The 2022-2023 Rangers: What Is the Answer?

[RichieNextel305]

It’s a simple question with a yet-to-be-determined yet surely complex answer.

 

What is the answer?

 

Where do we go from here?

 

We are in a spot now where we badly need to start accumulating some points. Some might say what was said on the PostGame that we should look ahead to games against Ottawa and Chicago and grin knowing these are winnable games. But with the mindset this team currently has, I’m not quite sure.

 

Its bordering on a free fall here. Sure, we’re not bottom feeders right now. But the effort level matches that of one. There are no full 60 minute efforts. There is no comfort in any lead, and no belief in any type of a comeback.

 

The division, the conference and the league as a whole are extremely tight. A quick look at the standings show that while we aren’t millions of miles away from a playoff spot due to other teams having their own issues, our issues are clearly all bubbling to the surface at the moment. 
 

So, have at it. What’s the answer? What could be done? Should be done? I’m interested to hear because I truthfully don’t have a fucking clue myself. 
 

A trade? A firing? A major move to shake things up? Keep sailing the ship hoping to have it right itself?

 

What do we got?

[LindG1000]

Give it three more games to right the ship. If we struggle against Ottawa and Chicago, make a move. 

 

I don't think this team lacks for leadership, but I do think this team lacks for a guy that's just a pain in the ass to play against. I'd endorse a trade for a third liner who just knows how to put the other team off-center.

[cupalife]

14 minutes ago, LindG1000 said:

Give it three more games to right the ship. If we struggle against Ottawa and Chicago, make a move. 

 

I don't think this team lacks for leadership, but I do think this team lacks for a guy that's just a pain in the ass to play against. I'd endorse a trade for a third liner who just knows how to put the other team off-center.

One player is not going to change the equation.  It needs to be a team trait.  

 

[LindG1000]

5 minutes ago, cupalife said:

One player is not going to change the equation.  It needs to be a team trait.  

 

 

The team has done it before. You don't get 110 points in the RS and make the ECF on pure dumb luck. That, and you can't really blow up the team at this point for a million reasons, not the least of which is that there are like 7 teams with real cap space. Six of them are actively trying to be bad, and the 7th is the Islanders. So any dreams of a big trade like Kreider or Panarin or something off the wall like that can stay dreams.

 

Find your mid-six forward or bottom 4 D that can slot everyone in the right place and add a dimension we don't have. If that fails, fire the coaches. This team is too talented to be this middling.

[BrooksBurner]

1 hour ago, LindG1000 said:

 

The team has done it before. You don't get 110 points in the RS and make the ECF on pure dumb luck. That, and you can't really blow up the team at this point for a million reasons, not the least of which is that there are like 7 teams with real cap space. Six of them are actively trying to be bad, and the 7th is the Islanders. So any dreams of a big trade like Kreider or Panarin or something off the wall like that can stay dreams.

 

Find your mid-six forward or bottom 4 D that can slot everyone in the right place and add a dimension we don't have. If that fails, fire the coaches. This team is too talented to be this middling.

 

Ehhh...they earned and deserved the Canes series but it was pure dumb luck they made it to round 2 by way of Crosby getting hurt mid game 5 when it was 2-0 Pens in that game in the 2nd period.

[Phil]

John-Michael Liles, obviously.

[LindG1000]

7 hours ago, rmc51 said:

 

Ehhh...they earned and deserved the Canes series but it was pure dumb luck they made it to round 2 by way of Crosby getting hurt mid game 5 when it was 2-0 Pens in that game in the 2nd period.

Not saying there was no luck involved, but it's not just dumb luck that gets you to those outcomes. Even with Sid injured, they had to sack up and come back from two-goal deficits twice and multiple fall-behind scenarios in game 7, plus the Canes series, plus the first half of that Lightning series (and bluntly, the entire series. They weren't bad so much as they were exhausted.) That's plenty of evidence for the "they've found that gear before" argument.

 

This is not a meaningfully different roster and it's not like someone stole their mojo. Just need the right moves to awaken that mindset again.

