Brooks Where the Rangers' Search for a Reliable Right Wing for Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad Might Lead

[The Dude]

24 minutes ago, RangersIn7 said:

I’m only speculating as to what they actually want or envision in regards to Othmann. We don’t know for sure though.

 
As to what I said regarding that, in terms of his role and placing him there and all and that being similar to Kakko and LaFreniere, or pigeonholed…. I think that they feel it would be different in that he’s not jumped to the NHL right away. He went back to Junior for a year. And he’s getting professional experience at the minor league level first. Those guys did the opposite. 
 

Those guys needed to play and play a lot and be in a prominent role. They didn’t get that. They could’ve had that in Hartford. Which is what Othmann is getting now and he’s performing well. 

 

IDK. As said, I’m speculating regarding their thoughts on him internally. But I don’t think they want to yo-yo him. My guess would be they feel that might be detrimental. 

What they want from him is what they want from all of their prospects (to a fault). And that's a well rounded player. Probably more concerned than they should be about defensive play. 

 

I don't see how yo yo'ing him would be detrimental.  He's not going to come here and play in the top 6. Not this year. Not next year. Not even as a RW.

 

His home for his first few years with the Rangers will be in the middle 6. There's nowhere else to put him for him to adapt his game. And thats absolutely fine because he can play that role and not have it affect his development. That's where THAT kind of player should start. Just like Cuylle.

 

There's no need to keep him up, if he's not ready. There are no high expectations right off the bat. THAT is where the Rangers failed with 13/24. They have the breathing room now. This player doesn't HAVE to be the answer.  But he could be and then some. 

[BrooksBurner]

17 minutes ago, The Dude said:

From what I can count in the game logs in this span I'm talking about, it's 8 of his 15 points. I think it was 3 of his 7 goals were PP. I do have to note that he hasn't scored a goal in 6 games though. 

 

Again. I feel like he doesn't really need to come here now and score right away.  Just his style of play and his skillset would be a welcome addition to that 3rd line, which has Bonino stuck as the C for now. It needs a little more oomph, zip, pop, jump, energy, and attitude. 

 

Poor  Cuylle is saddled with a 35 yesr old 4th line center and an AHL lifer... A little more youthful energy and potential could be a spark for a pretty dead line.

 

That could easily be changed by swapping Goodrow with Bonino. But if that were going to happen,  it would have been done already. It's not like Goodrow is super integral to the Jimmy Vesey line. Because both he and Pitlick pretty much suck. Vesey drives that line. Heck. Vesey should be on line 3..  Apparently thus 4th line has captured the fans and the coach's heart. I just see Vesey doing all the heavy lifting. You'd think he has earned a leg up. And since he hasn't. Othmann fits the bill. 

 

I feel that. I said the same thing with the absolutely bonkers idea of people thinking Kreider should play with Bonino. Lol.

 

Brodz may be an AHL lifer, but he's been producing at a clip that is solid for a 3rd line player, and he was Cuylle's linemate in Hartford. There should be chemistry and familiarity there. The core issue is Bonino stinks. Until Chytil returns or they get another center, I would be open to giving Cuylle/Othmann-Brodz-Othmann/Cuylle a look. Before today, I thought Othmann's contract was still slide eligible. It is not. I've also been of the mindset that he needs those minutes on the PP to refine his craft, but I'm not sure he needs much refining there at this point. He's ready on that front. I don't see much harm to giving him a cup of coffee and letting him stay up for as long as it makes sense. It takes Bonino out of the lineup, and I'm not too worried about Othmann's confidence if he needs to get sent back down. He's not a confidence lacking pussy like Kakko when things don't go his way.

Edited December 28, 2023 by BrooksBurner

[Pete]

Gotta love people who have endorsed trading Panarin, Zib, and Miller as recently as a few months ago... Calling other people's ideas "bonkers". 

[RangersIn7]

1 hour ago, The Dude said:

What they want from him is what they want from all of their prospects (to a fault). And that's a well rounded player. Probably more concerned than they should be about defensive play. 

 

I don't see how yo yo'ing him would be detrimental.  He's not going to come here and play in the top 6. Not this year. Not next year. Not even as a RW.

 

His home for his first few years with the Rangers will be in the middle 6. There's nowhere else to put him for him to adapt his game. And thats absolutely fine because he can play that role and not have it affect his development. That's where THAT kind of player should start. Just like Cuylle.

 

There's no need to keep him up, if he's not ready. There are no high expectations right off the bat. THAT is where the Rangers failed with 13/24. They have the breathing room now. This player doesn't HAVE to be the answer.  But he could be and then some. 

