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The Rangers' Season Hinges on Success of Chytil, Howden, and Andersson


ThirtyONE

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At this stage, it's hard to identify a lot of fundamental limitations in the kid. Rather than speculating on what they might be, I'm more inclined to think of Kakko as an exceptional piece of wood or clay. How do you carve or sculpt it to best fit the long term needs of the team. Happy to go slow and let him get his bearings, but that end product ought to be in mind. We have an elite playmaking wing for a long time; perhaps two as Kravtsov matures. A bigger marginal benefit looks to me like legit center depth.

The bolded is the thinking that I don't agree with. That type of thinking shoehorns players into roles that limits their ceilings. The overall roster fit for a guy who is 18 should be secondary to development.

 

I'd rather have to go out and find another center than limit Kakko's upside by molding him into a center.

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While true, we're already transitioning two wings to center in Chytil and Andersson.

 

I think Kakko can get a few cracks at center toward the end of the year to get a sense for whether it'd be a thing or not, but I'd probably not bank on it. He just looks the part of a wing to me.

While most of the time we've seen him he's been a winger... So it makes sense that he looks like a wing.

 

I see no harm at all in trying him out at center and see how he looks there as well.

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The bolded is the thinking that I don't agree with. That type of thinking shoehorns players into roles that limits their ceilings. The overall roster fit for a guy who is 18 should be secondary to development.

 

I'd rather have to go out and find another center than limit Kakko's upside by molding him into a center.

This only comes out of a sense that putting him in a more pivotal (ha) position could raise rather than lower his ceiling, giving the Rangers basic strength down the middle for as fast the eye can see. The question is for the coaches to assess, but it would be crazy not to put it on the table.

 

Sent from my SM-G970U using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

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This only comes out of a sense that putting him in a more pivotal (ha) position could raise rather than lower his ceiling, giving the Rangers basic strength down the middle for as fast the eye can see. The question is for the coaches to assess, but it would be crazy not to put it on the table.

 

Sent from my SM-G970U using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

Yea, I'm not saying they shouldn't give him a look at some point, but I don't think the overall roster construction should really influence where Kakko plays. If he's an elite W but just a good C, leave him on the wing and build around him.

 

For instance, I'd rather have him be Patrick Kane than Sean Couturier even if Couturier fills a more obvious hole on the roster.

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Tell me why this is a bad idea. I think Kaako should move to center. He is the closest to a sure thing that we've ever had. He has all the attributes of a quality C. He is 8 years younger than Zibanejad, with plenty of time to grow into the position. Shouldn't the best player be groomed to be the eventual 1C, the most important position?

 

Sent from my SM-G970U using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

 

Would not be out of the realm of possibility that Kakko or Kravstov or both could someday very soon play center.

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While most of the time we've seen him he's been a winger... So it makes sense that he looks like a wing.

 

I see no harm at all in trying him out at center and see how he looks there as well.

 

I agree that there's no harm in trying. I wouldn't want to see us force it at the expense of letting the best parts of his game become truly elite.

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i wouldn't mind a good effort missing the playoffs and being in the top 10 of next years draft which is pretty damn deep from what the reporting says.

I don't quite agree. The goal of every game is to try to win, but if they don't win and the kids develop, then that's OK.

I'd be perfectly happy hovering around the .500 mark for the season with a lot of competitive one goal losses. I want one more year of high quality draft picks to cement this process.

Once you're in the O zone, it's all the same. Major difference is D zone coverage.

Bingo

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I don't really agree with the premise that the success of the Rangers relies on young players this season.

 

The goal of this season is learning and development.

 

It always starts with the goaltender. Right now I think we are weak in goal, Henrik is old and we don't know what Georgiev is in terms of a day to day player. Also noticed in PS our defense still sucks. Can we please say goodbye to Mark Stahl already?

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