Barzal
Nelson
Horvat
Kreider
Miller
Fox
Pulock

Barzal over Panarin is certainly something

And your world-class goaltending from Vitek Vanecek and Schmid is accomplishing.... what, exactly?

Enough to beat the rags in the playoffs last year despite Igor playing the best hockey of his career. And Igor doesn't look nearly as good this year.

Like I've said, anything can happen in the playoffs, but if both teams are healthy.

The devils biggest issues this year(Vitek, AHLers like Tierney/Willman/Laberge, Brendan Smith) will be sitting in the press box or opening doors on the bench.

While the rangers biggest strength this year (Jonathan Quick) will be opening doors on the bench.

The rangers edge this year over the devils has been the 20 GSAx difference between backup goalies.

The rangers have a 12 goal differential edge excluding empty nets. All of that and more comes from the difference in backup goalies who aren't going to play come playoff time.

And that doesn't even go into the impact of Brendan Smith being the worst dman in hockey (again won't be in a playoff lineup), or the AHLers who made the 4th line unplayable for a few weeks (again won't be in a playoff lineup).

Bla bla bla

I don't care about what happened last year, or the year before that, or the year before that. I care about what's going on right now and what's going to happen in the future. Anything you say is invalid once you bring up tHe RaGs iN thE pLayOffS LaSt YeaR. But I'm not surprised that the past is all you can talk about, Devils fans are still going on and on about Henrique over a decade ago as if either team has done anything meaningful since then.

All I'm saying is, goaltending is the LAST thing you should be arguing with NYR fans about.

I would spend more time worrying about Lindy Ruff and your emerging Locker Room Plague Jack Hughes, than Quick and Igor. But I don't expect you to, since all NJD fans are capable of is focusing on the Rangers

I don't know if you noticed the fact that 90% of that was talking about the future:

In a playoff series: will Jonathan Quick be playing? No
Will vitek Vanacek be playing? No
Will brendan smith, Chris Tierney, Max WIllman or Sam Laberge be playing? No


So we have to worry about the Igor Shesterkin rangers, who are 10-7.
And you will have to worry about the Nico Hischier devils, who are 12-3-1

And if Mercer & Meier get going, oh boy.

Lol. I'll bite after all.

So, how are you feeling about Igor after his .955% performance tonight against one of the best teams in hockey? A perennial Vezina contender doesn't just randomly turn into a scrub. Jonathan Quick has been fantastic, but you're wrong that he's been the Rangers' "greatest strength." I mean really bro... you don't think a new coach who's implemented a system that the guys have bought into has made any difference? No mention of how the guys you wouldn't expect to step up (Vesey, Gustafsson, Brodzinski, Cuylle, Bonino, etc), have done so?

I also hope you realize that the 21-7-1 Rangers have been playing completely depleted so far this season. Fox was out for a month. Igor was out for 2 weeks (probably had something to do with his abnormally average play as of late). Chytil hasn't played since Nov 2. And Kakko -- who we all love to crack on for not living up to 2OA status or racking up points -- has been out for 3 weeks.

Just to reiterate, that's our Norris winning dman, Vezina winning goalie, up-and-coming star centre, and defensively elite winger all taken out for significant time. So please spare me the sob stories about the Hischier-less Devils. If anything that just means if he gets hurt again you guys will be f***ed because you don't have the depth to adequately replace him.

And you have no idea if your playoff scenarios will be correct. If injury occurs (God forbid), any of those people you listed could end up playing.

It's a long season. Just like I'm not concerned about the past, I'm not interested in your "what-ifs" with Mercer and Meier. That Meier contract would be one of the worst in hockey if he continues his 42 point pace. Not quite Huberdeau-level bad, but really tough to stomach for the next 8 years. Cheers

And I found your earlier statement about "this Rangers roster is worse than last years'" to be pretty funny too. Can you show me where? Are you talking about a few rentals in Tarasenko, Kane, and Motte? Who were on the team for 3 months tops? The same Tarasenko who might be back at the deadline? I'd love to know how this roster is worse than last year's, when Lafreniere is finally contributing in a big way, Trocheck and Panarin are on pace for record seasons, Kreider is jonesing for another 50 goal season not seen since 2021-22, and we didn't lose anyone besides Blais, Reaves, Kravtsov, and Gauthier.

Whereas the Devils lost Graves and Severson and now fans desperately want to grab a decent dman. LOL

If you check literally my 2nd most recent post you'll see I put Shesterkin as the best goalie in hockey. I've said consistently he's the best goalie in hockey.

But like I said, even with him playing the best hockey of his life it wasn't enough last year. Now imagine if he's not, like he hasn't recently

Injuries could have literally anyone out. If we get to the playoffs, and the devils have a bunch significant injuries. I won't pick them. The same could happen to the rangers.

But smith is the 8th Dman into the lineup.
Tierney is probably the 16th man into the lineup behind the main 12, Nosek, Smith as a forward, and Foote.

The likes of Wheeler, Cuyulle, Bonino, Goodrow, Vesey are still in your everyday lineup, even if Kakko and Chytil come back.

Of the 5 guys you mention as "stepping up" only 1 of them is above 50% xGoals, and that's gustafsson.

