Article Down Goes Brown: Don't Trust the Rangers Just Yet

[Phil]

Quote

And second, as I’ve said over and over again, I’m just not completely sold yet. This is a very good young team with lots of the right pieces and a very good coach. They’re also probably overachieving. Both of those things can be true. Their goals differential is well behind most of the other elite teams, and it’s still probably better than they’ve deserved (their expected goals are just a little better than break-even). Almost all of their wins have come against teams that are middle-of-the-pack or worse; the only top contenders they’ve beaten are the Panthers and Leafs, while they’ve lost to the Avs, Flames (twice), Oilers, Capitals and Leafs. As we always say around here, you can only play who the schedule gives you, and banking points by beating up underdogs is part of being a good team. But if you’re looking for a signature win that convinced you the Rangers are for real, I’m not sure it’s happened yet.

https://theathletic.com/3011764/2021/12/13/the-canucks-turn-it-around-dont-trust-the-rangers-just-yet-a-contest-update-and-a-tortorella-rant/?source=user_shared_article

[Pete]

Folks been saying this. But to his point, you can only play the games on your schedule.

They're good enough to make playoffs, doubt they get very far this year.

[ThirtyONE]

The hot start is amazing considering they're likely to come back to earth (and have done so in the last little stretch of games here). 

They're a playoff team but they're not cup contenders and that's part of the reason I'm not super excited about buying rental players as of now -- but we'll see where things land closer to the deadline.

[RichieNextel305]

I don’t disagree. It almost feels 05-06ish, slightly more prepared to make a run than that team. Granted, that team had guys like Jagr and Straka, veterans who had gone deep (and won) leading the charge. But, still overall, a very young team looking for experience. Same here. We may be more prepared to win a series than that team, but I wouldn’t expect a deep run. Not to say it’s impossible; just looking for experience to help on future runs.

[josh]

It's good.

They've learned how to beat the bad teams. That's much better than losing to the bad teams.

Now they have over 50 games to figure out how to beat the best teams.

[RichieNextel305]

9 minutes ago, josh said:

It's good.

They've learned how to beat the bad teams. That's much better than losing to the bad teams.

Now they have over 50 games to figure out how to beat the best teams.

And we’ve done it without our best finisher finishing. It’s not like he’s been bad, but Zibanejad scoring goals can be the difference between winning and losing games/series. When he’s firing on all cylinders, he’s one of the best finishers in the NHL.

[Sod16]

47 minutes ago, ThirtyONE said:

 

They're a playoff team but they're not cup contenders and that's part of the reason I'm not super excited about buying rental players as of now

Yes, playoff team, not a contender.  No need to go the rental route at the moment, especially when next year's cap situation precludes signing a rental long term.  05-06 is a good parallel.

[BlairBettsBlocksEverything]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

Folks been saying this. But to his point, you can only play the games on your schedule.

They're good enough to make playoffs, doubt they get very far this year.

I think that fits in line with the goal of this season. Get in the playoffs, get that experience. Build off of it.

 

Who knows, maybe we can even win a round. We certainly have the goaltending for it

[Valriera]

At this point and at the beginning of the season the goal is the same; make the playoffs and win a game. Everything else is gravy because our core has zero relevant experience there.

[Albatrosss]

if we lose tonight, we'll be 1-3 in the last 4.  concerning

[Flynn]

I'm still in the trust but verify mode..  The schedule is the schedule, but what's not often enough mentioned is that record was done with a couple expected big guns in the top 6 having sub par years, and a 3rd line that's MIA.. You'd think this was all smoke and mirrors because all 4 lines were firing on all cylinders- The glass half full part of me says watch the fuck out if Zib starts scoring, Kakko finds his game and the Kid Line starts producing.. 

[Ozzy]

14 minutes ago, CCCP said:

if we lose tonight, we'll be 1-3 in the last 4.  concerning

....and IF a frog had glass balls, he wouldn't hop!!!  LOL

[Gravesy]

Trust them to do what, though?

McIndoe doesn't trust them as one of the top five cup contenders. That's hardly controversial.

I mean, coming into this season I would think most people would be pretty happy with the idea that the Rangers are a playoff team and will get their shot to make a run. Most likely failing, because this is a young team that probably needs a run or two before even thinking about winning a cup. The hot start shouldn't take away from the fact that making the playoffs this year will be a good result even if they fail to make a longer run.

[Albatrosss]

53 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

....and IF a frog had glass balls, he wouldn't hop!!!  LOL

you have no proof of that statement