This second part of State of the Rangers is solely focused on possible transactions the Rangers may or may not make between now and the trade deadline on February 28th. I've posted on twitter that I think Sather needs to explore whether or not Don Maloney out in Phoenix is interested in trading long time Coyotes captain Shane Doan to the Rangers. I'm convinced that Doan is the only player that can immediately come in and contribute in a way that can take the Rangers to where they want to go and that is a deep run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If Doan decides to waive his NMC and accept a trade, he would come as a rental as it seems he has little interest in retiring anywhere else but the Coyotes organization or whatever they call themselves after their inevitable move coming in the next year or two. The Rangers knowing this will have to give up very little, perhaps no more than a mid-level prospect in the Rangers farm system and a conditional draft pick. Acquiring him is low-risk, high reward and something that in my opinion, the Rangers should strongly consider.
Obviously other names have been thrown around such as Bobby Ryan who has been dangled as trade bait, but Anaheim is going to demand a team to possibly overpay to get him and that's something the Rangers have little interest in doing. In a scenario involving the Rangers, if I were Anaheim's GM, I would probably want at least a package of Stepan, a high level prospect whether it would be Kreider or McIlrath and a high draft selection. As a side note, the Ducks were VERY interested in taking McIlrath as a heir apparent to Chris Pronger after losing him in a trade with the Flyers before the 2009-10 season. Anaheim was strongly considering selecting McIlrath at 12, but took Cam Fowler instead when the Rangers drafted McIlrath with the 10th pick.
Coming into this season the Rangers blueline was considered a position a strength and one of the deepest in the league. Unfortunately the Rangers have been decimated by injury along their blueline with Marc Staal, Mike Sauer, Steve Eminger and Jeff Woywitka all out for large portions of the season already with various injuries. The Rangers acquired Tim Erixon from Calgary in the offseason but showed the Rangers early on that he wasn't quite ready to be in the NHL but is currently playing well for the Rangers AHL affiliate Connecticut Whale.
Enter Shea Weber and Ryan Suter of the Nashville Predators. Both are in the final years of their contracts and have been heavily rumored in trade talks are a while now. While I'm a little less certain as to what the Predators will want for these two all-stars, I'm sure Nashville won't give them away. The Predators may be looking to unload either or of these two defensemen in exchange for scoring and perhaps a little cap room. (as if they didn't already have enough) In a situation with the Rangers, a proposal possibly centered around Brandon Dubinsky, a draft pick or two may get it done, however with the Rangers top offensive talent in the junior and college ranks ready to emerge on the big stage, it may be something the Rangers may explore. With the Rangers on top of the NHL standings messing with the offensive chemistry is probably a bad idea, but having a Shea Weber or Ryan Suter in blue for the upcoming playoff push would be nice. But in this writers' opinion, the Predators would be crazy to trade one of these guys.
Other names that have been bounced around have been Ales Hemsky (EDM), Jeff Carter (CBJ), Teemu Selanne (ANA), Derek Roy (BUF), Paul Stastny (COL), Dustin Brown (LA), Zach Parise (NJ) and countless others. But it's also been said the moves that you don't make are the best ones. The Rangers got to where they are now without making any big moves, with the exception of Brad Richards, but you can also say that the signing Richards has opened the scoring for guys like Callahan and Gaborik, as teams now have to choose whether they want their top defensemen going against Richards or Gaborik on separate lines. While it's more likely that Sather will probably sit on his hands on deadline day and not do anything major, you have to figure that Sather will be taking phone calls from various parties as the deadline gets closer. One hopes that he will only make trades that not only won't compromise the #1 Rangers now but also won't hinder the very immediate and very bright future of this hockey team.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
State of the Rangers: January Edition part 1
Since the last State of the Rangers post, there has been a lot of good things surrounding the Rangers. The Rangers downright proved that their 9-2 November record was no fluke by going 10-4-1 in December and following the 3-2 win over the Flyers at the Winter Classic not only have the Rangers vaulted themselves to the top of the division, but have they climbed to the top of the Eastern Conference and at times, the top of the NHL. The Rangers have an uncanny ability to immediately bounce back from losses, re-right the ship and start another winning streak where the team for the most part has averaged about 10 days give or take in between losses.
With the Rangers being on top of the standings league wide, it has certainly garnered the attention of the "experts" to perhaps re-think where they stand regarding the Rangers. There are some out there that think they could have a cup run in them this year, but most are writing the Rangers off if/when they draw the Bruins in the playoffs, which isn't quite fair since the Rangers and Bruins have yet to play each other this season and it just so happens their first game is today. Boston is a scary team, however they are still human beings and thus beatable. Remember, the Rangers did beat Boston 3 out of 4 last year, with a Ranger team not as good as present and the Bruins on their way to a Cup championship, so that has to count for something. Now past the halfway point of the season, when the Rangers are at their best, I'm growing increasingly confident that Boston is the only team that can hang with the Rangers in a 7 game series (save for teams in Toronto and especially Montreal whom the Rangers for some reason have struggled with.) I'm very aware of the problems the Rangers have had with the Capitals in the playoffs recently, but when the playoffs come and if the Rangers were to draw the Capitals again, Tortorella won't have to motivate his players too much knowing the teams' recent failures against them in the postseason and the Rangers will be up to the task more than the previous 2 series' against them.
