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Rangers Sign Nils Lundkvist to 3-Year ELC; $1.775M AAV


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You can't play three 175 pound D men with this forward group and hope to win anything. They'll certainly look unbeatable at times, and it'll be seductive stuuf, for sure, but when push comes to shove they'll be over matched.

 

The hard choice is picking the guy to go. Lundqvist has a tonne of value, and I would imagine Jones doesn't have much. Tough decisions, for sure, but they need to deal from strength.

 

True but you also dont want to ice Tort's ideal roster of WHL hitmen.

 

Again, you bring in someone with the right mentality, both behind the bench and in the lockerroom. Kravtsov, Kakko, Barron, Chytil, Gauthier, etc have decent size. You learn to use that size, lean on guys, its going to help. Hell, they only have 1 regular under 6'1 not named Panarin.

 

Remember, Brian Boyle was a marshmallow when he came to NY. Fans want him out the first several seasons because he "didnt use his size"

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Do we have examples of teams who ice undersized d corps to begin with? It might just be something that hasn't genuinely been tried, or has been tried and the skillset wasn't good enough.

 

I'm hesitant to use an arbitrary 6' height as some cutoff for what you can win a Cup with.

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Do we have examples of teams who ice undersized d corps to begin with? It might just be something that hasn't genuinely been tried, or has been tried and the skillset wasn't good enough.

 

I'm hesitant to use an arbitrary 6' height as some cutoff for what you can win a Cup with.

 

St Louis has Dunn, Faulk and Krug

Calagary has 1 guy over 6'1 & 200 lbs

Wild probably have the smallest D corps that I can think of off the top of my head

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You can't play three 175 lb defenders with any forward group and hope to win anything. The biggest problem with all this stuff is year-after-year we go through these exercises and fans clamor and clamor to build, in effect, the best regular season roster, and year-after-year, the best regular season rosters get bounced in the playoffs, and the best teams — the clubs with the best balance of skill and strength are who go deepest. Look at the final four this year. Really look at them. Look at their blue lines, especially:

 

The Knights don't have a single defender under 6'1 and their lightest defender is Theordore (195). Their top-four can't be moved. Martinez is 6'1, 209. Pietrangelo is 6'3, 210. McNabb is 6'4, 216. Theodore is 6'2, 195.

 

The Islanders don't one regular defenseman under 6'0 (Andy Greene) and he plays on their third pairing. Their top-four can't be moved. Pelech is 6'3, 205. Pulock is 6'2, 215. Leddy is 6'0, 207. Mayfield is 6'5, 220.

 

The Habs don't have a single defender under 6'0. Their top-four: Chiarot (6'3, 234), Weber (6'4, 229), Kulak (6'1, 192), Edmundson (6'4, 227).

 

The Lightning have no one under 6'1. Their top-four: Hedman (6'6, 241), Rutta (6'3, 204), McDonagh (6'1, 215), Cernak (6'3, 220). Their third pairing is Sergachev (6'3, 216) and Savard (6'2, 233).

 

Notice the trend yet?

 

So...

 

Option 1: Vegas beat Col because Makar and Girard are under 6'.

 

Option 2: Vegas beat Col because Grubauer choked and the Aves got no depth scoring in the series.

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So...

 

Option 1: Vegas beat Col because Makar and Girard are under 6'.

 

Option 2: Vegas beat Col because Grubauer choked and the Aves got no depth scoring in the series.

 

Every Dman on VGK is Canadian, except the one shit head.

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Oh, I like the idea a ton, I'm just not sure it'll actaully work. It's one of those "on paper" things that seems completely logical, but may not be, just like my push to move Kreider to RW (stick to center ice).

 

Your idea? LOL, I said that at the start of the season, when everyone was questioning how to use Lafreniere. I believe Kreider may have started his career on the right. I'd have to look back to when he was first inserted into the lineup.

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True but you also dont want to ice Tort's ideal roster of WHL hitmen.

 

Again, you bring in someone with the right mentality, both behind the bench and in the lockerroom. Kravtsov, Kakko, Barron, Chytil, Gauthier, etc have decent size. You learn to use that size, lean on guys, its going to help. Hell, they only have 1 regular under 6'1 not named Panarin.

 

Remember, Brian Boyle was a marshmallow when he came to NY. Fans want him out the first several seasons because he "didnt use his size"

Yeah and it was Torts that molded him into the player he became. Tort's ideal roster was the Tampa team he won with. It's a complete fallacy that skill players can't play under Torts. In fact Panarin didn't have a problem at all. St. Louis, Vinny, even Nash didn't have problems with Torts.