[Pete]

26 minutes ago, LindG1000 said:

Not saying there was no luck involved, but it's not just dumb luck that gets you to those outcomes. Even with Sid injured, they had to sack up and come back from two-goal deficits twice and multiple fall-behind scenarios in game 7, plus the Canes series, plus the first half of that Lightning series (and bluntly, the entire series. They weren't bad so much as they were exhausted.) That's plenty of evidence for the "they've found that gear before" argument.

 

This is not a meaningfully different roster and it's not like someone stole their mojo. Just need the right moves to awaken that mindset again.

You can't play the way they play and get League average goal tending, which is what they're getting right now. We knew this going back to last year, and we don't have the magical power play anymore as evidenced by what we saw last night. 

 

It couldn't be more obvious that this is a team full of guys who are not on the same page at all. And when the freewheeling stops working for you, you need a solid system to be able to rely on. This team throws pucks to areas of the ice thinking teammates are going to be there, and they're not there. They have no transition game because the defense are constantly chipping pucks off the glass because they don't have good outlets. If it's not fox or Miller handling the outlet pass or skating it out of the zone, it goes off the boards and out. Really hard to score goals and generate 5 on 5 chances that way. 

 

The next immediate step needs to be a coaching change, otherwise you're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic while Captain GG ignores the gigantic iceberg that we can all see the tip of, but nobody really knows the size of the ship killer that lies beneath. 

[jsm7302]

This is what happens when you gut team chemistry in the off season. Stromer was the obvious play to keep the locker room together. Less money, less term, known chemistry.

 

Would've been better off trading Chytil to change the dynamic of the bottom 6. 

[Morphinity 2.0]

What needs to happen is a coaching change, at least an assistant coaching change. The defense is egregiously terrible. There's absolutely no structure in the defensive zone. Fire one of GG's assistants as a shot across the bow and as an attempt to bring some structure in to this mess of a team.

 

And someone, anyone, needs to figure out a way to get Lafreniere resembling any bit of what he was meant to. Some of the players on this team needs exorcists - Trouba, Lafreniere, Shesterkin, Panarin, go down the list. The vibes are BAD.

 

--

 

Realistically, what's going to happen is nothing. Management in hockey is an exercise in ego management. Drury just constructed this team, hired this coach. He's not going to admit he ultimately failed until it's staring him right in the face. 

 

A trade? All of their vets are on NMC's. Trading a kid would be shooting themselves in the foot. Okay, sure we can trade Kravstov for Rossi, but that's not going to turn the season around.

A coaching change? Gallant has been here for a year and change. No team in the league would ever fire a coach that quick, especially one who just went to the ECF. He's getting at least the rest of this season and probably part of next season. He's got two years at $3.5M left on his contract after this. Dolan is hardly going to want to pay that on top of whoever his replacement is (assuming it's a coach of some high caliber). And, think about it. How many coaches are going to really want to coach here if the GM bails on the coach he hired a little more than a season in? Maybe, maybe, they fire an assistant like I mentioned, but I don't know if there's much precedent for something like that. 

So they'll keep sailing on and see where they wind up. They might make the playoffs, they might miss. The way they're playing right now, they're missing. If they can pick it up a bit and squeak into a wildcard, they're looking at either NJD or BOS as opponents in R1, most likely. So best case scenario is a first round exit for this team, and that's a disappointment no matter how you slice it. 

[LindG1000]

12 minutes ago, Pete said:

You can't play the way they play and get League average goal tending, which is what they're getting right now. We knew this going back to last year, and we don't have the magical power play anymore as evidenced by what we saw last night. 

 

It couldn't be more obvious that this is a team full of guys who are not on the same page at all. And when the freewheeling stops working for you, you need a solid system to be able to rely on. This team throws pucks to areas of the ice thinking teammates are going to be there, and they're not there. They have no transition game because the defense are constantly chipping pucks off the glass because they don't have good outlets. If it's not fox or Miller handling the outlet pass or skating it out of the zone, it goes off the boards and out. Really hard to score goals and generate 5 on 5 chances that way. 

 

The next immediate step needs to be a coaching change, otherwise you're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic while Captain GG ignores the gigantic iceberg that we can all see the tip of, but nobody really knows the size of the ship killer that lies beneath. 