The Rangers have a 5-3 record since downing the Flyers at the Winter Classic three weeks ago, and since that game, its been terribly noticeable that the Rangers top 6 forwards haven't been contributing as much as they were in the 2011 calendar year. A lot of that is in part to a terribly struggling power play that has just ONE powerplay goal since Christmas and is 1-27 in that timeframe. I'm honestly at a loss of words for the struggles surrounding the power play. Brad Richards who was supposed to be the "savior" of the Rangers powerplay hasn't been putting up the points with the man advantage that we expected to see, and is below his career pace on the season concerning Richards' points production on the power play.
Again, the Rangers first game against the Bruins is today. The Rangers could fall out of first place in the East with a loss. Hopefully a game against the defending Stanley Cup champs in their building can jump start the Rangers, leave Boston with a win and get them out of their mid-season swoon.
Part 2 next week will feature whom, if anyone, the Rangers should acquire at the trade deadline to be the catalyst towards the Rangers next Stanley Cup Championship this June.
With the Rangers being on top of the standings league wide, it has certainly garnered the attention of the "experts" to perhaps re-think where they stand regarding the Rangers. There are some out there that think they could have a cup run in them this year, but most are writing the Rangers off if/when they draw the Bruins in the playoffs, which isn't quite fair since the Rangers and Bruins have yet to play each other this season and it just so happens their first game is today. Boston is a scary team, however they are still human beings and thus beatable. Remember, the Rangers did beat Boston 3 out of 4 last year, with a Ranger team not as good as present and the Bruins on their way to a Cup championship, so that has to count for something. Now past the halfway point of the season, when the Rangers are at their best, I'm growing increasingly confident that Boston is the only team that can hang with the Rangers in a 7 game series (save for teams in Toronto and especially Montreal whom the Rangers for some reason have struggled with.) I'm very aware of the problems the Rangers have had with the Capitals in the playoffs recently, but when the playoffs come and if the Rangers were to draw the Capitals again, Tortorella won't have to motivate his players too much knowing the teams' recent failures against them in the postseason and the Rangers will be up to the task more than the previous 2 series' against them.
The Rangers have a 5-3 record since downing the Flyers at the Winter Classic three weeks ago, and since that game, its been terribly noticeable that the Rangers top 6 forwards haven't been contributing as much as they were in the 2011 calendar year. A lot of that is in part to a terribly struggling power play that has just ONE powerplay goal since Christmas and is 1-27 in that timeframe. I'm honestly at a loss of words for the struggles surrounding the power play. Brad Richards who was supposed to be the "savior" of the Rangers powerplay hasn't been putting up the points with the man advantage that we expected to see, and is below his career pace on the season concerning Richards' points production on the power play.
Again, the Rangers first game against the Bruins is today. The Rangers could fall out of first place in the East with a loss. Hopefully a game against the defending Stanley Cup champs in their building can jump start the Rangers, leave Boston with a win and get them out of their mid-season swoon.
Part 2 next week will feature whom, if anyone, the Rangers should acquire at the trade deadline to be the catalyst towards the Rangers next Stanley Cup Championship this June.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Good, Bad, Ugly: Rangers take the Winter Classic, down Flyers 3-2
The Good: With the Rangers down two goals, Mike Rupp finally got the Rangers on the board at 14:51 of the second period. Rupp found Prust at the Flyer blueline who got it back to Rupp on a nice little give and go and fired a shot past Bobrovsky's glove hand. Rupper tied the game at 2:41 of the third period. John Mitchell picked up the puck in the Rangers end, carried it through the neutral zone, found Prust, who quickly found Rupp again and beat Bobrovsky short side. Less than 3 minutes later, with the Rangers buzzing around the Flyer end, Girardi shot the puck around the boards to find Cally behind the net. Cally got the puck to Dubinsky in front of the net, who shot the puck into Bobrovsky's pads but the rebound came right back to him and found Brad Richards just above the crease and roofed the puck over a down and out Bobrovsky to take a 3-2 lead that wouldn't be relinquished.
The Bad: Brayden Schenn opened the scoring with his first career NHL goal off of a rebound from a shot at the point by Matt Carle and a bad rebound bounced off Lundqvist right to Schenn at 12:26 of the second period. The Flyers kept up the pressure on the Rangers and cashed in again just under 2 minutes later during an odd man rush up ice. Max Talbot somehow got the puck under the stick of a sprawling Stralman and Giroux beat Lundqvist on the backband for a 2-0 lead at 14:21.
