New York Rangers

[LuigiC173]

I am a total fan of trading Chris Krieder, he should be the best power forward in hockey right now but he will never fulfill that potential it would seem.

[donpaulo]

I think NY can get a much better return when and if he tops 35 or so.

[donpaulo]

He has scored quite a few clutch goals, it would be a shame to see him do that elsewhere

[LuigiC173]

at times he has been dominant but he is plain and simply inconsistent. Approaching 27 time to ditch while young and get a solid center.

[MrSandals]

What a great run down donpaulo. Sounds like a lot of question marks right now and a lot of the team success is going to depend on whether a few players can take that next step this season.

[donpaulo]

What a great run down donpaulo. Sounds like a lot of question marks right now and a lot of the team success is going to depend on whether a few players can take that next step this season.

Thanks, the rangers boards had become a barren wasteland and I was kinda lonely here

I think those of us in the know, understand something else is in the pipeline.

Right now its a waiting game on Fast, and Zibanejad resigning and for what term.

Then its the Kevin Klein retirement situation (or not)

once that stuff is complete then the focus clearly moves to the #3 center

[jdreed3184]

Do you Rangers experts think Zibanejad develops into a #1, 60+ point center? Or will Rangers go get one and push Zibs down?

[donpaulo]

Its tough to say for the following reasons;

1. He was behind Stepan in the pecking order
2. He was hurt and missed a substantial part of the season

I think the job is there for him to take. The question is will he do that ?

I watched an interesting interview with him and his brother (who is a smart cookie) and I suspect that Mika not only knows this is his golden opportunity but will be emotionally prepared for it. A chance to grab the bull by the horns in a world class city and stake out his future. NY is a love or hate kind of town. When the fans love you, the player can write his or her own ticket for life pretty much. The question is will Zibanejad grab it or not. Wanting it and actually doing it are two very different things.

About 2 decades ago I ran across Nick Fotiu, a local kid and ranger legend at a pizza shop in the Village. I went up to him, apologized for interrupting his dinner but had to say that I loved him as a Ranger and could I buy his dinner. He smiled and said "thanks but I got this". He asked if I wanted an autograph and I said no, meeting you is enough. He smiled and I left him to enjoy his pizza. This is a guy who is a blip on the radar for most hockey fans, but a true NYer and Ranger forever. If I saw him again the conversation would be the same. "Nicky you were awesome, I am so happy to see you and want to thank you for the memories". I have tweeted at guys like Dave and Don Maloney, Barry Beck and Mike Richter. These guys are set for life whenever they are in town. Each in turn has responded to some guy on twitter who thanked them for being a Ranger.

Mika knows this could be him.

He could also become Bobby Bonilla, if you don't know him then no worries but he is mostly hated in this town, despite being from the Bronx. What will happen ? tough to say.

I think I speak for most Rangers fans when I say that we certainly HOPE he grabs the job and posts numerous 60+ seasons. Will he sign a bridge deal or try to lock down longer term ? tough to say right now.

[donpaulo]

Not sure how happy I am with the Deharnais signing, then again its 1 season at 1 million so it could have been worse.

Another smurf to join Zucarello

[rataylor22]

When teams like Nashville, Tampa, and Pittsburgh stop skating circles around and dominating larger competition, I'll start being worried again about the size of players.

[donpaulo]

yes although Malkin is a truck that skates well, Johansen is 6'3" both pulling in top 6 minutes.

The only outlier would be Tampa yet they got slower by throwing stupid cap money at Girardi.

With 1 or 2 pint sized pitbulls, sure no problem. I think Zuc and Deharnais qualify, but I wouldn't want more than 2 of them on my team.

More than that and I think a playoff series is in doubt as the physical nature of hockey will take its toll. Then again a 21 year old 5'9" dervish can recover relatively quickly. I think we saw that with Tyler Johnson. Hopefully he comes back ready and puts up crazy numbers but I will wait to see what happens there. At 25 he surely has enough juice to be at the top of his game right ?

[MrSandals]

Desharnais is just not very effective as a player. Too small and only useful in short spurts. Cheap to acquire I guess.

[StuntMan12]

Desharnais is just not very effective as a player. Too small and only useful in short spurts. Cheap to acquire I guess.

agreed. is a nice little energy guy but shouldn't be a part of your teams long term plans by any means

[roenick27]

Bobby Bo is still getting paid lol. His year just came around.

The rags need Mika to step up. But I don't see him being a graves/leetch/Richter/fotiu etc

Its tough to say for the following reasons;

1. He was behind Stepan in the pecking order
2. He was hurt and missed a substantial part of the season

I think the job is there for him to take. The question is will he do that ?

I watched an interesting interview with him and his brother (who is a smart cookie) and I suspect that Mika not only knows this is his golden opportunity but will be emotionally prepared for it. A chance to grab the bull by the horns in a world class city and stake out his future. NY is a love or hate kind of town. When the fans love you, the player can write his or her own ticket for life pretty much. The question is will Zibanejad grab it or not. Wanting it and actually doing it are two very different things.

About 2 decades ago I ran across Nick Fotiu, a local kid and ranger legend at a pizza shop in the Village. I went up to him, apologized for interrupting his dinner but had to say that I loved him as a Ranger and could I buy his dinner. He smiled and said "thanks but I got this". He asked if I wanted an autograph and I said no, meeting you is enough. He smiled and I left him to enjoy his pizza. This is a guy who is a blip on the radar for most hockey fans, but a true NYer and Ranger forever. If I saw him again the conversation would be the same. "Nicky you were awesome, I am so happy to see you and want to thank you for the memories". I have tweeted at guys like Dave and Don Maloney, Barry Beck and Mike Richter. These guys are set for life whenever they are in town. Each in turn has responded to some guy on twitter who thanked them for being a Ranger.

Mika knows this could be him.

He could also become Bobby Bonilla, if you don't know him then no worries but he is mostly hated in this town, despite being from the Bronx. What will happen ? tough to say.

I think I speak for most Rangers fans when I say that we certainly HOPE he grabs the job and posts numerous 60+ seasons. Will he sign a bridge deal or try to lock down longer term ? tough to say right now.

[donpaulo]

agreed. is a nice little energy guy but shouldn't be a part of your teams long term plans by any means

yes well he signed for 1 year, so that pretty much means he is not part of any long term plans for the club.

As I said before, Lindberg would have been perfect, but he was taken by Vegas and just signed to a 2 year deal. Good for him too.