MuddyInTheMiddle

We have discussed this before, but I don't think it's fair to speculate on stuff like that(and for instance Nedved being "bullied" by Messier) as none of us were there and are depending on speculation to form opinions. Where I do think it is fair to ding him is on his incapability to recognize that Igor was just straight-up a better goalie. The onus really should have been for Georgiev to raise his game or quietly have his agent request a trade. I know ego can tend to cloud athlete's judgements, but that in essence is the rub.

Great sermon; thank you. I could be totally wrong on this because you never know until you play the games, but not signing a RW who can play in the top 6 is one of those mistakes that is going to continue to have ripple effects since the Buchnevich trade. If you recall, the thought process back then was "we need to clear a spot for Kaako & Lafrenaire to play" which is fine, it was just the execution of how they opened up that spot. Leaving themselves no insurance and not getting anything resembling adequate replacement value for Buch makes that trade a disaster, when you think that they have given up a 1st round, 3rd round, and (3) 4th round picks over the last 3 seasons and are no closer to fixing the issue. It didn't need to be Tarasenko; it could have very easily been Kane, Perron, Drouin, Perry, Duchene, or Arvidsson. All guys who signed for 2 years or less, and would have likely added much more value than Smith at 3.75 million. As mentioned they have plenty of depth on the 3rd line to do what Smith does, and/or they could have augmented that with someone on the open market like Atkinson for less while not surrendering an asset. Saving cap room for next season is an absurd idea if the cost of getting someone to play in that spot was the second year in a contract. Worst case scenario if you don't have cap space to resign Shesterkin, Miller, and Laf, is that you have to move someone out to make room. The point is that you never know how a season is going to pan out and what the variables will be until you get back to this point next season.

You can't resign someone that you buy out for 12 months; it's one of those loopholes in the CBA that prevents teams from being able to "renegotiate" contracts.

Don't follow?

Told you that I was setting myself up for disappointment! Just don't understand the thought process. Looking at the Rangers needs, in what universe is Reilly Smith > Vladamir Tarasenko + 2nd Round pick?

Tarasenko is still unsigned. Am totally setting myself up for a BIG disappointment.

One of his very first moves as President and GM!

I would do that in a NY minute if I thought we could realistically swap them 1 for 1(we can't). To me the issue is just finding someone who can play there the next 2 seasons until the current window officially closes.

The fact that Tarasenko is one of the only "big ticket" free agents left along with the reports that the Rangers were interested gives me optimism that Drury is still trying to move things around to make this work. Am I setting myself up for disappointment?

Almost as good as Tarasenko; right?

If the plan is really to swap out Kaako through a trade and bring in a Tarasenko(something similar, but I'm not really sure who is left); I'm not a fan of this move. Given the cap gymnastics involved, I think Kaako @ 2.4 million > Smith @ 3.75 million in that we are still going to need to replace that 3rd line RW next season. I get the whole "win now" mentality, I just don't see it as that much of an upgrade. If Kaako flops this season than we have a dependable 3rd line RW under cost control; if he comes close to realizing his potential and we can't resign him, he is easy enough to flip for assets as he will still be RFA after this season.

Given the way that the musical chairs has played out, I would get this done. Hoping that the Reilly Smith acquisition doesn't put this out of reach. We simply just cannot go into the season with a Kaako/Smith platoon for first line RW.

Anyone have thoughts on Tarasenko redux? I would do 2 years at 5.5 million w/o blinking; wonder if he is worth more on the open market?

Crazy to think that Boo Nieves is giving my kid private lessons 5 years removed from playing for the Rangers.

Despite his awful regular season production last year, Goodrow has had 4-5 20+ point season over his career; Carrick has never had one.