RangersIn7

He should play in the series. Maybe not right off the rip. And maybe not on Zib line. Ease him in as much as you can.

You’re right when you say it’s not all on him. But it’s clear he not only didn’t do enough. And what’s worse is that he wasn’t even concerned or cognizant enough to try. And the argument about softness, physicality, north/south play, or whatever you wanna call it is BS too. That’s apparently what he was telling them and what he wanted and what they were trying to do and it didn’t work. It’s not entirely on him and I posted in the last couple of days that I think overall he did well. But he didn’t do enough And ultimately he lost the room because of that and his players knew it.

That’s fair. The strength building part in his legs though… I think that’s why the comments/rumblings we heard last summer regarding his offseason program. Not that he wasn’t working or working hard enough. But specifically what he was working on and how. Which is exactly what I said last summer when everyone was shitting down his throat, calling him a lazy, fat ass, donut boy bust with a bad attitude.

He didn’t wait 3 years to do it though. That’s a misrepresentation. Hes always worked hard by all accounts. He needed the time and growth and physical development that comes with going from age 18-19 to age 21-22.

Yeah. There is a significant bit of it that Laf needed to do on his own. Brian Boyle made a good point on this a couple weeks back on his podcast. We questioned his attitude and work ethic. We were wrong about that though. The kid just wasn’t ready yet and didn’t have the physical capacity to make those strides yet.

Yeah. As we’ve all stated many time, that 1OVA typically goes to a terrible team and can immediately play top-6 minutes, top PP unit, play with that teams best players, and be allowed to just play, make mistakes, learn, and grow. Laf came into a team that was an also-ran team, but not an awful one, and got none of that. And it hurt him.

Well they were never going to gift him minutes. And he was always going to be stuck behind CK and Panarin, because they weren’t going to move him in his first season, and probably his second season either. I don’t put much if any on Quinn. But they needed to move him to RW and up his minutes last year and they didn’t. Thats totally on Gallant.

It was a decent watch. But it’s nearly 30 years ago, and quite honestly it’s not that interesting a story to begin with. And ESPN dramatizes this shot beyond belief. Colorado was going to figure it out someway. I firmly believe that.

I’m saying in relation to the Caps “crossing the line” as you said. If they do, they’re calling penalties.

I never understood the deal for him. The price they paid to acquire him essentially made it impossible for them not to extend him. You get a rental at that price, you have to keep him long-term. But it isn’t like they needed him. 4th highest scoring team in the league. They were already loaded up front with plenty of offense and depth.

The Hamilton injury hurt them for sure. But before that… they let Graves go and traded Severson and replaced them with 2 kids that are offensive defensemen. All for the purpose of keeping Timo Meier, whom they didn’t really need.

Agree with this Though that likely results in Washington taking penalties and if they do that, the Rangers will kill them. Even matching minors hurts them.

I’m hoping that the building collapses during Canes-Isles

I 100% agree. I wouldnt be running to play the Rangers or for that matter, any other team that finishes 1st in the league in a playoff series ever.

Even in more 1 sided series there are rarely easy games. And the Caps do present some challenges. Nevertheless, they should beat this team and not need many games to do it.