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Phil's come a long way in 1 month. Maybe its part of his aging process.

 

http://www.blueshirtsbrotherhood.com/showthread.php?23952-Rangers-Sign-Zac-Jones-to-3-Year-ELC-(-832-5K-AAV)-Will-Report-Immediately&p=1061689&highlight=Robertson#post1061689

 

I was saying they're average sized not under-sized. I still want them to be big. I want the whole team to be big. Should I pull up the APT?

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Yeah and it was Torts that molded him into the player he became. Tort's ideal roster was the Tampa team he won with. It's a complete fallacy that skill players can't play under Torts. In fact Panarin didn't have a problem at all. St. Louis, Vinny, even Nash didn't have problems with Torts.

 

His game really came together when Torts was fine, and then fans started appreciating Boyle.

 

I was on an island supporting Boyle during the Tortorella days.

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For starters, the game was nothing like today years ago. The weight training is superior. Players are bigger, faster and are much stronger. There is a difference being 6'2, 197 pounds compared to 5'10, 180 pounds. A huge difference. Again, do some research and look at the height and weight of the defenseman for the teams winning cups. They might have one guy under 6 feet. Fact. Can't be disputed. If you think you are going to win playoff series with 2 or 3 defenseman who are 5'10, 180 pounds, you are living in a world of make believe.
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It's unfortunate for Lundkvist who I have loved as a prospect that Fox was here vs. Rangers fans who are OK with having 2 or 3 smaller defenseman are entitled to your opinion. However, I can assure you that your opinion means absolutely nothing to ownership, Drury, Sather and Messier. Sather is in Dolans ear. Messier basically called the team a bunch of soft pansies and he's right. The idiotic AV thinking will no longer be tolerated here. The Drury promotion stamped that. AV was a clown. All he wanted was puck moving defenseman. He didn't value size on defense. Toughness on defense. Stay at home defenseman to clear the crease. Thus why the team got worse and worse on defense with him as coach. It's also why Gorton gave away Graves for nothing. Those days are over. This team will get bigger, tougher and meaner all over the roster. Bank on it. Especially on defense. Colorado won't be able to protect Graves. So unless they give up a pick to tell Seattle who they want to take, he will be claimed. I personally think this draft is weak. I wouldn't be opposed to acquire Graves and Kadri in a Buchnevich deal, then trading our first rounder to Seattle to dictate to them who they will take.

 

That being said, I think the only player that makes sense in this draft is Tyler Boucher. Big mean, nasty wing that is ranked 36th in the draft. So, if they keep their first rounder, I'd trade back, try to pick up a nasty role player, take this kid later in the first round.

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The Lightning are kind of interesting in that their D are huge, but their forwards are on average kind of really small. Point, Kucherov, Johnson, Gourde - all real small guys. Stamkos and Killorn and Cirelli and Palat aren't exactly huge - heck, even some of the grinders like Gemel Smith and Blake Coleman and Mathieu Joseph are barely league average size. The point is probably less "get giant ass defensemen" and more "get players that are willing to and capable of playing a tough game". The Lightning do this well in that when you've got two of these guys on the ice, you usually have Hedman, or Maroon, or Goodrow - there's always someone on the ice to take the body or just...erase ice room. They just happen to have it on the back-end.

 

I don't particularly care if we have Lundkvist and Jones and Fox if they can basically do what the Red Army teams used to do and completely control play, and that there's always at least someone on the ice who can win board battles/take the body.

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The point is to absolutely get players willing and capable of playing a tough game, but size can't be taught. A 5'10, 175lb player, even with the mentality of a 6'2, 210lb player, is still 5'10, 175lbs.
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http://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?report=bios&reportType=season&seasonFrom=20202021&seasonTo=20202021&gameType=2&position=D&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,30&sort=a_height&page=0&pageSize=50

 

Player Team S/C Pos DOB Birth City S/P Ctry Ntnlty Ht Wt Draft Yr Round Overall 1st Season HOF GP G A P

Matt Grzelcyk BOS L D 1994-01-05 Charlestown MA USA USA 69 174 2012 3 85 20162017 N 37 5 15 20

Jared Spurgeon MIN R D 1989-11-29 Edmonton AB CAN CAN 69 167 2008 6 156 20102011 N 54 7 18 25

