gdt: [ECQR] (#2) Rangers @ Carolina Hurricanes // High Noon in Downtown Toronto

The reactions here are overblown. The Rangers generated several high quality chances today and Mrazek stood tall at key times. Howden, Zibanejad robbed in particular. Lundqvist didn't reciprocate. In fact, it was the opposite. First two goals were junk. The Canes didn't earn those. They were given to them.

Rangers were outshot by 10. The best 2 chances the Rangers had, they shot the puck into his glove. Most shots were Callahan weak wristers from bad angles from center ice.

It wasn't a secret why they couldnt not only score, but generate offense.

to be fair Lundqvist was our 3rd best goalie and he should not have played in the playoffs, likely they are just trying to get him to call it quits instead of buying him out.

Also Carolina made like 3 trades to improve their team going into the playoffs, while Rangers weakened themselves by trading away Skjei and Namestnikov, losing Lias Andersson and acquiring only Gauthier.

I'd feel much better if the players that we are supposed to be building around showed up - other than Kakko and Panarin, I didn't see much from Kreider, Buchnevich, Strome, Trouba. If we give it our best and lose to a superior team, I don't have an issue. But when we mail in a playoff game, especially that third period, that's very concerning.

I with you here, nice to see Kakko show more than a pulse for sure, although after such a disappointing rest of the season I'll take a wait and see with him. The rest you mention should absolutely be better they're not rookies, they're supposed to be some of our better/best behind Panarin and Zib. Those guys have brought virtually nothing on top of the plugs in the bottom six and the holes in the D. Throw in Hank and it's a tough watch. As somebody mentioned earlier Strome and ADA should burn the tape of these games going into arbitration if it comes down to that. As a group are they playing with house money, sure but not sure there's a way to spin it other than they've been terrible as a whole and other teams have figured out a way to compete at a much higher level so far. Unless the Canes take their foot off the gas it will probably end tomorrow and rightfully so.

Just can't agree losing Names and Lias hurt anything but their prides. That's a real stretch imo. Not sure what Skjei has done other than set his purse aside to hit Fast, maybe if he would of done more of that here he'd still be a Ranger? I do agree that Gauthier fills a sweater and that's it.

For the sake of conversation I also understand your frustration with Quinn but I think the idea of bringing in Laviolette or anyone else anytime soon isn't a realistic option. I think Quinn's leash is still rather long as in 2 years more min if I had to guess barring an unmitigated disaster.

to be fair Lundqvist was our 3rd best goalie and he should not have played in the playoffs, likely they are just trying to get him to call it quits instead of buying him out.

Or they went with Lundqvist because he has the better historical record when compared to Georgiev and Shesterkin is hurt. Let me emphasize. Shesterkin is hurt. I don't know why there are beliefs about that he isn't just because he's not visibly unwell. Lundqvist is starting because he's really the next best man for the job.

Also Carolina made like 3 trades to improve their team going into the playoffs, while Rangers weakened themselves by trading away Skjei and Namestnikov, losing Lias Andersson and acquiring only Gauthier.

I wouldn't argue that losing Namestnikov or Andersson really affected the team. Andersson isn't an NHL player and Nametnikov is a bottom-six tweener. The Rangers are lacking in secondary scoring and proper defensive replacements for Staal and Smith.

It's just sad to see Hank out there now. EVERY time the opposing team takes a shot on goal I have a pit in my stomach. It's how I felt watching Mike Dunham.

Yes, he made some saves. No, not all the goals were his fault. But there's no denying the team deflated after another bad goal in the first 5 minutes. They fought back in the game and then deflated again by another bad goal 2 minutes into the second period and the game was over.

They never recovered. And maybe the should have. But this is a young team and you just can't have your goalie shit the bed twice and hope the kids will rebound. It's just not gonna happen.

Hank can't play again in the playoffs if they survive beyond tomorrow. He just can't. It's over. He should do the Rangers a favor whenever the "offseason" starts.

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Very encouraged by Kakko's play and I'm hopeful Brendan Lemieux will murder someone tomorrow. Other than that... whatever. If they're done tomorrow I'm not gonna cry about it. Who cares. Hopefully they'll get lucky and snag the #1 pick.

It's not one player. It's the team.

Hank was crap on the goals that went in. But the team can't score. It's not a winning playoff recipe to ask a rookie goalie with 12 games under his belt to try and pitch shutouts so you can win.

Or they went with Lundqvist because he has the better historical record when compared to Georgiev and Shesterkin is hurt. Let me emphasize. Shesterkin is hurt. I don't know why there are beliefs about that he isn't just because he's not visibly unwell. Lundqvist is starting because he's really the next best man for the job.

