Their top 6 didn't exactly light it up either and it's very common in the playoffs to see top 2 lines get cancel out and the series decided by 3rd and 4th line players and goaltending. Rangers need to get tougher on the boards and win more puck battles.
It's a very valid point, games get tighter and the lower end often the difference. Rangers just didn't get much from their bottom six, but it also probably explains a little the success that Trocheck and Lafreniere had, with the Panthers focusing on shutting down Panarin and the top line.
Fox's injury also hampered things, as he basically is the only Ranger defenseman who drives offense
Their top 6 didn't exactly light it up either and it's very common in the playoffs to see top 2 lines get cancel out and the series decided by 3rd and 4th line players and goaltending. Rangers need to get tougher on the boards and win more puck battles.
It's a very valid point, games get tighter and the lower end often the difference. Rangers just didn't get much from their bottom six, but it also probably explains a little the success that Trocheck and Lafreniere had, with the Panthers focusing on shutting down Panarin and the top line.
Fox's injury also hampered things, as he basically is the only Ranger defenseman who drives offense
I’m not sure about top lines cancelling each other. More often than not one teams top line or even top two lines don’t get it done. And it’s often the best teams get contributions from throughout the lineup. Teams like the Rangers that rely on the pp and a superstar goalie to make up for balance defecincies, typically fall short.
Buchnevich for Blais and a 2nd round pick.
Drury hopefully learned a valuable lesson which a person in his position should have known already. You don't trade a established borderline first liner, Buchnevich, for a basic bucket of spit in Blais and a pick. You trade a Buchnevich you have to get something tangible back, not dreams. Blais had the some intangibles Drury was looking for, but had proven nothing at the NHL level. In pool talk Drury got snookered.
The Rangers will get better 5 on 5 when they can get a solid forecheck out of there top 2 lines and stop burning shifts in their D zone poking at pucks and getting out muscled along the boards. They need to get bigger and stronger on the boards and on D. I was astonished about how futile the Rangers play along the boards was in the playoffs. I don't know if there is a stat that shows that but in both the Carolina and Florida series they were getting destroyed in both sones along the boards and behind the net. Otherwise history will repeat itself.Drury will undoubtably try another patch.
Yeah, Drury has shown himself to be a risk-averse GM. I expect minor changes around the edges of the roster with similar results next spring. Need a Neil Smith sledgehammer to the team core approach. Waste of Shesterkin's prime years.
I think that first off-season where he made a bunch of missteps put him back a bit
Can you expound upon that a bit sir?
I think he came into the first off-season so laser focused in adding grind that he didn't really do it in a measured way. His acquisitions/signings of Blais, Tinordi, Reaves, Nemeth and Goodrow were all meant to add a physical element...and with maybe the exception of Goodrow to some extent, none of them panned out.
Nemeth and Goodrow picked up contracts that were too long. Tinordi was barely an NHLer, Reaves was well past his prime, and they were too optimistic on Blais, even with an uptick when he got back to St Louis (which has since faded again).
That collection of five moves, plus trading away Buchnevich for little to nothing, was a tough way to start, and felt forced. I think that taught him something to some extent, and that is to be a little more discerning.
I think when you add in the Kane move, which was a bit forced as well...then I think he probably looks back at those and thinks I need to be more discerning and not be attracted to just the image or what you get on the face of things.
On the other hand, I think he perhaps learned a little this trade deadline too, in that sometimes you're going to be faced with some high risk costs for rentals and you may need to take a run at it sometimes. Though it's hard to fix your team at the deadline, you really are just reenforcing your depth and options...not trying to address flaws - despite what some commentators say.
The Rangers ultimately need to figure out how to get better at 5v5, and that probably also includes figuring out how they get the puck out of their own zone more effectively...so will be interesting to see how Drury approaches that.
If they need me to bleed, then I'll bleed for my team
You guys are rewriting history. Drury was trying to make the best out of what was a pure cap move combined with the hope that either Kakko or Kravtsov (remember him?) could play top 6 right wing.Buchnevich for Blais and a 2nd round pick.
Drury hopefully learned a valuable lesson which a person in his position should have known already. You don't trade a established borderline first liner, Buchnevich, for a basic bucket of spit in Blais and a pick. You trade a Buchnevich you have to get something tangible back, not dreams. Blais had the some intangibles Drury was looking for, but had proven nothing at the NHL level. In pool talk Drury got snookered.
