i don't think playing Laf in Hartford is a bad idea.
it is what should have happened after he was drafted but Dolan screwed that up.

i'm not sure how the organization can spin it into a positive, but it should be considered.

No fan of Gallant here...but I think NYR issues run far deeper than the HC. When Gallant was hired I recall most Ranger fans pretty happy with the hire- yet recall one poster who cautioned about Gallant- especially if his assistant coach selection included (among others) the coaches he did in fact select. In a nutshell- what was predicted was a team with neither an offensive or defensive plan, and a disorganized PP. I.E. any success would be on the back of superb goal tending. 3 of these 4 points are spot on. I would say the PP is better than predicted...but at the time nobody could know Fox would explode the way he did...and right now you can make the argument that Gallant (and staff) are holding the PP back by deploying Panarin where a left hand would be better suited.

But can't blame Gallant for the way the organization prioritizes, selects, or pays talent- for sure several guys are way over paid...necessitating the need like moving Buch for pennies on the dollar. But the organizational desire to "win now" itself is an insult to the sport...I mean- does any team not want to win?? Reality is that this team is all about pumping interest among corporate suits to rake every $ out of each of these guys as they wave their corporate card at MSG like an Italian napkin. The only true hope for this team is a change in ownership-and ensuing change in upper management. While I'm not holding my breath- this might not be as far away as it seems. Until then all is not lost...we do have a goalie with the ability to carry the team!

Gallant brought you the Krieder, Mika, Reavo line. Gallant, famous for putting on his 4th line immediately after getting scored on. Or putting a veteran back on the ice immediately after they make a huge mistake (like the goodrow primary assist on the hughes goal).

NYR in a nutshell.. we buy big name forwards who occupy the top spots and most important PP1. How can you make any forward draft pick a ppg guy without pp1 time. No team can. Find me 1 player who is even 0.75 ppg without pp1 time.. they don’t exist. Is Laf and Kakko missing out on the same opportunities that Zegras or Hughes and now even Dach are getting? Yup. But they are also being forced to be well rounded players who may at some point be Selke type guys and may be the reason NYR is dominant in 5 years. NYR D are always rotating because most of them don’t get those 7/8 contracts. Now that fox, Trouba, soon to be Miller and Schneider there will be less room on the back end for D prospects too. I really don’t think they are bad at developing so much as they don’t have room for that immediate offensive stats impact for a young player have with PP1 time. I would sooner point to drafting as the issue before the GM and coach changes. Lias was a gamble because he is/was talented but was also a head case. It’s why he dropped in the draft. The writing was on the wall but NYR took a risky chance and it failed. Kravs clearly isn’t far off this with his mentality. How ever he got some spot light just before the draft and NYR took yet another risky chance on a guy who should have been lower in the draft. All other picks where guys that went when they were supposed to and didn’t have “issues” before the draft. Glad they didn’t risk it for Mailloux 😂

I'm just waiting for the Kane for Laffy trade then I will jump ship and become a DAL and MIN fan instead. But you are making a lot of good points. I was happy for Gallant, I must admit I didn't look to deep into it, just felt that a change was needed.

Buch deal was bad and now turned horrible. I actually like Goody but not the way Gallant does, he is actually in love with him.

I just thought the point with getting top young prospects was to play them on the top six, like other teams have that succeeded in their development of them...

But no, guess I was wrong... I honestly feel like trade Kravtsov and Lafrenière. But not for rentals but depth players and 1OA.

Just so tired, our young talents doesn't get a real chance hence blossom when they are 23-25 years old.

The whole league calls them busts, which angered me at first. But if they don't get a chance how can they be busts. This negative view of NYR as a org is exactly what they deserve.

And to your point NYR drafted some real eggheads in the first round. Dylan McIlrath comes to mind.

Maybe requesting a trade is the only sensible thing for NYR prospects to do?

Anyway just wanted to see where others where on this. Thx for feedback 👍

For Laffy sake yes, at least he would play top 6 min. And produce again. And it would also put the org in the hotseat which is exactly where they deserve to be.

Thx for feedback 👍

That seems to be the way some coaches manage their lineup and dressing room. They make "whipping boys" of some players, so it instills fear in other players (who don't want to be that guy)

Torts seems have the same philosophy. Can't coach players but I will f...k with their emotions, just to show everyone who is in charge on the ice, and in the dressing room. Doesn't help to win games but that doesn't matter, my ego is everything.

I don't really think it's the HC, rather than the team as a whole. When they played the Leafs, they were amazing defensively but looked a little hesitant to make an offensive push. Also, I didn't notice Panarin/Fox/Kakko either. They don't seem to like to take a hit to make a play but maybe I am looking to deep into this

Maybe you are able to see it as it really is. You do emotional assessments when you are emotional involved. I do resonate with your assessment, so can't be that bad

With the young guys- it's not so much that they are not put into top roles (and assignments) which will result in production...it's more that they seem to get jerked around a lot..moved around the lineup (very often following a mistake). This is the type of discipline which can only mess with their head- and thus make development more difficult. Especially when they see guys like Trouba, Panarin, and Goodrow make bone headed plays- yet zero repercussion from gallant! Tough love does have it's place- but for it to be effective, the players receiving it really need to see it applied more evenly. I don't expect veterans to get the same exact treatment- but they still need some accountability!