Igor was out yes. Again like I said, being bailed out by quick playing like his prime self. And changing goalies doesn't affect your line matching at all.

Same with losing 1 dman. You have to make 1 replacement.
Again same with losing 1 center and 1 middle 6 winger.

Dougie has been out as long as fox
Kakko is maybe equivalent to haula who's missed about the same amount of games.

And then there's chityl, a 3C (again probably comparable to a haula type) vs Jack Hughes, Nico, and Meier all out.


Again. I'm taking a healthy devils lineup.

Every main lineup devil except for Holtz (47.8%), Mercer (47.5%), Meier (46.8%), and Bastian (46.6%)

Bastian and holtz were dragged down by the times they spent with AHLers. will be just fine alongside McLeod.

Meanwhile Schneider, Trouba, Bonino, Lindgren, Wheeler, Miller, Jones, Vesey, Pitlick, Cuyulle, all below 50%.

The devils have 3 guys at 60%. The highest ranger is fox at 56%

Guys above 56%
Devils 6, Rangers 1
Above 54%
Devils 9, Rangers 4
53%
Devils 10, Rangers 6
52%
Devils 14, rangers 7

Again, I look up and down the healthy roster, and the devils have performed better.

Even including the injuries. The only edge the rangers have is from getting better play from their backup goalie. But hey if the playoff matchup is Vitek vs Quick, and quick sustains that play at 40, sure the rangers have the edge

Kane, Motte, Mikkola, Tarasenko
Wheeler, Cuyull, Gus, Pitlick

I'd say thats a downgrade/even

Devils out:
Wood, Tatar, Yegor+Boqvist, Graves,Severson
In:
Lazar, Holtz, Toffoli,Hughes, Nemec.

And a very young team getting better and better. Now that Brendan Smith isn't on defense, again not worried

Combined

And they've been great, so I don't understand the problem? Wheeler and Goodrow, sure, although Wheeler has put up 3pts in 3 games after a horrible start and Goodrow has looked a lot better lately. And you should see how the team played without Goodrow when he was briefly hurt. His absence was missed defensively just like KK's is. Bonino is leading the league in blocked shots (for forwards), is a reliable face-off guy, kills penalties. VESEY is a legitimately great 4th liner and has 7 goals this season. Is it ideal for any of these guys to be playing in the top six? No. But two key pieces are on LTIR so it is what it is. The team is still winning. And I don't see what's wrong with having any of them in the bottom six.



I didn't realize that Quick is the one scoring 5 goals on the Wings, 4 goals on the Jackets, a goal on the Pens, 7 goals on the Bruins, 6 goals on the Sharks, 4 goals on the Kings, and 5 goals on the Ducks.

Looking at Igor's last 7 games... they scored 1 goal on the Sabres (they lost), 3 goals on the Wings, 4 goals on the Preds, 2 goals on the Sens (they lost), 0 goals on the Caps (they lost), 3 goals on the Leafs (they lost), and 2 goals on the Bruins.

The Rangers were for some reason playing like a completely different team in front of Igor vs Quick. So yes, while Quick has been fantastic and earned all of our trust, half the time in those games I mentioned it's like they weren't even giving Igor a fighting chance. Whereas in front of Quick, those are mostly all high-scoring games from the Rangers. And I don't think the quality of the opponent matters, as evidenced by the Rangers only scoring 1 goal on the Sabres and 2 goals on the Sens. All of that to say, the result of the games don't rely on SOLELY on Quick or Igor's shoulders, it's the whole team.



Well, no they have not. Analytics and percentages aside, look at the division. And the Rangers haven't been "healthy" in 6 weeks. You degrade Chytil as a "3C" but he was playing as our 2C actually on the hottest line in hockey at the time with Panarin and Lafreniere. He had 6 points in 10 games with no PP time (and would've been more if he didn't have goals waived off for other people being off side). He's our only centre that uses his speed and seems to be capable of entering the opponent's zone without losing the puck or having to dump and chase. It's a MAJOR loss for the team, especially now that the Trocheck iteration of the Panarin/Laffy line has cooled down, because they need someone like Chytil on it instead.

And it's not as simple as making "one replacement" when it's a major player like that. If it's that easy, why didn't the Devils simply make "one replacement" when Hischier was out?

You're talking about rentals on the Rangers, not people who were on the team full-time from the beginning like I am. The Rangers' roster in October 2023 was better than the Rangers' roster in October 2022. And I'd say that the only guy we really miss that you mentioned is Tarasenko for the RW depth and how well he gelled with the team, luckily with the Sens probably not making the playoffs I could easily see us getting him back. Mikkola was replaced with Gustafsson, Motte was replaced with whatever fourth liner you want (Bonino, Pitlick), and Kane was honestly not much of a factor for the Rangers outside of that 1 playoff series.

I'm talking about the difference between what the rangers had in the playoff series last year and what they project to have this year right now

The devils won 2 more games after Nico got hurt and were looking good. Then Jack got hurt.

Glad to hear the rangers don't play well in front of igor. That again furthers my point, because Igor will be in net come playoff time, where apparently the rangers don't play well in front of him.

