NFT: Home Opener: Dallas Stars @ NY Rangers - 7 PM on MSGN

Like, ever

In comment 15413031 Greg from LI said:

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Like, ever

Absolute fucking disaster, playing that traffic cone over the reigning SHL D-man of the year and one of our brightest prospects who looked great all preseason.

The Georgiev decision was absolutely senseless and baseless. He has not looked good in two years and was a disaster this preseason. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON????????

This was supposed to be a big, physical, tough game and our top 6 didn't show up, didn't battle, didn't display any interest whatsoever. What a fucking disaster.

They are probably going to look way better and win tonight but that first game is a BAD omen for the rest of the year. Those are the games you need to win, or at very least be competitive. This is largely the same team who made a routine of no-showing last year in those type of games.

night. brutal start. Hopefully they can rebound here.

put Fox and Miller together.

Trouba is too rigid defensively to be Miller's partner IMO.

I bet Miller never falls for the fake dump in again, that was brilliant by Kuznetzov and Ovi, but clearly Miller was a forward learning to play D on that play.

Nemeth and Tinordi should be relegated to 4th pair very quickly. They were brutal last night.

Maybe trading away their best penalty-killing forward wasn't such a hot idea?

There were some very basic breakdowns like on the first PPG where Kakko doesn't have his stick on the ice and they make an easy cross seem pass to Ovi. It doesn't get more basic than "sticks in the passing lanes," especially when you are on Ovi's side of the ice.

but I really wonder which direction Drury is taking this team

He’s won wherever he’s been

The Rangers can tweak their bottom 6 all they want (and I actually like it now) but as Larry Brooks pointed out today the issue w/this team is the top 6. They put up #s against the weaker teams but when they play the top teams (especially the physical ones) they are invisible. Laffy and Kakko might help a bit. They might need to move a Goodrow or Blais into the top 6 but until the top 2 lines can be productive against all type of teams this team has no chance to be successful.

He can't move and turns the puck over every time he touches it. Hopefully this is the last we see of him. I'd prefer to even see Hajek in there over him. PK was abysmal last night, but I expect that to get better throughout the year. I think starting Georgiev last night made sense, don't really see the outcry here. He was going to have to either start last night or tonight, maybe they wanted Igor to have the home start. I actually thought the first period they looked really good, the penalties just killed them.

In comment 15413172 bluesince56 said:

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He’s won wherever he’s been

agree with this. It takes time for a new coach to evaluate what he's got

It's one game, against a good team in their home opener, with a less than ideal lineup. The Kravtsov situation is concerning though, it's pretty disappointing that we're on the verge of losing a top 10 overall pick so Libor Hajek can stay on the team as the 8th defenseman.

It's going to take time for all the new players to develop chemistry with the guys who have been here a while, plus all of them to work their way into Gallant's system together. The good news is their schedule is reasonable to start the year. They have a bunch of games against teams like Montreal, Ottawa, Columbus, Nashville coming up. Teams that even if they're not at their best, they should have a good chance to get points against. Dallas is tough, I think they're primed for a big bounce back year and could surprise some people out in the west. We'll see if the Gallant Rangers are as good coming out of a loss as the Quinn Rangers were.

I too was baffled and disappointed that Igor didn't start

Blais, Tinordi, Nemeth, Goodrow, Reaves - Generated 4 shots, 15 hits, 10 penalty minutes, and were collectively -4 on the night, not including PP goals given up (4).

Question, for those who watched the game: Do you feel the difference in the game was due to lack of grit/size? Or was it speed/skill?

I'm concerned about Georgiev as our back-up goalie. He's been weak.

In comment 15413406 PwndPapi said:

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Blais, Tinordi, Nemeth, Goodrow, Reaves - Generated 4 shots, 15 hits, 10 penalty minutes, and were collectively -4 on the night, not including PP goals given up (4). Question, for those who watched the game: Do you feel the difference in the game was due to lack of grit/size? Or was it speed/skill?

Physicality was the one thing the Rangers did have. They just took too many penalties and the Caps wound up with too many odd man rushes. Tinordi is a train wreck, Nemeth didn't look much better, Goodrow wasn't really noticeable, Blais was like a freight train blasting bodies left and right. I thought Reaves was pretty good. Collectively, I think the best line was the third line, specifically Chytil. He had the most scoring chances that I can recall.

In comment 15413410 BrettNYG10 said:

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I'm concerned about Georgiev as our back-up goalie. He's been weak.

Since that really good year in 18-19, Georgiev has been bad aside from a few games against the Islanders. If he plays the way he did last night, they cannot rely on him to play 25-30 games. However, I don't think Igor is a guy who will take on 60 or more games. All the talk about the grit, center depth, and third d pair, backup goalie might actually be the biggest weakness on this team.

