JHS

This is exactly why this group has largely been unsuccessful in the playoffs. If they play against a team who tightens up defensively they can’t get the ugly goal and seem to just never catch a break. It’s a joke if they lost this game but this is a case study in why this group seems to come up short in exactly these kinds of games.

Country club effort tonight from a team that hopefully won’t be playing at their country clubs till end of June.

Trouba is a bad hockey player right now. Like really bad- and if he does not wake up from the comma level effort he’s giving most shifts this team is in big trouble. He looks like a defensive liability out there and he’s anything but an effective defender right now.

What is up with Miller tonight? Outside of that one nice stick he had deflecting Rust’s shot he’s been atrocious. I usually love his game but tonight he’s looked particularly out of it.

He was but expected as a first NHL game guy!

Fox is a hero! What an incredible effort from him tonight! Chad Ruhwedal is terrible! He needs to not play again.

This is such an odd game. Rangers mostly taking this one off which has not been common for this team. Just no spunk, sharpness or even crisp passing.

What a relief both for us as fans but more importantly for him as a player! Lindy is such a warrior if anyone can come back sooner than expected I’d suspect it will be him!

This is very true- when I say he's non existent or invisible I mean it from a point production standpoint-- and for a second overall pick, the expectation is points. He's an infinitely serviceable bottom 6 guy but those are not second overall picks most of the time. That's why I say his value is most heightened by trading him now while some organizations may think he can live up to his second overall status before he proves to everyone that he is not worth taking a flyer on!

He can help them more by not being on the roster and bringing them back a top 6 wing. He’s basically been completely invisible again tonight in the first half of the Florida game tonight. Like he’s done absolutely nothing.

I don't think you are right about your assumption. Here's the thing- I imagine there are several GM's who still believe Kappo has some excuses left for why he has not produced like expected( rookie season, not given a real chance with top 6 forwards...) but now that those excuses are going away he's slowly revealing how bad he is-- so from that standpoint, he may have some value left. If they play him in a top 6 role and he gets maybe 25 points than he's exposed and those GM's who may think he can do something in the top 6 role on their team won't be able to justify taking a chance. The time to trade him is now.

The perspective is he's already had multiple seasons with the team and he *might* get 25 points this year. He's a second overall pick. I get that points are not the only measure of "talent" but there is just nothing about hsi current game that stands out in anyway. The main issue is also as a tradeable commodity, the longer he goes as being essentially useless the lower return we get.

He's developing? What exactly is he doing that indicates he's gotten better at any aspect of the game? He's slower, less impactful and seemingly more invisible each game this season. 3 to 4 goals directly because of his actions is exactly my point around such low standards! The guy is the second overall pick, not some late round pick. Can honestly anyone say that Matt Rempe in the 7 or so games he's played has not been a more impactful player than Kappo Kakko has been all year?? He's had time to develop and he's developed into a highly replaceable winger.

He has less than 25 points( not goals- points) all season. What exactly was he “driving?.” The standards are so low for Kappo that right now if he has meaningful contributions in a game we are all happy.

Kappo has been an anchor on any line he’s played on this season. He literally has made Mica and Kreider look even more useless as 5 on 5 players than usual. Sadly, Kappo is slow, does not engage with the game most nights, has limited offensive threats and it really looks like any glimmers that he’s more than a bottom 6 forward were sadly just that- flash in the pan type moments. He’s got to go and it’s hopefully in the next 10 days( before the deadline.) With that said, Drury can only make this deal if he can get a right winger to replace him so it’s a tough spot. It’s a real shame Kappo has not done anything to take any steps forward. The bigger issue( for him) though is he’s likely the guy out of the young core who is easiest to replace so it’s why he’s likeliest to be dealt this deadline for one of the rentals we all know are being targeted by the Rangers.

Might give up 50 shots on goal to the Islanders…thought Lavi’s system was supposed to cut down on shots- oh that’s right, the players actually have to execute the system.

Can someone just give Kreider a heated blanket for his time in the penalty box? He looks chilly.

It’s time to really be worried about Igor. He really is a sieve. He looks off balance every shot, seems to be very lax, not sure of his compete level- like it’s 100% not what he was last year and certainly not 2 years ago. From a technique standpoint, he’s sliding around way too often and his weight is not over his knees on a lot of shots. You can see that by how much he’s sliding on the ice. If he’s got his weight over his knees he would not be sliding so far in each stop. I’m sure he’s 100% aware of it but he can’t seem to stop this bad habit this year.

Yeah sadly this was almost impossible to watch. Even the so called draw for a million bucks barely made any of the players care and the energy in the building was flat. The events were not great and the ESPN coverage was laughably bad- like embarrassingly so. It’s very likely this will be the last true all star weekend for a real long time with all the schedule changes the NHL announced today and really it’s probably for the better. The old days where the all star game, particularly the skills competition had any real draw are all but done.

Players I won't miss once they are off the team- Kappo Kakko. I had hopes for this guy going into this season but with his injury and just overall terrible point production for a second overall pick, it's time to explore other options. He has limited skill sets, his traits as a hockey player are weak and certainly not developing- he seems to have plateaued to a 3rd/4th line type players. It's not looking good for his future as a Ranger and before he has absolutely no value, it would make sense to package him for a ready to play center or even maybe a top 6 winger.

I'd almost certain that Chytil is likely done as an NHL player. Obviously not a doctor but it's clear he's very likely to continue to suffer from head injuries and I don't imagine he's going to want to continue to take the chance. Classic Rangers-- a young guy finally looks good and he's now probably done as an NHL player.

Igor has been bad- no other way to put it. He’s not making the big save, he’s letting in weak goals, looks mentally weak and the team is not rallying to help him out. Thats concerning as well and indicates either they take him for granted or are really selfish hockey players. Usually teams that know their goalie is struggling try and tighten up simply out of respect for the goalie— that’s not happening here. Im hoping the next week off really re-focuses and re-motivates this team. If not this could be another wasted season.

Yup this is exactly on point. The team has shown very little tendency to do the little things, commit to playing a full 60 minutes and defend first. The biggest culprit is Kreider. The guy coasts around the ice constantly, won’t hit anything, plays as soft as a wet tissue…just really sets the country club tone that seems to be sliding into the team more and more each day!

Real classy response here captain. Is there an ignore feature on this site? You've certainly earned it. 4 points in the past 2 games- Fox is a HUGE problem and I'm glad there are people like you around here to offer such incredible insight into just why hockey decisions should be left to people who actually have a clue.

This thread already not aging well- another multi-point game for Fox!