Rangers' 2018-19 Mid-Season Assessment

Post your thoughts in this thread for mid-season thoughts. Looking at the first half, and thinking about the second half

after fri games (12/28)

Boston (last wild card) 44 points

Islanders 42 points

Rangers 37 pts, Florida 36 pts, Detroit 36 pts, Carolina 35 pts, Ottawa 34 pts, NJ 33 pts

 

So the last 6 teams in the Eastern Conference are essentially in a dead heat in the also-ran category. A few good weeks of good hockey can put any of the 6 back in playoff contention. But after 35+ games, Rangers are more similar to the also-rans, than teams like Boston-Montreal-Pittsburgh-Columbus-Buffalo (currently in playoff positions).

 

Interested to see how the first few weeks of January play out, and what we do around the trade deadline. Rangers are a pesky team that might win a round or two if they made the playoffs, but realistically this is a team that needs to rebuild. Looking forward to watching young talent develop

Based on today's standings

http://www.playoffstatus.com/nhl/easternstandings.html

has the Rangers at 80% chance of no playoffs... but just a few good weeks of hockey would change the outlook considerably

They're a hard-working but bad team who can't hold leads or win many games because foot soldiers and elite goaltending can only take you so far in the face of a Walking Dead defense and a lack of goal-scoring talent.

 

They have the 22nd worst goal differential (-14), the fewest ROW wins (10) in the league, the 26th best (2.78) GF/GP, the eighth-worst GA/GP (3.25), and the second-worst team Corsi for percentage (45.36) in the league.

 

That's the first half.

 

The second won't be much different but for the eventual liquidation sale to scrap what they can for parts again. My only hope is they stop losing so many games in overtime. Those loser points serve them no good but to spoil optimal drafting position.

If they trade Hayes they will be an absolutely terrible team.

 

That's really the only reason I hope they move him, to get a higher pick. I do think we'd be better off keeping him.

 

Moving Zucc and McQuaid makes them that much worse, just by way of who will replace them in the lineup.

 

As for the blown leads, that's just classic case of a young forward group learning how to win paired with an old defense that can't keep up later in games.

If they trade Hayes they will be an absolutely terrible team.

 

That's really the only reason I hope they move him, to get a higher pick. I do think we'd be better off keeping him and playing him with Panarin and Chytil.

 

Moving Zucc and McQuaid makes them that much worse, just by way of who will replace them in the lineup.

 

If they do keep Hayes, this line will probably slay.

If they do keep Hayes, this line will probably slay.

 

I edited because I realized I don't want Panarin, personally.

We really do need more solid defensemen, and game-changers in the top 6. I think we will finish about 10th in the Eastern Conference, and pick about no. 9. So that would help replenish our talent.

 

We can also find 'journeymen' defensemen cheaply. Last night, Wild played Matt Bartkowski (254 NHL games, 1st game with the Wild) on defense. He just took a pass from a forward, wrist shot from the point, goalie was screened, goal. Just a simple smart veteran hockey play. We don't need flashy signings like Panarin, Shattenkirk, etc. We need some stable veterans for the coming youth movement.

I would say the Rangers have been better then I expected. Probably closer to being actually good then most people thought before the season. I like the forward depth. The Defense has been a little inconsistent for my liking. The coach is pretty solid IMO. I appreciate the accountability. If you mess up, you sit and I like that. I would like to see more overall team toughness. A little more physicality. Specifically from the defense. Teams are able to get in tight with very little resistance. Overall pretty solid. Even though it?s not really supposed to be about the playoffs this year, we still have a look. If the Rangers didn?t blow several late leads, they would be in real good shape. Going to need a good run to get back into that wildcard conversation. Got 2 in a row going now. If they can rip off 7 of 8 or so...May still have a look.

I give them an A for effort and an F for trying to maintain the dreaded 9th-12th positioning.

Exactly what we thought they’d be: bad.

 

Elite goaltending has kept them higher in the standings than necessary. Trades need to be made to really achieve the goal of the rebuild. A middle of the road finish would be a colossal waste of time and resources.

Exactly what we thought they’d be: bad.