The Ugly: Boy did this turn ugly in the last 5 minutes of the third period. As fortunate as the Rangers were to win this game, the refs were obviously out to get this game into overtime any way possible. Starting with McDonagh's phantom delay of game penalty when he was pushed by van Riemsdyk into the net and called for what I thought was the worst call I've ever seen but it would only get worse. After the Rangers killed the penalty, with 1:06 left in the game. Flyer defenseman Kimmo Timonen took down Callahan at center ice and somehow managed to hold Timonen's stick on the way down and the refs called them both for penalties, much to the chagrin of Callahan, Torts and everyone else with eyes. It got even worse with 19.6 seconds left during a scramble in front of the net and with the puck about to squeak over the goal-line, McDonagh came swooping in to keep the puck out of the net and the refs decided it would be a good idea to call McDonagh for closing his hand on the puck in the crease, a horrific call no one can make unless they have x-ray vision. The Rangers get a well deserved day off tomorrow before preparing for another war on Thursday against Florida.
The Bad: Brayden Schenn opened the scoring with his first career NHL goal off of a rebound from a shot at the point by Matt Carle and a bad rebound bounced off Lundqvist right to Schenn at 12:26 of the second period. The Flyers kept up the pressure on the Rangers and cashed in again just under 2 minutes later during an odd man rush up ice. Max Talbot somehow got the puck under the stick of a sprawling Stralman and Giroux beat Lundqvist on the backband for a 2-0 lead at 14:21.
The Ugly: Boy did this turn ugly in the last 5 minutes of the third period. As fortunate as the Rangers were to win this game, the refs were obviously out to get this game into overtime any way possible. Starting with McDonagh's phantom delay of game penalty when he was pushed by van Riemsdyk into the net and called for what I thought was the worst call I've ever seen but it would only get worse. After the Rangers killed the penalty, with 1:06 left in the game. Flyer defenseman Kimmo Timonen took down Callahan at center ice and somehow managed to hold Timonen's stick on the way down and the refs called them both for penalties, much to the chagrin of Callahan, Torts and everyone else with eyes. It got even worse with 19.6 seconds left during a scramble in front of the net and with the puck about to squeak over the goal-line, McDonagh came swooping in to keep the puck out of the net and the refs decided it would be a good idea to call McDonagh for closing his hand on the puck in the crease, a horrific call no one can make unless they have x-ray vision. The Rangers get a well deserved day off tomorrow before preparing for another war on Thursday against Florida.
Rangers - Flyers: Winter Classic Preview
Ok, here it is, finally... Rangers vs. Flyers in the 2012 NHL Winter Classic. After all the hype, predictions, 24/7 episodes and two Ranger ass kickings against the Flyers, the two teams take the ice at 3 pm this afternoon for what should be an unforgettable game. For the Flyers, who sounded like a team in somewhat of a disarray on Sunday with Bryzgalov telling reporters that he wasn't starting, followed by Flyers coach Pete Laviolette during a press conference that he hasn't decided who is going to get the call for the Flyers come 3 pm Monday. (We later learned Sunday night that Bobrovsky will get the call against the Rangers.) During the Rangers portion of practice at Citizens Bank Park, NHL network reporter and former Flyer Jeremy Roenick said (and I'm paraphrasing) the difference in attitude between the clubs was noticeable and the Rangers were the more looser club, while the Flyers were a little more tense and perhaps distracted with their goalie situation. The Rangers are coming into this game first in the conference and ahead of the Flyers by two points in the Atlantic. This Ranger team is far and away the best team that we've seen in quite a long time and in all likelihood one player away from being a serious Cup contender. But as long as Lundqvist is able to keep pucks out of his net and the defense in front of him is able to shutdown the other teams' number one scorer on a nightly basis like they have been doing for the most part, you just never know what can happen.
Keys for the Rangers tomorrow:
1. Do not let up the early goal- The Flyers will probably come out on fire in front of their home fans who have only seen the Flyers play twice since December 10th. As long as the Rangers stay defensively sound and weather the early storm they'll be just fine. An early Ranger goal against a young (and perhaps nervous) Bobrovsky would be huge.
2. New Year, New Power Play: December was practically spilt right down the middle in terms of Rangers power play success. 6/28 in the first half, 2/23 in the second half. The Rangers must turn that number around not just starting today but moving on through the second half of the season.
3. Have fun: This is the last thing I'm worried about with the Rangers especially if you were watching practice yesterday. With the Rangers loose and Torts unable to not smile skating around the ice yesterday, I can see good things happening for the Rangers today.
Prediction: Rangers 4 - Flyers 2
Keys for the Rangers tomorrow:
1. Do not let up the early goal- The Flyers will probably come out on fire in front of their home fans who have only seen the Flyers play twice since December 10th. As long as the Rangers stay defensively sound and weather the early storm they'll be just fine. An early Ranger goal against a young (and perhaps nervous) Bobrovsky would be huge.
2. New Year, New Power Play: December was practically spilt right down the middle in terms of Rangers power play success. 6/28 in the first half, 2/23 in the second half. The Rangers must turn that number around not just starting today but moving on through the second half of the season.
3. Have fun: This is the last thing I'm worried about with the Rangers especially if you were watching practice yesterday. With the Rangers loose and Torts unable to not smile skating around the ice yesterday, I can see good things happening for the Rangers today.
Prediction: Rangers 4 - Flyers 2
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