From the Athletic July 23,2021:
"Rick Carpiniello, Rangers beat writer: Buchnevich became the victim of his own success in a flat-cap world, and with a team in need of changes. A restricted free agent with arbitration rights, Buchnevich is likely going to get at least $5 million, perhaps $5.5 million in his next contract, and the Rangers weren’t going to be able to afford that beyond 2021-22.
Thus his name has been in talks since May, or earlier. Plus, with former first-rounders Kaapo Kakko and Vitali Kravtsov both being right wingers, it became a numbers game.
The return is surprisingly low value for Buchnevich, who came miles the last three seasons and perhaps was their best player in the first half of last season. But the Rangers needed to get rid of the cap hit, make room for the youngsters, and fill another bottom-six need with the physical, straight-ahead Blais, a fourth-line left winger."
1 Cup in 84 years
2048
You guys are rewriting history. Drury was trying to make the best out of what was a pure cap move combined with the hope that either Kakko or Kravtsov (remember him?) could play top 6 right wing.Buchnevich for Blais and a 2nd round pick.
Drury hopefully learned a valuable lesson which a person in his position should have known already. You don't trade a established borderline first liner, Buchnevich, for a basic bucket of spit in Blais and a pick. You trade a Buchnevich you have to get something tangible back, not dreams. Blais had the some intangibles Drury was looking for, but had proven nothing at the NHL level. In pool talk Drury got snookered.
From the Athletic July 23,2021:
"Rick Carpiniello, Rangers beat writer: Buchnevich became the victim of his own success in a flat-cap world, and with a team in need of changes. A restricted free agent with arbitration rights, Buchnevich is likely going to get at least $5 million, perhaps $5.5 million in his next contract, and the Rangers weren’t going to be able to afford that beyond 2021-22.
Thus his name has been in talks since May, or earlier. Plus, with former first-rounders Kaapo Kakko and Vitali Kravtsov both being right wingers, it became a numbers game.
The return is surprisingly low value for Buchnevich, who came miles the last three seasons and perhaps was their best player in the first half of last season. But the Rangers needed to get rid of the cap hit, make room for the youngsters, and fill another bottom-six need with the physical, straight-ahead Blais, a fourth-line left winger."
Well not exactly, because they ended up giving $3.6M to Goodrow, $2.5M to Nemeth and then added Reaves and his $1.75M (which the also extended for another year) along with Blais and his $1.5M (and then resigned him for another year too). So while the conversation around Buchnevich was real, it ultimately proved to be a bit of a red herring. I did not include Tinordi's $900K, but you could arguably throw that in there as well as he started the year in the line-up.
Worth noting that Nemeth, Reaves, Tinordi and Blais were all gone either the next season, or at the end of that second season.
It's true there was a belief that Kakko and Kravtsov would step up, but that is more the case than the "flat-cap" argument which Drury undermined with the moves he made. You look at what he did last Summer with near minimum contracts for Bonino, Pitlick, Quick and Gustafsson (as well as guys like Belizile, Nash, Holloway and Mackey) and it's not that far off.
Drury chose to move Buchnevich, and he chose to do it at a disadvantage. He also did it at a time when they had Cap Space for another year and could have taken that time to further evaluate things, but chose not to.
But yes, I do remember the arguments, and even believed them...but then what he did afterwards made a mockery of that.
History shows that the Buchnevich deal was a bad deal... Every GM has a bad deal or 2 in their portfolio. The issue at hand is will Drury make the right moves to move the Rangers forward.
If they need me to bleed, then I'll bleed for my team
Does Kakko have options left? Maybe sign him to a 2 way deal and send him to Hartford until he either improves/finds some game or we can find a trading partner. I can't imagine his value being too high at this point.
If they need me to bleed, then I'll bleed for my team
But out of all the players and picks dealt away by Drury, Buchnevich was by far the most valuable.
I speculated at the time that management wanted Buchnevich gone regardless of the cap situation and I still believe it to be the case. Perhaps the car accident with Shesterkin as a passenger played a role. Will probably never know for sure.