Again, a healthy devils lineup has.

A dominant Nico top line
An elite 2nd line with the best offensive weapon in hockey
A 3rd line with Meier, Mercer, Holtz. Again beware if this starts cookig
A 4th line with 2 legit depth guys and by far the best 4C in hockey.

All 3 pairings have everyone above 50% xGoals. Now imagine when you're sending out Vesey Goodrow Bonino Schneider and Gustafsson, and the devils send out Meier Mercer Holtz Hughes and Nemec.

Again
Give me the nico line over the Panarin line
Give me the jack line over the zibenejad line
Give me the mercer line over the Chytil/Trochek line
Give me the Mcleod line over the Goodrow line

And again better hope we don't pick up a 2LD, cause then it's the devils better there at every spot but fox vs dougie.

I'll take the team that controls play better and is much better 5v5. If Shesterkin beats us by standing on his head, so be it. But again, that didn't work last year despite Shesterkin having 9 GSAx in 7 games.

If Chytil and Kakko come back and are healthy for the playoffs I have no worries. All of the Rangers' new additions are fine fourth-liners.

Lol I don't even know where to begin.

Ask the Edmonton Oilers how the *actual* best offensive weapons in hockey have worked out for them so far. I can't believe you are implying that Hughes is better than Mackinnon, Kucherov, Matthews, even Nylander this year, let alone Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl

Beware of whatever Devils line starts cooking? What? How about you beware if Zibanejad starts really cooking since he's had a bad year thus far.

Good call putting 7th overall pick Holtz in the bottom six. Very Rangers-esque move (you know, the organization notorious for bad development)

The Rangers don't play badly in front of Igor, it was a bad stretch where, once again, the team is completely depleted injury-wise and we're running with 37yo Blake Wheeler as our 1RW. Have you even been paying attention to the league over the past few years? Even coached by hockey terrorist Gerard Gallant, 2 years ago the Rangers finished with 110 points, and last year 107 points. But if you want to give our play in front of Georgiev and Halak all the credit for those things, go ahead lol. But I'm not going to be a hypocrite and dwell on past success. My point is that you should be at least a little aware of what's going on. The Rangers are a good team that is now coached by someone competent. This isn't the same as last year. Your team is piloted by Lindy Ruff, you should understand where I'm coming from.

It's pretty unlikely that the Devils will be able to pick up a good dman or goalie, because you now have minimal cap space after spending it on 31yo Toffoli and 27yo Meier who has sucked since Trouba sent him to the shadow realm -- so much for being the youngest team with a 15 year contention window ahead of them. Unless you want to give up major draft capital or a young asset who you probably don't want to part with. So, enjoy being Edmonton East, while the Rangers will continue to pad their lead in the division, and our fans look to the future and enjoy wins instead of worrying about what our little brothers across the river or on Long Island are doing. Have a good day

Jack Hughes leads the league in PPG btw.

Holtz development is fine. Only guys with more 5v5 points than holtz on the rangers are Trocheck and Panarin

Mika was at a 48.8% xgoals rate last year. he's up to about 50% this year.

He's approximately a PPG right now and in line with what he's been through his entire prime, outside of a ridiculously unsustainable shooting rate in 19-20. This is what he is

That just reminds me of Pens fans wailing on and on about how many points Crosby was on pace for before he got hurt and how he's secretly the best hockey player of all time. Anyone who's not a homer would take McDavid, Draisaitl, Matthews, and Mackinnon over him.

They don't ask how you get em, they ask how many. Rangers are doing alright. But yes, bury the kid in the bottom six in favor of Toffoli, Palat, and Meier LOL

Yes, I agree, you are exactly what you were the last 2 years. A team that isn't good 5v5, PP merchants, and dependent on elite goaltending.

Shesterkin was better the last few years than he's been this year, but your backup goaltending has been lights out which more than makes up for it.

But again, since Shesterkin is what we have to worry about in a playoff series, I see the exact same team I saw the last 2 years, with the only difference being that shesterkin, who's the only reason you won basically any playoff games in the past 2 years, is looking a bit shakier now

Palat has a 60% xGoal rate, Toffoli has 13 goals, and Meier has bounced around lines. When you have 9 guys that all warrant top 6 minutes you can't put them all there. Mercer+Haula get an edge for being able to win faceoffs alongside Jack.

Nobody is denying you've banked points. Congrats, should get you an extra home game come playoff time. But again, a difference in wins caused by your backup goalie in october and november aren't gonna matter in a playoff series.

Devils looking elite and unbeatable tonight

Did you watch the game or just check the score?

2nd night of a back to back, with Schmid starting 2 nights in a row bc Vanacek called in sick.

Thankfully you don't play back to backs in the playoffs

Gibson and Dostal stood on their heads. Devils ran out of gas on a back to back. Brutal officiating as well

Enjoy those excuses lmao. Analytics can’t save your ass tonight and this has been the same average team all season

Better hope they make a trade soon because they’re down bad and struggling

Again so you didn't watch the game.

How many other goalies have started back to back nights this year? It's not 2005 anymore.

Devils lead the league in back to backs. It is what it is.