NFT: NY Rangers 2023 - 2024 Season

[kartanoman]

The Isles have about $6 million in cap space for next season with a few RFAs to extend. There will be no big splashes. We don't get a Panarin to fall into our laps like you guys. We need to develop talent but all the prospect rankings say we are near last in the league.

You finally have the right coach to develop your talent. You have the heart to play with the Rangers. You have something brewing.

Lest you forget the tides were turned over 40 years ago.

Peace!

[kartanoman]

Round two starts tonight!

What kind of game are the Rangers going to throw at the Canes? Will rust from 12 days between games be a factor?

I'm ready to drop the puck now!

Peace!

[DaveBrown74]

Round two starts tonight!

What kind of game are the Rangers going to throw at the Canes? Will rust from 12 days between games be a factor?

I'm ready to drop the puck now!

Peace!

Interestingly, the Rangers are the underdog in this series (according to Vegas oddsmakers) despite having the best record in the league, being healthy overall, and just sweeping a team. Here is the Athletic's take on the series:


Rangers-Hurricanes predictions: An Eastern Conference executive, player and coach weigh in

RALEIGH, NC - MARCH 12:
By Arthur Staple
5h ago


The betting sites and the data modelers like the Carolina Hurricanes in their second-round matchup with the New York Rangers. The data, as is usual when it comes to Carolina, is on the Canes' side. Despite winning the Presidents' Trophy and dispatching the inferior Washington Capitals in four games in the opening round, the Rangers are not analytical darlings this season.

We wanted to know what some NHL insiders think. So, same as we did in Round 1, we've assembled an executive, a coach and a player from three different Eastern Conference teams to give us their views on what they agree should be an excellent matchup.
How even is this matchup?

The executive: Both teams' first-round series went about as I expected, though I was surprised that a team with as little juice as Washington has was able to tilt the ice at times against the Rangers. There were stretches in the first round when (Igor) Shesterkin had to be great, and he was. That's a big advantage for the Rangers in this series — Freddie Andersen is a great story, but I just don't see him being able to match what Shesterkin can do when he's locked in like this.

If what we've seen through the regular season and first round of the playoffs holds, the Hurricanes will have the puck a lot more, they'll generate more shots, more offensive zone time and more chances than New York, but that won't be enough for them to win. The Rangers don't need the volume of shot attempts and opportunities that the Hurricanes do to score. If Carolina is going to make this a series, its top offensive guys are going to have to be very good and better than they have been against the Rangers.

The coach: The first-round numbers for both teams were pretty similar, they were both good on the power play (the Rangers were 6-for-16, 37.5 percent, against the Caps and the Hurricanes were 5-for-15, 33.3 percent, against the Islanders) but the Canes' penalty kill wasn't as good against the Islanders as it was in the regular season (Carolina was 8-for-11 on the PK, 72.7 percent). Discipline is going to be crucial in this series because both power plays can bite you if you start taking penalties, the Rangers probably more than Carolina.

I'd say both teams need to take a step up after the first round. If the Rangers play the same as they did five-on-five against Washington, Carolina will kill them. They could get away with things against the Caps, but that isn't happening here. Probably give the Rangers the edge in net and they have better skill guys, but the key for me is how does the Rangers D react to what Carolina does? Carolina will rim pucks in all day long, their D will pinch to keep plays alive and then they want to beat you down low. Carolina will make plays in the neutral zone if they're there but is happy to rim and chip pucks in and go to work. The Rangers have that 1-3-1 (neutral-zone system), but can it hold when Carolina's flying around?

The player: I'm curious to see how the teams hold up in the D zone. The Rangers have that five-on-a-dice style and it works for them. When you have to see Carolina in a seven-game series you'd think (the Hurricanes) could wear you down with the way they attack every spot on the forecheck. The Hurricanes have played that man-to-man on D for a long time and it's brought them a lot of success, but not over the hump — you can break them down at times because once they lose a guy, it can be a bit of a scramble. And the Rangers have some skilled players who could force the issue there.
The Rangers are going to need Adam Fox in Round 2. (Danny Wild / USA Today)
What will be the difference in the series?

