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In a Copy Cat League, What Does Vegas and Washington Mean for the Rangers?


ThirtyONE

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Every year people around the league look at the two teams in the finals and say, how do we make our team like this? It's how poor decisions are made in the summer. It's how Milan Lucic signs a ridiculous deal. But it also brings up new elements and ultimately proves that no two championship teams are alike.

 

This year is the year of second chances (or third, fourth and fifth if you're the Caps). All the guys in Vegas proved that a bad year or two does not mean you're washed up. Marc Andre Fluery was reborn. Karlsson was reborn, Smith, Marchessault, etc. Guys around the league who would be getting a tryout in camp or nothing at all may get a second chance on a one-year deal based on these guys' performances.

 

Older players who are presumed fading may get a longer leash. "Patience" is the lesson learned from Washington. In a year when people saw them as dead or at least worse than they've been in years, 32yo Ovi put up 49 goals, won the division, and then the Cup.

 

The biggest lesson learned is that you just never fucking know who's going to win, so if you stick with it and keep giving yourself a chance, it can happen.

 

---

 

For NYR:

 

Personally, I like the idea that players may stick around a little longer. This idea that you're old when you hit 27, 28, 29, or 30 is ludicrous to me. Yes there are instances where players fall off dramatically but look at Eric Staal. Everyone, including me, thought he was on the verge of being done and yet he bounces back. I don't think they should be signing any older players with the state they're in, but I hope it reopens the door for some guys -- maybe down the road. Maybe this gives new perspective to Hank's career, who knows.

 

Toughness is back, but in a different way. Teams like the Leafs who are all skill and no grit got bounced. We've seen this in the Rangers for a while now, but it's obvious there is a need for it. Oshie, Wilson, Ovi, Kutz, these guys are willing to go to the dirty areas and willing to take a hit to make a play.

 

Finally, stay the fucking course. Rangers have set out on this path that will take time. The Caps took a lot of heat for sticking with Ovi. People said he was a coach killer, not a leader, a locker room cancer, but 14 years on he's a hero and likely going to have a statue erected in his name. Have a plan and stick to it.

 

 

What else?

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It shows there’s no rhyme or reason other than hard work and leaving it all on the ice.

 

This is the LAST place you can say that shit, Phil. You just had a team go to the finals doing the exact opposite, while the team that “rebuilt through the draft” sucked in the playoffs for years, until a LATE first round pick changed it all.

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While fighting is down league-wide, this playoffs has shown that there is still a premium on toughness and physicality. Tampa wanted no part of Washington after getting run numerous times. The same appeared true, to a lesser extent, with Vegas. Washington's willingness to hit everything that moved and to block just about every shot thrown their way was a huge factor in their winning it all.
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It shows there’s no rhyme or reason other than hard work and leaving it all on the ice.

 

That'll take you far. But not far enough. 2014 and 2015 say hello.

 

This is the LAST place you can say that shit, Phil. You just had a team go to the finals doing the exact opposite, while the team that “rebuilt through the draft” sucked in the playoffs for years, until a LATE first round pick changed it all.

 

"doing the exact opposite," he says. As if the first-year expansion team who were required to enter the league through means that only applied to them had any other choice. :rofl:

 

But seriously, (a) don't tell me how to live my life, and (b) explain why the winning team's roster looks like this:

 

Ovechkin - first round, first overall

Backstrom - first round, fourth overall

Wilson - first round, 16th overall

Carlson - first round, 27th overall

Kuznetsov - first round, 26th overall

Burakovsky - first round, 23rd overall

Eller - first round, 11th overall

Oshie - first round, 23rd overall

Vrana - first round, 13th overall

Niskanen - first round, 28th overall

Connolly - first round, 6th overall

 

Just dumb luck, eh? Man is that a metric fuckton of coincidence, or what?

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Don't we both know if the Rangers had a top 5 pick they would get the 1 out of 5 that doesn't pan out as a top end player? If they had the option to trade up for Dahlin I think he would bust.

 

Nope. Don't buy any of that.

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That'll take you far. But not far enough. 2014 and 2015 say hello.

 

 

 

"doing the exact opposite," he says. As if the first-year expansion team who were required to enter the league through means that only applied to them had any other choice. :rofl:

 

But seriously, (a) don't tell me how to live my life, and (b) explain why the winning team's roster looks like this:

 

Ovechkin - first round, first overall

Backstrom - first round, fourth overall

Wilson - first round, 16th overall

Carlson - first round, 27th overall

Kuznetsov - first round, 26th overall

Burakovsky - first round, 23rd overall

Eller - first round, 11th overall

Oshie - first round, 23rd overall

Vrana - first round, 13th overall

Niskanen - first round, 28th overall

Connolly - first round, 6th overall

 

Just dumb luck, eh? Man is that a metric fuckton of coincidence, or what?

