Watching Preseason to Evaluate Talent: Who Stands Out?

[LindG1000]

When the hell are cuts? I don’t remember the roster being this big for this long.

 

I feel like I read somewhere that we're going to carry the current roster through the Flyers game.

[josh]

I feel like I read somewhere that we're going to carry the current roster through the Flyers game.

 

They mentioned it during the pregame, but said they were guessing. 3 games in 4 nights, probably want to keep bodies in camp/available

[RodrigueGabriel]

I mostly agree with you Eddie, but I think we painted ourselves into a corner with the trade for McQuaid. It would be a massive surprise if it isn’t Skjei, Shatty, Smith, Staal, AdA and McQuaid out of camp. Pionk or Claesson as the extra guy. They’ll pass it off as big minutes in Hartford being good for him. Which is kind of true, even though I don’t necessarily agree with the decision.

 

Quinn said last night that they could go with 8 D-men and 13 forwards (as opposed to 7 and 14). That keeps both Pionk and Claesson in the NHL, but potentially ices out a kid forward like Lettieri, Howden, Nieves, etc. It would seem that the blue line problem is a little more pressing, so it wouldn't shock me if Quinn leans that way.

[Puck Head]

They pay too much attention to name brands. They see Staal, Smith, Shatty and they're like "must be OK..."

 

Was my initial reaction. We still have a few ?names? on the blue line

 

 

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[Giacomin]

I mostly agree with you Eddie, but I think we painted ourselves into a corner with the trade for McQuaid. It would be a massive surprise if it isn’t Skjei, Shatty, Smith, Staal, AdA and McQuaid out of camp. Pionk or Claesson as the extra guy. They’ll pass it off as big minutes in Hartford being good for him. Which is kind of true, even though I don’t necessarily agree with the decision.

 

Yeah, in June/July I was saying let's get Howden and Hajek some AHL burn and not rush em. Yet Gorton went public that if a kid like Howden or Hajek earns it they'll make room. Now that Hajek earned it (so far) what are they really gonna do? You're right, the easy solution is to start him at Hartford, sort out the D for a month or so and bring him up. Unless Hajek puts up points in the next game or two, he may be Hartford bound.

 

Rodrigue, none of those forwards forced their way into the lineup. What's Bellesky's injury, thought he might be the 13th forward. I agree, we may carry 8 Dmen since we are not trying to save cap space. Vets like Claesson and McQuaid could easily shuffle in and out and don't need to be in the top 6.

[CBrowningPI]

This is off topic but I thought Zibenijad looked better than I remember seeing him. He was skating faster and harder. I loved the open ice hit and his pass to Kreider couldn't have been better. Then he topped off the goal with a little bobble head celebration with Kreider. Did anyone else notice his improvement/confidence level? You never know, we may have a true 1st line after all.

 

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[AliveIn94]

I think Zibs Kreids and Buch all have that potential but we will see...

 

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[Stephen]

This is off topic but I thought Zibenijad looked better than I remember seeing him. He was skating faster and harder. I loved the open ice hit and his pass to Kreider couldn't have been better. Then he topped off the goal with a little bobble head celebration with Kreider. Did anyone else notice his improvement/confidence level? You never know, we may have a true 1st line after all.

 

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Zibanejad is the type of player we can build a team around. If we can give him the pieces to succeed at the player level and as turning this team into a playoff contender in the next five years

[Stephen]

I think Zibs Kreids and Buch all have that potential but we will see...

 

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We will see what they will be able to do this season

[josh]

They pay too much attention to name brands. They see Staal, Smith, Shatty and they're like "must be OK..."

 

We are completely fucked for the next 3 seasons.

[Gravesy]

Zibanejad is the type of player we can build a team around. If we can give him the pieces to succeed at the player level and as turning this team into a playoff contender in the next five years

I like Zib, but he isn’t anywhere near good enough to be a 1C on a contending team.

[TwoMinutesForNothing]

We've never had a center good enough to be a 1C on a contending team in recent years and were still contending. Zib is easily the best center we've had.

 

I'm sorry but I still don't see how this team doesn't contend. With Chytil as the 3C we have really good center depth, better than we have had in years. We have good offensive wingers in Kreider, Buch, and Zuc. We have shutdown defensive forwards, including at top shutdown center in Hayes. We have excellent PKer's and very good PP QB's. This team was supposed to compete last season and everyone had those expectations going in. Now what? We lose Nash and the hope is gone. We are a better team. McD was not even very good last season. Our D is fine as is. It has so much depth that a guy like McQuaid might not even crack the top 6. I know I'm in the minority, but I think we'll be right in the mix up until the deadline when we will add Panarin and give us the last top 6 forward we are missing to try to make a run at it.