 

Yep - no arguments there aside from that with the way we were playing earlier in the season, league-average goaltending should have been enough. The point I'm looking to make here is that this roster does not lack talent and does not lack the ability to dig deep and get it done. We do have some mismatched pieces - and that's a lever that can be pulled, especially since we're always one Lindgren injury away from defensive catastrophe and apparently, an injured Trouba is a better option than whatever else we have. 

[jsm7302]

2 minutes ago, Morphinity 2.0 said:

What needs to happen is a coaching change, at least an assistant coaching change. The defense is egregiously terrible. There's absolutely no structure in the defensive zone. Fire one of GG's assistants as a shot across the bow and as an attempt to bring some structure in to this mess of a team.

 

And someone, anyone, needs to figure out a way to get Lafreniere resembling any bit of what he was meant to. Some of the players on this team needs exorcists - Trouba, Lafreniere, Shesterkin, Panarin, go down the list. The vibes are BAD.

 

--

 

Realistically, what's going to happen is nothing. Management in hockey is an exercise in ego management. Drury just constructed this team, hired this coach. He's not going to admit he ultimately failed until it's staring him right in the face. 

 

A trade? All of their vets are on NMC's. Trading a kid would be shooting themselves in the foot. Okay, sure we can trade Kravstov for Rossi, but that's not going to turn the season around.

A coaching change? Gallant has been here for a year and change. No team in the league would ever fire a coach that quick, especially one who just went to the ECF. He's getting at least the rest of this season and probably part of next season. He's got two years at $3.5M left on his contract after this. Dolan is hardly going to want to pay that on top of whoever his replacement is (assuming it's a coach of some high caliber). And, think about it. How many coaches are going to really want to coach here if the GM bails on the coach he hired a little more than a season in? Maybe, maybe, they fire an assistant like I mentioned, but I don't know if there's much precedent for something like that. 

So they'll keep sailing on and see where they wind up. They might make the playoffs, they might miss. The way they're playing right now, they're missing. If they can pick it up a bit and squeak into a wildcard, they're looking at either NJD or BOS as opponents in R1, most likely. So best case scenario is a first round exit for this team, and that's a disappointment no matter how you slice it. 

I can't jump on board with this. Each year wasted is making our "stars" another year older. I don't care what Gallant has done; that is how he got hired. I'm asking, what can you do for me now. And from what I'm seeing, it isn't good. A change must be made. They aren't playing well and he thinks they are. Rose colored glasses. I've got calls into Trotz and Tocchet if I'm Drury. I've also got feelers out for deals for Miller, Kravtsov and Chytil.

[LindG1000]

1 minute ago, Morphinity 2.0 said:

What needs to happen is a coaching change, at least an assistant coaching change. The defense is egregiously terrible. There's absolutely no structure in the defensive zone. Fire one of GG's assistants as a shot across the bow and as an attempt to bring some structure in to this mess of a team.

 

And someone, anyone, needs to figure out a way to get Lafreniere resembling any bit of what he was meant to. Some of the players on this team needs exorcists - Trouba, Lafreniere, Shesterkin, Panarin, go down the list. The vibes are BAD.

 

--

 

Realistically, what's going to happen is nothing. Management in hockey is an exercise in ego management. Drury just constructed this team, hired this coach. He's not going to admit he ultimately failed until it's staring him right in the face. 

 

A trade? All of their vets are on NMC's. Trading a kid would be shooting themselves in the foot. Okay, sure we can trade Kravstov for Rossi, but that's not going to turn the season around.

A coaching change? Gallant has been here for a year and change. No team in the league would ever fire a coach that quick, especially one who just went to the ECF. He's getting at least the rest of this season and probably part of next season. He's got two years at $3.5M left on his contract after this. Dolan is hardly going to want to pay that on top of whoever his replacement is (assuming it's a coach of some high caliber). And, think about it. How many coaches are going to really want to coach here if the GM bails on the coach he hired a little more than a season in? Maybe, maybe, they fire an assistant like I mentioned, but I don't know if there's much precedent for something like that. 

So they'll keep sailing on and see where they wind up. They might make the playoffs, they might miss. The way they're playing right now, they're missing. If they can pick it up a bit and squeak into a wildcard, they're looking at either NJD or BOS as opponents in R1, most likely. So best case scenario is a first round exit for this team, and that's a disappointment no matter how you slice it. 

