Can We Stop With the Blais Project?

[Albatrosss]

he's 26 and never played more than 40 games in a season.  Thank you, Drury

[Art20c]

5 minutes ago, CCCP said:

he's 26 and never played more than 40 games in a season.  Thank you, Drury

Holly shit, I didn’t know that. Drury must be stupid or under influence of some sort getting him in the trade

[Albatrosss]

guess Drury is learning on the job.  

[Art20c]

17 minutes ago, CCCP said:

guess Drury is learning on the job.  

He’s better learn fast before it’s too late

[Scott]

I don't think you can just randomly throw a guy who's been in the lineup on a pretty regular basis down into the AHL all of the sudden for a conditioning assignment. I think that ship may have passed. I believe  he would have to miss a certain number of consecutive games/days in the NHL to be eligible for that to be an option again. I honestly don't think that's it's something they're even considering now.  IF he's going to work it out it's going to be at this level. I think they eventually pull the plug at the TDL.

Edited December 21, 2022 by jsrangers

[LindG1000]

6 minutes ago, jsrangers said:

I don't think you can just randomly throw a guy who's been in the lineup on a pretty regular basis down into the AHL all of the sudden for a conditioning assignment. I think that ship may have passed. He believe  he would have to miss a certain number of consecutive games/days in the NHL to be eligible for that to be an option again. I honestly don't think that's it's something they're even considering now.  IF he's going to work it out it's going to be at this level. I think they eventually pull the plug at the TDL.

5 games as a scratch makes him eligible for a conditioning assignment.

[RangersIn7]

20 minutes ago, jsrangers said:

I don't think you can just randomly throw a guy who's been in the lineup on a pretty regular basis down into the AHL all of the sudden for a conditioning assignment. I think that ship may have passed. He believe  he would have to miss a certain number of consecutive games/days in the NHL to be eligible for that to be an option again. I honestly don't think that's it's something they're even considering now.  IF he's going to work it out it's going to be at this level. I think they eventually pull the plug at the TDL.

This

 

27 games between now and then. 

[The Dude]

7 hours ago, RangersIn7 said:

Right now that’s probably the case.

 

In September it was not. 

No. It was. He looked terrible in preseason too. He should have started the season on a conditioning assignment. He's not 100% right now. So what was he back in camp? They waived a glue guy in Hunt in favor of a player that wasn't healthy enough to be given a roster spot. It's Christmas and hes still not there yet. Whether we're talking about Hunt, Gauthier,  Rydahl, Trivigno or Cuylle as the player that should have had or should have his spot now. He should have been put on a conditioning assignment.  Shit, maybe they could have gotten out of his contract since he's not 100%  

 

I understand the want for this guy to be back to what we saw at the start of last season.  I had higher hopes for his on ice energy. I thought he'd atleast be a guy that hit everything and skated hard. If he can't do it, he can’t do it. What are ya gonna do? What they should do is play someone better in his spot. I mean can he go on a conditioning assignment now? 

[The Dude]

7 hours ago, lefty9 said:

This project t isn't over yet ,be has some tools ,give him this year than we will k ow what to do 

He is our best option on the roster ,Cuylle and Rydahi isn't ready yet and We know what we have in Gauthier

Yes, what we have is a better player right now. I'm not sure how that can be contested. Gauthier > Blais. 

[RangersIn7]

2 hours ago, The Dude said:

No. It was. He looked terrible in preseason too. He should have started the season on a conditioning assignment. He's not 100% right now. So what was he back in camp? They waived a glue guy in Hunt in favor of a player that wasn't healthy enough to be given a roster spot. It's Christmas and hes still not there yet. Whether we're talking about Hunt, Gauthier,  Rydahl, Trivigno or Cuylle as the player that should have had or should have his spot now. He should have been put on a conditioning assignment.  Shit, maybe they could have gotten out of his contract since he's not 100%  

 

I understand the want for this guy to be back to what we saw at the start of last season.  I had higher hopes for his on ice energy. I thought he'd atleast be a guy that hit everything and skated hard. If he can't do it, he can’t do it. What are ya gonna do? What they should do is play someone better in his spot. I mean can he go on a conditioning assignment now? 

 

He’s an established NHL player that was coming off a major injury. None of the guys you mentioned are that. Nor have any of them contributed to a Cup win. 

 

And don’t even mention his contract, cause he makes no money.

You expected this guy to be all the way back and score 30?

He isn’t that player. 
He just isn’t there yet.

But they weren’t sending him down.

 

Cause guess what?… he’s an NHL PLAYER. 

 

Let it go. He’s here. He’s gonna be for another couple of months at least.

[BrooksBurner]

1 hour ago, The Dude said:

No. It was. He looked terrible in preseason too. He should have started the season on a conditioning assignment. He's not 100% right now. So what was he back in camp? They waived a glue guy in Hunt in favor of a player that wasn't healthy enough to be given a roster spot. It's Christmas and hes still not there yet. Whether we're talking about Hunt, Gauthier,  Rydahl, Trivigno or Cuylle as the player that should have had or should have his spot now. He should have been put on a conditioning assignment.  Shit, maybe they could have gotten out of his contract since he's not 100%  

 

I understand the want for this guy to be back to what we saw at the start of last season.  I had higher hopes for his on ice energy. I thought he'd atleast be a guy that hit everything and skated hard. If he can't do it, he can’t do it. What are ya gonna do? What they should do is play someone better in his spot. I mean can he go on a conditioning assignment now? 

