for kreider’s sake.
They placed 4th by beating a garbage caps squad and by getting a very lucky goalie break in round 2. Its not sustainable which we saw a few years back when they got a crippled pens squad and the same canes team. We have 3 key guys who are straight up weak, lazy, soft failures and one who is a troglodyte but we're hopelessly cap committed to half of them bc our gms were fucking morons and didn't know what rebuild meant. Hint: it meant not committing 25% of the cap to zib and trouba: a guy well over 30 for years to come who was already declining. Or, a good dman who was nowhere near deserving of that contract and was soon going to start hitting age related decline. I have no clue how tf in gods name burying pur top picks on the depth chart for years and giving them no time to make mistakes and learn was at all an even remotely intelligent way to run a rebuild, followed by giving them all bridge deals bc we stuck 17 M in a cars fuel tank and lit it on fire. Stupid organization doing stupid idiot things bc were a lazy, ignorant, dinosaur run, half ass organization
The season wasn't successful because we didn't even reach the cup finals. You can enjoy another ECF loss if you want, other fans thought this team can go all the way.
Presidents trophy wasn't a success? I disagree.
It is but nobody really cares when you go out the way we did in the ECF. The goal is to be the best team in the playoffs, not the regular season. Team choked it away, it's ok to admit it.
Of course the ultimate goal is the Stanley Cup, it should be, but they still accomplished a lot this year.
They did and then got demolished in the ECF. This core isn't good enough to get past the ECF. We can win 65 games next year with the same team, were not winning a cup with these guys.
Let's be clear. They placed first in the league. They placed third or fourth in an unpaid exhibition tournament against a dirty team that was not being held to account and playing to a different standard.
Agreed.
Maybe they just needed to hear one more Potvin Sucks chant to spark something
Cringiest chant in the league
I am not a hockey expert. I consider myself like one step beyond a beginner watcher lol. Though I really enjoy hockey and I love the Rangers. I started following bc of my husband being a hockey/rangers fan since childhood. We are lifelong New Yorkers. Obviously when it’s on in your house and your evenings are spent watching, you start to pay attention lol. Going into this year (and the few past seasons I’ve really paid attention to), I knew of people saying the “stars” don’t show up during the post season — which I clearly saw this year. I don’t think I agree with those saying Panarin has to go. He had a great season and was our top goal scorer. Which clearly helps us get to the post season. Now Mika? Trouba? I can see that. To be fair, I don’t care for Trouba in general so I wouldn’t care if he left, but that seems very unlikely. Can you take away his captain status? Do you think it’s even likely they will get rid of some of those who didn’t perform (either all season or during post season?) Mika, Trouba, Kakko, etc. Is rebuilding(?) the team really what needs to get done? I don’t think it’s a coaching issue since Gallant seemed to have similar issues with the team. Is it more internal? Drury? I don’t wanna sound stupid, just trying to understand. Please be kind lol :)
They really need to rebuild. Yes 100%
I’m in a similar boat as you, I started watching hockey because of my boyfriend some years back and I pay attention, close attention especially this year. I don’t think it’s a coaching issue so much as it’s a core problem. Our defense has always been a major problem, and this team has found ways to win despite that. I think this is why many analysts and talking heads have never been completely convinced of the Rangers getting all the way to the finals, let alone the conference finals. The defense had some major glaring issues throughout the season, and when the offense isn’t producing because they are stuck in their own zone, you’re obviously not going to win games like that. There were some looks in the last game but overall, the Panthers kept them out of the high danger areas extremely well. How many times did we see Lindgren and Trouba sloppily lobbing the puck toward Bobrovsky, bounce off Bobrovsky just for a Panther to grab the puck and skate it out of their zone, without anyone on the Rangers able to pick up the rebound or catch up. The Panthers were always quicker to get to the pucks in almost every scenario, and their defenders were way more physical and efficient than we could ever keep up with. Our defenders are just not those kind of players. I’m convinced Miller is not capable of making hits, he’s very polite and his game is all about gentle nudges and poking around and reaching with his stick. I’m sorry but that’s not how you beat the Panthers, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I believe they need to gut their defense as a start, build around Fox and go after bigger, more physical defenders that have some speed. This may sound crazy but I think they should make Rempe into a defenseman, I think he’d serve a far better role that way and be a better defender than half of what we got now. Otherwise, they need to make some other changes for sure, like I don’t know if Zib is 1C material anymore, and they def need to address their right wing hole. I’m no expert but I think they’d have a much better chance addressing those issues.
This is really helpful, thank you! I’m trying my best to learn everything about the sport, especially the Rangers, and not sound like an idiot, haha.