 

The biggest x-factors are DeAngelo and Hajek playing like top 4 Dmen and Chytil contributing on offense. I know Hajek may not even be here to start, but it won't be long before he forces their hand. I just have high hopes for them. If young kids step up and play well then this team will be better than some of our recent playoff teams. There's no way to predict what the kids will do right now. I'm an optimist I guess. I like the new system and I like the new approach of being relentless. They didn't stop being talented under AV, they just started being lazy. That won't be tolerated this year.

[Vodka Drunkenski]

You forgot to mention the biggest factor against your argument, Hank is no longer good enough to cover up all the mistakes.

 

What do you mean contend? For the 8th spot or a cup? I hear contend and I automatically assume cup so please clarify.

[TwoMinutesForNothing]

You forgot to mention the biggest factor against your argument, Hank is no longer good enough to cover up all the mistakes.

 

What do you mean contend? For the 8th spot or a cup? I hear contend and I automatically assume cup so please clarify.

 

Don't know what Hank is after playing in that disaster of a defensive system and with that mess of a defense in front of him. He also clashed with AV and was openly frustrated.

 

By contend I mean for a 5-8 spot up until the deadline, when adding Panarin and maybe a piece on D at the deadline could change things.

[Gravesy]

We've never had a center good enough to be a 1C on a contending team in recent years and were still contending. Zib is easily the best center we've had.

 

I'm sorry but I still don't see how this team doesn't contend. With Chytil as the 3C we have really good center depth, better than we have had in years. We have good offensive wingers in Kreider, Buch, and Zuc. We have shutdown defensive forwards, including at top shutdown center in Hayes. We have excellent PKer's and very good PP QB's. This team was supposed to compete last season and everyone had those expectations going in. Now what? We lose Nash and the hope is gone. We are a better team. McD was not even very good last season. Our D is fine as is. It has so much depth that a guy like McQuaid might not even crack the top 6. I know I'm in the minority, but I think we'll be right in the mix up until the deadline when we will add Panarin and give us the last top 6 forward we are missing to try to make a run at it.

 

The biggest x-factors are DeAngelo and Hajek playing like top 4 Dmen and Chytil contributing on offense. I know Hajek may not even be here to start, but it won't be long before he forces their hand. I just have high hopes for them. If young kids step up and play well then this team will be better than some of our recent playoff teams. There's no way to predict what the kids will do right now. I'm an optimist I guess. I like the new system and I like the new approach of being relentless. They didn't stop being talented under AV, they just started being lazy. That won't be tolerated this year.

 

Interesting.

I don't see how this team is anything other than pure unadulterated shit.

It's one of the weakest forward groups in the league. It doesn't have a single elite talent. No goal scorers.

It's one of the weakest d-corps in the league.

It's success has been based on being bailed out by an elite goalie, helping the Rangers win games they should have lost on a number of occasions. This goalie is now 36 years old, most likely his days as an elite goaltender are over and I don't see him bailing us out night after night any longer.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing Chytil, Andersson, AdA and hopefully Hajek and Howden at some point.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Buch can do under a new coach and without being permanently in the dog house.

But I don't think we'll be very good at all. And that's perfectly fine. The best thing for the Rangers would be flipping guys left, right and center at the deadline and a high 1st round pick.

 

I'm honestly not sure if I hope to be proven wrong on this.

[Dunny]

They aren't going to contend because they aren't going to be able to keep the puck out of their net. It's going to take a long, long time to refine that side of their game.

 

It's both refreshing, and exciting to look at this roster right now, but there's a long way to go to maturity if it even happens.

 

It's probably going to be a blood bath, and that's OK.

[Vodka Drunkenski]

They aren't going to contend because they aren't going to be able to keep the puck out of their net. It's going to take a long, long time to refine that side of their game.

 

It's both refreshing, and exciting to look at this roster right now, but there's a long way to go to maturity if it even happens.

 

It's probably going to be a blood bath, and that's OK.

 

Agreed, it's going to be a little while before they contend and be 1 piece away. Right now, stay the course and keep rebuilding.

[Pete]

Who's replacing Grabner's 30 goals?

 

The D has depth? 8 mediocre defensmen isn't what we term "depth" in the NHL.

 

Add in a new coach with a new system and this team will be buried in a hole by Thanksgiving that will be too deep to dig out of, IMO. The only team in the division they may be better than is the Islanders.

[Slobberknocker]

Doubtful.

Only 10 Minnesota natives were drafted, I do know that the top 5 were playing in the USHL, (not High school hockey).

The Q typically has 20-30 players selected in each draft.