Good point. Maybe he wasn’t there yet and Gallant just decided he was okay with that. I’m not sure what kind of timeline they would have had to expect a bump up in quality of play, but I’d reckon it’s reaching that point after close to half a season.

[LindG1000]

1 hour ago, RangersIn7 said:

 

He’s an established NHL player that was coming off a major injury. None of the guys you mentioned are that. Nor have any of them contributed to a Cup win. 

 

And don’t even mention his contract, cause he makes no money.

You expected this guy to be all the way back and score 30?

He isn’t that player. 
He just isn’t there yet.

But they weren’t sending him down.

 

Cause guess what?… he’s an NHL PLAYER. 

 

Let it go. He’s here. He’s gonna be for another couple of months at least.

 

Nobody expects any of this. What we expect is for him to be as advertised - He'll hit. He'll play smart, north-south hockey. He won't be a liability - in fact, he'll be a strong defensive player. He will forecheck and dig out pucks as he purportedly did for the Blues in the Cup run where he had three points in the entire playoffs. Ideally, yeah, he'd have more goals than Igor Shesterkin right now - but that doesn't matter because he's doing none of this. We can get 3 hits a game and some level of the rest of that list from Cuylle, or from Rydahl, or Gauthier, or could have had it from Hunt (as @The Dude rightly called out).

 

This guy is a shell of his former self. Maybe he needs more time to recover and get back to being a 20-point energy guy with a little bit of snarl, but right now, he's a far cry from that. We can't spend the year waiting for him of all players to come around when we have players who can do more riding the pine pony. 

[BrooksBurner]

You know it's gotta be bad when @The Dude is openly pining for Dryden Hunt

[The Dude]

1 hour ago, RangersIn7 said:

 

He’s an established NHL player that was coming off a major injury. None of the guys you mentioned are that. Nor have any of them contributed to a Cup win. 

 

And don’t even mention his contract, cause he makes no money.

You expected this guy to be all the way back and score 30?

He isn’t that player. 
He just isn’t there yet.

But they weren’t sending him down.

 

Cause guess what?… he’s an NHL PLAYER. 

 

Let it go. He’s here. He’s gonna be for another couple of months at least.

 

Hes an injured NHL player. He's not ready. You know what happens to players that aren't ready? They rehab. 

 

I like the guy. He's not ready. Not sure why you're so bent about what im saying. I projected the fucking guy to be in the top 6 before the season started. 

 

And you know what. I don't give a fuck if he won a cup. Like he was a key piece to the Blues winning? Hes at best a career 4th liner. The guy is 26, has been in the league 6 years and hasn't stayed on the ice for more than 40 games in a season.

[Pete]

11 hours ago, The Dude said:

 

Hes an injured NHL player. He's not ready. You know what happens to players that aren't ready? They rehab. 

 

I like the guy. He's not ready. Not sure why you're so bent about what im saying. I projected the fucking guy to be in the top 6 before the season started. 

 

And you know what. I don't give a fuck if he won a cup. Like he was a key piece to the Blues winning? Hes at best a career 4th liner. The guy is 26, has been in the league 6 years and hasn't stayed on the ice for more than 40 games in a season.

He's not injured. You don't just step back into game shape after not playing in a game for a year. 

 

Thankfully he's not costing them games and they can afford to let him work his way back by playing in a few games and then giving him a couple of games off. 

Edited December 22, 2022 by Pete

[RJWantsTheCup]

I do like the Blais project better than the Blair Witch project.

[The Dude]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

He's not injured. You don't just step back into game shape after not playing in a game for a year. 

 

Thankfully he's not costing them games and they can afford to let him work his way back by playing in a few games and then giving him a couple of games off. 

That's what rehab and conditioning assignments are for. If he's not in game shape by now he must have been really bad in camp.

 

I really like the guy. Was hoping for him to be a steady part if the top 6. But, no players get to rehab and get back to game shape on the teams dime or atleast on their time. He should have gone on LTIR if anything.  

 

He's not costing them games,  but he is costing them cap space as well as a roster spot. They need a top 6 RW.  Their options were to be Blais or Kravtsov. One isn't in game shape and the other is deemed a giant pussy. 

 

They can and should do better with Blais' spot on the roster. He's making 1.5 to do nothing. Everyone bitched about Reaves and his cap hit.  Well... Blais is just as much of a non issue on the ice, that they should try someone else. 

 

I can't accept that he's here to rehab. That doesn't happen.  This is on Drury and Gallant.  Not the player. I feel bad for Blais. 

[Pete]

4 minutes ago, The Dude said:

That's what rehab and conditioning assignments are for. If he's not in game shape by now he must have been really bad in camp.

 

I really like the guy. Was hoping for him to be a steady part if the top 6. But, no players get to rehab and get back to game shape on the teams dime or atleast on their time. He should have gone on LTIR if anything.  

