Big Blue Huddle

Season is right around the corner.

How is everyone feeling about the team and its chances this year?

What are you most excited about? What are you most concerned about?

Right now, I am most concerned about Panarin getting hurt twice in pre-season.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on October 03, 2024, 07:19:46 PMSeason is right around the corner.

How is everyone feeling about the team and its chances this year?

What are you most excited about? What are you most concerned about?

I wasn't sure if another thread had already been created, but this one works for me so thank you for starting it up with less than a week to go before the pucks fly for keeps.

It's always exciting to start a new season but plenty of questions going into this one. First, which is the worry bead for all of us, is the extent of the Breadman's injury and how it will impact him as far as lost time and his overall performance capability. It's definitely an area of concern worth keeping an eye on. Jimmy Vesey's injury appears more serious and he will be out and, of course, Lindgren is also hurt and may be out to start the season. So, the injury front to start things off is a bit of a worry but, also, an opportunity for Jones to step into the lineup and demonstrate he's ready for more ice time in defense, and Othmann to get more ice time on offense.

The goalie situation remains the same and all that's left is the Rangers and Igor's agent hammer a deal out to see #31 as the highest paid goalie in the league. He played lights' out  last season and a similar performance will likely be needed this season for the Rangers to compete once again for a run to the Finals.

What will be interesting to see is how the head coach handles this group in his second year. Will he continue the path he set forth last year or does he have some other things planned to help get this group over the top and into the Finals this year?

Will the team be able to respond after getting to within two games of the Finals for a second time in three seasons? Or, has the core gone as far as they can go and we'll see them fall back and signal a time to rebuild?

Last year they played a pretty consistent brand of hockey throughout the regular season and were exciting to watch. It resulted in the best ever performance by a Ranger team in terms of wins, earning the President's Trophy, winning two playoff series with one against a team many expected to win the Cup. Even against Florida, up 2-1 in the series, had they won Game 4, the possibilities were endless. Instead, they lost the momentum, got manhandled and never had a chance despite keeping every game within a goal.

Losing a semifinal like that for the second time in three years has got to be difficult to swallow. How do you get past not just the physical element but the psychological?

That's what Laviolette has to overcome with this group; a year older, perhaps a year wiser, but without any new players to honestly make them better. How do they get back to the semis and take on a physical force of a team and beat them?

Lots of questions. Hope springs eternal this time of the year. Hoping they will have another Northwestern Canadian sweep like they did last year to jump-start their season and let's see where it goes.

They play Florida early and it will be a marquee matchup. But they have their Cup now and the situation isn't the same anymore.

I'm not really sure who will be favored to win it all this season. Edmonton will be the sentimental favorite. Dallas, Carolina, Boston, Florida, Winnipeg, LA and the Rangers will all be in the hunt. Maybe Nashville will step up to compete. Colorado is a dynamic organization, but their mystique is beginning to wear as other teams (e.g. Dallas, the Rangers) have demonstrated their ability to skate with them.

I'll be curious to see if Florida still has the cojones to make a second run and go back-to back.

Peace!

Quote from: kartanoman on October 03, 2024, 09:08:29 PMI wasn't sure if another thread had already been created, but this one works for me so thank you for starting it up with less than a week to go before the pucks fly for keeps.

It's always exciting to start a new season but plenty of questions going into this one. First, which is the worry bead for all of us, is the extent of the Breadman's injury and how it will impact him as far as lost time and his overall performance capability. It's definitely an area of concern worth keeping an eye on. Jimmy Vesey's injury appears more serious and he will be out and, of course, Lindgren is also hurt and may be out to start the season. So, the injury front to start things off is a bit of a worry but, also, an opportunity for Jones to step into the lineup and demonstrate he's ready for more ice time in defense, and Othmann to get more ice time on offense.

The goalie situation remains the same and all that's left is the Rangers and Igor's agent hammer a deal out to see #31 as the highest paid goalie in the league. He played lights' out  last season and a similar performance will likely be needed this season for the Rangers to compete once again for a run to the Finals.

What will be interesting to see is how the head coach handles this group in his second year. Will he continue the path he set forth last year or does he have some other things planned to help get this group over the top and into the Finals this year?

