Br4d

If the Rangers lose this game GG should draw lines out of a hat tomorrow night to try to shake things up.

Panarin just threw a shoulder. He must be really frustrated.

Home fans are watching their team get pushed around and the Rangers fans are watching this again.

The way the Rangers are playing tonight is like the way the Russians played in the quarters game in the 80 Olympics. Quality chance after quality chance turns into nothing as they miss the net or the goalie stops it. They're dominating the ice but can't put the puck in the net for their life. Hope it goes the other way this time.

This is the most dangerous PP unit that can't hit the net for their lives.

Post! Post! Crossbar! I'm ready to sacrifice a bag full of chickens right about now!

This game should be 3-0 Rangers right now. The 5v5 play has looked like the worst powerplay in the NHL all game long for the Rangers.

I felt like last year's team wanted to win every game 3-2. This year we want to lose every game 3-2 but oops! we just scored 8 goals... Now how does that happen?

This team has been assembled just to torture me.

How is Panarin -9 with 21 points in 16 games? Something is totally not clicking here.

The problem with the Rangers right now is that they're a construct of two different GM's and the cap got squeezed in the transition. They don't have good consistency up front because too many guys are drafts of the last regime and unfortunately they don't meld particularly well with the big contract decisions that regime made. Lots of talent up front but it is a loose amalgamation that does not gel into a stronger whole. The defense has a ton of talent but it is your typical assemblage of Ranger blueline talent, better in the offensive zone and transition than in front of their own net. Overall the cap is unbalanced left to right and back to front. Changing coaches here would likely just lead to a GM change in the near future and who wants to go through that again?

GG's not getting the heave-ho this season. What happens if they make a move and nothing changes? The build is all screwed up is what happens and Drury is on thin ice.

This is a really dangerous game for the Rangers. A loss here would be 3 in a row and would put the Rangers solidly in 3rd place in the metro area. It might seem like a temporary setback but what we've seen out of the Rangers this year suggests it would carry forward for awhile.

I like Panarin-Zibanejad together. If they're keeping Lafreniere at RW I would prefer him on that line.

Lindgren also has some real trade value. I wouldn't be that surprised to see him go in a deadline deal if the defense is healthy and the Rangers need to clear some cap to make the deal work. It's not like you want to trade a player like him because he's young and relatively affordable on the cap and also productive. However the Rangers have Fox and Trouba signed to deals and they are going to want to sign K'Andre Miller to at least a good bridge deal this off-season. They also have several decent young defensemen behind the big 4. Lindgren may go just because he clears a bit of cap space and he's affordable for the trade partner and also a valuable asset in the trade.

Let's assume that Lafreniere and Kakko are doing well at the deadline. Further assumption Lafreniere is doing well but might be doing better on his normal side. The promotion to the second line has stepped up his game but LW looks like his natural spot, which it is. The defense looks very deep and talented and is among the youngest in the NHL. The Rangers could make a trade for Kane with retention, giving up somebody like Lindgren with picks attached to clear further space. They could also trade Braden Schneider with more picks attached but that wouldn't free up as much cap space. Then they keep playing Lafreniere at RW for the playoff push and into the playoffs with 3 good lines running: Kreider - Zibanejad - Kakko Panarin - Trocheck - Lafreniere Best LW - Chytil - Kane Then in the offseason they swap Kreider to Boston for picks and move Lafreniere back to LW but on the top line with Zibanajad and Kakko. Panarin - Trocheck - Kane is line two. Othman - Chytil - Best RW is line three. The moves of Lindgren and Kreider give the Rangers the cap space they need to keep Kane and two current Rangers imbalances (LW/RW and D/F) are at least partially resolved in the sequence. The move of Kreider is a tough one but we send him home lessening that impact both to team and player. We get back picks from the Bruins because they have a need at LW similar to the one we have at RW right now and Kreider is both a hometown hero and a very good LW.

I thought the Rangers mostly played well. The game reminded me of a bunch of games from last season with the Jets standing in for the Rangers and Helly standing in for Igor.

Alright time for some anger management classes. This is the modern NHL right?

Holy f*ck that was a monster goal by Kakko!

Ok, now Tro feels like he's in the bunch.

Rangers look good. Very few mistakes outside the penalties.

Zib is a top 5 2-way C and he has been since last season. Does everything very well.

BTW, Panarin doesn't like playing with Kakko because a great pass just turns into a pass back to him? Just wondering.

Get the high picks in the top 6! It's not like you have 5 years to develop these guys in the NHL.

Give Lafreniere to Zib-Kreider and give Kakko to Panarin-Trocheck. That gives the Rangers a good chance of having a very strong top 6. The rest of the forwards all fit in the bottom 6 somewhere and likely productive in those slots.