Blog Archives
The Rangers might not need to make a big trade for a defenseman anymore
Bobby Bevilacqua
Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh has been a big part of the team’s good defensive play so far. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Through much of last season and this offseason, the narrative on many Rangers blogs and some beat writers was that the Rangers needed to shake up the defense. They lost Keith Yandle, saw Marc Staal and Dan Girardi regress last year, and didn’t have many in-house options to pick up the slack.
Although it’s been only 11 games, it seems like the Rangers may be in a good situation right now, and won’t have to worry about making a blockbuster trade for anyone right now. If things continue to go well, maybe not even this year.
Through 11 games, the Rangers have allowed just 25 goals and have a +20 differential all while working their way towards an 8-3-0 record. That’s a pretty impressive start for a team that looked to be heading towards a rebuild after the playoff loss to the Penguins last May. Read the rest of this entry
Igor Shestyorkin named KHL goalie of the month
Bobby Bevilacqua
Igor Shestyorkin was selected by the Rangers 118th overall in the 2014 NHL draft and the 14th goalie taken that year. The Rangers also selected Brandon Halverson with their first pick, which was in the second round.
Halverson is playing well with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL, but it’s Shestyorkin that is the best prospect in the Rangers system.
Yesterday the KHL announced that Skestyorkin, 20, was named the best KHL goalie in the league for the month of October. So far he has played in 18 games with SKA St. Petersburg and has a record of 13-1-2 with a 1.46 GAA and a .943 save percentage. Read the rest of this entry
Brandon Pirri might end up being the steal of the summer
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
When the Rangers signed Brandon Pirri to a one year, $1.1 million contract this offseason, many fans and blogs covering the team were thrilled. The deal was a bargain and he’s a shifty, smart player with a knack for scoring. Despite bouncing around the league a bit, Pirri has shown flashes of being a really special player.
Initially drafted by Chicago, Pirri really made his mark with the Florida Panthers. In 21 games with them in 2014, he scored seven goals and 14 points. The following season he wound up scoring 22 goals in 49 games, showcasing his elite shooting ability. Prior to the start of this season, Pirri was scoring at a rate of 1.31 goals per 60 minutes, higher than Evgeni Malkin, John Tavares, James Neal, Brad Marchand and Zach Parise over the last three years.
After splitting time between the Panthers and the Ducks last year, Pirri was surprisingly not given a qualifying offer by the Ducks and the Rangers were able to snatch him up. And he’s been a fantastic signing so far. Read the rest of this entry
No need to worry, the Rangers are much better than their .500 record
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Through four games this season, the Rangers are doing fine with a 2-2-0 record. Although there was a lot of hype built up around the forwards and the youth movement GM Jeff Gorton seems to be going for, given the state of the defense this is a pretty good start.
While it’s only been four games and things can change in a flash, there should be a sense of confidence throughout the locker room and among the fans. I wasn’t expecting to have this much fun watching the Rangers this year, but from what I’ve seen so far, they have me really excited for not only the future, but seeing how far this forward group can carry the team this season.
So far, the Rangers have scored 15 goals in four games this season, and that was with the team scoring just one two days ago against the Red Wings. The 12 goals allowed is a little higher than many would have hoped for, but that was somewhat expected when you have Nick Holden as your top pairing defenseman playing on his offside. Read the rest of this entry
AV spreading ice time and opportunities will be key to Rangers success
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers opened their season with a 5-3 win over the Islanders, showing signs of improvement in many aspects of their game that was expected of them following their offseason moves. The power play looked great, the defense and penalty kill looked structured, and all four forward lines were effective.
With the addition of players like Pavel Buchnevich, Jimmy Vesey, Brandon Pirri and Michael Grabner, the Rangers added a lot of speed and talent to their forward groups, which seemed to make Alain Vigneault structure his lines differently.
Rather than opting for a traditional structure, with a physical, checking fourth line and placing all of the talent on the top two lines, Vigneault had a balance of scoring, defense and skill across the four lines. Having four lines was something that many blogs, including my own, wrote about as a possibility. And last night, it worked extremely well. Read the rest of this entry
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