Will the team be able to respond after getting to within two games of the Finals for a second time in three seasons? Or, has the core gone as far as they can go and we'll see them fall back and signal a time to rebuild?

Last year they played a pretty consistent brand of hockey throughout the regular season and were exciting to watch. It resulted in the best ever performance by a Ranger team in terms of wins, earning the President's Trophy, winning two playoff series with one against a team many expected to win the Cup. Even against Florida, up 2-1 in the series, had they won Game 4, the possibilities were endless. Instead, they lost the momentum, got manhandled and never had a chance despite keeping every game within a goal.

Losing a semifinal like that for the second time in three years has got to be difficult to swallow. How do you get past not just the physical element but the psychological?

That's what Laviolette has to overcome with this group; a year older, perhaps a year wiser, but without any new players to honestly make them better. How do they get back to the semis and take on a physical force of a team and beat them?

Lots of questions. Hope springs eternal this time of the year. Hoping they will have another Northwestern Canadian sweep like they did last year to jump-start their season and let's see where it goes.

They play Florida early and it will be a marquee matchup. But they have their Cup now and the situation isn't the same anymore.

I'm not really sure who will be favored to win it all this season. Edmonton will be the sentimental favorite. Dallas, Carolina, Boston, Florida, Winnipeg, LA and the Rangers will all be in the hunt. Maybe Nashville will step up to compete. Colorado is a dynamic organization, but their mystique is beginning to wear as other teams (e.g. Dallas, the Rangers) have demonstrated their ability to skate with them.

I'll be curious to see if Florida still has the cojones to make a second run and go back-to back.

Peace!

Really good summary.

For those wondering, according to DraftKings, only three teams (Edmonton, Florida, and Dallas) have shorter odds than we do to win the Cup. We have the same odds as the Leafs, Devils, Canes, and Avalanche (13-1).

We're clearly one of the strongest teams in the league. We won the President's Trophy last year.

However, I thought we were the clearly inferior skating team to the Panthers and only Shesty kept that series from being a sweep. We also could have lost to the Canes, but Kreider had other ideas.

We're one of the best teams, but I guess the question for me is, "why will this year be different"?

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on October 03, 2024, 09:19:20 PMWe're one of the best teams, but I guess the question for me is, "why will this year be different"?

Yes, that's the question I just don't have an answer for.

If I were to take a guess, it would have to come from the defensive side of the rink. Personally, I would love Jones to make the leap and force his way into the second rotation and build depth there. Don't know why he never was selected in the playoffs.

We'll see what happens but there are a few kids who are playing to try and make the team so the final pre-season games might be worth the watch.

Peace!

Last year they were a great team that ran into a juggernaut that eventually won the cup.  This year I'm not sure they made a lot of improvements but they also didn't have a lot of options to do so.  I think Laffy took a big step forward last year and if that can lead to another step this year it will certainly help.  Sometimes we forget he's like 21 or whatever because he's already been around for 3 years.  I don't think I'd say I'm more or less confident than I was last year around this time.  They have a great team with an elite goaltender.  They should be in the mix of teams that could win it all and they'll probably add a piece or two at the deadline depending on what it looks like they need.  But I'm glad it's back!  Hockey offseason is always short but never sweet.  Unless you're the Panthers.

There is some young blood competing to make the team this year and I hope drury puts some of them on the team. Namely Othman, Edstrom and Mancini for starters. Drury badly bungled the trouble situation but needs to move him as soon as possible along with Lindgren   

I'm concerned the Rangers didn't improve and it's hard to see them duplicating their top of the league regular season.  They need better from Mika and hopefully Kakko can make a leap. 

Quote from: Messiah717 on October 05, 2024, 11:28:16 PMI'm concerned the Rangers didn't improve and it's hard to see them duplicating their top of the league regular season.  They need better from Mika and hopefully Kakko can make a leap. 

I agree. One of my concerns is around the Igor contract - is it sorted by Thursday, can he focus 100% if it's not and if it is sorted, just how much of the cap space does it eat?

Other than that, I don't feel like they have improved too much from last season. It feels like they are simply rolling it back and I'm not convinced that's good enough.

