article: Carp: Rangers Midseason Review

https://theathletic.com/2461455/2021/03/19/rangers-midseason-review-whats-worked-what-hasnt-assessing-mika-zibanejad-david-quinn-the-goalies-more/?source=dailyemail

This New York Rangers season isn’t about — cannot be about — wins, losses and loser points. It isn’t about making the playoffs or even about staying in the race.

 

It’s about development and progress and improvement.

 

This is how the team will be judged. How the season will be judged. How the coaching staff will be judged.

The Good:

 

Coaching: But … Quinn was hired to teach and develop, and he has certainly done that – with a hands-on, person-to-person approach with each player, the likes of which we haven’t seen here in decades.

 

You want to blame him for the slow starts to the careers of Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreni?re? OK. But that’s hardly fair, especially since Kakko has shown so much growth this year. You want to blame him for the Vitali Kravtsov mess last season? I think that’s absurd.

 

Quinn certainly has helped develop Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, Chytil, K’Andre Miller, Igor Shesterkin, Pavel Buchnevich and even the enigmatic Julien Gauthier. You can add in DeAngelo before his self-destruct. Quinn has helped turn Colin Blackwell into an NHL player. There’s a ton of progress right there.

 

You can’t at the same time argue that he had little to do with Fox’s, Lindgren’s and Miller’s success but that Kakko’s and Lafreni?re’s struggles are his fault.

 

Defensive Structure: They’ve seen improvement on the first pair — with Miller making his pro debut alongside Jacob Trouba, who has been miles better without Skjei and in his second season with the team — and on the second and best pair of Fox and Lindgren.

 

By and large, it’s been a grand step in the right direction.

 

PK: Last season, the Rangers fell off the cliff in this department after a decent start. They ended up at 77.4 percent kill efficiency, ranked 23rd. This season, to date, the unit is fourth in the NHL at 85.9 percent. They have killed 65 of the last 72 opposition power plays (90.3 percent) and allowed just 90 shots in those 72 opportunities.

The Bad:

 

Offense: You take away a player who was the hottest in the NHL when it “paused” last season — a player who was scoring on a ridiculous 0.719 goals-per-game rate and had lifted himself into the conversation as one of the elite two-way centers in the game — and what have you got?

 

You also take away one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL in DeAngelo after six games (albeit with just one assist, after going for 15 goals and 53 points in 68 games last season), and those are two mega-weapons missing. For another 11 games, Panarin sat out with an injury and a personal leave of absence, a massive hole in the lineup.

 

Power Play: For all the same reasons, the man-advantage unit has fallen off big-time. The Rangers miss DeAngelo as their quarterback here, for sure. He was the best they had in terms of transporting the puck up ice and entering the zone.

 

Fox has done a better than good job in his place, but without the numbers. He figures to be a great point man in his career.

 

Goaltending:This sure as hell was not foreseen to be an issue. It sure as hell is one.

I'll summarize in gif form

Nice one Carp. You lost me at

The Good:

 

Coaching

I'll summarize in gif form

 

 

To be expected, though. Young, inconsistent, endless drama.

In the first half of the season...

DeAngelo imploded

Chytil hurt

Mika disappeared

Shesterkin hurt...twice?

Panarin threatened by KGB propaganda

Trouba hurt

Multiple COVID cancellations

All on a team with an average age of like 24 and change.

You lose your top 2 centers, your top wing, your top goalie, two of your top defensemen, multiple rhythm breakups - yeah, inconsistency is the name of the game. With most of that resolved, hopefully we can get moving forward.

I also just think the TDL answers some questions around the bottom 6. We desperately need to shit or get off the pot with a few players down in that area (Howden, maybe PDG, maybe Gauthier, maybe even Lemieux)

Kakko is showing so much growth he's pacing even less points than last year's disaster of a season. Well done!

That's the most mystifying thing to me out of everything that has gone on this season, with the exception of Mika. He's been a monster at takeaways, is possessing the puck so much more and is on pace for less points than last season. It's crazy. At least he won't be a -50 this year, so that's good.

To be expected, though. Young, inconsistent, endless drama.

 

In the first half of the season...

 

DeAngelo imploded

Chytil hurt

Mika disappeared

Shesterkin hurt...twice?

Panarin threatened by KGB propaganda

Trouba hurt

Multiple COVID cancellations

 

All on a team with an average age of like 24 and change.

 

You lose your top 2 centers, your top wing, your top goalie, two of your top defensemen, multiple rhythm breakups - yeah, inconsistency is the name of the game. With most of that resolved, hopefully we can get moving forward.

 

I also just think the TDL answers some questions around the bottom 6. We desperately need to shit or get off the pot with a few players down in that area (Howden, maybe PDG, maybe Gauthier, maybe even Lemieux)

I don't think the TDL has an impact here.

Once Kravtsov is playing the 4th line will be anchored with Rooney-Blackwell. Most likely Lemieux on the right for some physicality. I don't think Howden and PDG will be back. I don't think they will walk away from Howden, but he's the 13th forward next year.