Erik Brannstrom OTT L D 1999-09-02 Eksjo -- SWE SWE 69 181 2017 1 15 20182019 N 30 2 11 13

Jacob Bryson BUF L D 1997-11-18 London ON CAN CAN 69 175 2017 4 99 20202021 N 38 1 8 9

Torey Krug STL L D 1991-04-12 Livonia MI USA USA 69 186 -- -- -- 20112012 N 51 2 30 32

Kris Russell EDM L D 1987-05-02 Caroline AB CAN CAN 70 170 2005 3 67 20072008 N 35 0 9 9

Samuel Girard COL L D 1998-05-12 Roberval QC CAN CAN 70 170 2016 2 47 20172018 N 48 5 27 32

Ryan Ellis NSH R D 1991-01-03 Hamilton ON CAN CAN 70 180 2009 1 11 20112012 N 35 5 13 18

Sami Vatanen DAL R D 1991-06-03 Jyv?skyl? -- FIN FIN 70 185 2009 4 106 20122013 N 39 2 4 6

Quinn Hughes VAN L D 1999-10-14 Orlando FL USA USA 70 180 2018 1 7 20182019 N 56 3 38 41

Troy Stecher DET R D 1994-04-07 Richmond BC CAN CAN 70 186 -- -- -- 20162017 N 44 3 8 11

Cale Makar COL R D 1998-10-30 Calgary AB CAN CAN 71 187 2017 1 4 20192020 N 44 8 36 44

Tyson Barrie EDM R D 1991-07-26 Victoria BC CAN CAN 71 197 2009 3 64 20112012 N 56 8 40 48

Connor Clifton BOS R D 1995-04-28 Long Branch NJ USA USA 71 195 2013 5 133 20182019 N 44 1 6 7

Ian Mitchell CHI R D 1999-01-18 St. Albert AB CAN CAN 71 173 2017 2 57 20202021 N 39 3 4 7

Alex Goligoski ARI L D 1985-07-30 Grand Rapids MN USA USA 71 185 2004 2 61 20072008 N 56 3 19 22

Joel Hanley DAL L D 1991-06-08 Keswick ON CAN CAN 71 190 -- -- -- 20152016 N 35 0 8 8

Nikita Nesterov CGY L D 1993-03-28 Chelyabinsk -- RUS RUS 71 191 2011 5 148 20142015 N 38 0 4 4

Adam Boqvist CHI R D 2000-08-15 Falun -- SWE SWE 71 179 2018 1 8 20192020 N 35 2 14 16

Sean Walker LAK R D 1994-11-13 Keswick ON CAN CAN 71 196 -- -- -- 20182019 N 47 5 13 18

Shayne Gostisbehere PHI L D 1993-04-20 Pembroke Pines FL USA USA 71 180 2012 3 78 20142015 N 41 9 11 20

Mario Ferraro SJS L D 1998-09-17 Toronto ON CAN CAN 71 185 2017 2 49 20192020 N 56 1 16 17

Andy Greene NYI L D 1982-10-30 Trenton MI USA USA 71 190 -- -- -- 20062007 N 55 1 4 5

Anton Stralman FLA R D 1986-08-01 Tibro -- SWE SWE 71 186 2005 7 216 20072008 N 38 3 6 9

Adam Fox NYR R D 1998-02-17 Jericho NY USA USA 71 181 2016 3 66 20192020 N 55 5 42 47

Ty Smith NJD L D 2000-03-24 Lloydminster AB CAN CAN 71 175 2018 1 17 20202021 N 48 2 21 23

Dmitry Orlov WSH L D 1991-07-23 Novokuznetsk -- RUS RUS 71 211 2009 2 55 20112012 N 51 8 14 22

Ethan Bear EDM R D 1997-06-26 Regina SK CAN CAN 71 197 2015 5 124 20172018 N 43 2 6 8

Radim Simek SJS L D 1992-09-20 Mlada Boleslav -- CZE CZE 71 200 -- -- -- 20182019 N 40 2 4 6

 

Here's your list of defenseman under 6 feet tall who played at least 30 games this season. That's 29 out of 190. They only made up 15% of the defensemen pool in this criteria. So, with that in mind, no matter which team we pick, playoff or not, we are likely to find that most of the defensemen on a team are 6' or taller...because math. That alone doesn't prove that "you need big boys to win the Cup or have success". There's really several questions here...

 

1) Are most defensemen 6' or taller because the shorter ones get weeded out before the pros?