 

I think what's actually worse is that we're unable to make the tweaks we need because of the contracts we handed out and even if the whole thing goes tits up, we have no assets we can sell at the deadline worth a damn.

[Pete]

8 minutes ago, LindG1000 said:

 

Yep - no arguments there aside from that with the way we were playing earlier in the season, league-average goaltending should have been enough. The point I'm looking to make here is that this roster does not lack talent and does not lack the ability to dig deep and get it done. We do have some mismatched pieces - and that's a lever that can be pulled, especially since we're always one Lindgren injury away from defensive catastrophe and apparently, an injured Trouba is a better option than whatever else we have. 

They're a collection of talented players, some with more talent than others, but they are not a team. 

[Pete]

3 minutes ago, jsm7302 said:

I can't jump on board with this. Each year wasted is making our "stars" another year older. I don't care what Gallant has done; that is how he got hired. I'm asking, what can you do for me now. And from what I'm seeing, it isn't good. A change must be made. They aren't playing well and he thinks they are. Rose colored glasses. I've got calls into Trotz and Tocchet if I'm Drury. I've also got feelers out for deals for Miller, Kravtsov and Chytil.

I also really think at this point the book is out on GG. This guy has a history of getting fired in the middle of season 3, so what would be the point of letting him make it all the way through season 2? Just to rack up more L's? 

[josh]

Other than a few turnovers, I think Lafreniere hasnt been bad. He's set guys up that havent finished (Kakko), he's playing aggressive, at times he has the 'take over the game' mentality. But I definitely want to see more. And he's gotta put up the points. Have to.

 

 

 

The issues are Miller-Trouba, Panarin-Trocheck, Shesterkin-Halak. Been awful in November. And play half of every game.

[Pete]

Just now, josh said:

Other than a few turnovers, I think Lafreniere hasnt been bad. He's set guys up that havent finished (Kakko), he's playing aggressive, at times he has the 'take over the game' mentality. But I definitely want to see more. And he's gotta put up the points. Have to.

 

 

 

The issues are Miller-Trouba, Panarin-Trocheck, Shesterkin-Halak. Been awful in November. And play half of every game.

Pretty much agree with this, for example before yesterday's game Tro and Laf had the same amount of high danger chances, but Vinny had twice as many goals.

 

Unfortunately it's the same story as our number two overall, there are no more moral victories, and there are no more chances for him to play the right way... He simply has to start scoring. 

[Morphinity 2.0]

2 minutes ago, josh said:

Other than a few turnovers, I think Lafreniere hasnt been bad. He's set guys up that havent finished (Kakko), he's playing aggressive, at times he has the 'take over the game' mentality. But I definitely want to see more. And he's gotta put up the points. Have to.

 

 

 

The issues are Miller-Trouba, Panarin-Trocheck, Shesterkin-Halak. Been awful in November. And play half of every game.

All of those are definitely the biggest problems, but even before the season started, the mantra was hold everything the same and hope the kids grow. Well, they haven't grown. And everything else (Trouba, Panarin, etc.) haven't held the same. 

The kids, mainly Laf, aren't picking up the slack. No one is picking up the slack. It's just laying on the floor next to Trouba's stick after Draisaitl punk'd him and sent it flying. 

[Morphinity 2.0]

10 minutes ago, jsm7302 said:

I can't jump on board with this. Each year wasted is making our "stars" another year older. I don't care what Gallant has done; that is how he got hired. I'm asking, what can you do for me now. And from what I'm seeing, it isn't good. A change must be made. They aren't playing well and he thinks they are. Rose colored glasses. I've got calls into Trotz and Tocchet if I'm Drury. I've also got feelers out for deals for Miller, Kravtsov and Chytil.

I agree with you. But I also don't think think NHL GM's think that way. They go down with the ship. 

[LindG1000]

1 minute ago, Pete said:

Pretty much agree with this, for example before yesterday's game Tro and Laf had the same amount of high danger chances, but Vinny had twice as many goals.