In comment 15413406 PwndPapi said:

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Blais, Tinordi, Nemeth, Goodrow, Reaves - Generated 4 shots, 15 hits, 10 penalty minutes, and were collectively -4 on the night, not including PP goals given up (4). Question, for those who watched the game: Do you feel the difference in the game was due to lack of grit/size? Or was it speed/skill?

the difference in the game was:

- Defense (the NYR 3rd pair was absolutely awful if they weren't turning the puck over they were playing atrocious d positionally, and Miller struggled)

- PK, Caps PP is good, but I though without Backstrom they'd be manageable. 3 PP goals for WAS.

- Goalie, even with the two above the rangers likely lose, but Georgiev was leaky to be polite

those three said you score 1 goal you lose 90% of your games, so the offense didn't do their job, but it was 3 - 0 before the game was halfway over

Panarin looked good, made some sick passes - probably their best player offensively. Kakko looked strong offensively, generated a bunch of shots if not scoring changes, but defensively he was over-matched by the Ovi line. Chytil looked good too.

I wouldn't have known Mika played if I didn't know he was playing if you know what I mean, talk about invisible.

In comment 15413504 pjcas18 said:

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I wouldn't have known Mika played if I didn't know he was playing if you know what I mean, talk about invisible.

Quite frankly, that was often the case last season when Buchnevich wasn't on his wing. Yet another reason to dislike that trade.

Mika is going the Girardi route and beginning an accelerated decline the second he put pen to paper.

In comment 15413475 ShockNRoll said:

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In comment 15413410 BrettNYG10 said: Quote: I'm concerned about Georgiev as our back-up goalie. He's been weak. Since that really good year in 18-19, Georgiev has been bad aside from a few games against the Islanders. If he plays the way he did last night, they cannot rely on him to play 25-30 games. However, I don't think Igor is a guy who will take on 60 or more games. All the talk about the grit, center depth, and third d pair, backup goalie might actually be the biggest weakness on this team.

Good point, agreed. I like him personally but he's a weak spot.

In comment 15413535 BrettNYG10 said:

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Mika is going the Girardi route and beginning an accelerated decline the second he put pen to paper.

Their longterm deals almost always blow up in their faces like a trick cigar.

Yeah, I think they have a 3-4 year window to contend now. I don't think they'll get there this year, either. I view a lot of these off-season moves as dramatically narrowing the window on this team.

I do not like the Zibanejad deal. I really hope I'm wrong. I love the player.

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In comment 15413535 BrettNYG10 said:

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Mika is going the Girardi route and beginning an accelerated decline the second he put pen to paper.

I don't see this, it's one game, Mika is going to have a big impact on this team to the tune of 35+ goals and 75+ points. I think years 6-7-8 may see decline, but I believe this is a good contract.

really needs to get off to a good start, last night obviously not withstanding.

just to get people off his back. With any LT contract, especially the latest, people will question it.

for 21-22 at $8.5M (based on current contracts) he is the 13th highest paid C in the league. A lot to live up to.

If they finish worse than they did last year, does Drury get fired?

In comment 15413561 PwndPapi said:

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If they finish worse than they did last year, does Drury get fired?

No way. He's Sather's boy, and lil' Jimmy Dolan will go along with everything Sather does.

In comment 15413555 ShockNRoll said:

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In comment 15413535 BrettNYG10 said: Quote: Mika is going the Girardi route and beginning an accelerated decline the second he put pen to paper. I don't see this, it's one game, Mika is going to have a big impact on this team to the tune of 35+ goals and 75+ points. I think years 6-7-8 may see decline, but I believe this is a good contract.

Lol, I'm kidding, sorry.

Mika's got at least 3-4 years before that contract starts hurting.

Now, this depends on whether Rick Carpinello is right, which is never something you want to rely on, but.....he says the Rangers told Kravtsov that the demotion was purely to get his physical conditioning up, because he wasn't as in shape as they wanted him to be. As soon as he did that, he'd be back on the big club. At that, Kravtsov refused the assignment.

If that's how it played out, then it's hard to fault the Rangers. Obviously, I have no idea what Kravtsov's conditioning level is right now, but if it's not where it should be then he doesn't deserve a lineup spot.

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NY Post - ( New Window )

anything you hear from the Rangers now on Kravtsov, they are in "shit on the player to make it seem like it's not our fault" mode. which is really counterproductive if you want to increase the trade value of the player, but sports teams are stupid and care more about public perception than trade value.

I'm sure culpability lies with both parties, but I feel like Kravtsov not becoming successful in NY is worse for NY than it is for him personally and if i am running a team I make every effort for the player to succeed.