Gauthier is a summer move I think. The question there is does Kravstov show enough form them to trade Buch and go Kakko, Krav, Gauthier down the right side next year.

its feels like JD came in and said: 'hey, lets see how the team plays without ADA this season? oh, they doing ok? lets see if we take out Shesty for few weeks. How about if we cut off Zibby's right testicle? How about we'll keep fucking with Kakko by keep putting him on Covid protocol? How about taking out Fox for a while? How about we confuse the shit out of Laf by telling him to play hide and seek? How about we tell Putin to scare the shit out of Panarin? How about we get rid of the coaching staff for few games?" Just keep fucking with them.

a season full of excitement and unpredictability.

its feels like JD came in and said: 'hey, lets see how the team plays without ADA this season? oh, they doing ok? lets see if we take out Shesty for few weeks. How about if we cut off Zibby's right testicle? How about we'll keep fucking with Kakko by keep putting him on Covid protocol? How about taking out Fox for a while? How about we confuse the shit out of Laf by telling him to play hide and seek? How about we tell Putin to scare the shit out of Panarin? How about we get rid of the coaching staff for few games?" Just keep fucking with them.

a season full of excitement and unpredictability.

For sure, but it's not like every other team in the league aren't experiencing similar issues, especially on the Covid front, no camp, etc. The Rangers have a handful of unique ones like Panarin/Putin and ADA, but I don't think they have so many as to excuse what's just not working.

He even mentions that Quinn helped develop Julien Gauthier.

I'd suggest that he's trolling, but there's a reason I dont read the complete garbage this guy puts out.

He even mentions that Quinn helped develop Julien Gauthier.

 

I'd suggest that he's trolling, but there's a reason I dont read the complete garbage this guy puts out.

For real. The PP stinks, as mentioned, but it's had the same personnel for 28 straight games. Is that good coaching?

Gauthier has been benched or scratched more times than not but has specifically been in the press box after scoring goals the game before. Is that good development?

As I said before, the young guys who are doing well were developed outside the organization. Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, K’Andre Miller, and Igor Shesterkin developed in college or overseas or in other organizations before they joined the Rangers roster. Adam Fox's natural skill has nothing to do with David Quinn. He was a stud from the second he joined. Same with Miller. Same with Lindgren. Same with Igor.

None of the 1st rounders, who the Rangers decided across the board they needed to "develop" in the organization have actually played a positive role with the team. I think Laf and Kakko are skilled enough to turn it around. I don't know what Kravstov can offer, but I'm not holding my breath.

Somehow, we didn't do a normal ass predictions thread for 2021, but if we sat here on Jan 10 and said:

"Okay, here's the deal. Mika's going to play like Brett Howden for 24 games. Panarin, Chytil, Shesterkin, Trouba, and ADA will all miss significant time. K'andre Miller is going to play 20 minutes a night from the jump. Jack Johnson and Brendan Smith will feature as two of our six defensemen in more than a handful of games. Pavel Buchnevich will be killing penalties. Five guys who were in our last cuts will play significant time. Colin Blackwell will - at some juncture in the season - be the best player on the team. Brett Howden will not score a goal for half the season, and we're going to play a game without our entire coaching staff because of COVID-19"

...most of us would probably have just fired up Tankathon and started crying about how bad the 2021 draft is.

That we can sit here at NHL .500 and can at least reasonably think about contending for the final playoff spot in our division is actually...pretty okay all things considered. Might be putting a bit of lipstick on the pig, but it's hard to sit here and think things have been smooth sailing and we're just failing.

There isn't much room for error left, but all things considered - inconsistent, rollercoaster season makes sense.

Carp is garbage

This. He's a complete stooge, on his last breath, trying to string out his paycheck as far as he can.

Somehow, we didn't do a normal ass predictions thread for 2021, but if we sat here on Jan 10 and said:

 

"Okay, here's the deal. Mika's going to play like Brett Howden for 24 games. Panarin, Chytil, Shesterkin, Trouba, and ADA will all miss significant time. K'andre Miller is going to play 20 minutes a night from the jump. Jack Johnson and Brendan Smith will feature as two of our six defensemen in more than a handful of games. Pavel Buchnevich will be killing penalties. Five guys who were in our last cuts will play significant time. Colin Blackwell will - at some juncture in the season - be the best player on the team. Brett Howden will not score a goal for half the season, and we're going to play a game without our entire coaching staff because of COVID-19"

 

...most of us would probably have just fired up Tankathon and started crying about how bad the 2021 draft is.

 

That we can sit here at NHL .500 and can at least reasonably think about contending for the final playoff spot in our division is actually...pretty okay all things considered. Might be putting a bit of lipstick on the pig, but it's hard to sit here and think things have been smooth sailing and we're just failing.

 

There isn't much room for error left, but all things considered - inconsistent, rollercoaster season makes sense.

If you go back through, I think the consensus was - we really dont care, as long as the kids are developing (and hope for some exciting hockey along the way).