 

 

 

 

I wouldn't argue that losing Namestnikov or Andersson really affected the team. Andersson isn't an NHL player and Nametnikov is a bottom-six tweener. The Rangers are lacking in secondary scoring and proper defensive replacements for Staal and Smith.

Namestnikov and Lias would have made our bottom 2 lines look much better, Namestnikov is solid all around basically similar to Fast. What was the point of dumping him for some future 4th round pick?

Namestnikov and Lias would have made our bottom 2 lines look much better, Namestnikov is solid all around basically similar to Fast. What was the point of dumping him for some future 4th round pick?

They wanted to dump his $4M in cap space, which was excessive for his role, and it was speculated that he had asked for a new opportunity. Gorton had been attempting to trade him for months.

They wanted to dump his $4M in cap space, which was excessive for his role, and it was speculated that he had asked for a new opportunity. Gorton had been attempting to trade him for months.

Yeah, but why did they trade for him in the 1st place and then why did they sign him to 4 mil for 2 years when they could have easily signed him to 3.5 mil just like they could have easily signed Trouba to 7.5 mil.

Namestnikov requested a trade. They honored it.

ok, but it still weakened the team depth because Di Giuseppe is no Namestnikov.

Yeah, but why did they trade for him in the 1st place and then why did they sign him to 4 mil for 2 years when they could have easily signed him to 3.5 mil just like they could have easily signed Trouba to 7.5 mil.

Who's to say they would have accepted those cap hits? They could've offered it but that doesn't mean either would accept a lower rate. I can't explain why they acquired Namestnikov and then re-signed him to the deal they did. Evidently their pro scouts thought he could continue his success in Tampa only for him to falter. It's not like he wasn't given opportunities to succeed in the top-six in NY, he just never clicked. Namenstikov was an unfortunate swing and miss.

ok, but it still weakened the team depth because Di Giuseppe is no Namestnikov.

Namestnikov costs $4M compared to DiGiuseppe's $700K. You can't afford to pay a bottom-six player $4M when you have money wrapped up in players like Smith, Staal, and Lundqvist who are practically immovable for a myriad of reasons.

I mean, that's fine, but they had been trying to deal him since the prior draft. They finally found a team willing to take him on as an overpaid fourth-line player. Ottawa bit.

Ottawa then got the same exact return for him in another 4th rounder. The Rangers at least got a random body thrown in like Ebert who was successful in Hartford for a while. It's a shame he had injury struggles and is headed back to Europe.

Namestnikov would have been crazy to argue over 500K when he produced on 4 points in 19 games for his new team.

Trouba's contract looked bad from the start, and is not looking good at all now. The guy lacks creativity and looks like a stiff out there. I would be surprised if he ever has another 50 point season. Smart thing to do would be to move his big contract while he has value and while his NMC did not kick in.

Come on now. We aren’t down 2-0 in the series because we don’t have Namestnikov ffs

We can’t beat a journeyman goalie and honestly, we don’t even look close to getting enough quality chances to beat him. He might as well start game 3 of a fucking recliner.

Ottawa then got the same exact return for him in another 4th rounder. The Rangers at least got a random body thrown in like Ebert who was successful in Hartford for a while. It's a shame he had injury struggles and is headed back to Europe.

I assume nobody wanted to pay 3rd rounder for a playoff rental that produced only 4 playoff points in 29 playoff games. But Colorado got a steal for a 4th rounder.

Come on now. We aren?t down 2-0 in the series because we don?t have Namestnikov ffs

 

We can?t beat a journeyman goalie and honestly, we don?t even look close to getting enough quality chances to beat him. He might as well start game 3 of a fucking recliner.

Right. A bunch of shots from the perimeter aren't going to cut it for scoring chances. Carolina closes in on them too fast to be opportunistic in any capacity. That combined with their struggles to get any kind of zone entries is killing any kind of potential offense. You've got to bank on Mrazek giving up a dogshit goal or a can't-miss opportunity like the 5-3.

Come on now. We aren’t down 2-0 in the series because we don’t have Namestnikov ffs

 

We can’t beat a journeyman goalie and honestly, we don’t even look close to getting enough quality chances to beat him. He might as well start game 3 of a fucking recliner.

I wouldn't call Mrazek a journeyman goalie. Our 3rd and 4th lines are pretty much a non-threat, that was the point with Namestnikov as well as I was saying that Carolina improved their roster with trades while we mostly weakened ours.

I assume nobody wanted to pay 3rd rounder for a playoff rental that produced only 4 playoff points in 29 playoff games. But Colorado got a steal for a 4th rounder.

I'd argue they got exactly what they paid for. He's a useful player who can slot up, but he's awfully vanilla and doesn't really produce much offense without significant assistance. I think a 4th rounder is about the going rate for a player of his caliber and like you said, he's had limited postseason success.