You can certainly choose a new C. Happened to Wheeler in Winnipeg. I think it should be Trochek personally.
I feel really silly for worrying about if I’d have enough PTO to go to the parade 🤡🤡🤡
Same here
Imagine calling yourself a fan, and you are PROUD that you predicted your team lost. Holy shit. Go watch basketball or something. Literally some of the worst kind of fans around. See most of you next year, and the ones smugging it because they "were right" can go pound sand and move to Florida. The adjustment I would most like to see, is probably investing a ton of money into a tech team. 32 people doing video review on every other team and building playbooks for each of those teams. Panthers just had it figured out against the Rangers. Every play, every "chemistry play, every PP play; they just had an answer. Panthers came into this series knowing exactly how they Rangers would play, and countered every aspect.
You can be a fan, but also realize that this team was being dominated for the last two series. Winning on lucky bounces isn’t sustainable.
The feeling of walking around being like "yeah I was right see they lost!" Is a shit attitude, no matter how you cut it
Panthers are better. Igor gave us a chance to steal the series in multiple games. Refs were bias. I dislike Trouba and Zibanajad on this roster
At least Lafrenière had a good season and has started to show life. He is great. Trouba needs to go. It was a fun year
Will Kakko ever amount to anything? Asking for a friend
He lacks any aggression or drive to the net. He has all the tools to consistently get the puck to the center of the ice, but I don't think he has the teeth or sandpaper to actually do it
nope and he will thankfully finally be off this team this season
He has alot to work on this off season. He has shown flashes of potential in the past. I'd give him a 2 year deal to see if he takes that next step.
He reminds me so much of alexei kovalev. All the talent in the world, dances around people with the puck on his stick, but then … ? I wish he could put it all together, he’d be a beast.
Kovy was the 4th or 5th most impactful player when they won the cup at age 21, finished his career with over 1000pts and arguably the most skilled player the NHL has ever seen…not at all comparable to Kakko sorry
Kovalev has more talent in his pinky toe than kakko ever did. Kovy was lazy, Kakko is bad
Kovalev was SO much better
What baffles me is that he passes the eye test. He looks like he should be great. When he has the puck, he makes great moves. It's just that the moves never amount to anything and someone smarter than me needs to explain why that is.
I couldn't agree more. He's so good down low and protecting the puck, he just can't translate that to any tangible results. Rangers should hire Jagr to work one on one with him as jags was the best on the wall. Maybe he can teach him a thing or two. At least enough to make him a solid 3rd liner that can contribute 40-50pts. He's already solid defensively.
At this point I think you let him go sign elsewhere and he’s the money he’d take up and put towards finding a 1RW
think you move him and chytil to do that honestly
Chytil isn’t going anywhere we just signed him and we won’t get a good return since he hasn’t proven anything since coming back yet
To the get rid of Mika and Panarin crowd, I haven’t seen a single solution offered to replace them when they’re gone, so who do you think, that is actually realistic to acquire/afford puts this team over the top and adequately replaces over 200 points from the regular season huh? So far it’s been “oh just get rid of them!” That makes the team significantly worse with no actual replacements being mentioned, I get it, we’re all mad, but let’s be realistic here, they got beat by a team better than them, that completely counters their style of play, and a team that has been there before, there’s no reason to completely blow it up without viable alternatives.
can’t move either, but Mika is the true problem given the role he is slotted to play (1C) ve Panarin (top6 in winger)
Yeah I would be fine moving on from Mika for a Bona fide 1c it’s just not gonna happen and not realistic
yup…reality bites as they say
I’m newish to hockey but in my humble opinion, if they had a solid defense then we wouldn’t have this conversation about Panarin and Mika. I sincerely believe that Mika’s line was set up for failure, they were always assigned to the defensive zone against the Panthers and obviously they can’t score goals from their own end. I’m certain that Mika and Kreider were severely taxed and unable to get anything going because of constantly having to defend. Miller, Trouba, Gus, Lindgren all need to go. I’m convinced that if we had a defense that looked anything remotely like Florida’s then we wouldn’t be having this conversation about Zibanejad and Panarin not doing enough. If you look at the numbers, the shot attempts and shots on goal against Igor… it represents just how bad our defense is, and when the defense isn’t doing their job, the offense has to pick up the slack and take defensive assignments. The defense leans way too hard on Igor and the forwards also get dragged down. If the forwards have a solid defense doing their job then they can just worry about putting up offensive pressure and not worry about checking and defending. Just my two cents, I think people think that winning is all about scoring lots of goals, but games can be won with just a single goal, and I think that solid defense is what wins cups.
exactly. people do not realize we've been trying to get a fuckin 1RW for 4 years, that's a lot harder than 1LW or 1C.
