Long live the King

13 minutes ago, Pete said:

 

They need to see if he can produce without Panarin before any of this happens. 

 

Evidence suggests he can, but it needs to be tried. 

I don't see a scenario where they break that line up next year and if he approaches 40 goals and a ppg then he's gonna cost $8-9 million a year.  Take the gamble.  Lock him up.

18 minutes ago, RichieNextel305 said:

I wonder if the Rangers look to go a similar route NJ went with Jack Hughes before he truly exploded as far as a contract goes and try to lock him up with a deal that may seem a bit over the top at the time it’s signed but could look like a steak in 2 or 3 years if he maintains this kind of upward trajectory. You’re talking about a kid who’s just 22 who may hit or finish a hair under 30 goals along with maybe 60 points all while receiving no time on the PP. This is who many projected he would be his rookie year. I remember a lot of people saying he was someone who could walk in and be a 60 point guy right out of the gate. We had to wait a tiny bit but hes finally there. No where to go but up. Possibly really up.

I love if they could get him locked up for 8 years in the $7 million range before he scores 40 goals next year.

12 hours ago, siddious said:

What happened with Perrault?

Got ejected for a check to the head.

21 minutes ago, Pete said:

Great question. 

 

I know he doesn't get a lot of power play time, but he's very unimpressive on PP2. That's why I don't buy any argument that he have X many extra points if he got PP time. 

The talent on PP2 is no where near the same.  I don't think it's a stretch to say he'd have 15ish more points if he was on PP1.

It has nothing to do with Cuylle.  Chill out with the conspiracy theories.  Vince quoted Lavi saying he doesn't want anyone sitting for long stretches going into the playoffs and if he could play all 13 of them at the same time he would. We're likely to see Vesey and Goodrow get a game or two off as well.

Look up the article if you want or don't.   Up to you.

1 hour ago, Drew a Penalty said:

 

I can't lie, I've only ever watched him at the WJCs, Perreault is the only college guy I've taken the time to watch in the last year or so. Chmelar was supposed to shoulder more responsibility in Providence but got injured and never found productivity again. There's potential for him to be a bottom-six player because he plays a very North American brand of hockey. He drives the net, works the corners, and doesn't shy away from physicality. I haven't seen him play in over a year so I can't speak to any growth in his game.

This made me instantly think of a future line of Cuylle - Rempe - Chmelar, where Cuylle is the "small guy" at 6'3" 212lbs.

@Keirik hearing Boyle is between the benches:

1 hour ago, Flynn said:

I recently went to Salt Lace City for the first time. No brainer choice for the next expansion team. The Delta Center is great "center city arena , the city was much different  (cooler) than I expected. Great airport that is super convenient.. 

 

Fuck Atlanta- in general. 

The Delta center sucks for hockey, but the state legislature is prepared to spend lots of money for new stadiums,  up to a billion each for a new arena and an MLB stadium.  Come back in 10 years and see how much shit they build to get the olympics.

1 minute ago, Pete said:

Stop it, I'm surprised the Rempe isn't number 6 by now. 

Wennberg should be at least 14.  Will have to wait until Thursday. 

Wennberg needs to be a lot higher, but had to do it.

1. Igor Shesterkin +2

2. Artemi Panarin

3. Vincent Trocheck

4. Chris Kreider

5. Adam Fox 

6. Alexis Lafrenière

7. Mika Zibanejad

8. Jonathan Quick

9. K'Andre Miller 

10. Ryan Lindgren

11. Kaapo Kakko

12. Jimmy Vesey 

13. Braden Schneider

14. Will Cuylle

15. Matt Rempe

16. Erik Gustafsson

17. Alexander Wennberg

18.Jonny Brodzinski

19. Jack Roslovic

20. Barclay Goodrow 

21. Zac Jones

22. Chad 

-----

.959 sv% over the last 7.  .930 over the last 16.

On 3/8/2024 at 1:19 PM, Blue Heaven said:

Maybe they should have traded Zac Jones for a 3rd round pick to regain a draft pick.....WTF are the Rangers going to do with him?  Can't go through waivers.  He doesn't fit, they couldnt trade him for a piece at the deadline.  He's wasting a way here.  

On 3/8/2024 at 3:04 PM, RJWantsTheCup said:

I think Jones is signed for next season. He should’ve never signed a 2 year deal. 

He is signed for next year and should be able to fill Gus' spot just fine.

37 minutes ago, Vodka Drunkenski said:

Shesterkin shutout incoming

23 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

 

246 minutes is more than half of 426 (https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20212022&thruseason=20212022&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=n&team=PIT&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=none&fd=2021-10-12&td=2022-05-01&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8477404&p2=8471675&p3=0&p4=0&p5=0)

 

The fact remains you don't know that Guentzel is a 35-40 goal guy away from Crosby....or Malkin. I'm not touching a comparison of Zibanejad at 5v5 to those guys. Believe what you want on that one. Hard stop for me.