 

Unfortunately it's the same story as our number two overall, there are no more moral victories, and there are no more chances for him to play the right way... He simply has to start scoring. 

 

They need PP time. Both need slumpbuster goals. Further, if Panarin is going to play RW with Kreider and Zib, I don't see a good reason to avoid using the Kid Line or Laf-Trocheck-Kakko as the concrete 2nd line. Just stop fucking bumping Goodrow and Vesey up - they're great bottom 6 players and they need to stay toward the bottom of that bottom 6.

[LindG1000]

2 minutes ago, Morphinity 2.0 said:

I agree with you. But I also don't think think NHL GM's think that way. They go down with the ship. 

The one variable here is that Drury is not an established NHL GM. He learned from Sather, so he might behave the same way (and that's a safe enough bet). Drury may not feel the pressure to sleep in the bed he made just yet, so to speak.

[RichieNextel305]

4 minutes ago, Pete said:

Pretty much agree with this, for example before yesterday's game Tro and Laf had the same amount of high danger chances, but Vinny had twice as many goals.

 

Unfortunately it's the same story as our number two overall, there are no more moral victories, and there are no more chances for him to play the right way... He simply has to start scoring. 

Agree with all of this.

 

I said it an earlier thread that I have defended Lafreniere since Day 1. And while he isn’t playing bad, at some point, production is going to have come. No more excuses, no more feeling out, no more snake bitten excuses. There needs to be some representation of his effort showing up on the scoresheet. 

[Bieser]

1 hour ago, Morphinity 2.0 said:

What needs to happen is a coaching change, at least an assistant coaching change. The defense is egregiously terrible. There's absolutely no structure in the defensive zone. Fire one of GG's assistants as a shot across the bow and as an attempt to bring some structure in to this mess of a team.

 

And someone, anyone, needs to figure out a way to get Lafreniere resembling any bit of what he was meant to. Some of the players on this team needs exorcists - Trouba, Lafreniere, Shesterkin, Panarin, go down the list. The vibes are BAD.

 

--

 

Realistically, what's going to happen is nothing. Management in hockey is an exercise in ego management. Drury just constructed this team, hired this coach. He's not going to admit he ultimately failed until it's staring him right in the face. 

 

A trade? All of their vets are on NMC's. Trading a kid would be shooting themselves in the foot. Okay, sure we can trade Kravstov for Rossi, but that's not going to turn the season around.

A coaching change? Gallant has been here for a year and change. No team in the league would ever fire a coach that quick, especially one who just went to the ECF. He's getting at least the rest of this season and probably part of next season. He's got two years at $3.5M left on his contract after this. Dolan is hardly going to want to pay that on top of whoever his replacement is (assuming it's a coach of some high caliber). And, think about it. How many coaches are going to really want to coach here if the GM bails on the coach he hired a little more than a season in? Maybe, maybe, they fire an assistant like I mentioned, but I don't know if there's much precedent for something like that. 

So they'll keep sailing on and see where they wind up. They might make the playoffs, they might miss. The way they're playing right now, they're missing. If they can pick it up a bit and squeak into a wildcard, they're looking at either NJD or BOS as opponents in R1, most likely. So best case scenario is a first round exit for this team, and that's a disappointment no matter how you slice it. 

If you are correct, Gallant needs to try something.  Bench the best player?  Take turns letting guys watch from the booth.  Maybe pursue a better backup goalie.

[Ozzy]

Gallant needs to win games at this point.  Benching guys like Panarin, Zibby or even Kreider aren't going to give them a better chance to win.  I don't think it even makes a point.  They're not really doing anything differently from years past.

 

I think the problem is systemic...or lack of.  There just doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason on how our defensive coverage works, and forget clearing the puck!!  If Fox can't get it out, it stays in the zone or ends up in our net.

 

Last night's best example on the Sharangovich goal...Trouba loses the puck right at our blue line and it ends up in our twine...AGAIN!

[Pete]

18 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Gallant needs to win games at this point.  Benching guys like Panarin, Zibby or even Kreider aren't going to give them a better chance to win.  I don't think it even makes a point.  They're not really doing anything differently from years past.

Bingo. You don't get through to veteran guys with letters by benching them. It's not pee wee.