 

Last season

USHL- 45

OHL- 35

WHL- 20

QMJHL- 23

 

Minn high school- 3

 

:worship:

 

post article today makes a promising arguement for Lettieri

 

https://nypost.com/2018/09/26/vinni-lettieri-is-giving-rangers-rookies-a-run-for-their-money/

 

good to see there's going to be some grit this year. also my takeaway with Lettieri, makes me think that there might be something to the arguement that AV couldn't develop young talent.

[Albatrosss]

We've never had a center good enough to be a 1C on a contending team in recent years and were still contending. Zib is easily the best center we've had.

 

I'm sorry but I still don't see how this team doesn't contend. With Chytil as the 3C we have really good center depth, better than we have had in years. We have good offensive wingers in Kreider, Buch, and Zuc. We have shutdown defensive forwards, including at top shutdown center in Hayes. We have excellent PKer's and very good PP QB's. This team was supposed to compete last season and everyone had those expectations going in. Now what? We lose Nash and the hope is gone. We are a better team. McD was not even very good last season. Our D is fine as is. It has so much depth that a guy like McQuaid might not even crack the top 6. I know I'm in the minority, but I think we'll be right in the mix up until the deadline when we will add Panarin and give us the last top 6 forward we are missing to try to make a run at it.

 

The biggest x-factors are DeAngelo and Hajek playing like top 4 Dmen and Chytil contributing on offense. I know Hajek may not even be here to start, but it won't be long before he forces their hand. I just have high hopes for them. If young kids step up and play well then this team will be better than some of our recent playoff teams. There's no way to predict what the kids will do right now. I'm an optimist I guess. I like the new system and I like the new approach of being relentless. They didn't stop being talented under AV, they just started being lazy. That won't be tolerated this year.

very optimistic of you. as a fan, I don't want to see a wasted year and hope they're making playoffs

[Gravesy]

I don't mean to come across as a prick, and I love the positivity, but you boys are living in la-la land.

[CBrowningPI]

I would love to see this team contend, but I'm also prepared for the worst. The last 5 comments bring my hope of contention back to reality.

The only thing I really can't tolerate is going down by 2 on the first 3 shots. It absolutely burned my ass when that happened last season. If this particular annoyance does not happen this season, I'll be ok either way.

 

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[josh]

I don't mean to come across as a prick, and I love the positivity, but you boys are living in la-la land.

 

you know, maybe we should create a "safe space" on here.

 

 

I want to be optimistic, but I'm too realistic.

We can easily see Zibs, Zucc, Hayes, Kreider, Vesey bounce back and take the next step. We could see Spooner replicate his offensive numbers he put up after the acquisition, Fast and Namestnikov fill in and provide 40+ points playing good defensive hockey. We could see Buchnevich step up and be an offensive leader, and Chytil and Andersson to transition to the NHL flawlessly. And maybe a surprise bottom 6 guy shows some unexpected but welcomed production.

Henrik, Staal, Shattenkirk, Smith, Skjei bounce back, Skjei plays like he belongs in the top 4, DeAngelo impresses throughout the season, etc

 

As we move closer to the season, I just have that feeling its going to be the same old shit. Names get you playing time over effort, aging vets will get ice time over rookies, rookies waste away in Hartford, Henrik still sucks, Zibanejad continues to be the worst 1C in the league, our top line is inconsistent and doesnt produce, guys like Skjei get PP time, Zuccarello gets 51 points, etc etc. I don't think much will change if the roster doesn't.

[CBrowningPI]

you know, maybe we should create a "safe space" on here.

 

 

I want to be optimistic, but I'm too realistic.

We can easily see Zibs, Zucc, Hayes, Kreider, Vesey bounce back and take the next step. We could see Spooner replicate his offensive numbers he put up after the acquisition, Fast and Namestnikov fill in and provide 40+ points playing good defensive hockey. We could see Buchnevich step up and be an offensive leader, and Chytil and Andersson to transition to the NHL flawlessly. And maybe a surprise bottom 6 guy shows some unexpected but welcomed production.

Henrik, Staal, Shattenkirk, Smith, Skjei bounce back, Skjei plays like he belongs in the top 4, DeAngelo impresses throughout the season, etc

 

As we move closer to the season, I just have that feeling its going to be the same old shit. Names get you playing time over effort, aging vets will get ice time over rookies, rookies waste away in Hartford, Henrik still sucks, Zibanejad continues to be the worst 1C in the league, our top line is inconsistent and doesnt produce, guys like Skjei get PP time, Zuccarello gets 51 points, etc etc. I don't think much will change if the roster doesn't.

Yup. We've grown accustomed to the ups and downs, then the flat line of just ok. I think we're all hoping Quinn won't let them grow stagnant and put in just enough effort to get that 3-3 tie game.

 

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[Pete]

LOL @ Zib worst #1 center in league.

 

Ever hear of Max Domi? Currently #1 in Montreal.