LeetchFan

Obviousley, I want Kappo to hit it big because I remember Brad Park and Brian Leetch and we haven't had a name draftee that high with his expectations.

I also hope Hank can hold on because I really don't want to have him to be the weak link and possibly benched and then read the Larry Brooks columns about places he could be a quality backup (starter ?) and the salary relief that would come along with it.

Panarin needs to be good because I don't want the City to overwhelm him (doesn't appear to be the case). Hopefully, he doesn't make Mika THAT much better like the first 2 games because we have to re-sign Mika in a year or two and I don't want him being in a position to demand $12 MM a year !!! :D

I?m actually thinking the week off will be good. Get a few practices in and work on defense and breakouts There top line looks scary good. Right up there with any top line in the league. What a trade for Mika how good does that deal look Loving Panarin in the ovi slot. Kids got a cannon

I think many here forget -- or weren't around -- with how solid the Rangers were on defense for most of the 1990's and even the 1980's. You didn't see the breakdowns on defense that we have seen the last few years.

And that's the problem: in the past, Hank could cover up those flaws 75% of the time. In other words, if you had 10-12 games like that, you still had a shot to win the majority of them. Now, I'm not sure.

Be interesting to see what Steve Vallicheck (sp.) shows us with Hank this year vs. previous years with the advanced goaltending metrics. Even a slight drop in reaction time and reflexes can turn an outstanding goalie into an ordinary one. Happpened quickly with Brodeur. Hopefully another 1-2 years before it hits Hank.

Guys....what is up with this schedule for October for the Rangers ? Is this league-wide or just the NYR for some reason ?

Instead of spreading the days off throughout the year, we have 3 games in 17 days or whatever which is ridiculous.

We're kinda fucked if Chytil and Lias both bust.

If they avoid Manny Maholtra status, to me that's OK given the talent elsewhere. It does scare me a bit about the scouting department, because we won't have the opportunity to draft No Doubt About It's like Kappo anytime soon.

I wonder if JD likes those players......hmmmm.

Ruff probably isn't that good, but name the defensive coach who would have turned last year's chicken shit defense into chicken salad. I'll wait. The problem with that roster ? with this roster still ? was composition, not coaching.

I also think we have been a bit too quick the last few years to elevate some of our D-men into Bobby Orr Status based on 1 or 2 years or a decent playoffs: Ryan McDonough, Brendan Smith, Skjei, etc. That said, they shouldn't have done a complete 180 and gone from major plus to major negative.

I hope Quinn gives the pairings -- whichever ones he settles on -- 20-30 games where they aren't touched. We need CONTINUITY to see what these guys can do. Offense is something you can do by yourself, but defense is something you need to know where your partner and the front line is or are going to do to be effective.

Brian Leetch and Jeff Beukaboom were both NOT exceptional defensive players but they were very good because they played together for years and knew each's tendencies.

Based purely on TALENT, would you say the Rangers are a playoff team ? In other words, based on pure talent would you say they should be considered for a playoff berth or even favored to be one of the teams that actually makes it ?

I look at this team and the answer is YES.

I agree a ton with the pre-season analyses: the Rangers need to jell....we need the Defense to communicate better/more with the front line....Skeij is a big question mark....do Hank's "bad" games suddently happen 1 out of 4 nights instead of 1 out of 10 ?.....etc.

But with Panarin, Mika, Trouba, Kappo, Kreider, etc....sorry...this is NOT a talent-deprived team like those under Tom Renny and the post-Jagr clubs or God Forbid the late-1990's/early-2000's clubs. Our 2nd and 3rd-line players have a few years under their belts but they are NOT expected to carry the club. They just have to be OK-to-good. Not spectacular or looking to have a career year or two that sets the goal unrealistically high (like happened with Ryan McDonough).

Quite frankly, I'd be disappointed if we don't make the playoffs (even if we have to trade Kreider, which kills me). I didn't say that the last 2 years.

The chances of Strome becoming part of the core are next to none, but I appreciate that attitude going into the season.

What is this team?!

Is Henrik shaky ? 4 goals....any part of our team look good/shaky ?

How's Kappo look ?

Just in...how we looking ?

SCORE !!!

On Aug. 31, 1995, Pittsburgh traded Luc Robitaille, who had only been a Penguin for one season, along with defender Ulf Samuelsson to New York in exchange for Petr Nedved and Sergei Zubov. The Rangers added snarl on the backend while the Penguins added offensive prowess to theirs. horrible deal and basically done as a result of that physical series (forget the year) where are blue line got man handled by the legion of doom.