The executive: If Adam Fox isn't 100 percent that could be a big spot for the Rangers because they'll need him — they always do, of course — to skate out of trouble and counter Carolina's aggression. But for me, the Canes were in a similar position two years ago and they couldn't put the Rangers away. Vincent Trocheck was on that Carolina team and now he's probably been the Rangers' best forward in the first round. The Rangers may not have the puck much, but I don't think it will matter. Rangers in six.

The coach: It's the special teams for me. The Rangers have the guys to neutralize Carolina's power play, starting with the guy in net (Shesterkin). Carolina obviously added (Jake) Guentzel, and its two best guys against the Islanders were (Seth) Jarvis and (Andrei) Svechnikov, but it's going to need (a) big series from the big guys, like (Sebastian) Aho. The Rangers' big guys can get to that higher level. Not sure Carolina's can. We went around our coaches' room before the playoffs started to pick a champion; I chose the Rangers. Can't change now.

The player: I think this is as much of a toss-up as you can get. Different styles, a lot of skill everywhere, they both do things well but kind of do them differently to get to the result. The Rangers defend well, I don't think they get enough credit for that, but I think it's going to come down to goaltending. Freddie's been great for (Carolina), but he hasn't exactly held up the last few playoffs, so he's got to not just be good, but stay healthy. I also wonder what a Carolina loss might do. This will be what, six straight years of making the second round without getting to a Final? This might be the last go for that core. Not sure if that helps them or puts too much pressure on (them). I honestly can't pick a winner.

[EDjohnst1981]

Round two starts tonight!

What kind of game are the Rangers going to throw at the Canes? Will rust from 12 days between games be a factor?

I'm ready to drop the puck now!

Peace!

I am ready too - really pumped.

Rangers in six.

LGR

[EDjohnst1981]

Per The Athletic:

Will Filip Chytil be the Rangers' X-factor?

The Rangers need Artemi Panarin playing at his regular season MVP-caliber level. New York will be in good shape offensively if that line featuring Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafrenière can lead the way at five-on-five, in addition to Mika Zibanejad's line scoring at a steady clip.

Those are the obvious keys. Looking beyond that, Filip Chytil emerges as New York's wild card.

Chytil hasn't played since Nov. 2 because of concussion issues. He has, however, been a full-contact practice participant with the Rangers recently. The 24-year-old Czech center broke out as a bona fide top-six player last season with 22 goals and 45 points in 72 games. Those totals were especially impressive considering his limited power-play usage.

He looked electric at the start of this season centering Panarin and Lafrenière. Of course, expectations need to be tempered if he returns as he'll have missed so much time and would likely slot in a third-line role rather than playing with Panarin because of how well Trocheck is performing. But if Chytil is healthy and even 70 percent of the player he was last season, the Rangers will get a massive secondary scoring boost.

Chytil drives play with his smooth skating, above-average frame and highly competitive style. He can be a lethal attacker off the rush. Chytil scored four goals in seven games on the third line when the Rangers played the Hurricanes in 2022. Will he return and play another big part in this rematch?

>>>>

Interesting points. It would bump Rempe to the press box and slide Wennberg to centre the 4th line.

[kartanoman]

Per The Athletic:

Will Filip Chytil be the Rangers' X-factor?

The Rangers need Artemi Panarin playing at his regular season MVP-caliber level. New York will be in good shape offensively if that line featuring Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafrenière can lead the way at five-on-five, in addition to Mika Zibanejad's line scoring at a steady clip.

Those are the obvious keys. Looking beyond that, Filip Chytil emerges as New York's wild card.

