Blog Archives
Enough with the optimism, the Rangers are not well prepared for the playoffs
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
For the most part, I may be one of the most optimistic Ranger fans out there. But this season has tested my patience, and yesterday’s pathetic performance against the San Jose Sharks was the tipping point.
The Rangers gave up 52 shots against the Sharks, with 47 of them coming at Henrik Lundqvist in 49 minutes. They had almost no extended periods of pressure or possession. They had half of the amount of shots on goal that the Sharks had, and the team finished as a -21 in Corsi For.
After this game, the Rangers are now 3-5-1 in their last nine games, and their last 10 games won’t be a walk in the park. They still have to take on the Penguins, the Islanders, the Bruins, the Panthers and the Lightning. At the rate they’re playing now, there’s a chance that Pittsburgh and the Islanders, both of which have at least one game in hand, could surpass the Rangers and put them in a wild card spot. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers close out Cali road trip against the San Jose Sharks
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Following a disappointing loss at the hands of the LA Kings, blowing another third period lead, the Rangers (40-23-8) will finish off their three game road trip against the San Jose Sharks (39-25-6) at the SAP Center.
On Thursday, the Rangers took a 3-1 lead into the third period against the Los Angeles Kings. One of the goals looked as if there could have been goaltender interference (but the NHL still doesn’t have a standard for it), and the other goal came from Anze Kopitar with less than five minutes to play. In overtime, Kopitar scored the game winner, and the Rangers threw away a win.
If you told me before the road trip started that the Rangers would get three out of four points against the Ducks and Kings, I would have been thrilled. But it’s the way in which they lost the point that frustrates me. This team is fragile and there’s no other way of saying it. They’re mentally fragile and often fall apart in adversity. They have given up 15 goals that have tied the game or given the other team the lead with five minutes or less to play in the game. And they’ve been playing horribly lately, generating no possession, unable to transition or carry the puck through the neutral zone, and they’ve been getting heavily outshot. Anyone who isn’t worried about this team, should be. Read the rest of this entry
NHL expansion looms; Having fun with a hypothetical expansion draft this summer
John Dundon
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
This past summer talks between the National Hockey League and potential expansion franchises in either Las Vegas or Quebec City (or both) had heated up significantly. For expansion to occur it would mean that an expansion draft would have to take place for the first time since 2000. It has been reported that the league is likely to announce plans for expansion as early as June of this year, before the NHL entry draft.
TSN’s Darren Dreger has reported that if an expansion draft were to take place, each team would have the right to protect several key players of their choosing. Dreger tweeted Wednesday that teams would be given the option of protecting either: A) three defensemen, seven forwards and one goalie OR B) eight skaters and one goalie. There are a lot of smaller details that have not yet been nailed down by the league, but this would likely be the main framework of an expansion draft.
While there are a lot of areas lacking clarity, the league has begun notifying teams on the potential ideas for the draft itself. It is expected that if there is a one team expansion, each team will lose one player. In the event of a two team expansion, each team loses two. It sounds like something out of a video game. It has also been speculated that players with no-move clauses will NOT be eligible for the potential drafters. The feeling among teams is that one expansion bid will be accepted by the Board of Governors and Las Vegas will be the next NHL city. Read the rest of this entry
Following win over Ducks, Rangers continue Cali road trip against Kings
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Despite getting dominated in possession and getting worked over by the Ducks, the Rangers (40-23-7) picked up their 40th win of the season with a tightly contested 2-1 win, with Kevin Klein recording his first career two goal game. Now they continue their road trip on the west coast against the Pacific Division leading Kings.
Against Anaheim, the Rangers did not play their best game. They played a resolute style of defensive play, but the same problems that have plagued them recently continued to affect the game. Turnovers and careless play, poor transition, and more. You know the script. In fact, it took 19:30 for the Rangers to have a successful carry into the Ducks zone. That’s not good. The team as a whole was a -18 in corsi for, with Dan Girardi (-14) and Tanner Glass (-13) finishing worse in individual possession. Only three players finished positive in corsi for.
But they found a way to win. That seems to be the script for the season. The Rangers play alright, go dormant for a few stretches, and get bailed out at times by goaltending or lucky bounces, or simply outscoring the opponent. Needless to say, it’s an unsustainable type of hockey that probably won’t be a winning style of hockey in the playoffs.
Things don’t get easier as they take on the Los Angeles Kings for the second time this season. The Rangers lost in frustrating fashion to the Kings at Madison Square Garden on February 12th, falling in overtime after Anze Kopitar scored with 29.7 seconds remaining in regulation. Kevin Hayes, Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan each picked up a goal and an assist, and Viktor Stalberg also found the back of the net. The Rangers have earned a point in their last three trips to the Staples Center (2-0-1).
Jonathan Quick is the expected starter for the Kings, looking to build on an already strong season. Quick posted a shutout in his last start, stopping all 32 shots he faced. He’s 35-17-4 with a 2.14 GAA and a .921 save percentage.
Tyler Toffoli is en route to the best season of his career, posting a career high in goals (26) and leading the team in that category. He’s a point shy of equaling his career high total of 48 points. Nine of his goals are on the power play, four have been game winners, and he’s scored in two straight games.
Milan Lucic has been playing excellent hockey as of late, enjoying a strong first season out in California. Known for his aggressive game and physical brand of hockey, Lucic is feared for his scoring ability just as much as his ability to lay a huge hit. Lucic is riding a seven game point streak (3-6-9) and has 45 points (17-28-45) in 68 games. He’s also a tremendous possession forward, owning a 59.15 Corsi for percentage. Watch out for him.
After getting the night off, Henrik Lundqvist will be back in net for the Rangers. Hank has lost his last three starts, allowing three or more goals in all of the games. However, he’s been excellent against the Kings recently, with a 1.01 GAA and .966 SV% in his last two appearances.
