Rangers Weirdos

[Dick Rosenthal]

If Raanta doesn start game 3 it is proof the Rangers do not care about playoff sucess.

[claver2010]

great coaching by vigneault

giving buch the stu bickel treatment and 3 traffic cones more time than skeij last night

[Logitano]

#firehank #bringbackcam

Bump!

[b0mberMan]

That was nicer.

Unsure why Zibanejad didn't score more this season when he was healthy. Seems to be snake-bitten

[claver2010]

as was that

two complete steamrolls

also hard to believe kreider has now played in 75 playoff games

[Logitano]

#firehank #bringbackcam

Bump!

BUMP BUMP If not for Hank's ineptitude this series should be over with Rangers winning in 4. Would be awful to lose this one.

[Logitano]

#firehank #bringbackcam

Bump!

BUMP BUMP If not for Hank's ineptitude this series should be over with Rangers winning in 4. Would be awful to lose this one.

Bumpty bump bump!

[Dick Rosenthal]

What a disgraceful ending. Lundqvist is done and the Rangers owe him $8 million a year for the next four seasons. Derek Stepan is being paid $6 million against the cap to put up 2nd line center numbers. Staal is grossly overpaid and Rick Nash is a $7 million a year checking line center. Oh, and great call on not buying out Girardi last year. The Rangers basically need to expose Stepan in the expansion draft, buy out Girardi and place Hank, Staal and Nash on waivers and dare someone to take on those contracts--if not, send them to Hartford and clear them off the cap. This roster is never going to challenge for the Cup again and needs to be blown up and rebuilt around a core of McDonaugh, Skej, Smith, Kreider, Hayes, Vescey, Abinejad, Buch, etc. And fire AV tomorrow.

[b0mberMan]

Blaming Hank cause he can't stop every break away/2 on 1 is kind of an insanity but OK.

Wholly half of their defensive core this year was complete trash. Girardi played alright in the postseason, actually, but Staal and Holden were a special kind of awful.

I think they did a good job rebuilding their forward lines but in the end AV still wanted Tanner Glass out there at the end of tight games. Av sat Skjei for the last 5 minutes of game 2 against the sense and was double shifting Staal.

I don't think that the Rangers had a team that could be serious cup contenders this year, but they lost games late consistently and some of that goes to AV's usage decisions. It's maddening.

This is a frustrating team.

[claver2010]

This is a frustrating team.

frustrating franchise

av's stupidity might be most frustrating aspect of this. he saw how bottom 6 scoring was key to the early season success and with the season on the line he puts in glass who was an impressive -4 with 3 shots over 21 minutes in the final 2 games.

with a 1 goal lead with, as you said, 50% of the defense effectively being parking comes he buries skeij & smith time and time again.

smith was much better than I thought he would be, might have priced himself out of coming back though

despite what people are saying I don't see shattenkirk happening, plus haven't we learned giving out massive deals to 29 year old dmen isn't the best idea?

[b0mberMan]

To Dick's point, though, I could see Step or Nash moving elsewhere this offseason/next year as a way to free up some money. If they can pull something like the Zibanejad for Brassard trade again, that'd be awesome.

I don't have as much of a problem with Step as some people do (I think 50 pt two way centers are rarer than people think they are), but $$$ and age are a consideration. Nash is 32, so I'd rather step away than double down, nor do I think he deserves a retirement contract from the Rangers anyhow.

[Dick Rosenthal]

Hank's issues are much greater than not stopping a few 2 on 1s. With the exception of a couple of games against the Habs, he was pedestrian at best. But let's table that for a second. The truth is, in the salary cap era, there is no way you can justify paying $8 million a year for a goalie. Goalie is the deepest position in professional sports and the difference between "elite" goal tending (Hank, Carey Price, Holtby, Bobrovsky, Bishop, Quick--using list of guys who have been multiple Vezina nominees) and pretty good goal tending is marginal at best. Go take a look at the list of goalies who make 2/3 to 1/2 of what Hank makes and tell me that Hank is head and shoulders above a majority of them at this point in his career. Or look at the playoffs where Pekka Rinne is the only "elite" goalie left--Fleury gets paid at the bottom of the elite scale, but that contract was inked 7 years ago when he was considered an elite player--the Pens aren't resigning him at the end of this year at this price even if he wins his second Cup. Anderson is in the bottom middle of salaries and Gibson makes comparative peanuts (although that is partially a product of his youth and he will likely command $5 million or so on his next contract).

