RangersIn7

I never understood the deal for him. The price they paid to acquire him essentially made it impossible for them not to extend him. You get a rental at that price, you have to keep him long-term. But it isn’t like they needed him. 4th highest scoring team in the league. They were already loaded up front with plenty of offense and depth.

The Hamilton injury hurt them for sure. But before that… they let Graves go and traded Severson and replaced them with 2 kids that are offensive defensemen. All for the purpose of keeping Timo Meier, whom they didn’t really need.

Agree with this Though that likely results in Washington taking penalties and if they do that, the Rangers will kill them. Even matching minors hurts them.

I’m hoping that the building collapses during Canes-Isles

I 100% agree. I wouldnt be running to play the Rangers or for that matter, any other team that finishes 1st in the league in a playoff series ever.

Even in more 1 sided series there are rarely easy games. And the Caps do present some challenges. Nevertheless, they should beat this team and not need many games to do it.

I may be wrong about this, but if it’s anything like baseball, and their analytic stats and metrics, I believe that many sites as well as teams have their own proprietary way of calculating them. Many similarities but some significant differences too. Again… might be wrong.

That’s entirely possible. I just don’t get too hung up on analytics. They fill in a picture, they don’t paint one on their own. My point I guess is that winning or losing a lot of games in gimmick OT or a shootout can be misleading. Look At that Panthers team 2 years ago. They won 16 games in OT and SO. Thats not sustainable in the playoffs when those rules go away.

Talk about the metrics all you want. They were great defensively and in goal… 2nd in the league in GA. But 2nd to last in goals for. They got hot at the right time, Carter was a big addition for them, and they capitalized on the fact that their style of play was conducive to playoff hockey.

Be careful on the loser’s point thing. It’s a good indicator that a team isn’t so good and yes, usually those teams get exposed and go home early. 2011-12 LA Kings went 40-27-15. Lost more games than they won. Eeked into the playoffs as an 8th seed, went on a heater, and won the Cup.

By which you mean…, your Swedish made Penis Enlarger Pump???

Yes And let’s face it… Quinn was fine to hire. But he was a 1st time NHL coach out of college hockey and was a tight guy with discipline and being a hard ass as his tendencies. They needed a guy like Gallant right then as the next coach. It paid dividends. Just not the ultimate one. He won 100 games in 2 years and they went to the ECF. He did well. Just lost the room and wasn’t the ultimate guy for them,

There are no easy games in the league, especially in the playoffs. But yes, they’ll be a heavy favorite no matter who they play, and they should win that series in 5 games tops. If it goes 6 it doesn’t kill you, but it shouldn’t go 6.

Gallant made plenty of mistakes and his style and approach to coaching isn’t conducive to actually win a Cup. But when they hired him, he was the coach they needed at the time.

I think that’s the ceiling too. It’s impossible to quantify but if he had a bunch of PP time this year you’re clearly looking a another 5+ goals and another 15+ points. He’d have been a 30+ goal, 70+ points this year.

I’d prefer Detroit in that we haven’t played a playoff series against them in nearly 75 years. But I’m ok with whoever. Really the most important thing is that they have a shorter series. It really makes things easier if you can play a short series early on.

Yes. It should.

He looks like that kid in HS who took advanced math classes at the local university but got his ass kicked every day

This is no gimme game. But finish this thing fucking strong! LGR!

Yeah. I get that. I’ll say I think Wennberg has been a good addition. I’d like to see more offense from that line more consistently, but I think he’s been very good defensively and was the right add. Less so on Roslovic, but he cost them next to nothing and was low-risk with a pretty decent potential for higher reward. It was a flyer and I can’t blame them for taking it. And the chapter isn’t finished yet with him. As for what they did vs what they could have done at the deadline, who knows? We have only some idea what the asking price was on other guys. Or how they would’ve fit. I look at Guentzel and how that’s worked in Carolina, and what they paid for him and it is a bit confounding. But… Rangers would’ve wanted him to move to RW, where he’s never really played. And I think Pittsburgh wanted a package from us that’s way different than what they got from Carolina. Plus, they had to pull a piece of pretty good quality of their roster to do it. And I think Pittsburgh is pretty high on both Koivunen and Ponomarev who are both prospects that look good and are potentially underrated. Both look like they have a strong chance to be good NHL players. So I think it might be that Pittsburgh ends up getting a good return there But it’s hard to project these things for sure.

They really try to avoid that type of thing now, league wide, in all the cities that have NBA and NHL teams in the same arena. Even in the regular season. It tends to make the ice not so good.

Well I can’t honestly see them treating him as anything but a serious option if he’s cleared and practicing. Your concern about him not having played in 6 months is a valid one though, and one that I share. Still though, I plug him in at RW next to CK and Zib. Hes played up there before in a limited basis (probably too limited IMO) and it’s looked pretty good. Hes the type of player they need I think. Speed and a good shot that isn’t reluctant to use it.

We see it cause we watch them every night. Fans of other teams just look at the standings and the stats and say, damn, I wish my team was at the top of the standings. We’d be saying the same shit about the players you mentioned… or (insert elite player here). MacDavid…Kucherov… doesn’t back check. Doesn’t play D. Makar… Hughes… Oh they turn the puck over too much. It’s cause we see them nightly.

5 goal game for Bedard in their final home game.

If he’s currently medically cleared, and practicing with full contact, he’s likely been symptom free and skating for a while. So it’s a fair shot he’s pretty close