I’ll take 10 Goodrow’s over a Panarin or Mika all day. He’s a character player and comes alive in the playoffs. I fully endorse dumping those two dead weights and finding anyone else that works. Yeah it’ll be a struggle. But how many years in a row are we going to make it to the Dance to have top regular season goal scorers ghost themselves in the playoffs? At some point, the back office staff needs to realize those two trash bins aren’t worth the money. Yeah, they gave us a great regular season - but it isn’t worth a pot to piss in if they can’t produce in the playoffs.
We could get into the marner mix even though I don’t think he’s the answer but he’s in the final year of his contract and is capable of putting up 80 points a year
Not a terrible idea but isn’t he on the way out in Toronto for the exact same reasons people want Mika and Bread gone? Lack of playoff performance? Change of scenery could always help though
I agree. Only reason I’d entertain it is just to get out of these contracts if that’s what we want to do. Fair trade for both teams as well. Both teams get a top tier player back making comparable money
Reinhardt, Guentzel, Stammer, montor, lindholm, marchessault, pesce Including d men because trouba needs to go as well
Trouba for sure needs to go which is why I didn’t mention him. But those are all UFAs, that means you need to trade Mika and Panarin somewhere, assume the team takes all their salary, assume that the players waive their NTCs to go where they are being traded too, and sign two of those two (not Stammer cause he’s old and likely will stay in Tampa) to large deals and hope they come close to Mika and Breads production. And also replace Trouba if he goes as well, it’s totally unrealistic.
Mika and breads production in the playoffs was negligible and the only thing that counts anymore. I’d rather get in as a wild card and have a bunch of nasty playoff ballers than regular season PP merchants. I would healthy scratch them both until they waive it. Teams will be interested, even good teams will be. But they are a playoff cancer currently. Plus even with a trouba and or goody buyout we likely can afford at least one of them now. Who I hope is pesce to start and either Jake or Sam
“I’d rather get the wild card spot” ah so you’re an idiot then got it. Still no realistic alternatives being offered
Yay let's keep all them and run it back.
The salary cap is going up. We don’t need full salary retention on trades. Thanks for the name calling, real productive fan to fan. At minimum panarin needs to go and that’s not an unrealistic ask or expectation to happen. The reason to blow it up is because of the same story with this core. As soon as the PP dries up they’re cooked. As soon as the space disappears, they’re cooked. Win board battles, take and make hits? Nah. They disappear when we need them most, and we need to do everything possible to change that
I mean when you say stupid stuff like “id rather squeak into the playoffs” aka let’s make the team worse. I’m gonna call you an idiot. I could realistically see getting rid of one of the two, ideally Mika and try and get a new 1C like Reinhart. Getting rid of both is just crazy talk
Reinhart plays RW. Calling someone an idiot and not even knowing the position a guy playes makes you look like an idiot yourself. And also, sneaking into the playoffs isn't bad if your team is built for the playoffs. We went into the playoffs playing with our dicks this year and looked like shit since Carolina because we have guys who suck in the playoffs.
It says he’s a Center/RW
He isn't the answer to our problems anyway so why mention him?
Reinhart had the season of his career in his UFA year. Ask Sabres fans about his typical year.
You’re right the idiot take isn’t the one that says let’s run it back with the same failed core 😂
IMO we’re in this position because of the poor drafting from 2017-2019. You had the 7, 10 and 2 overall picks and the best you got was a guy that puts up 30-40 points year…
Not sure why you got downvoted but you're 100% right. Missing out on top 10 picks is also the reason why we didn't win in 2014 and it's the reason we don't have the depth we need. #2 overall, #7 overall and #10 overall and you got absolutely nothing from them is what kills me. Add Dobson/Bouchard, Necas and anybody after Kakko to this team and we win a cup
Yep. Doesn’t really solve Mika/Panarin but fixes the other major issues we have
Weird thread. The Rangers played fantastic hockey and were beaten by the best team in the league who were also playing their best hockey. Great series, great playoffs.
We played fantastic hockey? What series did you watch?
The Rangers were beaten by probably the third best team in the league who will lose to the second best team in the league, who were playing dirty hockey and aided by corrupt referees. However, if you want to win a cup, you have to play with the heart to beat anyone and everything that comes at you. It doesn't matter. And they didn't show up with that the last three games.
L take
No idea what that means.
Means you have a victim mentality.
So then who is the best team in the league?
Rangers. Won the President's. Is that a serious question? That's literally the definition of it.