Good point C. That would help Drury case. Because he gave him away. Aside from that he’s added Trochek, Goodrow, Vesey and Gustafsson to the core since 2021. All good moves although the Laviolette connection with Gustafsson was probably the main factor. So other than Trochek and it was a pretty obvious move to replace Strome for the same type bucks, he has not got into the core Gorton left him to try to improve the team.
Trade deadline swings with Copp, Vatrano, Tarasenko and Kane falling short especially last year should have taught him Roslovic and Wennberg were far from the types the Rangers needed this year. Neither equipped to do much when the going got tough.
This off season is critical to Drury’s legacy. Having to deal with Lindgren’s contract, an opportunity to trade or buy out Trouba, and Gustafson likely walking gives him opportunities to revamp the defence.
Up front the never ending dump Goodrow for cap room and trade Kakko because, Drury doesn’t have much opportunity. But he does have to deal with the issue of getting Lafreniere the opportunity especially on the power play to become the player he can be. And based on his playoff performance Ranger fans can salivate just how good that might be. So it will be an interesting off season seeing questions answered when his team is in place a week after free agent frenzy.
All this happens on a continuum. The limited cap pushed the NYR to move Buch.You guys are rewriting history. Drury was trying to make the best out of what was a pure cap move combined with the hope that either Kakko or Kravtsov (remember him?) could play top 6 right wing.Buchnevich for Blais and a 2nd round pick.
Drury hopefully learned a valuable lesson which a person in his position should have known already. You don't trade a established borderline first liner, Buchnevich, for a basic bucket of spit in Blais and a pick. You trade a Buchnevich you have to get something tangible back, not dreams. Blais had the some intangibles Drury was looking for, but had proven nothing at the NHL level. In pool talk Drury got snookered.
From the Athletic July 23,2021:
"Rick Carpiniello, Rangers beat writer: Buchnevich became the victim of his own success in a flat-cap world, and with a team in need of changes. A restricted free agent with arbitration rights, Buchnevich is likely going to get at least $5 million, perhaps $5.5 million in his next contract, and the Rangers weren’t going to be able to afford that beyond 2021-22.
Thus his name has been in talks since May, or earlier. Plus, with former first-rounders Kaapo Kakko and Vitali Kravtsov both being right wingers, it became a numbers game.
The return is surprisingly low value for Buchnevich, who came miles the last three seasons and perhaps was their best player in the first half of last season. But the Rangers needed to get rid of the cap hit, make room for the youngsters, and fill another bottom-six need with the physical, straight-ahead Blais, a fourth-line left winger."
Well not exactly, because they ended up giving $3.6M to Goodrow, $2.5M to Nemeth and then added Reaves and his $1.75M (which the also extended for another year) along with Blais and his $1.5M (and then resigned him for another year too). So while the conversation around Buchnevich was real, it ultimately proved to be a bit of a red herring. I did not include Tinordi's $900K, but you could arguably throw that in there as well as he started the year in the line-up.
Worth noting that Nemeth, Reaves, Tinordi and Blais were all gone either the next season, or at the end of that second season.
It's true there was a belief that Kakko and Kravtsov would step up, but that is more the case than the "flat-cap" argument which Drury undermined with the moves he made. You look at what he did last Summer with near minimum contracts for Bonino, Pitlick, Quick and Gustafsson (as well as guys like Belizile, Nash, Holloway and Mackey) and it's not that far off.
Drury chose to move Buchnevich, and he chose to do it at a disadvantage. He also did it at a time when they had Cap Space for another year and could have taken that time to further evaluate things, but chose not to.
But yes, I do remember the arguments, and even believed them...but then what he did afterwards made a mockery of that.
NHL Cap was basically static for 6 years. The Rangers signed Trouba and Panarin in 2019 without any way of anticipating the cap would be barely increased by 4 million over 6 seasons. The cap would normally go up $3-4 million per season. Without the increases, Trouba and Panarin remain too high of the NYR cap percentage of the total and this put pressure on other signings. Igor/Kreider/Fox/Zib plus the guys getting to the arb years were on the horizon plus the possible RW first rounders Kakko and Krav to play top 6 minutes. As we all know with 20/20 hindsight, Buch would have been the best choice to stay with Zib/CK.
NHL Cap
18-19 79.5
19-20 81.5 were it remained for 2 more years
22-23 82.5
23-24 83.5
Buch got $5.8 for 4 years. It would have been higher on the Rangers.