 

2) Are most defensemen 6' or taller because the game is easier for them due to size advantage?

 

3) Forwards with the same criteria applied were 94 under 6' tall out of 383, which is about a 25% rate (http://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?report=bios&reportType=season&seasonFrom=20202021&seasonTo=20202021&gameType=2&position=F&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,30&sort=a_height&page=0&pageSize=50). This is 10% more than defensemen. So, are there fewer defensemen under 6' tall because they are shifted to forward at a younger age? If yes, is this an engrained mentality (and potentially unproven) that defensemen need to be bigger? If yes, is this a mentality that has not yet been challenged, especially in today's generally softer NHL?

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Or ask this question...

 

How many playoff teams would dump one of their huge dmen and play Fox 20+ minutes a night?

 

Now if Jones is a left handed Fox? If Lundkvist is as good as advertised?

 

Again we're not talking about dmen with average skill that are small and just filling a hole on the 3rd pair. We're talking elite mobile puck movers.

 

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

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Or ask this question...

 

How many playoff teams would dump one of their huge dmen and play Fox 20+ minutes a night?

 

Now if Jones is a left handed Fox? If Lundkvist is as good as advertised?

 

Again we're not talking about dmen with average skill that are small and just filling a hole on the 3rd pair. We're talking elite mobile puck movers.

 

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

Right. Maybe, just maybe, a team hasn't been fortunate enough to have that kind of talent from defensemen under 6' in their system, so it's never actually been legitimately tried. I'm all for finding new ways to win. You don't always have to emulate other teams.

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Jones more likely tops out as a left handed Ian White. Let's get real.

 

We have an unserious NHL roster. Let's get serious.

 

You also once said:

 

How does Adam Fox improve our defense? Especially, next season. He doesn't. Plain and simple. He's going to be a shit show in his own end for his first year or two. How many more undersized pseudo offensive D-men can we run out there and expect us to be competent in our own end?

 

Keep the small defenseman slander coming. The reverse jinx is working.

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Yes, I did not project the Adam Fox trajectory, correctly. Shame. Shame. Shame. I don't think I'm alone, there.

 

To think that we have three Adam Fox's on the roster is plain hubris, and even if it were true, we'd still be smart to move one, as it's an obvious position of strength we need to deal from to address gaping holes all over a forward group that isn't a serious attempt at winning meaningful hockey games.

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Or ask this question...

 

How many playoff teams would dump one of their huge dmen and play Fox 20+ minutes a night?

 

Now if Jones is a left handed Fox? If Lundkvist is as good as advertised?

 

Again we're not talking about dmen with average skill that are small and just filling a hole on the 3rd pair. We're talking elite mobile puck movers.

 

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

Yeah man. These skillsets are a commodity. You wouldn't be asking these guys to punish forwards. If all three had to be on the same roster, the game plan would have to revolve around them and the team would need to pair the accordingly. But I don't see a way that both Jones AND Lundkvist are in the Rangers system past this summer. And if they are, I highly doubt they are both in NY at the same time. They'd be battling eachother for a spot on the Rangers. Handedness be damned.

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Yeah man. These skillsets are a commodity. You wouldn't be asking these guys to punish forwards. If all three had to be on the same roster, the game plan would have to revolve around them and the team would need to pair the accordingly. But I don't see a way that both Jones AND Lundkvist are in the Rangers system past this summer. And if they are, I highly doubt they are both in NY at the same time. They'd be battling eachother for a spot on the Rangers. Handedness be damned.

 

Lindgren - Fox

Jones - Trouba

Miller - Lundkvist

 

Is how you pair size with skill. Would be more ideal if Miller was physical at all.

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Lindgren - Fox

Jones - Trouba

Miller - Lundkvist

 

Is how you pair size with skill. Would be more ideal if Miller was physical at all.

 

Well yeah. Like I said if the 2 of them were here you'd have to pair them accordingly.

 

But if those pairings don't work, you're kinda screwed with one other feasible switch being :

 

Miller- Fox

Lindgren- Lundkvist

 

 

Unless you put Jones with Fox, there are limitations to pairing the size with the skill, which is what we are talking about.

 

It's a tough call and we don't know if a dark horse like Schneider can impress enough in camp to make the decision harder. I think this team has enough offensive weapons that they can afford to deal an offensive Dman. Even if said Dman turns into an NHL regular upon leaving. But they HAVE TO get an impact player in return.

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