Rangers were coming off the Cup hangover and the lockout. Plus a bruising 1st round series vs. Quebec. It was an overreaction by Neil Smith, who started to make bad trades after not making many bad ones leading up to the Cup.

Nedved and Kovalev both couldn't hack it in NY. Hated trading Zubov, don't know why he was included. Ulf was at the end of his career.

Want kreider to stay,it's going to be Awesome on the power p!ay,Panarin skating around and shooting while Chris in front of the creating havoc

We currently have 8,019,391 in projected cap space Lets say Trouba gets 7 Trading Namestnikov gets you 4 regardless of the return. Sending Beleskey down saves you 800kBuying out Smith gets you $3,379,167. essentially we would acquire $970,833 in dead cap spaceThat gives you over 9 Mil to increase Krieder by about 2-2.5 and resign Buch with space left over for other movesThe following year the dead cap space from Gerardi goes down by 2.5 milThe year after that Hank, and Shatty come off the booksThat gives us over 17 to play with for resigning whichever kids we decide to resign and that assume the same cap which is unlikely, it will probably go upI think with a little creativity, we can retain Krieder even with the Panarin contract and still be ok to resign our young kids in the future

Apparently Kreider's value isn't that massive if he wasn't even worth #16 in the draft..or apparently any pick in the 1st round from those interested. Something tells me he signs a reasonable contract, and I'd rather deal with a buyout penalty than lose Kreider for less than he is worth.

I'd rather sign Kreider and get rid of Buchenivich and do a buyout or whatever of a bad contract.

It is going to be a fascinating side-by-side because the first 2 picks are both going to in the largest media market in North America. And playing for 2 teams with a pretty good rivalry.

The differences between them -- one bigger and stronger, the other more ready-to-play but svelte -- adds to the intrigue.

I hope they are both good players. Well, I hope Kakko is great. :D

I sure remember that other heartbreaking SCF in '79....

The Rangers went from NASL Cosmos level interest to on par with the Jets and Mets and Knicks for me.

It's not, but it's in the danger zone given the majority of those style extensions for that style of player. Few work out. Even fewer improve (or more specifically don't dramatically get worse) with age. I like Kreider. A lot. I even wrote about keeping him. I still would, but I think you have to explore the trade market, too, and not just in an "if someone makes you an offer you can't refuse" kind of way. That applies for every player by default. In his case, a fair offer is one you ought to think long and hard about.

Other teams have double-digit $MM players and others right below that. We've got nobody within $3 MM of Hank. Are we getting Panarin and 1 or 2 others ? Kappo/Hughes come cheap, who else we gonna spend it on ?

Kreider is a 50 point player. He gets 5m, period. If he were putting up 40 goals and 10 assists it would be a different story, but he's not. If he doesn't want 5m, he can go get it in Edmonton. I love Kreider but he's a complimentary player.

I say sign him for $6 MM/year. Compared to what deals we signed in the last few years, that's not unreasonable.

But he has never been a 30 goal scorer in 6 seasons and counting. The Rangers shouldn't be about to pay him as such either.

I think it's a bet worth taking on CK, a homegrown talent.

I don't think he'll wilt from the pressure.

Yea. Most GMs.

But he has never been a 30 goal scorer in 6 seasons and counting. The Rangers shouldn't be about to pay him as such either.

Unless we're getting 2 pricey FA's, I'd rather overpay a homegrown talent by $1 MM a year than risk getting a complete bust like in the post-1997 era.

There's a very good chance we can be the worst team in the NHL next year, as well. I'm just not seeing why guys like Panarin or Karlsson would come here after their respective Cup runs.

so you would be ok giving Hayes over 7 mill for six years,and not think this would come back and bite you i the rear end

Are the Rangers paying anybody anytime soon $11 MM that McDavid/Matthews/Tavares get ? Outside of Lundquist (!), who's getting the Really Big Buck$$$ on the NYR in 2019, 2020, or 2021 ?

Probably sign with Boston so he could be close with the Spittin Chiclets dudes

Would they open the vault for a guy like Hayes ? I don't think so.

What I find confusing: the teams with plenty of cap space to give guys like Hayes/Zuke the extra years and bigger AAV are either (1) bad teams (2) small markets. They're not getting that unreal contract from a good team like TB or a rising team like Toronto. Those teams are either paying their own or signing a blue-chipper like Tavares.

I'd love to hear from a hockey agent -- they talk much less than the agents in baseball, football, and basketball -- what their gameplan is for guys like Hayes.

I guess we'll know in a few months. But if he ends up in Arizona for 5 or 6 years @ $7 MM a year, you really have to wonder.