So what's next? I'm with Brett. I think both Gallant and Drury need to go. Two straight years of blowing a 2-0 series lead and having your team no-show. Unacceptable.
But I think Drury is our new Sather and I think Gallant will be retained, but Mike Kelly will "retire". I'd rather have Gallant than Sutter, Julien and even Laviolette. The two "retreads" who intrigue me most: Andrew Brunette (DUI and all) and Joel Quenneville. Will Coach Q ever get another HC job again? IDK, doesn't seem like it, but he would definitely be an upgrade at HC.
As for the players...lots of decisions to be made. Two certainties: Kane should walk, if not retire, and Goodrow is going to be a cap dump.
I think 8 guys are definite returns: 1) Igor, 2) Fox, 3) Lindgren, 4)Kreider, 5) Trouba, 6) Zibanejad, 7) Chytil and 8) Schneider
Laf and K'Andre are RFAs and frankly, I hope they both get offer-sheeted. Kakko? Underwhelming. Trocheck likely is coming back, but it's not a certainty.
I'd bring back Tarasenko on the cheap if he's up for it.
And then there's Panarin, who was by far the most disappointing this series. And this is nothing new. Aside from the Game 7 OT winner against the Yinz last year, he's been fucking terrible in the Playoffs. He has a NMC and a huge salary, so IDK if he's movable, but man, this is a problem. He is a total liability when it comes to the Playoffs.
Knoblouch would be my second choice at this point unless there's someone else I'm missing.
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shake loose exactly?
get fired?
I believe the hypothetical is that if Toronto cleans house, Dubas is the likely 1A choice for the Pens GM gig, and he could potentially want Keefe as his HC.
A lot of "ifs" involved, and it all comes down to a lot more than an "I want Sullivan" tantrum from Dolan.
Makes sense, the two teams were built similarly though maybe the main difference between TOR and PIT is Sullivan. So bringing Keefe to PIT just creates the same thing they had in TOR but south of the border.
Both top heavy teams, super high end stars, who struggled in net (to an extent though MAF is better than any TOR goalie under Dubas - and funny they brought in Matt Murray - the guy who ended MAF in PIT), and struggled to fill out the bottom of the roster due to top heaviness/cap.
Also, Sullivan signed an extension through 2026-2027. That's a lot of coin to eat if it works like I think it does, for the privilege of firing the best coach in the league (or one of them).
Pour one out for the long lost Jon in NJ.
Dan Bylsma, I think? Yinz got a first-rounder out of it.
Can’t say who I’d go with. Laviolette was said to have embraced data and what it offers during his time in Washington but the Caps didn’t exactly prove that on the ice during his tenure. And if you want a stern taskmaster, that’s unlikely to be a first-timer behind the bench."
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Penguins should be tearing down. Maybe Sullivan asks out and something could be done. I can't remember the last time an NHL HC was traded.
Dan Bylsma, I think? Yinz got a first-rounder out of it.
Never mind. Bylsma had already been fired and the Yinz got a third rounder.
I'd form my opinion of him based on PHI, NSH or CAR - like him or not - just saying i wouldn't use WAS as the basis.
3 trips to the cup, 1 win is the ultimate record to look at too.
There isn't an obvious fit. Gallant was obvious a couple years ago.
Good research, Greg.
If you want a guy strictly who can develop young players I'd say look at the former player route.
Martin St. Louis turned Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki into stars. Caufield was in the AHL and went a month of the season without scoring (sound familiar?) and then was on a 50 goal pace before being injured. He still had 36 points in 46 games (26 goals). He also got more out of Kirby Dach then the prior years in CHI - some people had given up on Dach.
But the Rangers need to win now because they have the ingredients in place, so you need a coach/staff who can get the most out of veteran players (task master/system guy) and at the same time someone to develop young players.
Kind of like a coaching unicorn.
DeBoer has done a good job with this in Dallas even though he inherited some of it but Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston are as good a young duo as there is in the league. but until he wins a cup he'll have the good not great label. 0 - 2 in cup finals, but a .560 playoff winning percentage.
Not sure if that totally prevents him from taking a head coaching job elsewhere, but he seems to be the heir apparent in LA.
McLellan I think is doing ok, but he'll be in year 5 this year, so I think he'll be on the hot seat.
From the Athletic in the summer of 2021:
Rangers also could have flipped Z for assets and used that in place of Chytil.
Also, I don't really care about small markets winning Cups/advancing, etc., but the Rangers should have a huge advantage in player development/analytics/etc. And these teams with smaller budgets seem to be outclassing them. Frustrating.
From the Athletic in the summer of 2021:
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There’s no question that Filip Chytil is going to be available — where the hell is he going to play with all the grit guys Drury brought in? — and that there will be two other prospects (Kravtsov, Nils Lundkvist, Matthew Robertson, Zac Jones) and perhaps a first and/or Alexandar Georgiev.
Rangers also could have flipped Z for assets and used that in place of Chytil.
Also, I don't really care about small markets winning Cups/advancing, etc., but the Rangers should have a huge advantage in player development/analytics/etc. And these teams with smaller budgets seem to be outclassing them. Frustrating.
Eichel was a risk, I mean he's a better player than Mika overall, but he had a pretty serious neck injury and the treatment for it was heavily debated.
It would have been a bold move, and maybe the right one, but I can't fault Drury for it too much. Mika is a good player.
I think the the Kreider extension and Panarin contract (both Gorton moves I think) are preventing the Rangers from doing other things, not the Mika contract.
But where I actually want to go is why not Mika and Eichel? It just means no Trocheck (obviously) and no Chytil extension - which you know my opinion, Chytil is not a center anyway, not long term (due to face offs) and he's probably in the trade. Those two make $8M and you're almost to Eichel ($10M) and then NYR have a center duo that rivals the best in the league.
Eichel/Z was do-able too, I guess. No Trocheck, no Goodrow probably. That would have been interesting. The names thrown out for Eichel have turned into shit. The cap part would have been hard.
Eichel/Z was do-able too, I guess. No Trocheck, no Goodrow probably. That would have been interesting. The names thrown out for Eichel have turned into shit. The cap part would have been hard.
Paying Mika to 2030 is definitely not ideal as well as giving him full NMC. I'd have prioritized one or the other, term or NMC, not both, but I have never had to negotiate a contract so I'm talking out of my ass.
He'll be 36 or 37 when this contract ends.
Yep. I’m interested. He, Jay Leach or maybe Knoblauch.
@StapeAthletic
Hearing that #NYR has let Jim Ramsay go. Athletic trainer for the team since 1994, worked several Olympics as Team Canada's head trainer.
We were like the most healthy team in the league. WTF sense does this make?
Babcock has some support in the Rangers' front office. Maybe from AGM Ryan Martin, since they were in Detroit together.
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If Drury feels secure, then he can pick anyone, but that's how I view it.
Not too many GM's putting their future in the hands of a first time head coach IMO.