Blais played 14 games before he was taken out. That's not on Drury.
Nemeth played 63 games at over 16min and Reaves played 69 at over 10min. Somebody had to play those minutes. Goodrow's contract is probably too much, but he also brought some toughness the Rangers needed. You still need to fill a roster and a lockerroom. Besides Goodrow, all the other guys were also movable and they were.
1 Cup in 84 years
2048
Florida is a better team. They beat us in the regular season they beat us in the playoffs. They beat the Rangers in every metric and the Rangers were lucky to have won 2 games. Their top 6 didn't exactly light it up either and it's very common in the playoffs to see top 2 lines get cancel out and the series decided by 3rd and 4th line players and goaltending. Rangers need to get tougher on the boards and win more puck battles. Rangers need more physicality on D... We think that a smooth skating Dman makes up for lack of physicality but it doesn't in the playoffs. I'm tired of waiting for Miller's potential. He is just not smart enough and constantly out of position/reaching. I have seen a lot of Dmen who weren't fancy skaters that were very effective. Rangers top pair D just doesn't cut it. Lindgren has the heart of a lion but is just 20lbs. too small as top pair Dmen are concerned is he in the top 20? Fox has a world of talent but lacks the physicality it takes to be an effective top pair Dman in the playoffs. (yes I know he had a sore knee but I am more concerned about his balls than his knee). Everyone is going to hit him in the playoffs.
If Trouba's play was the fault of his broken leg then he should have been sitting. Who does he think he is ... John Wayne? It was selfish of him to play and play so poorly.
As far as the Rangers getting a RW, they need to cut bait on Kakko. Laf had a good year. The Rangers can't afford anybody worthwhile in free agency and Drury would have to pull off a miracle to improve that situation.
Rangers need a 3rd line that can contribute and a 4th line you can trust on the ice. 3/3rds not 2/3rds. If Rempe is going to play he needs to figure out how to stay out of the box. 3rd and 4th liners need to be able to play on the PK to avoid killing top line forwards and screwing up line combos.
Here are the challenges:
Extending Igor's contract.
Finding cap space by offloading over paid players.
Overcoming team toughness issue.
Finding production and value in Hartford
Finding a worthy 1st line right winger
Finding muscle on defense
This.
I think you hit the nail on the head with
Their top 6 didn't exactly light it up either and it's very common in the playoffs to see top 2 lines get cancel out and the series decided by 3rd and 4th line players and goaltending.
That combination of Kakko and Wennberg were useless. I felt like Cuylle's usefullness was completely wasted playing with these 2 stiffs. I said it in the Carolina series, that we will not win unless we can get all 4 lines rolling. That 3rd line was like an anchor around our necks. Good defensively, but completely useless on the other side of the rink.
ITSOTHMANNTIME
3rd line much like the Kreider, Zibanejad and Roslovic line. Zibanejad 2 points Kreider 2 points. Tkachuk 5, Verhaeghe 6, Barkov 4, Bennett 6, and Reinhart 3. Lafreniere and Trochek were the only two Ranger top five forwards to show up. Therein lies the blame. Panarin and his 4 points, not bad but still seemed invisible. If the Ranger top five, they don't have a sixth performs on par with Florida's its a different series. Would some goals from the third line of helped of course. Besides Goodrow nothing from the bottom six, and it obviously needs a fix. And I suspect changes as Drury nibbles around the edges again.
3rd line much like the Kreider, Zibanejad and Roslovic line. Zibanejad 2 points Kreider 2 points. Tkachuk 5, Verhaeghe 6, Barkov 4, Bennett 6, and Reinhart 3. Lafreniere and Trochek were the only two Ranger top five forwards to show up. Therein lies the blame. Panarin and his 4 points, not bad but still seemed invisible. If the Ranger top five, they don't have a sixth performs on par with Florida's its a different series. Would some goals from the third line of helped of course. Besides Goodrow nothing from the bottom six, and it obviously needs a fix. And I suspect changes as Drury nibbles around the edges again.
I still think the first line balanced out. A lot of the Florida point getters got their points on the PP. In the series, Reinhart -3, Barkov -4, Verhaeghe even, Kreider -2, Zib -2, Roslovic even, Panarin even, Laffy even, Trocheck +2. You have a point with Bennett +4 and Tkaczuk +3, but we lost on the ineffectiveness of special teams, exactly what got us through the first two rounds.
