January 2023 Thread

[Mr.Wiskers]

Well, we just had an OT loss. The “kid” line was great today, they matched Toronto’s speed well. Once Kreider was taken off of the 1st line and replaced with Vesey, the 1st line looked a whole lot better. Cuylle looked slow but Leschyshyn & Gauthier were able to make up for it, tho’ as a line they really weren’t able to cycle the puck and keep it in the offensive zone long enough for Cuylle to do what he does best and that’s stand in front of the goalie. The 3rd line for me was horrible—when you deal with a fast team, you need to either match their speed or hit the opposition in order to slow them down. Kreider looked disinterested today, failing to cover his man on multiple occasions, Goodrow just looked slow against this team as did Harpur who committed a couple of turnovers.

I still say we need to address that 3rd pair LHD problem 1st and foremost. And we should be seeing if Mathew Robertson is the answer, we should also be switching Ty Emberson over to the left side while he’s in Hartford to see if he can make the switch. For me, Zac Jones is not the answer, too small, not physical enough.

Here’s something to think about: With ALL the talk of us being red hot on the trail after Timo Meier. Also with Meier NOT being a UFA and having a $10 mil. qualifying offer. What if, WHAT IF we—Drury is looking at acquiring Meier for the remainder of the season in order to give him an opportunity to show us/the Rangers that he can handle Broadway, that he can play with Trocheck. If he can do that then it would take us to the next step which would be to trade Panarin, yes trade Panarin. It’s already been thrown out there that an 8 yr./64 mil. contract can get him locked up. Switching out Panarin at $11,642,857 for Meier at $8,000,000 not only saves us $3,642,857 but we also trades out a 31 yr old for a 26 yr old. Yes we give up a lot, I mean A LOT of offensive production but Meier is has 766 hits in 443 career games as opposed to Panarin’s 175 hits in 555 games. Remember Gallant and Drury what this team to play a certain way and Panarin doesn’t fit that style—fast, physical, north/south team that back checks. Just saying!, not something I’d do but it may be something Drury is looking to do. Tho’ we could fit Meier into our cap this year then flip him after the season.—does Kravtsov, Zac Jones and a 1st Rd pick get it done?

[ShadyOne]

We need more offensive firepower…

We barely have enough top line guys for 2 good scoring lines. You cannot win anything like that. Panarin has barely had 2 talented offensive players on his line. We use guys like Goodrow, and Vesey on the top lines. That’s never going to be a cup team

[Mr.Wiskers]

Rangers announced that they have signed Harpur to a 2 yr deal, cap hit is $787,000. Goes a long way towards next years cap.

I agree with you, Shady, we have to get the right guys into those spots.

[Mr.Wiskers]

There’s been a buzz about our re-signing of Harpur to a 2 yr contract extension. A lot of complaining and for what?, Harpur is a 7th d-man and that contract extension was for a little above league minimum. That signing doesn’t prevent us from getting a #6 d-man/that 3rd pair guy. Harpur is a body, a player that will help fill out our roster now and next year. Players like Harpur, Leschyshyn, Vesey, Gauthier, and even Cuylle will help balance out our cap and help filling out our roster.

What does bother me a bit is how our AHL team only has 8 players born after 2000. This is supposed to be where we develop our prospects.