NFT: NHL Preseason: NY Rangers @ NJ Devils - 7:00 PM on MSG

1) We'll suck if you go by record.

2) We'll be more entertaining than people expect. We still have good vets and we have promising young guys.

I'm actually excited for this season. I wish Kravtsov were there too.

In comment 14083518 pjcas18 said:

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was being scouted/drafted was way before my time of paying attention. but I don't think he was ever supposed to be a good offensive player or definitely not a great one. I think sometimes people hear "good two-way player" and think great we get a defensive guy or 3rd liner. But one of the best players of this era I have seen is Patrice Bergeron and I'm as amazed as his defensive zone play as I am with his offense. Not saying Andersson would be Bergeron, but I really don't think Marchand is a bad comp, but like Marchand, Andersson may need someone to distribute the puck to him. I think worst case with Andersson you get someone like Brendan Gallagher (but a much better skater) and best case you get a bigger, less asshole-ish, more skilled Marchand

Marchand now or Marchand 5 years ago? Marchand now is one of the best forwards in the NHL.

on his coach. And this is just my opinion from watching him play.

I know Marchand began to show signs of development under Julien, but IMO with Julien he'd still be a 60-point player, not playing on the PP 1st unit and spending more time in the penalty box.

If Quinn is like AV/Julien I think Andersson's offensive upside could be stifled a little, but if he's not oppressive with these youngsters and keeps them in spots to succeed while giving them some flexibility to be creative I think they can all thrive.

So I think Andersson (eventually) has Marchand 2017 - 2018 potential. He doesn't have a Bergeron or Pastrnak with him (as far as I know), but maybe that's Chytil and Kravtsov.

Right now I think Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak is as good a line as the NHL has had in a decade. PP units aren't sometimes even that good.

Maybe Toronto with Tavares puts something together, but both he and Matthews are centers, so unless it's a PP unit, I doubt it.

around a 20-20-40 player at his peak. I think the Rangers picked him because they believe he has more scoring potential than that.

was considered a "safe" picked because he already possessed the cliched "200 foot game" - which he does.

But that doesn't get you drafted at 7, it gets you drafted at 20 unless you have skill with it.

I think the Rangers made a good bet here.

He'll always be compared to players like Mittelstadt or Necas (the best of the bunch IMO) or Robert Thomas (also in the discussion), but I think Andersson gives up very little to them skill-wise.

But he's just not a toe drag dangler type, he's a high hockey IQ, max effort, guy with skill. IMO like Marchand or in Rangers lore, an Adam Graves type.

In comment 14088243 pjcas18 said:

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in Rangers lore, an Adam Graves type.

Adam Graves? ADAM GRAVES!

I bet you see the similarities.

my kind of player. gritty, will get the greasy goals, but you give him an open shot he'll beat your goalie.

He'll dish out punishment in the corners, probably play PK and even PP depending on the rest of the roster and he'll put up points. Where I disagree with some is I think he CAN be flashy even though flash isn't his whole game.

Should be a fun player for Rangers fans to watch, not fun like a Tarasenko or Gaudreau, but fun like Graves.

And chucking a silver medal in the stands is such a Lias Andersson thing to do it made me like him more.

Andersson, Chytil, Shestyorkin, Kravtsov, Miller, Lundqkvist.

Little concerned we might have trouble re-signing these guys in 2025.

In comment 14088286 BrettNYG10 said:

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Andersson, Chytil, Shestyorkin, Kravtsov, Miller, Lundqkvist. Little concerned we might have trouble re-signing these guys in 2025.

I think it's hard to really put a number on the total HOFers they have, some guys they haven't even drafted yet should be included because they're likely to be HOPers too.

Not even counting roster guys like Buchnevich and Hayes.

Just worried about the cap. Almost makes the five Cups we're going to win not even worth it.

Question: am I an asshole for hoping that Lundqvist's play craters this year so the Rangers finish dead last in the league and win the Jack Hughes Sweepstakes?

BTW, PJ, if you haven't seen this article about the USNTDP, I think you'll like it
Link - ( New Window )

thanks for sharing it.

Reminds me (on a much smaller scale) of my junior year in high school. We got a new coach, he was a former coach of Yale University's hockey program.

he had us play West Point JV team. And we were a young-ish high school team, very few seniors, and a lot of young juniors, I was 16 my junior year for example.

Anyway, other than physically, we did really well and it was a great experience. We tied the game and it was like winning the stanley cup.

One of my teammates was hit so hard he went to the wrong bench. We're "lucky" there was no concussion protocol then or he would have missed a lot of the season.

We also had games with a lot of the CT prep schools, Avon Old Farms, Gunnery, Choate, etc. Most of them were elite programs and/or had post-grad players, and we were a public high school.

Definitely helped galvanize us and prepare us for the season.

Anyway sounds like a similar concept tangentially to the what the USNTDP is doing.

.

In comment 14088339 Greg from LI said:

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.

No, Leetch was at BC already. he was too much older than me for us to play, even though he was the town next to me (Cheshire) I never played him. I played against his younger brother though. And the Drury's. I've mentioned them a bunch. Ted was my age (hard to believe his son was just drafted). Chris a couple years younger than me. They want to Fairfield Prep though.

Dave Roberts (who played for the Blues for a few years was on Avon at the time though). Maybe other prospects/pros, but Roberts (probably an unknown to most fans) was their big name.

I don't remember what they were exactly, but I remember seeing Leetch's high school stats and they were absurd, like 90 points in 30 games or something.

was phenomenal in high school best backhand I've seen. He went top shelf with a backhand to beat our goalie once (my sophomore year maybe) from the top of the face off circle. Just a wicked shot.