Like the Ducks, the Kings play a physical brand of hockey due their large group of forwards. So like last night, Alain Vigneault will use his fourth line extensively. Tanner Glass, Dominic Moore and Viktor Stalberg all played over 11 minutes, with Glass getting the primary assist on the game tying goal. Glass actually has three points in the last nine games (2-1-3), which is half of his point total from last season. Hopefully this line combination does well and works tonight.
Keith Yandle is the only Rangers defenseman with 40 points this season, scoring five goals and tallying 35 assists this season. He has a point in eight of the last 12 games against the Kings, with 13 points (3-10-13) in that span. In 40 career games against the Kings, he has 25 points (5-20-25).
The Rangers and the Kings will faceoff at the Staples Center at 10:30 PM. The game will be broadcasted on MSG.
EXPECTED LINES
Rick Nash-Derick Brassard-Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Jesper Fast
JT Miller-Eric Staal-Kevin Hayes
Tanner Glass-Dominic Moore-Viktor Stalberg
Ryan McDonagh-Kevin Klein
Keith Yandle-Dan Girardi
Marc Staal-Dan Boyle
Henrik Lundqvist
Rangers long-term plan on defense remains murky
John Dundon
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The Rangers currently have something of a log-jam defensively.
With the emergence of Dylan Mcilrath, and now Brady Skjei showing that he can play at the NHL level, the Blueshirts have 8 capable defensemen to fill in six roster spots. This is certainly not an issue—quite the opposite in fact. The deep group of defenseman that the Rangers have at their disposal will help to minimize the significance of post-season injuries that come with the grind of a deep playoff run.
What can be seen as a strength now could potentially become a weakness for the Rangers if not handled properly in the coming summer. As it stands, both Keith Yandle and Dan Boyle will be leaving the team for free agency and (probably) retirement, respectively. For the Rangers to lose two of their top three puck-movers from the back end in the same summer would be disastrous.
The good news is that Mcilrath has proven he can be a physical force on the blue line and has added a snarl to the Rangers d-core that they haven’t had in the last few years, while also being a solid right side defenseman. Brady Skjei has shown off his all-world skating ability in his opportunities with the big club. While there have been some hiccups, Skjei has all of the tools to be a really good top four defenseman for the Blueshirts for a long time.
While having two defenseman of the proper handedness to step in and fill the voids left by Yandle and Boyle is ideal, asking Skjei, 21, and Mcilrath, 23, to replicate the production or even to fill the holes that will be left on the power play would be unfair to the two youngsters. Couple this with the fact that Dan Girardi and Marc Staal will have aged another year (they’ll only be in decline from here), and you have a potential disaster defensively. Likely worse than what we’ve been subject to at times this season.
So how can the Rangers avoid being bad defensively for the foreseeable future?
The possibilities are endless as far as how the Rangers will attack their defensive outlook in the coming summer. The one thing that complicates matters most is the fact that both Marc Staal and Dan Girardi–whom the Rangers signed to similar contract extensions last season– have no move/no trade clauses that are currently in effect. Girardi has a full no-move that will turn into a modified no-trade NEXT summer. Staal is also protected by a full no-movement clause until 2017-2018, when it will turn into a modified no-trade.
Trading Girardi would require the 31-year-old—a husband, father, and by all accounts happy resident of NYC—to accept a trade to the proposed destination. Needless to say, it isn’t likely that Girardi would waive and leave one of the most lavish scenes in the NHL, displacing his young family in the process. Same goes for Staal.
The Rangers are facing a scenario in which you have a pair of declining defenseman in Girardi and Staal being mainstays while youngsters find their footing as every-day NHLers. There are going to be some rough patches and kinks to work out for both Skjei and Mcilrath. It probably will not be pretty, but there are no solutions to this problem.
Or are there? I argue that finding a way to keep Keith Yandle IS the solution to this problem. Can the Rangers do that though? It is highly unlikely
You should have already accepted that the Rangers will be losing Keith Yandle. Unless there is an extremely generous hometown discount on his part, Yandle won’t be a Ranger after the group leaves the ice for the final time in May or June.
Here is why the Rangers can’t bring back Yandle: if he was to get $5.5 million for his services, then the Rangers would have over $21 million—north of 30% of the team’s cap space—tied up in four players, two of whom are not very good and only going downhill. Obviously, Yandle is better than no Yandle, but that ship seems to have sailed.
Best-case scenario The Rangers find a suitor for one of Staal or Girardi and they agree to waive, opening up cap room to keep Yandle and bring up the kids to peg in the holes left by Boyle and the traded player.
McDonagh-Klein
Yandle-Mcilrath
Skjei- Girardi
That would be a pretty good top six any way you shake it. Unfortunately, it is growing increasingly unlikely that things will come out this way.
The realistic scenario is one that sees the Rangers losing Yandle and Boyle and plugging the holes with homegrown talent, which in itself is not a bad thing. The bad thing will be losing one of the top defenseman in the league because the Rangers two resident possession-killers were given NMC’S. Womp.
McDonagh-Girardi
Staal-Klein
Skjei-Mcilrath
Meh. Just meh.
My solution sees the Rangers doing anything and everything in their power to retain Yandle, and go from there. Girardi and Staal become easier to move as time goes on and we see what the future holds. I would suggest an attempt at trading Rick Nash and his $7.8-million-dollar cap hit, but that’s a conversation for another day. All I know is that Keith Yandle is too good to watch walk away. Even move Kevin Klein if you have to move money or open spot for the kids.
Any avenue the Rangers chose will be highly scrutinized and probably hated by fans. Should be fun!
therangerzone.com 