I'm surprised no one here brings up Laviolette. You guys always blame the coach. Here's my criticism.
Cuylle +3 and Rempe +2 needed more ice time. I don't care if Remepe gets too many penalty calls. 4 minutes TOI per game? Ridiculous. Why dress him?
All season and the first 2 rounds of the playoffs, PP unit #1 stayed on the ice for the first 1:15 -1:45. In this round, he pulled them at 1:00, then brought them back at 1:45. I know Lavy was worried about players getting tired and giving up a shortie, but if it aint broke why fix it?
It took 34 games to realize Roslovic is not a top 6 player? I may get killed on this, but I would have put Vesey (before injury) Cuylle or Brodzinski on the top line before Roslovic. No, he puts Kakko in that spot. Stupid.
Reuniting Trouba/Miller was a mistake.
Maybe we already have the RW to play with Zib and Kreider??? Lafreniere... Laf is the type of player that could help them. I then might want to think about finding a RW who scares you from the RW rather than let them mob Panarin with a bias to the D right side. I think the BJ's might listen to offers for Laine who is in the players assistance program but undoubtedly a scary talent if his head is on right (Wing). He is still pretty young and it is a boom or bust kinda move. I would send them a package that includes Miller, and some other pieces....
It was easyish to defend the Rangers (in the playoffs) because of the RW situation.
And the Rangers need to clear some cap even if it means buying out Trouba and not signing (overpaying) Lindgren.
If they need me to bleed, then I'll bleed for my team
3rd line much like the Kreider, Zibanejad and Roslovic line. Zibanejad 2 points Kreider 2 points. Tkachuk 5, Verhaeghe 6, Barkov 4, Bennett 6, and Reinhart 3. Lafreniere and Trochek were the only two Ranger top five forwards to show up. Therein lies the blame. Panarin and his 4 points, not bad but still seemed invisible. If the Ranger top five, they don't have a sixth performs on par with Florida's its a different series. Would some goals from the third line of helped of course. Besides Goodrow nothing from the bottom six, and it obviously needs a fix. And I suspect changes as Drury nibbles around the edges again.
I still think the first line balanced out. A lot of the Florida point getters got their points on the PP. In the series, Reinhart -3, Barkov -4, Verhaeghe even, Kreider -2, Zib -2, Roslovic even, Panarin even, Laffy even, Trocheck +2. You have a point with Bennett +4 and Tkaczuk +3, but we lost on the ineffectiveness of special teams, exactly what got us through the first two rounds.
I'm surprised no one here brings up Laviolette. You guys always blame the coach. Here's my criticism.
Cuylle +3 and Rempe +2 needed more ice time. I don't care if Remepe gets too many penalty calls. 4 minutes TOI per game? Ridiculous. Why dress him?
All season and the first 2 rounds of the playoffs, PP unit #1 stayed on the ice for the first 1:15 -1:45. In this round, he pulled them at 1:00, then brought them back at 1:45. I know Lavy was worried about players getting tired and giving up a shortie, but if it aint broke why fix it?
It took 34 games to realize Roslovic is not a top 6 player? I may get killed on this, but I would have put Vesey (before injury) Cuylle or Brodzinski on the top line before Roslovic. No, he puts Kakko in that spot. Stupid.
Reuniting Trouba/Miller was a mistake.
The panthers were effective on the power play the Rangers were not, a goal on the power play is as important as one full strength. The Panther elite outplayed the Rangers elite on the powerplay and regular strength and thats why they won. Your going to try to tell anyone Kreider, Zibanejad or Panarin out played or even held their own against Barkov, Thachuk, Bennet, Verhage and Reinhart?
I said all along Rempe should play. And I also repeatedly said since Cuylle started the playoffs so well, he should have played more. But putting Brodzynski or even Cuylle with Zib and Kreider wouldn't have affected any outcome. Putting anyone with Trouba was a mistake. Remove him and its a different series.
This was posted elsewhere and if true tells the tale about Trouba's usefulness going forward.
"""Rangers on the ice for 16 or more goals against in rounds 2 & 3:
1. Igor Shesterkin
2. Jacob Trouba"""
Pretty much sums up one big part of the problem..
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