 

You have guys on that list that weren’t drafted by the Caps

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You have guys on that list that weren?t drafted by the Caps

 

That doesn't matter. Where they were taken does. The more first-round picks you have in your lineup, the better your chances of being good. The higher they're taken, the better the chances of them being really good.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

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That doesn't matter. Where they were taken does. The more first-round picks you have in your lineup, the better your chances of being good. The higher they're taken, the better the chances of them being really good.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

Do you think the Caps traded or signed those 4 guys because they were 1st round picks?

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The key takeout for me is that these playoffs cemented the fact that the 17/18 Rangers were far too easy to play against.

The best teams were physical, but it’s grit and physicality based on skating hard and having guys up and down the lineup capable of playing a 150 mph game for 60 minutes. Meaning you simply can’t afford to carry one paced throwbacks like McLeod, as if that needed pointing out. It’s certainly more about playing a high octane game than it is about size.

For Vegas, the main takeout is that if you set a system that fits the players at your disposal and everybody buys in and plays hard you can go far. And again, having strong skaters up and down the lineup is the new currency.

 

As for the Caps, as is the case for the majority of Cup runs, it was a case of the stars aligning. Their top 5 guys all having a stormer, incredible depth scoring (I mean DSP ffs), Holtby rediscovering his form at the right moment, puck luck in key moments etc etc. I don’t think you can draw other conclusions than it’s a really good team who found their stride and rode a wave. It would be folly to assume the key ingredients of that run can be copied in any way.

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No, I think the Caps traded or signed those four guys because they're good hockey players, and good hockey players are found most often via the first round. Great ones are most often found via the top of it.

 

Whether you make the pick or acquire the player, the trend is undeniable.

 

 

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That cohesion-factor or ?chemistry? as we all like to call it is THE catalyst IMO. Just about any NHL has a legit shot now. Parity is league-wide.

 

When a group decides ?this is it? and plays for one another no matter how cliche that sounds, good things - possibly great things - can happen. You could see it on Ovie?s face and by the effort of everyone?s shifts. They just wanted it more and paid the price doing whatever was necessary.

 

I want to see our guys develop that hunger and that mindset. Sure, you need talent but you also need commitment and heart. We?ve been lacking some of each.

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No, I think the Caps traded or signed those four guys because they're good hockey players, and good hockey players are found most often via the first round. Great ones are most often found via the top of it.

 

Whether you make the pick or acquire the player, the trend is undeniable.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

 

The Rangers have had between 7-10 1st rd picks on their roster for at least 5 years, 1 being a #1 over all. Sometimes the ingredients are missing spices, sometimes the chef sucks. Numbers are indeed black and white, but the games aren?t programmed, played, and simulated on Xbox.

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That doesn't matter. Where they were taken does. The more first-round picks you have in your lineup, the better your chances of being good. The higher they're taken, the better the chances of them being really good.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

 

Did you look at the Rangers rosters over the years? Bunch of 1st rounders.

 

Nash, 1st overall

Ryan McDonagh,12th overall

Staal 12th overall

Derick Brassard, 6th overall

Kreider, 19th overall

Grabner, 14th overall

Dylan McIlrath, 10th overall

Zib, 6th overall

Hayes, 24th overall

Skjei, 28th overall

DeAngelo, 19th overall

JT Miller 15th overall

Nick Jensen 29th overall

Matt Puempel, 24th overall

Brendan Smith, 27th overall

Peter Holland, 15th overall

Daniel Paille, 20th overall

Chris Summers, 29th overall

 

I had a point about these players, but I am hung over and forgot, but it's probably something along the lines of most rosters are made up of first round picks. Obviously not all are drafted by said teams. Nor does it guarantee any success

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Did you look at the Rangers rosters over the years? Bunch of 1st rounders.

 

Nash, 1st overall

Ryan McDonagh,12th overall

Staal 12th overall

Derick Brassard, 6th overall

Kreider, 19th overall

Grabner, 14th overall

Dylan McIlrath, 10th overall

Zib, 6th overall

Hayes, 24th overall

Skjei, 28th overall

DeAngelo, 19th overall

JT Miller 15th overall

Nick Jensen 29th overall

Matt Puempel, 24th overall

Brendan Smith, 27th overall

Peter Holland, 15th overall

Daniel Paille, 20th overall

Chris Summers, 29th overall

 

I had a point about these players, but I am hung over and forgot, but it's probably something along the lines of most rosters are made up of first round picks. Obviously not all are drafted by said teams. Nor does it guarantee any success

 

Dude, 1st round or not, you can’t include a bunch of those dust bunnies. That’s a slightly different topic. Da fuck anyone going with Holland and McIlrath? You left out a lot more capable guys like Pulliot, and put in Matt Ass Pimple.

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Dude, 1st round or not, you can’t include a bunch of those dust bunnies. That’s a slightly different topic. Da fuck anyone going with Holland and McIlrath? You left out a lot more capable guys like Pulliot, and put in Matt Ass Pimple.

 

Point is they are 1st rounders. And they all combined for zero cups with the Rangers. Throw as many on the list as you want. Still zero cups.

 

The thinking that a roster filled with first round picks equals a cup isn't a formula that is automatic. Most rosters are filled with 1sts.

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