Ranger Lothbrok

Ah okay. I value your opinion on prospects so when you said that I got kind of depressed lol. I hate watching NJ get better, and my understanding was, if anything, Hughes and Kakko were 1a and 1b.

Hughes is that much better?

Still annoyed Devils got Hughes.

Put me in the category of people that could go either way on this. On the one hand, I think he's finally coming in to his own and could be dangerous with Zib for several years. You can't expect to be competitive, which we want to be regardless of the rebuild, and then trade one of your only sure things and a leader on this team. On the other hand, if a trade in to the top 5, or even the top 10, to nab one of those big time centers, I think we need that way more than we need another winger who's going to be very costly. Also, he's likely going to command $7 mil on the market and I'd rather be spending that on anything other than "bridge deals" for our younger players.

This post wins the thread. Well done.

I actually really like the Pavelski idea. I think he solves a few issues down the middle, especially given the Kevin Hayes departure. That said, obviously can't do him AND Panarin unless Kreider and/or Shatty are gone. Side note: I've been looking at this thread for months now and never thought to ask: what the heck does the title mean?

What's interesting to me is that we went from having NO future on defense other than Brady Skjei to almost definitely having a bright, bright future on defense in only a year. Like, Trouba/Skjei/DeAngelo/Fox are basically locks. Beyond that, however, now there's Hajek, Keane, Miller, Lundkvist and Reunanen. One way or another, we have a definite top 6 for the next decade.

Consolation prize for Trouba.

What a bold, incredibly vague statement from TSN. Likely not done yet? I could've made that prediction.

I thought this had to be a joke. Other teams get these deals, not us (e.g., Hall for Larsson). Gorton is fighting decades of destruction in a few short years. Amazing, amazing trade. One of the best we've ever made to be honest.

I'll never understand why 6'6" Marek Malik didn't just pin the puck along the boards instead of clearing it to the front of his own net with seconds left on the clock. Maybe I'm misremembering things, but I have this image in my head of a Gretzky like pass from behind the net right on to Drury's stick.

Truthfully I don't know if he has the patience (or strength) for that. Guy is a competitor. It would probably drive him nuts.

Petr Prucha wanted me to tell you that he resents this post.

I really, really hope so.

I don't know why, but for some reason I just had the strangest suspicion that Kakko will be playing with Lias Andersson next year and Lias will take a big step forward.

Still bitter about missing out on Hughes, and even more bitter that NJ gets him.

This guy is an interesting one to watch. We didn't hear much about him initially but he seemingly turned a corner this season and started racking up points. I think TwoMinutesForNothing (as usual) did a write-up regarding his stats and other players to have done what he's been doing in the Reunanen thread in the Farm System section of the Board. I genuinely have no idea what we have on our hands with this guy, but I'm excited to find out. Sounds like he deserves way more buzz than he's been getting.

We were watching the game at our old place in Brooklyn before we moved to NJ. I distinctly remember my father's face when the Zelepukin goal happened. I also remember my uncle just matter-of-factly saying, "there it is. The curse is still alive." My dad spent the rest of the game cleaning the bathrooms in the house. Odd reaction to nerves. To this day, "time to clean the bathroom" is a reference in our family whenever something goes wrong in the playoffs. He didn't come out until he heard us all yelling when Matteau scored. I remember I had gotten a little stuffed bunny toy for Easter that year that we had affectionately named Zubov. He became a good luck charm, and everyone in the family would take turns shaking Zubov at the screen (he's still around FYI and comes out for big playoff games, I've posted his picture on here before). My mom needed to stitch him after this game. Just as I remember the negative emotions following the Zelepukin goal, I remember the elation when the clock struck 0 in Game 7 vs Vancouver. Somehow my dad managed to scoop up me, my brother and my sister in his arms at the same time and we spun around the room until he fell over. We wouldn't find out until about two weeks later that he fractured his tailbone in that fall lol. Up until the day he passed away, even when it would hurt like hell during bad/cold weather, he always said, "it was worth it." I'm jealous of those of you who got to be there, but I'm also sure it shaved 10 years off your life. Nostalgia aside, I wish we still didn't have to milk 1994 for glory still today. I hope we get to make more memories sometime soon.

Damn....was hoping the combine would be his chance to sell NJ on him.

Agree with this. What held our 2012 Torts team back was the lack of star power. We could win games 1-0 with our eyes closed, but God help us if we were down by 1 goal in the third period. There was nobody to look to on the bench that could get you that big goal in the clutch. An Edmonton team though, that commits to defense as a team but with all that talent up front, could be lethal. Granted, defense as a team isn't easy without the right players (yes, you DO need the Brandon Prusts of the world), but some minor lower line tweaks with Torts' input would do wonders. Their defense would still be trash though.

I'm still annoyed that even when we get obscenely lucky for literally the first time in organization history by winning the lottery, it still has to be soured by our rivals handing us their sloppy seconds. I've been praying since I first saw Jack Hughes' name that somehow, some way, he would end up in a Rangers jersey. It was just so perfect with us sucking, us needing a center, and him being an American. Would've been the perfect narrative. Now I get to watch him play for the Devils. God dammit.

It's not so much the goals as it is the playing ability. Whether or not Finland hasn't brought a bunch of NHLers to the tournament, Kakko is still playing against NHL-caliber players and some of his plays have just been downright dominant. The puck protection, the skating (which is deceptively good, I know it's one of the only knocks on him but he's faster than scouting reports would lead you to believe), the hands, the vision, etc. Even if he hadn't buried any of his chances, that alone would have people on here salivating. I won't mince words though: Jack Hughes is still the unquestioned #1 on all rankings for a reason. Devils ain't passing on him. The real question is: if by some miracle they do pass on him, are we willing to move Kreider to trade up for Caufield?

I keep telling myself that there's no way they go off the board with this pick, but it's just so hard to tell with this team.

Gotta love that competitive fire. He doesn't care about being in NY, he wants to be the best.

I do wonder if people would still be all about Kakko if we had the 1st overall pick. Like I wonder as to the extent to which the likelihood of getting him impacts folks' opinions. Anyone still taking Kakko if we were picking 1st overall?