That same game I was playing defense and our goalie was knocked around a little and I saw a loose puck in the crease and I dove to grab it, and when doing so I closed my hand on the puck and slid it out toward the corner and they called a penalty shot. Drury got stoned by our goalie, but back then you had to serve a penalty if they missed the shot. Our coach wanted to kill me. I didn't think I closed my hand, but also didn't really know that rule to be honest (I was a forward most of my career).

Ted Drury was not much of an NHLer, but great high school player, went to Harvard, and I think played on an Olympic team and then some decent time in the pros.

Also played against Roenick in youth hockey. he played for Ridgefield, CT for a couple years. He was defense and about half a head taller than everyone else and just about every time he had the puck he went coast to coast (we were 10/11 years old). We lost 8 or 9 to 1 in I think the only time we played him.

Craig Janney was another guy I played against, he went to Enfield High. I didn't actually play though, since I was a Freshman when he was a senior. I remember we played them at our home rink and he was late getting on the ice the were about to drop the puck and they opened the door to let him on. He stretched for a second, took the opening face off won it to himself and weaved around our D and score about 8 seconds into the game.

2nd face off he won again and our 6' 8" all-state defenseman came in an cross checked him high and knocked him out of the game. Borderline major, called a minor. We won the game 3 - 1 or something like that. Janney was an incredible high school player too.

I think that's about it for NHL players. I had some Olympians on my team and one who played with Kariya at Maine.

My team played against Eddie George in high school, but I was never on the field against him. I was not much of a football player and only played late in blowouts and on specials. He ran for like 300 yards against us. Didn't hurt that he was actually a postgrad who Fork Union was illegally using on the high school team, something that eventually resulted in them forfeiting all their wins.

The kid who dominated my Little League topped out in AA in the Cubs system.

and a lot of the dominant RB's being one man wrecking crews in high school.

In comment 14088204 pjcas18 said:

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on his coach. And this is just my opinion from watching him play. I know Marchand began to show signs of development under Julien, but IMO with Julien he'd still be a 60-point player, not playing on the PP 1st unit and spending more time in the penalty box. If Quinn is like AV/Julien I think Andersson's offensive upside could be stifled a little, but if he's not oppressive with these youngsters and keeps them in spots to succeed while giving them some flexibility to be creative I think they can all thrive. So I think Andersson (eventually) has Marchand 2017 - 2018 potential. He doesn't have a Bergeron or Pastrnak with him (as far as I know), but maybe that's Chytil and Kravtsov. Right now I think Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak is as good a line as the NHL has had in a decade. PP units aren't sometimes even that good. Maybe Toronto with Tavares puts something together, but both he and Matthews are centers, so unless it's a PP unit, I doubt it.

They are absolutely lethal. Three great talents with otherworldly chemistry and defensive acumen. None of those guys were drafted in the top of the first round. Bergeron was a 2nd rounder and Marchand was a 3rd rounder to boot. This is the NHL, it's hard to find superstars outside of the top 10. Amazing drafting.

In comment 14088219 Greg from LI said:

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around a 20-20-40 player at his peak. I think the Rangers picked him because they believe he has more scoring potential than that.

I think most people think he should at least be in the 50s in points. He's produced at every level. He's got extraordinarily high IQ to boot. As pjacs says he's just not a guy that will bring you out of your seat with dangles. I've heard Drury (Buffalo version) and Ryan O'Reilly comparisons.

In comment 14088416 pjcas18 said:

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and a lot of the dominant RB's being one man wrecking crews in high school.

This was the Virginia Prep League - at the time, we were the defending champions (which is why they cheated with him, they usually dominated the league and were pissed when we beat them the year before), and he was bigger than most of our linemen at 6'3" 220. It was a joke.

2017 Draft (thanks for the DRAFT DAY TRADE, GORTON. Gave us no time to prepare), but it seems like many in Blueshirt Nation were opposed to the Lias pick because of his limited upside. I think they posited that if we didn't lose Oscar Lindberg to Vegas, we probably wouldn't have taken Lias (which is bullshit.) It was the notion that Lias may end up being a very good third-line C or MAYBE a second-line guy, but he wouldn't have the big time potential that guys like Vilardi, Rasmussen, and Mittelstadt allegedly have. Yes, Lias was more NHL-ready than most of the prospects, but his ceiling was somewhere in the middle, which is not exactly what you want for in a top-10 pick. You want to swing for the fences if you're picking that high.


But IDK, Lias looks pretty damn good to me. He seems like a very well-rounded player and has way more upside than Lindberg.

In comment 14088455 Anakim said:

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2017 Draft (thanks for the DRAFT DAY TRADE, GORTON. Gave us no time to prepare), but it seems like many in Blueshirt Nation were opposed to the Lias pick because of his limited upside. I think they posited that if we didn't lose Oscar Lindberg to Vegas, we probably wouldn't have taken Lias (which is bullshit.) It was the notion that Lias may end up being a very good third-line C or MAYBE a second-line guy, but he wouldn't have the big time potential that guys like Vilardi, Rasmussen, and Mittelstadt allegedly have. Yes, Lias was more NHL-ready than most of the prospects, but his ceiling was somewhere in the middle, which is not exactly what you want for in a top-10 pick. You want to swing for the fences if you're picking that high. But IDK, Lias looks pretty damn good to me. He seems like a very well-rounded player and has way more upside than Lindberg.

Pierre lazily compared him to Lindberg during the draft I believe. Might have been Fast, or both. Anyway, it was based on them both being Swedish and sound defensively. It was a bullshit comparison from what I see. But that's where it comes from.