Chytil hasn't played since Nov. 2 because of concussion issues. He has, however, been a full-contact practice participant with the Rangers recently. The 24-year-old Czech center broke out as a bona fide top-six player last season with 22 goals and 45 points in 72 games. Those totals were especially impressive considering his limited power-play usage.

He looked electric at the start of this season centering Panarin and Lafrenière. Of course, expectations need to be tempered if he returns as he'll have missed so much time and would likely slot in a third-line role rather than playing with Panarin because of how well Trocheck is performing. But if Chytil is healthy and even 70 percent of the player he was last season, the Rangers will get a massive secondary scoring boost.

Chytil drives play with his smooth skating, above-average frame and highly competitive style. He can be a lethal attacker off the rush. Chytil scored four goals in seven games on the third line when the Rangers played the Hurricanes in 2022. Will he return and play another big part in this rematch?

>>>>

Interesting points. It would bump Rempe to the press box and slide Wennberg to centre the 4th line.

My biggest concern is that Chytil is one more concussion away from something very bad happening to him. I'm very concerned about that.

I don't know if now is the right time to inject him into the lineup with the risk of something bad possibly happening and throwing off the Rangers' momentum.

My vote would be to stay conservative and pack him in for the rest of this season and evaluate him for next.

Peace!

[files58]

I'm ridiculously calm. I should be a little tied up in knots, and I'm not. Do I know something?

[Rosehill Jimmy]

"I got a bad feeling about this"

[EDjohnst1981]

Lots to like in P1.

I disagree with PK, I thought DeAngelo deserved two mins for the hit. The world would lose their minds if it were Rempe making that hit.

Didn't like the Mika drop pass where he should have made it 4-1. But he's been electric.

The Refs will make up the missed major on Trochek.

LGR

[DaveBrown74]

Canes got an absurdly friendly whistle in the first period. I generally try not to bitch too much about officiating in sports games (I used to much more when I was younger), but that was pretty lopsided.

[DaveBrown74]

Big win. Nerve wracking as hell at the end. I thought we broadly played very well. You know my view on the officiating already, but the Canes also hit a couple of posts (we hit one too). At the end of the day we looked like the better team out there, and we dominated the game at times.

Specials were the big story in this game I would say.

I think Tuesday will be tough.

[EDjohnst1981]

Yup. Was a huge win.

Massive shoutout to Wennberg tonight, I thought he was excellent.

Thought Laf played well and Igor was immense. Anderson gave up a softie but he's the type of goalie that has it in him.

A win Tuesday will be huge. Fingers crossed.

[Messiah717]

They never make it easy but I'll take it.  This should be a tough long series so I expect a difficult Carolina team Tuesday night.  I'm thrilled to see both Panarin and Mika at the top of their games.

[kartanoman]

I'm ridiculously calm. I should be a little tied up in knots, and I'm not. Do I know something?

I thought about you throughout the first period; they had to have done you proud with their toughness.

The whole DeAngelo scenario, I was disappointed in all the announcers that nobody mentioned that he left his feet and launched himself. Why isn't that more than two minutes?

Special teams were indeed special. The Z-man looked possessed out there today, but the magical passing which set his goals up were just that.

I agree that today was Wennberg's best as a Ranger. He turned the Jets on and looked more confident with the puck and what he wanted to do with it.

Igor was steady as always, not to worry about our hero between the pipes.

One game in the books and our heroes - one, the paper champions - zero.

I like it! Hope the Vegas oddsmakers did too!

Peace!

[coggs]

Thought Igor should have stopped the 2nd goal.  Would have been annoyed if my 10 year old let that in.  Keep his blade down, he stops the puck.  Anyways, wondering what kind of adjustments Carolina makes.  On PK, they love to play aggressive.  Often works, yesterday obviously did not as the Rangers were ready for it and moved the puck to create the mismatch down low.  The Rangers also did a great job of "getting in the way" as I like to call it just knocking pucks off Carolina sticks and then pouncing on the loose pucks.  Pumped for Tuesday night