 

Elite goaltending has kept them higher in the standings than necessary. Trades need to be made to really achieve the goal of the rebuild. A middle of the road finish would be a colossal waste of time and resources.

 

It's pretty much this, but in addition to Lundqvist being better than I expected him to the same is true for Zibanejad, Kreider and Hayes. Those 4 are carrying to the team to a worse draft position than I thought. The good news is that it's only 7 points down to the bottom, so it's still possible to turn to shit and finish somewhere in the bottom 5.

 

Credit has to go to Quinn for making the team harder to beat, Lundqvist for being absolute lights out most night and Zib/Kreider/Hayes for playing surprisingly well and taking a step up. I just wish they'd waited for a year.

They don't play that hard, they don't have talent outside of like 4 guys, the coach has done nothing to improve this team. Cody McLeod is still a thing.

 

The goalie is elite.

First Half:

 

The Bads -

Team still doesn't shoot enough

Has a very hard team holding leads

Doesn't forecheck consistently for 60 min

Doesn't finish checks consistently

Makes too many NZ turnovers

Team fails to get the puck deep on a consistent basis

Team gets pinned in their own zone unable to clear the puck too often

 

The goods-

Hank has been very solid

Kreider has been good

Team is finally healthy

We have some valuable assets to trade at the deadline

 

I don't see much changing for the second half. I think Quinn has overachieved with this group thus far, but mostly due to Hank standing on his head for much of the first half. I'd rather see this team fall below the bottom 5 and get a solid pick in the upcoming draft. This mediocrity shit does this franchise no good right now at all.

 

A rebuild would get a serious jump start if we could land a talent like that, and finishing just out of the playoffs is not going to help that AT ALL. This team is way closer to a rebuild, than to a cup contender in my eyes...

I can't complain with what I've seen because its what I expected. This defense can be totally scrapped as far as I'm concerned.

 

Still the big question remains. where is the elite going to come from? both on offense and defense? for all the moves that have been made so far does anyone see the answer from within?

 

could you somehow shanghai matthews away from toronto, 17 mln a year and losing 4 picks? Is Panarin really that guy, or Stone, or Duschene and Dumba on defense?

 

I'd feel much better about things if I have some clarity on the above.

They don't play that hard, they don't have talent outside of like 4 guys, the coach has done nothing to improve this team. Cody McLeod is still a thing.

 

The goalie is elite.

 

I made this point in the other thread, but is it just coincidence that as soon as Quinn walks through the door Zibanejad, Kreider and Hayes look like different players? That Vesey is having a much better year? That Staal is playing better than he has in a very long time? That Pionk keep making strides? Saying he has done nothing to improve this team is just wrong.

 

You can only polish a turd so much though.

I made this point in the other thread, but is it just coincidence that as soon as Quinn walks through the door Zibanejad, Kreider and Hayes look like different players? That Vesey is having a much better year? That Staal is playing better than he has in a very long time? That Pionk keep making strides? Saying he has done nothing to improve this team is just wrong.

 

You can only polish a turd so much though.

They all look exactly the same as they did after the deadline, except maybe Hayes. The system helps Staal, I guess.

 

So no, it's not coincidence, it just has nothing to do with Quinn.

Kreider, Zibanejad and Vesey look exactly the same?

Ok.

Kreider, Zibanejad and Vesey look exactly the same?

Ok.

As they did after the trade deadline? Absolutely. Kreider's pace is up a bit, but that's got nothing to do with the coach.

 

Pionk, Skjei, Buch, Fast, ADA...these guys are all exactly the same player

there's just s ton of mediocre players up and down this roster that need to go and won't bring much of anything. There's a ton of depth of spare parts.

With the arguable exception of Pionk, none of the younger players, the presumptive nucleus of a future contender, are having breakthrough years. This applies to Andersson, Chytl, Howden, Vesey, Buchnevich, Skjei and DeAngelo. The only players who have brought their games up a grade are veterans: Hayes, Kreider and Staal. No, I'm not writing off the younger guys, but for this season to be a considered a success, at least some of them would have had to clearly establish that they are on trajectories to become top six and top four players on contenders. That simply has not happened.