From mid December

This season has to be treated as another step forward in the process. Last year, outside of Panarin, Fox & Zibanejad, we saw DeAngelo mature, we saw Buchnevich become a more all around player. This season, I think its success if Shesterkin establishes hes a true NHL starter, Trouba regains his game, Lafreneire/Kakko truly adjust to the NHL, and maybe Kravtsov gets his NHL debut (he's going through a growing phase like Buchnevich did last season, really working on the other aspects of the game, not ONLY scoring). Rangers needs to wait to see how these specific guys respond before they can make any [premature] drastic moves. Main focus should be the continued development of these players to prevent low ceilings that we saw established for Andersson, Howden, and maybe Chytil.

If you go back through, I think the consensus was - we really dont care, as long as the kids are developing (and hope for some exciting hockey along the way).

 

From mid December

It kind of feels like somewhere along the line we revised that statement then, doesn't it? Laf has been rough. Kakko's not on the scoresheet near as much as he should be - but he's playing like he knows that. Everyone else we cared about is meeting those goals.

At some point with those two, we probably have to own the reality that they've both got exceptionally talented players they've got to win ice time from in Panarin, Kreider, and Buchnevich. That's a damn hard task.

This. He's a complete stooge, on his last breath, trying to string out his paycheck as far as he can.

For real. The PP stinks, as mentioned, but it's had the same personnel for 28 straight games. Is that good coaching?

 

Gauthier has been benched or scratched more times than not but has specifically been in the press box after scoring goals the game before. Is that good development?

 

As I said before, the young guys who are doing well were developed outside the organization. Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, K’Andre Miller, and Igor Shesterkin developed in college or overseas or in other organizations before they joined the Rangers roster. Adam Fox's natural skill has nothing to do with David Quinn. He was a stud from the second he joined. Same with Miller. Same with Lindgren. Same with Igor.

 

None of the 1st rounders, who the Rangers decided across the board they needed to "develop" in the organization have actually played a positive role with the team. I think Laf and Kakko are skilled enough to turn it around. I don't know what Kravstov can offer, but I'm not holding my breath.

Re Gauthier, if he didn't take a bunch of high stick penalties that directly resulted in Flyer PP goals and a Ranger loss, he wouldn't have gotten scratched after scoring a goal.

The main flaw with your argument is that Quinn has nothing to do with organizational development. Quinn coaches the Rangers, so he has no impact on any prospect's development until they are in the Ranger lineup. If you're blaming Hartford for not developing players that's on Knoblauch.

Also the Rangers very much developed Lindgren. Was Buch not developed by the Rangers? There are plenty of players to list. The argument is that a bunch of 19-21 year olds that all have less than 100 career games played weren't developed because they aren't major contributors is crazy. They are in the beginning/middle of the process.

It kind of feels like somewhere along the line we revised that statement then, doesn't it? Laf has been rough. Kakko's not on the scoresheet near as much as he should be - but he's playing like he knows that. Everyone else we cared about is meeting those goals.

 

At some point with those two, we probably have to own the reality that they've both got exceptionally talented players they've got to win ice time from in Panarin, Kreider, and Buchnevich. That's a damn hard task.

I guess that's for a different discussion with the best approach to develop players. But I can't say that they (kids) havent deserved to play on the top PP unit.

Also, they really need to look to get Kreider to 3rd line minutes, try to keep him healthy - which is going to be more important in the next few seasons. He's due for his seasonal injury.

Good period?

i actually choked on my drink lmao

I guess that's for a different discussion with the best approach to develop players. But I can't say that they (kids) havent deserved to play on the top PP unit.

 

Also, they really need to look to get Kreider to 3rd line minutes, try to keep him healthy - which is going to be more important in the next few seasons. He's due for his seasonal injury.

Possibly, though at this point, our top PP unit looks like they couldn't score with a fistful of hundreds at a whorehouse during the Great Depression, and I do think Kakko's earned at least a passing look there.

Re Gauthier, if he didn't take a bunch of high stick penalties that directly resulted in Flyer PP goals and a Ranger loss, he wouldn't have gotten scratched after scoring a goal.

 

The main flaw with your argument is that Quinn has nothing to do with organizational development. Quinn coaches the Rangers, so he has no impact on any prospect's development until they are in the Ranger lineup. If you're blaming Hartford for not developing players that's on Knoblauch.

 

Also the Rangers very much developed Lindgren. Was Buch not developed by the Rangers? There are plenty of players to list. The argument is that a bunch of 19-21 year olds that all have less than 100 career games played weren't developed because they aren't major contributors is crazy. They are in the beginning/middle of the process.

I think Buchnevich and DeAngelo are the 2 best examples for players Quinn developed. He put them in a position to be successful, and I've given credit to him for it in the past. (but its also frustrating that it took so long, and the same thing is happening to the next set of prospects)

But, (maybe not his fault) again, he was supposed to be this kid whisperer... these guys are in their mid 20s. 1 is gone, and we're about to be to the point where Buch will be gone (because they are still rebuilding because no one else progressed)