I agree with you guys that the Rangers don't really look different from the team that was soundly outplayed in the ECF by a clearly superior Florida Panthers team.

That same team did win the Presidents Trophy with just a good but not great season from Shesty though, so it's not like it's not a very good/top team.

One X factor for me is Laffy. I think he took a major step forward last year and that step forward could continue this year. I could see him blossoming into a bona fide star this season. That would be one thing that could improve the team overall.

Another is Chytil. He more or less didn't play last year. Now.. am I confident he will ever stay healthy? Not really, but I am not going to completely rule it out either. If he could play a full season or close to it and be a very good third line center for us that will also make an impact.

Miller is another guy who I wonder if he can take a step forward. His mistakes on the ice are glaring and haven't gone away, but there is no question he has talent. Perhaps he can finally put it together and have his best season as a pro.

What if we got most if not all of the above, plus Shesty had a Vezina type season instead of just a good to very good season? I realize it's a lot of ifs, but none of those individually seems out of the realm.

Our core vets are what they are. I don't see any getting better, but they're not yet old enough to where I think age is a clear factor.

Overall I think it's down to our young players taking a step forward. If that happens, I think we might improve.

Notice I didn't mention Kakko anywhere in the above. If he surprises me, fantastic, but I have pretty much given up on him ever being anything more than mediocre/pedestrian. This will be his sixth NHL season. He's the Daniel Jones of the NHL.

I was very impressed with Laf, especially in the Playoffs. If he can get some PP1 time another 8-10 goals isn't out of the question   That would be fantastic.

Quote from: EDjohnst1981 on October 06, 2024, 05:52:31 AMI was very impressed with Laf, especially in the Playoffs. If he can get some PP1 time another 8-10 goals isn't out of the question   That would be fantastic.

From what I saw last year, I wouldn't put it past Laffy to take the step towards being an 80 point type player. I thought he was tremendous and as someone mentioned earlier, he literally only just turned 22.

The aren't many changes for this team; pretty much the same players and coaches. Lavi could not get them over the hump in the ECF, pretty much the same as in Gallant's first year with the Rangers. Gallant's second year result, one and done in the playoff, looms over Lavi. This is not a prediction, just an indication that he has a tough task ahead to move them over the hump. It's not going to be easy as the core players had been around for a relatively long time. I am hoping that Lavi still have some tricks up in his sleeves, but we'll see.

Some of the injuries during the preseason will impact the start of the season. Vesey out for couple of weeks, while others are day-to-day.

Othman and Korczak are back to Hartford, while others are on waiver. They really didn't show much during the training camp and preseason games. In my view, this was the right decision by the coaching staff.

I am optimistic about the upcoming season. It may start out slow, but as they say; it's not how you start, it's how you finish....

What I think they lacked last season was toughness and grit. I don't mean fighting, I mean guys doing the dirty work in the corners and in front of the net. I don't see a whole lot of that being added this off season, it looks like basically the same lineup as last season.
They also need to rely less on the power play and score more when skating 5 on 5.
Lastly, I think one way to improve on my first two points is to SHOOT THE PUCK MORE! I get so frustrated watching a guy between the face off dots pass off to a guy with a worse shooting angle always looking for the tic-tac-toe picture perfect goal. Between the dots, shoot the Puck and the other guys crash the net for rebounds.

We'll see how they look. Last year reminded us that you can be the "best" team in the regular season but still be badly outplayed by someone else in the postseason.

The big elephant in the room is Panarin. The guy is electric in the regular season but just shuts down in the playoffs. It has been a theme throughout his career not just as a Ranger but going back to his Columbus and Chicago days too. He has had plenty of different coaches who have tried to help him, and it just hasn't happened. At 32/33 years old, this problem is all but certain to not change at this point in his career. Our other vets are at best inconsistent in the playoffs too. All of these guys are in their 30s now, all have nice fat contracts with no trade clauses, and all have no desire to go anywhere. Will their postseason suddenly change at this stage in their careers? Fans can choose to be optimistic, but that's not a bet I would make.

We need young guys to bring their games to a new level and we need a "stand-on-his-head" season and postseason from Shesty.