Blog Archives
Ranking the Rangers—Part One: 20-26
John Dundon
This will be a series of posts in which we rank players on the Rangers roster who played at least 10 games (Regular season/playoffs) as a Blueshirt in 2015-2016. Let’s get right into it:
26: Danny Paille
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
OH GOD SHIELD YOUR EYES!
Paille played in 12 games as a Ranger from Late-January into February, and boy were they memorable. Not in a good way.
Paille was a team worst 35.1% CF% with exactly ZERO goals and ZERO assists. His signing came at a time when the Rangers were looking for help on the penalty kill. All Paille did was make the already pathetic PK worse. There is no bright spot here. Watching Paille squirm out there, dragging Dom Moore down with him was painful. Although it took them a month, they finally did away with Paillie, but the damage had already been done. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers should go after Brian Campbell in the offseason to help defensive woes
Bobby Bevilacqua
Brian Campbell with the Panthers. Photo courtesy of Steve Mitchell/US PRESSWIRE.
Just three days ago, the Florida Panthers announced that they had agreed to a one year deal with 24 year old defenseman Erik Gudbranson. On the surface, it didn’t seem like a big deal at all.
But signing Gudbranson means that the Panthers now have seven defensemen under contract (Ekblad, Gudbranson, Kampfer, Kindl, Kulikov, Matheson and Petrovic). The team is fully embracing the youth movement, going with a roster that is full of newer and younger players, and they’re keeping a select few veterans around.
One of the vets that now seems like a lock to leave Sunrise, Florida is defenseman Brian Campbell. “Soupy” has been one of the offensive leaders from the blue line in his five seasons with the Panthers, scoring 27 points or more in each season, and recording a career high 53 points (4-49-53) in the 2011-12 season. This past year Campbell scored six goals and 31 points in 82 games. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers could sign Buchnevich by this weekend; Moore and Staal not in future plans
Bobby Bevilacqua
Pavel Buchnevich during a Rangers scrimmage. Photo courtesy of Paul J Bereswill
Perhaps the most important move for the Rangers to make this summer is an in-house move; signing top prospect Pavel Buchnevich to his first NHL contract. And that just might happen this weekend.
According to the New York Post, there are some hoops both sides have to jump through but it is possible that Buchnevich could sign his Entry Level Contract with the Rangers this weekend.
Buchnevich, 21, was selected in the third round of the 2013 NHL Draft, and has been playing in the KHL for the past two seasons. This year he recorded 16 goals and 37 points as a 20 year old, splitting time between the Severstal Cherepovets and SKA St. Petersburg. His skill-set and talent level has been compared to Evgeny Kuznetsov of the Washington Capitals, which means that he could be an impact player right away. Read the rest of this entry
Adam Huska, Igor Shestyorkin solidify Rangers’ goaltending future, allow for moves to be made
Bobby Bevilacqua
Adam Huska in net for the Green Bay Gamblers. Photo courtesy of Evan Siegle/Press-Gazette Media
In last year’s NHL Draft, the Rangers selected 6’3” Slovakian goaltender Adam Huska with their seventh round pick, a selection that people didn’t think twice about considering the talent the Rangers already have in their goaltending prospect pool.
Brandon Halverson was considered the brightest goalie prospect in the Rangers organization, winning 40 games with the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds last season in the OHL, and getting regular reps with the USA Juniors team. Mackenzie Skapski was an excellent goalie in the AHL last season, making two NHL starts before a hip injury caused him to rehab for most of this year. Add that with Magnus Hellberg, the goalie prospect acquired from the Nashville Predators in the offseason, and the Rangers are stacked.
So it’s understandable why nobody batted an eye when the Rangers took Adam Huska with the 184th pick of the draft last season. But after being selected, he played well for Slovakia in the WJC, carrying that momentum into an excellent first full season with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL. Read the rest of this entry
Trade Rick Nash? Not so fast
John Dundon
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The Blueshirts’ latest playoff endeavor, albeit a brief one, had a different feel when it came to watching Rick Nash on the ice.
Nash scored two goals and had two assists in those five games against Pittsburgh. After a productive playoff stretch in 2015 that saw Nash net 15 points in 19 games, I’m of the opinion that barring a home-run of a return, trading Rick Nash would be unwise if this team is serious about winning the Stanley Cup in the next few years. Here’s why:
We are so quick to attach labels to players in the NHL. Usually, these labels are a result of these 10-30 game runs we call “the playoffs.” Hockey is a game of percentages, bounces and confidence-based mojo. These three factors usually determine when the puck goes in the net for all world talents, like Nash—and they don’t take the time to consider the time of year. There are ups and downs. Read the rest of this entry
therangerzone.com 