One last thing for now....if you think the NYR mindset is to develop well rounded Selke candidates- that would be a terrific plan. I mean, Bob Gainey never topped 50 points- yet was a beast of a player which any GM right now would do anything to get a player like him on the roster. But I'm sorry- I just can't get myself to believe NYR think ahead like that. This team has zero track record to base any thoughts of forward thinking on!

Also, all teams go through ups and downs. If you go back in time 3 Leaf games ago, most Leafs fans wanted to trade Rielly. The Rangers are a good all around team and should bounce back especially if Igor gets hot again

I'm not sure about all of what you just said, but he definitely has favourites or sweethearts that he makes emotional decisions on, that hurts his ability to coach the team. I really thought he be more professional than this.

I'm not so much about that, I am more about drafting 2 OA and 1OA and play them on top 9 position. You lose more games in the beginning, yes but you don't have to sell your other 1OA for costly rentals later on to keep winning...

To get a really good comparison between them and others. Make an excel chart with all the guys you want to compare( kids) and add a few stars like MCD and MacK and AM34. Chart all their toi based on 5v5 and then their 5v5 stats. This will give you an idea of how they are developing as NHL stars. If you want to take it a step further you could account for zone time, if you’re taking a faceoff in the D zone you’re less likely to score points as you are in the O zone. You probably remember that chart of where Laffy was in the even strength goals for 1OA picks. That’s a much better depiction of who he is in the league. That’s he’s just not getting the same opportunities that Dach is to pad the stats.

I agree, they drafted Lafreniere fully knowingly about the top 6 bottleneck with Panarin and Kreider. And they keep drafting Lw... very strange, are they going to dress a whole team of Lw...?

Which makes it even worse, I could understand if it was down to him just being a terrible player. Sometimes this happens you do a bad selection. But this feels just down right wasteful.

For sure, the players need to shoulder some blame...it is them playing the game!
But while that trio may have had a quiet game vs the Leafs, I don't think any Ranger fan of sound mind has an issue with Fox. Game in, game out the guy just thinks and plays the game on a level higher than anyone else. And sometimes a quiet night from a Dman is a good thing! As far as Kakko. For those who don't watch him every game, he can be an easy target, labelled a bust, etc. For those who watch him every game the opinion on him couldn't be more different. He has seemingly fought through the tough love and is really starting to pop as a player. Might not ever be a big points guy- but he is very strong along the boards and almost impossible to get off the puck. His possession skills help to open things up for teammates, and he's good (and getting better) defensively as well. As far as Panarin- different story. Maybe of late things are starting to change- but while he does create offense, he has been an absolute turnover machine all year. This is a big thing the coaches need to address with him- and maybe vs Toronto that's exactly what happened! But the jury is out- can't afford any player to be a negative player no matter how many points they score!

I’m not saying they think ahead. I’m saying they are left with this option. Putting 1OA and 2OA picks who clearly have skill onto a 3rd line to take less opportunistic faceoffs and try to make something of it. Often going against a line that will more often than not win the faceoff which means you must learn to play good D in order to have the puck and move it into a scoring chance. TOR literally has league min type players to do that role while allowing their 1OA and 4OA the offensive zone play and PP1 time to shine.

I didn't really know how Fox played but was really impressed with him during the Carolina series last year. Against the Leafs, I was surprised after that I didn't notice him at all. As for Kakko, same thing with Fox especially with the kid line of Chytil, Laffy and him. Panarin was good last year but seems to have hit a wall with his game (but this is just an analysis from 1 game)

The issue lies with this. On PP1 who is removed?

Zibby - not a chance
Panarin- not a chance
Kreider - who in the league is better in the blue paint when it comes to tips/etc? Probably no one
Trochek- maybe but you often need a 2nd C out there
Fox- you can go 5 forwards but would you?

This leaves PP1 with little space for a winger to penetrate. An injury however would allow that opportunity.

As far as drafting- I think you do need to draft the best player available (excluding goalies in most cases). Drafting for position is a dangerous thing. And as far as LWs...you do need four in the lineup- 3 of whom (if deployed properly) aren't short changed with their minutes. But consistency is the key...constantly blending lines for what seems right at the moment is short sighted and prevents the needed development of chemistry which is so key to success. For Gallant, in game adjustment is in the form of blending lines....where adjustments should really be about the X's and O's of the team as constituted. I.E. versus MiNN- the commentators were quick to point out that cross ice passes don't work against them due to the way they cover....did Gallant recognize this and impress it upon the players? I'm not sure...but getting pucks through last night was a challenge they never seemed to figure out.

Need a lefty hand where Panarin is playing....so many times vs Devils when the pass came across (because he wasn't RH) he had to pivot and turn (upon receiving pass) before he could do anything with the puck. Put Panarin somewhere else on top unit other than Fox's spot. So yeah- move Zib or Trocheck to PP2.

The only player I could see them exchanging is Trochek so that way when they play the puck to Mika, he is looking at more options (one-timer, slap-pass to Kreider, or small pass to bumper position for shot). I think Trochek can be your net front, face off winning player on PP2. You could stick Laffy or Kakko in that position (I think they are both lefty) instead. I just don't like the forced Mika one-timer as it has lost its effectiveness.

**I also appreciate the nearly hourly of reading all of this and seeing how much I agree with my fellow Rangers fans lol.

Mika's 1 timer has become less effective because:
1. They know it's coming (only OVI can get away with this!)
2. He misses the net so much- maybe because he's shooting for a spot (due to #1)?

Putting a left hand shot across from him (where Panarin is playing) might help fix both #1 and #2....at least worth trying- all the while giving PP2 a boost!