RangersIn7

That and the fact that of his 16 starts in the regular season, 11 came vs non-playoff teams.

Carolina will be tough. No doubt about it. Everyone loves them because of the analytics which is why they’re favored this postseason. Couple things though: The Rangers have handled them well over the past 2+ seasons dating back to that playoff series in ‘22. Rangers are 9-5 against them in that span. Also… Carolina has played so well down the stretch in large part due to how good Guentzel has been since they acquired him, and how well Freddie Andersen has played since he came back. Here’s the thing that no one seems to be mentioning though, and it’s odd: In his career Freddie Andersen HAS NEVER played this well. Ever. Eventually you have to think they’ll be some sort of deviation back to the norm for him. This is a series they can win.

Oh there were absolutely other “off ramps”, as you put it, since then. No argument from me on that at all. We are likely fast approaching another one of those this summer Phil. It’s near the Mitch Marner Service Plaza I think! Theres a kiosk in there that gets you a one way ticket out of town.

That was definitely a big factor for all of those guys you mentioned.

They needed a stalwart stay at home guy on D for the top-4. They needed a high quality 2C at an affordable price. Those adds would’ve established that “core” everyone is looking for with Toronto. They could’ve had both with perhaps still some money to spend. They went for the shiny thing instead of filling two premium spots and still having money and flex. In Summer of 2018, they could’ve acquired guys like Ekholm and Trochek and still had $2.5 million to spend. And probably at not too bad a cost in assets either. Which they had to spend and could have done so without killing their roster. Im saying a move like that was the move. Not 1 huge signing. But 2-3 lower level moves that manifest in a team that is better, deeper, and more versatile.

But they didn’t need a 1C with droves of offense. Or for that matter, another premium offensive forward. They needed a true 2C, another top-4 D, a good quality bottom-6 forward and a goalie. And in 6 years they couldn’t get those things. Cause they ain’t got the paper to do it. Guess what happened 6 years ago? Oh… that’s right…. They gave Tavares 80 million bucks to be their top C when at that point, they had some kid by the name of Matthews who in his first 140 games had 75 goals, and was at the ripe old age of 21

I’m not “blaming” anything on Tavares. Certainly not putting it all on him. I guess I should articulate better Phil, so here goes: Their depth has been the issue. In the bottom-6. But more importantly at D And Freddie Anderson is the best goalie they’ve had in I don’t know how long. They’ve lacked quality players on D and depth, grit, and scoring punch in terms of guys who can really contribute in their bottom 6 for years. Tavares is a top C But they already had a better one in Matthews Plus two premium wingers. And they weren’t close 6 years ago. Go get yourself a 2C and another top-4 D and maybe even a good bottom-6 forward for that money. Or maybe a goalie. They could achieve that now by moving Marner or Nylander, yes. Im saying that the best way to build around this core 6 years ago wasn’t by adding Tavares. It was spending that cap space differently. And if you’re asking for specifics, 6 years ago they had the cap space and the assets to go get many players who filled the roles they needed filled.

I don’t know. Neither do you. They didn’t HAVE to pay any of them at that time. Could’ve just let the young guys develop and go from there. But with that cap space, who knows who might’ve been available to them. There’s so many possibilities Im not suggesting a specific solution or player(s). Clearly it hasn’t worked with Tavares. Stands to reason they might do things differently if they had another whack at that piñata

I’m not at all suggesting that they keep Kadri Im merely suggesting that the core I cited, for the most part, would have been better served by spending that money on 2-3 players, as opposed to 1 player named Tavares.

I get the argument you fine Gents are making…. But it’s misplaced and you’re missing the bigger point. Go back to 2018 when they signed him. Marner Matthews Nylander Reilly Kadri Gardner Kapanen Johnnson Hyman Freddie Andersen All already in house. Then they spent 80 million on JT. Instead of whacking that money up between 2-3 guys that could’ve been huge in their depth, which is what they’ve lacked. Now they could have achieved that subsequent with a deal of Marner or Nylander. Or they could have just not created the problem in the first place.

He’s just a secondary scorer at this point. The whole league knows it. He’s playing out the string to break a record. That’s all

Tavares was the mistake

Then they’d be out 2 premium players instead of one.

I don’t disagree that there are other issues But the lack of depth has been the biggest. That 11 million on multiple players would really help

They’d have been way better served by not signing Tavares years back, and instead putting that money in 2-3 other players that could’ve really helped them and made them deeper.