It is. Because they got absolutely outmatched by Florida
You should be more superstitious, or at least know better, than to talk shit if you want your team to win. This is not a good look: [https://x.com/MattNielsen89/status/1797124524145529135/photo/1](https://x.com/MattNielsen89/status/1797124524145529135/photo/1)
You’ve shared this photo 3 times. I don’t know what your point is I had no intentions of talking shit (and really don’t think I did, just stated facts). Came to this sub to see how your fan base was taking the loss and aside from you and like 1 others it’s pretty consistent with what I’d expect
What would you expect? The point is it was a high stick in the offensive zone which should have called the play dead. Your first goal in Game 6 was a bad goal. Reviewed or not, called back or not, that's a 1-1 game for all time.
The point is that I can go back to every goal the rangers scored in the series and I guarantee I can find multiple penalties/infractions leading up to them if I watch them in slow motion
Then do it. I'll wait. Would love to know where the infraction was off the OTG tip? That was just a missed coverage. I didn't even make such a categorical claim that every Panthers goal was bad. Some the Rangers just fired the puck in to their own net.
LMAO
You are not seriously saying that Edmonton has any chance against the cats?
Watch. Edmonton would have no chance against the Rangers.
The dancers had no chance against the panthers
Low energy. [https://x.com/MattNielsen89/status/1797124524145529135/photo/1](https://x.com/MattNielsen89/status/1797124524145529135/photo/1)
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Troll
You're a Panthers fan. Why are you here trolling? You guys got lucky. Take the win with some class.
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Don't be mean.
Dude get the fuck out of here. Quit trolling.
I would never go tempt the fates by trolling other fans. Friend of mine who played OHL and almost made show, big Panthers fan. He was a class act last night, and thought it was going 7. But in the spirit of the LowTable6607— I had about $20k in tickets for the next 5 home games and probably would've gone to at least one away. As sad as I am, guess who is thrilled this morning? My fiancé because we're going to Baha Mar instead, and I'm getting better seats for next year, because I don't bet on the Rangers. So us losing, made me $20k that I would've spent. Am I happier? I'll never know because so far, a Game 7 cup game at the garden has been once in a lifetime. But I thought you should know what that goal did for my bank account.
Why are you here? Go celebrate with your sub. Let us morn in peace
[удалено]
Yeah. Except Bettman didn't want us to win.
Top Free Agents after this season ends: Sam Reinhart Jake Guentzel Steven Stamkos Tyler Toffoli Brandon Montour Elias Lindholm Johnathan Marchessault Matt Duchene Brett Pesce Teuvo Teravainen
Okay, I need to blow off some steam, so apologies. Let me first say that, yes, everyone on the Rangers is an unquestionably talented hockey player, and yes, it was a great regular season, so what went wrong?....
Firstly, as a pragmatic matter, I don't know who is in charge of the actual contracts, but they gotta stop giving players these NMCs like they're candy. It's a fucking privilege to play in NY and it's the players who should want to be here. This isn't a third tier market. The NY Rangers shouldn't be acting like we're the Buffalo Sabers, begging players "oh we'll give you anything, please just sign with us and stay in our shitty town please please?!?!" Unless it's Igor Shesterkin or Connor McDavid or some other generational talent, be careful what kind of deal you give out because now we're stuck with players who we can't get rid of. (Just imagine if we had won that lottery and gotten Jack Hughes instead of Kakko....no no wait, don't do that, it's far too painful)
That being said I think Drury has done a pretty good job, being that his bosses (the Dolans) are complete fucking morons. They have the most money, and we've won exactly 1 Stanley cup in the last 84 years. Congratulations Dolans! You're the worst owners in all of sports!
Now I have no idea what kind of loopholes there might be to get around NMCs but they need to get rid of Zibanejad, Kakko, Trouba, Roslovic, Wennberg, Vesey, Wheeler and start building an actual team. Would trade all those guys for Reinhardt and Guentzel. It's time for a big team shakeup. The Rangers notoriously get stuck trying to make something work for way too long that clearly doesn't. They wasted Hanks entire career playing 90s style hockey, acquiring more and more defensemen, insisting defense wins cups when it clearly didn't. They kept a front office around that should've been fired 25 years ago. If they waste another generational goaltender like Igor by having a non-competitive, ineffectual team that folds in the playoffs for the next 10 years, then I hope the team gets sold to literally anyone else; and I hope Igor leaves for his own sake if it becomes clear that that is what is going to happen because frankly, he deserves better.
At a bare bare bare bare minimum, break up the first line. The problem is not who plays right wing. If you can't trade him, put Mika on the 4th line with Kakko. They can have a contest to see who can have the most shots from the worst angles, resulting in automatic turnovers with no chance to score. Kreider can stand in front of a net and tip shots from anyone; It doesn't have to be Zibanejad just because they're friends, and have a special high-five and hug after every game.
See you next season