That's 246 minutes over 76 games.  Again that counts random line change time.  The only significant time on another actual line was about 100 minutes with Jeff Carter.

https://frozenpool.dobbersports.com/frozenpool_linecombo.php?select=F&forward=PIT%3A4386%3AJAKE%3AGUENTZEL&games=2021-2022%3AR%3A99&period=ALL&situation=EV

26 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

 

This isn't true, but I should have done more legwork here. More than half of it is from the '21-'22 season when Crosby missed 13 games.

 

Prior to that, Crosby missed 28 games in '19-'20 and that's the last substantial amount of time Guentzel had away from Crosby.

 

 

Different story. However, and it's a big however, if you dig deeper, he just played with another HOF center in Malkin during that stint lol. This guy has been attached to an HOF center basically his whole career. It's a legitimate question how he does with Zibanejad, who by all accounts is not an HOF center.

 

 

It wasn't more than half.  He played just over 100 of the 400 minutes with Jeff Carter.  

All your saying is Guentzel works with good skill players.  As much as you don't want to admit it Zib is good.  Zib is averaging a career high in primary assists per 60, but sure don't put another 40 goal scorer on his line.

1 minute ago, BrooksBurner said:

 

Guentzel away from Crosby is a legitimate fear.

No it's not.  Your "without Crosby" is 2 minutes per game in the middle of line changes.

15 minutes ago, RichieNextel305 said:

Question: with the cap going up and with Goodrow likely being removed from the roster in the off-season, would the Rangers have any chance of at least being in the neighborhood on an extension with Guentzel if they ever were to acquire him?

They'd have to move Kreider or Trouba

9 minutes ago, Pete said:

I don't like the idea of grabbing guys who have spent their whole career with one team. It never works out when they get here. 

Copp was fantastic

2 hours ago, Pete said:

Guys has 80.2 percent D zone starts and was playing with guys who ultimately got waived. Now he's with 2 rooks.

The numbers are bad. But there are reasons.

Plus whatever number of games he played with a broken face.

No one is shitting on Rempe.  Just pointing out that absorbing punches with your face isn't a good strategy for career longevity.  

2 minutes ago, siddious said:

I have no doubt he will be a decent NHL’r. Maybe even a 30-30 guy. But if the right deal

is to be had to help this team win now I’m all

for it. I’m in no rush to move him otherwise. 

They're adding a RW because there's a hole there.  Trading a roster RW to fill that hole doesn't make any sense. 

1 hour ago, Phil said:

 

One player can definitely make a huge difference on either offense or defense, and Kakko clearly makes a significant impact on the defensive side of any line he plays on. That said, I'm still not sold that C doesn't matter. Getting a RW matters a lot, but the game goes through the middle of the ice. In a war of attrition setting (playoffs), I want strong and reliable centers more than I want talented wingers because quality centers make their wingers. That's rarely true the other way around.

 

I also think they have the room to address both issues head-on simply by not getting hypnotized by whoever is most expensive (Tarasenko). As an example, Duclair is much cheaper and his speed alone would do a lot to drag the ZIb/Kreider line into the fight more often. I'm more than content trading lesser quality assets for him than going for broke to reunite with Tarasenko, even though I think he's more talented, because it means there's still room to get a center, too.

To clarify, I don't mean that centers don't matter in general.  I mean that on that line, in the middle of Cuylle and Kakko, Brodzinski is fine.  I don't think adding a Wennberg moves the needle.   Brozinski is at .41 ppg pace in 11:28 per night.  Wennberg is .40 in 18:40 per night.  Brodzinski is much better on draws.  I get that Brodzinski doesn't have the track record, but that's not important when the line runs through Kakko.  He can chip in plenty of points to keep pace just by giving Kakko the puck and collecting rebounds.  

7 minutes ago, Phil said:

 

I mean, it's a small sample size. The third line looks great right now, but I find it hard to buy the idea that a journeyman center with 4 goals and 15 points in nearly 40 games this season can't be upgraded on. So, vote of confidence? Feels like a step too far. That's what the two-year security/term is for.

I used to feel this way too, but honestly, I don't think the C matters much.  Cuylle is gonna Cuylle no matter what.  The difference maker is Kakko.

I was posted that the Rangers 3rd in GA/G (2.45) when Kakko was healthy, and dropped to 21st (3.29) when he was out.  I was told one player doesn't make that big of a difference, but since he's been healthy they are back to 4th (2.47).  On top of that Kakko has the 3rd line scoring just as much as the Trochek line at EV strength.  

RW is a much bigger need.