I don’t disagree that he leans more towards the bottom of the lineup when he comes up. 
As to whether it’s detrimental to him, who can say. Just that it’s possible. 
 

All I’m saying is that they don’t want to.

a I think that the organizational attitude and process has changed some since Drury took over. Plus, Drury was running Hartford prior and I feel like there’s greater confidence in what’s going on there. 
And I think the biggest thing for them is that they like him playing big minutes in a prominent role right now and he won’t get that here. That, and they don’t want to move him off of the LW spot as of yet. 
 

We will see. I’m admittedly more open to the idea now that he’s sustained a higher level of play and production for a while now.

 

Also… they are winning despite missing guys and some lineup holes. I think Lavy likes his room and his lineup by and large and maybe they don’t want to tinker with it just yet. 

[torontonyr]

Get the feeling they're gonna sign a rotating C who can slot into wing, and a utility defenseman, possibly by virtue of trading Jones.

 

They'll treat kakko and/or chytil as their deadline acquisitions.

 

This will let them stop the resource bleeding for a on the fly retool/rebuild while remaining competitive, which is inevitable.

[RangersIn7]

20 minutes ago, torontonyr said:

Get the feeling they're gonna sign a rotating C who can slot into wing, and a utility defenseman, possibly by virtue of trading Jones.

 

They'll treat kakko and/or chytil as their deadline acquisitions.

 

This will let them stop the resource bleeding for a on the fly retool/rebuild while remaining competitive, which is inevitable.

That’s possible.

 
But I think right now they’re simply just in a holding pattern.

 

It seems possible Kakko may be back a bit sooner than expected.

 

And god only knows on Chytil.

 

I think they want those waters less muddy before they make a move

[Valriera]

39 minutes ago, RangersIn7 said:

That’s possible.

 
But I think right now they’re simply just in a holding pattern.

 

It seems possible Kakko may be back a bit sooner than expected.

 

And god only knows on Chytil.

 

I think they want those waters less muddy before they make a move

As they should

[RangersIn7]

12 minutes ago, Valriera said:

As they should

Yeah totally.

Its the right course of action.

 

Regarding Kakko… the fanbase may have given up on him, but the organization hasn’t.

 

On Chytil, who knows if he’ll be able to play or get cleared to play again this season. They may have his cap space to use. 

[The Dude]

Cort Perry > Brodzinski or Wheeler 

Probably dirt cheap. Playoff performer. Adds grit. Alcohol problems.  

[BrooksBurner]

I'd like Perry on a 4th line that already has some speed and needs some grit and leftover talent from yesteryear.

 

The problem is he'll make the Rangers' slow 4th line even slower, and probably get slotted up too high on this team where he'd be a negative rather than a positive.

[jsm7302]

4 hours ago, The Dude said:

Cort Perry > Brodzinski or Wheeler 

Probably dirt cheap. Playoff performer. Adds grit. Alcohol problems.  

The sideshow isn't worth it.

[knedragon]

On 12/12/2023 at 3:06 PM, Sharpshooter said:

A certain legendary American player who signed with the Detroit Red Wings recently would have been neat.

 

But no, it's probably going to be Duclair or something like that as we have speculated. I thought that was a pretty good call.

Kane just got banged up in Toronto , a good hit and then a good fall into the boards . Hopefully all is well.

[Br4d]

9 hours ago, knedragon said:

Kane just got banged up in Toronto , a good hit and then a good fall into the boards . Hopefully all is well.

 

Kane took two hits to his hip last night and came out of the game.  First was against the boards and he stayed in on that one, second was a trip that saw him land on the hip on the ice and he skated off.  It could easily be just too much impact on the night on a recovering surgery and he's back in a game or two.  It could also be just too much pain to play through.

[jsm7302]

1 hour ago, Br4d said:

 

Kane took two hits to his hip last night and came out of the game.  First was against the boards and he stayed in on that one, second was a trip that saw him land on the hip on the ice and he skated off.  It could easily be just too much impact on the night on a recovering surgery and he's back in a game or two.  It could also be just too much pain to play through.

He played through the pain pre surgery and looked terrible. I gotta believe this dude is more in a "if I can, I will" mode. I think he is out a game or two at most.

[jsm7302]

Kakko looked pretty good, steady anyways and wasn't shying away. Hopefully his confidence grows and get can pot one next game.

[Br4d]

41 minutes ago, jsm7302 said:

He played through the pain pre surgery and looked terrible. I gotta believe this dude is more in a "if I can, I will" mode. I think he is out a game or two at most.

