Br4d

Moving on would be a mistake. Having Lafreniere at the heart of a great trade would not. I don't think either is in the offing but I could see a Lafreniere departure going either way depending on how he was valued by the other side in the trade.

You gotta be pretty good to have 7 teams want you at some point.

GG gets another few games for the players to sort it out.

So easy. Get the puck and shoot it.

The marriage of Kreider and Zibanejad probably has to be broken up. It's time. Marry Panarin and Zibanejad instead and give them the best possible RW (probably Kakko). Line 2 is Kreider-Chytil-Lafreniere. Line 3 is (call up a kid) - Trocheck - Gauthier. Line 4 is Blais - Goodrow - Vesey Top 3 lines all have some energy at the same time for the first time all season. The Rangers aren't going to fix what's wrong by recycling the same ideas they have been using for the last two seasons. Time to find some new ideas.

It's looking a lot like the Rangers as currently constructed are a bubble playoff team. They might make it or they might not but they're clearly not one of the top 10 teams that you expect to make it. Last year we got very lucky and looked dominant at times. This year we're getting very unlucky and look slapstick at times. That's just how luck goes from year to year, extremes in one direction are matched with extremes in the other. The answer probably does not come at the trade deadline. The answer likely comes when young talent from below displaces the talent that is on the roster. Again, that's just how the NHL works. Hopefully Othman or Cuylle are the real deal and the Rangers are flying high when they get promoted - likely in the next administration.

For the team or for psychologists?

The young guys. The kids. Which of them looks like they're living up to the billing? Chytil is as close as you get and he's the guy who is always on the third line. The vets. The stars. Which of them looks like they are fully living up to the billing? Fox. Maybe Mika, although he hasn't done much at 5v5. The rest of them are just gliding through the season looking like pale copies of themselves. Panarin? He's the problem on the team. He's soft and he skates around with the puck and he makes too many passes that should be shots instead. Kind of like a mirror of the team as a whole. Kreider? He's fine but nothing he does stands out. Fastest man on the ice with a linemate who looks to feed him. How many breakaways? Best guy on the team at the edge of the crease. How many deflections this year? How many rebounds turned into a hard chance? It's like watching this whole team sleep-skating through the season. Yeah, I didn't mention Trouba because he's obviously injured and has been for the entire season. Always had a questionable set of legs but he made up for it with outstanding upper body work on the opponent. Not this year.

Love the thread title. Not going to love the game is my guess.

The point of a coaching change would be to get fresh eyes on underperforming talent. You're not going to get a new system installed smoothly in the middle of the season. Some of the players won't be fits and others won't fully buy in until they see it working and it's likely just to be a grindy two months for everybody after the change. The problems the Rangers have right now are pretty simple and they had most of them last season as well. 1. They don't defend well in front of the net. There's always somebody hanging in front of the net and when a loose puck happens there we get a nasty surprise. Why are the Rangers big defensemen paired? I get that K'Andre Miller doesn't play to his size in terms of bodywork but the answer there is to pair him with Fox and coach him into playing more physically in front of the net. 2. They don't take quick shots when they penetrate. They're always looking to make the next pass in a never-ending sequence. It's been a shocker lately when Panarin actually took a few shots on the rush because he's the guy everybody else is looking to emulate when they do the pass-pass-pass thing. 3. They don't take enough shots from the point. These are low percentage shots but every even strength shot is a low percentage shot for the Rangers the last couple of years. 4. They don't establish a presence at the edge of the crease often enough. This is because guys are running around looking to make or take another third pass too often in even strength. This is probably also why the point shots aren't coming - hard to justify making the shot when there are no screens and nobody there to manage a rebound if it happens. 5. For some reason despite being one of the better 5v5 goal scorers on the team Lafreniere is still having to fight for ice time. I mean what is up with that? Yeah he is slumping this season but it's the second season in a row that he's been mostly in a secondary role. How the fuck can you justify putting Jimmy Vesey on line 1 even temporarily while Lafreniere is on line 3? If GG is looking for the players to sort all of this out he's certainly making some head-scratching decisions along the way.

To make this happen either Panarin or Kreider needs to move to RW. I think we saw this some the last couple of games.

GG may have a mental stop going at this point. He's formed really strong opinions about a few of the players that prevents him from really shaking things up. If he's decided that Kreider and Zibanejad have to play together then that decision informs any shakeup he makes in the top 6. Similarly if he has decided that Fox and Lindgren complement each other very well that causes him to maybe overlook necessary shakeups on the blueline.

Nah, he's too old and wouldn't move the needle on the ice. Well, now that I think about it he definitely would have a pulse on every shift and that's more than you can say for half the top 6 these days.

Rangers now multiple games out of playoff position. I'm worried.

WTF... It's like the Rangers went into sleep mode there. Can't lose this game after being up 3-0.

Yes. Laffy would get to play with 2 of the Rangers 3 best skaters in compensation for playing off-position at RW.

I might wonder why the kid line is not moved up to 2nd line in that lineup. Vesey - Trocheck - Goodrow lines up pretty well as the third line.

Break up Kreider and Zibanejad. You almost have to do this at this point because it sets a lot of wheels in motion elsewhere in the lineup. Why are Panarin and Zibanejad not playing together given their evident synergy on the PP? Shouldn't the most valuable young prospect on the team get a shot with the two best players on the roster? That would be Panarin - Zibanejad - Lafreniere with Laffy getting compensated in a big way for having to move to RW.

100%. 7 goals in 6 games will get you to 0-6 pretty easily.

Miller's not the problem. His partner is the problem right now.

There's too much talent to be doing this every other night. GG needs to shake things up some. Panarin - Zibanejad - Lafreniere. Kreider - Trocheck - Kakko Blais - Chytil - Kravtsov/Gauthier Vesey -Carpenter - Goodrow

Bleah.

Panarin - Zibanejad should be a thing moving forward. Maybe put Lafreniere on the RW there and count on him getting chances with the other two.

The Ducks have 111 pts. Just saying... Oh and just to add the way things have been going this season this is a 3-1 loss with the Ducks getting a late empty-netter after the Rangers score 1 goal on 48 shots in the first 59:51.

Something is wrong with the chemistry on this team. There's a passivity when the top 6 are out there that is hard to fathom. I really would prefer the kid line was mostly in the top 6 on other lines but man they look like the only line with a pulse at times.