Thoughts on the First Preseason Game

[ClearedForContact]

Here are some of my thoughts on what I saw in the first preseason game of the 2017-2018 season last night when the Rangers took on the New York Islanders.

First and foremost, the Rangers’ coaching staff will have a lot of tough decisions to make on defense. We knew this going in, but now it’s being borne out during the preseason games. Anthony DeAngelo stood out as one of the most active defensemen of the game. He made some nice plays with the puck, was solid in front of his own net, and used his above average skating ability to wheel the puck out of the zone on a few occasions. Neal Pionk also had a good game. Excluding the goal, which was nice, he made good decisions with the puck, wasn’t afraid to shoot the puck from the point, and overall had a solid game. Both DeAngelo and Pionk had four shots on goal.

On the other hand, Nick Holden. Holden’s spot in the lineup was in question by many considering how last year ended. And, last night, he played an average “Nick Holden” game, which is not good enough.

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[Kevin]

Good recap. I'm sure AV wasn't all that upset with Lias Anderson's coincidental penalty since it was off-set by the Islanders and also caused the Islanders' goal to be disallowed!

[The Dude]

I don't like the new rule of teams not being allowed to call a time out after they ice the puck. Kinda shitty.

I'd have liked to hear an opinion on Schneider, who I felt showed better instincts than any of the newer/younger Ranger forwards.

I also kinda disagree that Holden had to improve on last season. Maybe improve on the last quarter of the season and playoffs, but numbers wise, the guy had a career year and was very serviceable until the end. I doubt his spot is in any danger. I'd imagine the Rangers would rather build him back up to unload him, rather than just dump him Crap, with under a minute left in regulation, he was out there (AGAIN!!!). AV loves this guy.

[AmericanJesus]

Nice work Ray. I agree with your assessments. I think Staal and Holden will spend the entire camp looking over their shoulders. Outside of McD, Skjei, Smith and Shattenkirk, look at all these defenders with some sort of chance to claim the 5-7 spots:

Bereglazov
Day
DeAngelo
Gilmour
Graves
Holden
Kampfer
Pedrie
Pionk
Staal

That's 10 guys if you are counting out Zborovskiy and Crawley. And considering Pionk, DeAngelo and to a lesser extent Graves had strong showings in game 1, there won't be much room for error from the other guys.

[AmericanJesus]

I don't like the new rule of teams not being allowed to call a time out after they ice the puck. Kinda shitty.

I'd have liked to hear an opinion on Schneider, who I felt showed better instincts than any of the newer/younger Ranger forwards.

I also kinda disagree that Holden had to improve on last season. Maybe improve on the last quarter of the season and playoffs, but numbers wise, the guy had a career year and was very serviceable until the end. I doubt his spot is in any danger. I'd imagine the Rangers would rather build him back up to unload him, rather than just dump him Crap, with under a minute left in regulation, he was out there (AGAIN!!!). AV loves this guy.

I was half watching a lot of the game. While the Rangers outshot the Islanders by a wide margin, there weren't too many grade A chances for either side.

Schneider's a curious case when you look at his stats:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p...php?pid=123570

At 27, he's been pretty consistently a 50-60 point AHL player the last four years who never got a look with Ottawa, and only a couple quick peeks from Buffalo. There's got to be a story here. Only thing I can find is Bylsma saying he's not fast, but has a nose for the net and good hands.

http://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/wil...essing-sabres/

[The Dude]

I was half watching a lot of the game. While the Rangers outshot the Islanders by a wide margin, there weren't too many grade A chances for either side.

Schneider's a curious case when you look at his stats:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p...php?pid=123570

At 27, he's been pretty consistently a 50-60 point AHL player the last four years who never got a look with Ottawa, and only a couple quick peeks from Buffalo. There's got to be a story here. Only thing I can find is Bylsma saying he's not fast, but has a nose for the net and good hands.

http://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/wil...essing-sabres/

Damn. I thought he was a bit younger. That explains a bit on it's own.