 

He's not costing them games,  but he is costing them cap space as well as a roster spot. They need a top 6 RW.  Their options were to be Blais or Kravtsov. One isn't in game shape and the other is deemed a giant pussy. 

 

They can and should do better with Blais' spot on the roster. He's making 1.5 to do nothing. Everyone bitched about Reaves and his cap hit.  Well... Blais is just as much of a non issue on the ice, that they should try someone else. 

 

I can't accept that he's here to rehab. That doesn't happen.  This is on Drury and Gallant.  Not the player. I feel bad for Blais. 

You're confusing rehabbing and getting back into game shape. One can be done while on LTIR, the other needs game reps in order to happen.

 

He'll either get his game back by the deadline, or he won't and he'll probably be gone. He's not stopping them from doing anything they want to do at the cap. He isn't costing them $1.5, he's costing them maybe $600K because if he were gone there would be another 13th forward making what $900k?

 

It's really a non issue. The team is winning and we're talking about a 13th forward because he took a bad penalty. If the PP converted on any of their glorious chances, we wouldn't be.

[LindG1000]

13 minutes ago, Pete said:

You're confusing rehabbing and getting back into game shape. One can be done while on LTIR, the other needs game reps in order to happen.

 

He'll either get his game back by the deadline, or he won't and he'll probably be gone. He's not stopping them from doing anything they want to do at the cap. He isn't costing them $1.5, he's costing them maybe $600K because if he were gone there would be another 13th forward making what $900k?

 

It's really a non issue. The team is winning and we're talking about a 13th forward because he took a bad penalty. If the PP converted on any of their glorious chances, we wouldn't be.

 

I can see it being a non-issue as this is a 12th forward, but I think we're staring down the reality that even a Sammy Blais in game shape and back at 100% probably isn't the guy we thought he was when we got him. I hope he figures out getting back to that, but even then the ceiling and contributions seem unlikely to be meaningful enough to not ask the questions about replacing him with either someone more consistent or someone where the growing pains could yield bigger dividends.

 

There's also the wrinkle that if Blais has done poorly enough to warrant even a sporadic scratch from GG, it's a catch-22 situation: Can't get back into game shape without game reps, can't get consistent game reps because he's not in game shape.  

[The Dude]

4 hours ago, Pete said:

You're confusing rehabbing and getting back into game shape. One can be done while on LTIR, the other needs game reps in order to happen.

 

He'll either get his game back by the deadline, or he won't and he'll probably be gone. He's not stopping them from doing anything they want to do at the cap. He isn't costing them $1.5, he's costing them maybe $600K because if he were gone there would be another 13th forward making what $900k?

 

It's really a non issue. The team is winning and we're talking about a 13th forward because he took a bad penalty. If the PP converted on any of their glorious chances, we wouldn't be.

I really can't think of a player that was granted time to get into game shape while being on an NHL roster. Sure maybe a star player,  but a guy like this? To me, getting into game shape is rehab or conditioning. It shouldn't be done in NHL games. They talk about how they aren't in a development mode and say fuck the kids, but they are granting Sammy frigging Blais, icetime to get his legs back for 4 months? Nah man. Nah. 

 

Every dollar and spot counts. I don't have to tell you that. I'm not saying he's hurting the team. But we can all agree that he isn't playing good enough to warrant a spot. We can also agree that the team needs upgrades especially at RW. 

 

Come on man, you're constantly talking about how we shouldn't be comfortable with this roster or how they play.  And I agree. I'm not sure how this isn't part of the discussion. Goodrow,  Kakko and Vesey are our RWs. They need something else. It obviously isn't Gauthier and it most definitely isn't Blais. He's not going to vastly improve by the deadline.

 

There's gotta be a Vatrano type out there that can be had at what the Rangers are saving (capwise) after moving Reaves and now Blais.

 

I'm not seeing it. I don't think Blais gets back to 100%.  I know its an ACL, but players have come back faster from such injuries. I'm not waiting for a guy to get in game shape for 4 months. 

 

I'd hate to move on from him, because if he were the player he was at the start of last season,  he'd be everything the Rangers need. But times up. 

Edited December 22, 2022 by The Dude

[Ozzy]

Tom Wilson is returning just now from his ACL surgery.  I'm curious to see what and how he's going to respond, short term.  I'm also wondering how "physical" he's going to be after going through that surgery.

[Albatrosss]

7 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Tom Wilson is returning just now from his ACL surgery.  I'm curious to see what and how he's going to respond, short term.  I'm also wondering how "physical" he's going to be after going through that surgery.

Probably gonna kick somebody’s ass

[LindG1000]

It's not lost on me how much more complete this team feels when Gauthier is in Blais' spot. 

[Winter]

imma laugh when he scores 0 all season and 5 in the playoffs 

[Art20c]

13 hours ago, Winter said:

imma laugh when he scores 0 all season and 5 in the playoffs 

In his total 27 postseason games (3 seasons) he scored 3 (1 each season) goals with 5 assists for a total of 8 pts. 
Looks like 5 goals thing in playoffs ain’t happening.