Or let's turn on our "what if" machine. What if the Rangers kept Cam Talbot and let Hank go a couple of years ago. Suddenly, you have $5 million tied up on goalie salaries (between Talbot and Raanta) instead of $9.5 million between Hank and Raanta. All of a sudden you can afford to take the dead cap hit of buying out Girardi and Staal, or keeping them as a 3rd line defense pairing--they might not be bad if they were only logging 14 minutes a night--while still being able to afford Smith and a stay at home stud to play Beuk to McDonaugh's homeless man's version of Brian Leetch. Would that team have been any worse than a 1st round and 2nd round exit as we got from the last two iterations of the Rangers? I don't think so.

[Shoreagle]

Total agreement with Dick here. The King was more of a Knight throughout these playoffs. My question is who really runs this franchise now, Gorton or Sather (from Hawaii)?

[b0mberMan]

Rangers are buying out Girardi's contract. Gonna be a pain to have to take a cap hit for the next 25 years on it, but at least he's not around to play 1st line minutes anymore.

Also a rumor Klein might be on his way to Europe. Just need to get Staal out of town (though I guess they could give him 3rd line minutes)

[b0mberMan]

Also heavy talk of moving Stepan.

Rangers could suddenly find themselves w a lot of cap space...

[flyingelvii]

So Shattenkirk then? There are basically zero interesting UFAs out there.

[DomingoOrtiz]

Rangers should make a trade for Jimmy Hayes.

[claver2010]

Also heavy talk of moving Stepan.

Rangers could suddenly find themselves w a lot of cap space...

I don't get the talk about moving stepan at all. 26 years old, 50 points last 4 years, here's the roster of centers who have done that (or are younger): tavares, johansen, o'reilly, seguin. he's signed for next 4 years at $6.5, the others in that group are either going to be FA in next 2 years and will certainly get more or are already locked up for more.

please no on shattenkirk, haven't we learned that giving 29 year old dmen huge contracts isn't smart

[b0mberMan]

I'd take shattenkirk. He's not a girardi clone. More of a yandle. I realize that is enough for people to tell me he sucks but agree to disagree. They hopefully resign smith. I wouldn't have minded if they kept Clendening around but oh well.

The step thing would really be more of a "if the offer is right." I like him a lot. But if you can find another zibby situation where you should take it.

[b0mberMan]

Step and Raanta to Arizona for the 7th pick and an asset. Cap space cleared, Shatty is definitely coming.

Good question as to whether we will keep that 7th pick or flip it somewhere (Colorado?)

[claver2010]

tough to see step go, leaves very weak down the middle. deangelo is exciting (esp. being a RH)

certainly thinks this ties into another move

[b0mberMan]

I don't have any of the offseason moves yet. I may have rather seen Grabner get selected vs Lindberg, but no big shakes.

Really hope the rumor that Klein is retiring to Europe is true and maybe they figure out a way to move Staal?

[Dick Rosenthal]

Another year of misery set begin!

[claver2010]

w carey making the lineup, 25% of the F are

[Dick Rosenthal]

Glad to see that the Shatty-McDonough defensive pairing is proving to be a dumpster fire on day one.

[Logitano]

#firehank #bringbackcam

Bump!

BUMP BUMP If not for Hank's ineptitude this series should be over with Rangers winning in 4. Would be awful to lose this one.

Bumpty bump bump!

Bump.

[Dick Rosenthal]

It is time for the Rangers to sign former Knick Michael Ray Richardson so he can stand next to Hank's locker a proclaim "The ship be sinking."

[claver2010]

smart move by shattenkirk to touch the puck after the hand pass w 30 seconds to go, must've been in the crayons glue & scissors program at bu

[Logitano]

smart move by shattenkirk to touch the puck after the hand pass w 30 seconds to go, must've been in the crayons glue & scissors program at bu

Let us not forget he also has a degree from Iona.

[Dick Rosenthal]

Shatty went to Iona Prep? Iona Prep and BU? That is like spending eight years eating retard sandwiches.