 

The NHL is the NHL.  Whatever you have to do to get Patrick Kane off of the ice is what teams are going to do.

[RangersIn7]

57 minutes ago, jsm7302 said:

He played through the pain pre surgery and looked terrible. I gotta believe this dude is more in a "if I can, I will" mode. I think he is out a game or two at most.

He’s gonna need maintenance days. At his age, with that mileage, and off that surgery it’s just a realistic necessity.

 

 

[RangersIn7]

57 minutes ago, jsm7302 said:

Kakko looked pretty good, steady anyways and wasn't shying away. Hopefully his confidence grows and get can pot one next game.

We all need to shelve the shit we’ve spit at this kid for the horrible offensive start he got off to.

His play was good.

Just no offense.

 
The 10 games he played wit 93/20… NONE OF THEM WERE GOOD.

They’ve been good together before. We’ve seen it.

Lavy did the right thing breaking them up.

Right after it happened 93/20 picked it up and got going. And it had nothing to do with Wheeler. It was just the shakeup and the message it sent.

 

And they’ve totally missed his defense and the ability to play him in matchups with him vs top players on the opposing wing. 

[Pete]

49 minutes ago, RangersIn7 said:

We all need to shelve the shit we’ve spit at this kid for the horrible offensive start he got off to.

His play was good.

Just no offense.

 
The 10 games he played wit 93/20… NONE OF THEM WERE GOOD.

They’ve been good together before. We’ve seen it.

Lavy did the right thing breaking them up.

Right after it happened 93/20 picked it up and got going. And it had nothing to do with Wheeler. It was just the shakeup and the message it sent.

 

And they’ve totally missed his defense and the ability to play him in matchups with him vs top players on the opposing wing. 

The expected goals versus actual goals will eventually even out. The metrics are there with that line. Just no finish. 

[Ozzy]

2 hours ago, jsm7302 said:

Kakko looked pretty good, steady anyways and wasn't shying away. Hopefully his confidence grows and get can pot one next game.

 

52 minutes ago, RangersIn7 said:

We all need to shelve the shit we’ve spit at this kid for the horrible offensive start he got off to.

His play was good.

Just no offense.

 
The 10 games he played wit 93/20… NONE OF THEM WERE GOOD.

They’ve been good together before. We’ve seen it.

Lavy did the right thing breaking them up.

Right after it happened 93/20 picked it up and got going. And it had nothing to do with Wheeler. It was just the shakeup and the message it sent.

 

And they’ve totally missed his defense and the ability to play him in matchups with him vs top players on the opposing wing. 

 

I still believe in this kid, fellas.  He just needs a little success and I really feel the sky's the limit.  He threw the body pretty well a few times yesterday.  I just want him to use the rest of this season to get ready for a big playoff run!

[siddious]

You’re a bigger optimist than me Ozzy. I just don’t see it in this kid. We drafted a checking forward with the 2nd over all. 

[Ozzy]

2 minutes ago, siddious said:

You’re a bigger optimist than me Ozzy. I just don’t see it in this kid. We drafted a checking forward with the 2nd over all. 

 He's got more than that though Pete.  We'll talk more tomorrow...but he's got a cannon of a shot.   He's gotta start using it!  and also shooting from the slot instead of passing up chances.  Well, all of them do that!  But you catch my drift.. 

[BrooksBurner]

I think the thread title is the wrong objective. The Rangers have their scoring line in Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere. They need a shutdown line you can put out with full confidence they will rarely get scored on, and a secondary scoring line that brings a different flavor than the Panarin line.

 

Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere, primary scoring, E/W

Kreider-X-Cuylle, secondary scoring, N/S

Vesey-Zibanejad-Kakko, shutdown line, won't get scored on

Y-Goodrow-Wheeler/Pitlick

 

Solve for X and Y. X needs to bring some 5v5 offense to the line. Chytil would be a tremendous fit, what a shame. Y needs to bring some speed to the line.

Edited January 15 by BrooksBurner

[Ozzy]

I'm feeling more like Cuylle-Zibby-Kakko on the 2nd line.  Cuylle's earned it!  Kakko and Kreider seem like oil and water.

I like Kreider on the 3rd line; He plays all the special teams anyway, and he gets more of his points on the PP.

 

Now's the time to see.  We have another 39 games as a dress rehearsal.

[RJWantsTheCup]

I keep hearing buzz that Patrick Kane is available since the Rangers whiffed on the chance to sign him earlier this season.