I agree with Kravtsov to one extent, playing on the 4th line and/or playing in the AHL is not the only way for a player to earn playing time.

In Brooks article, he compares Kravtsov to Zegras (one of my favorite juniors players) but what options did Zegras have? He didn't have a KHL contract and left BU and signed his ELC - he could not go back to play for BU. He had no options. Kravtsov, like Andersson, had the EAC clause built in to their contracts for this reason.

In comment 15413613 BrettNYG10 said

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. NY Post - ( New Window )

yes it is. well done, asks the right questions, hopefully now being asked by Drury and co.

that Kravtsov and the Rangers had a disagreement in their exit interview about his off season training plan. So that kind of plays into what Greg posted. Last night gave me a Giants vs Broncos game 1 feel. Thankfully the Rangers have 81 more games not just 16.

I wanted the Rangers to let Mika walk if this was going to be the price. I understand the optics of that. I understand it would have hung over the team the entire year. I understand he's a very popular player. Unfortunately so far the bigger the game the smaller he plays. It's nothing new and now they've tied up a large portion of their cap for 8 years in an older player with no playoff pedigree.

I hope this post looks really stupid in 2 years. Even if you strongly disagree, no matter what anyone says, sadly it doesn't today.

In comment 15413634 pjcas18 said:

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anything you hear from the Rangers now on Kravtsov, they are in "shit on the player to make it seem like it's not our fault" mode. which is really counterproductive if you want to increase the trade value of the player, but sports teams are stupid and care more about public perception than trade value. I'm sure culpability lies with both parties, but I feel like Kravtsov not becoming successful in NY is worse for NY than it is for him personally and if i am running a team I make every effort for the player to succeed. I agree with Kravtsov to one extent, playing on the 4th line and/or playing in the AHL is not the only way for a player to earn playing time. In Brooks article, he compares Kravtsov to Zegras (one of my favorite juniors players) but what options did Zegras have? He didn't have a KHL contract and left BU and signed his ELC - he could not go back to play for BU. He had no options. Kravtsov, like Andersson, had the EAC clause built in to their contracts for this reason.

I agree. As others have pointed out, Drury was the GM of Hartford where he was an issue. You had a year to deal with this and get value.

Kravtsov three months ago could have been a key piece in an Eichel deal or something like that.

That's what I was told, anyway

In comment 15413664 Greg from LI said:

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That's what I was told, anyway

I don't know how the EACs work - does he only get to execute the clause once?

it's in the ELC though and he's still on the EAC so not sure how it gets out of his contract unless it's a one time thing like an "eject" button or something, lol.

Unless I guess his contract with Traktor expired and he doesn't have a KHL contract (also side note Traktor is a cool name for a hockey team).

it's in the ELC though and he's still on the EAC

should say

it's in the ELC though and he's still on the ELC

In comment 15413655 arniefez said:

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that Kravtsov and the Rangers had a disagreement in their exit interview about his off season training plan. So that kind of plays into what Greg posted. Last night gave me a Giants vs Broncos game 1 feel. Thankfully the Rangers have 81 more games not just 16. I wanted the Rangers to let Mika walk if this was going to be the price. I understand the optics of that. I understand it would have hung over the team the entire year. I understand he's a very popular player. Unfortunately so far the bigger the game the smaller he plays. It's nothing new and now they've tied up a large portion of their cap for 8 years in an older player with no playoff pedigree. I hope this post looks really stupid in 2 years. Even if you strongly disagree, no matter what anyone says, sadly it doesn't today.

I read that as well and that sort of reinforces what transpired last season when he was cut and demoted to Hartford.

Here's my problem with that though - if they had questions about his offseason training regimen, then why was he left out of the prospect development camp? I mean, he's still technically a rookie. Presumably, it's because the front office felt he was far along in his development to play with the big club.

Then he gets hurt during the exhibition games and the Rangers left him out of a team-building event? Why?

Is his lack of conditioning more of a detriment to the team than Tinordi, Gauthier, Hunt outright sucking? This reeks of mismanagement and damage control - as pjcas alluded to.

Ugh.

Same old goal with less than a minute to go

Color me concerned

They’re the fucking same

But the Rangers' offense is stuck in neutral.

But they look terrible

Generating some great chances now

In comment 15413867 Greg from LI said:

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But they look terrible

That's the thing. They don't. They're generating scoring chances. They're just not finishing.

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They've looked like a completely different team. Playing with a lot of jump.

Right after I took my 28 oz cowboy cut ribeye out of the cast iron

We are a lot of chicken parm back in the day boys….will you ride with me again ?