Solid coach, but not good at developing young talent. It's time to go. Right move by Rangers. Will be interesting to watch the coaching search take shape.
OT: Rangers fire Vigneault
- Thread starter ClassOf02
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I'm good with this. Time to move on. AV did a good job, but a new coach is needed.
Should have happened last year waited too long traded too much talent away. Long rebuilding ahead and it is going to suck to be a Rangers fan for awhile.
Agree. It should have happened last year, but it is possible to retool on the fly. Lots of young players, need a coach that can build on what they bring to the table.
Lots of early picks that could (maybe should) be flipped into a young NIL ready impact player.
I don't see it as that long of a rebuild. Most teams entering a rebuild don't have their goaltending set already for what looks to be the long term and at least 6 forwards 26 or younger that you want to keep as part of the rebuild.
Their big challenges are to somehow acquire a high end goal scoring forward to put with the "solid" but not elite forwards they have, and getting a top pair for the defense (what they have plus the trades they already made have given them a lot of guys that can play on the 2nd and 3rd pairs). I wouldn't be surprised to see them make a run at Trouba (who allegedly doesn't want to resign in WPG) this summer.
I am more worried that, being a NY team, they will lose patience and cut the rebuild short, and be satisfied with rebuilding a team that can consistently make the playoffs instead of trying to build a Cup contender.
And it's time to move on from HL. Got a lot back with those trades, so I don't think rebuilding will take that long.
Why do you think their goaltending is set? HL didn't have a good year. Who's behind him?
HL needs to have reduced time, he's still got game. Georgiev and Shestorkin (forgive the spelling) should be allowed to play, and grow.
Got it. Yeah, that would be ideal. HL takes less games and allows our future goaltender to learn and grow.
The 2 rookie Russians are pretty good, esp Georgiev (sp?). Both will have a better future if they keep their goalie coach, who turned Lundqvist, Talbot, Rantaa, and the others into good to elite goalies.
As for Lunqvist, hes gone from elite to good goalie now. Unfortunately, even though he still a good goalie, hes the age where one wrong injury will sideline him for a lot longer than it would 5, 10 years ago. But he has a no trade clause so that's that.
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I'm very happy to hear about the rookie goalies. That would be a very big piece of the puzzle.
I just hope that the Rangers dont go Old School Rangers and sign or trade away their 6 picks (in first 3 rounds) for overrated stars who will do nothing for them.
It's actually 7 in first three; 3 firsts and 2 each in 2nd and 3rd. I don't see them chasing old vets, but young prospects seems likely.
As a devils fan, i don't like the way the rangers are going about this rebuild. Instead of waiting for salary cap hell and trying to eke out one or two more marginal seasons, they are being proactive about getting younger and i think it will allow them to be a good team (if they make good moves) in two or three years. Look at what shero has done... it took him a year or two to clean house and then one good year of moves (hischier, butcher, bratt, boyle, coleman, gibbons, noesen, vatanen) to get to the playoffs. Rangers have mostly cleaned house at this point absent one or two more moves.
Nothing about what the Rangers are doing with this rebuild is "typical Rangers," so I would disagree about Lindy Ruff being a realistic candidate.
The Rangers fans who would be okay with a Lundqvist move are in the minority, but I am one of them. I don’t like the idea that Lundqvist only having 3 years left has any possible impact on the rebuild.
He has a NMC and said he doesn’t want to go anywhere. I would be making sure he understood he is only getting 45-50 starts next year at most.
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I was hoping part of the Rangers’ announcement was that goaltending coach Allaire was retained for sure. Everyone he coaches, even guys other teams discarded, turns into a decent goalie.
So that's a good thing lol. Dont worry, lots of respect here since I've always liked the way the devils always built their teams from within and always wished the Rangers did that at least once without going after some some shmcuk at $35 million a year (or whatever). Hope that starts this year.
Too bad he won't defer some money back so that the Rangers can get some better skaters that Chicago and Pittsburgh always seem to get.
Now this is the bullcrap that makes me pissed off as a Rangers fan. If you're going to say that you need a veteran to guide the youngsters, theres a lot of veterans out there who are better influences than this guy. After all of this rebuilding crap they talked about, it's the same old sheet for the Rangers.
https://www.sny.tv/rangers/news/report-ilya-kovalchuk-to-sign-2-3-year-deal-with-rangers/271432232
https://www.sny.tv/rangers/news/report-ilya-kovalchuk-to-sign-2-3-year-deal-with-rangers/271432232
I heard this was brewing, and didn't like it. I could deal with 2 year deal, but if (likely when) Kovy gets disinterested, he disappears. I remember when he was with Thrashers, Rangers kept him off scoresheet and he ran around taking stupid penalties. Combine that with the way he abandoned the Devils, not my idea of a role model.
Exactly. Is that the message you want to send to all of your young European players... If things get bad, instead of persevering you can always bail and go to the KHL?
Actually it makes perfect sense for the Rangers to do this now for several reasons.
1) The Rangers need someone who can put the puck in the net as they lack elite scoring talent and they have the cap space to make it work.
2) They have a bunch of young Russians either on the team now or nearly NHL-ready, several of whom they are trying to bring over from the KHL. Kovalchuk would help get them here.
3) Star power: like it or not the Rangers aren't ever going to field a team like Las Vegas did this year even if it would be more effective. Kovalchuk has the name and pedigree although I think he's more likely to put up Rick Nash-like numbers going forward.
4) Leadership: the Rangers desperately need better leadership in the locker room. Depending on who you believe (Brodeur had very complimentary things to say about Kovalchuk) Ilya may or may not provide this.
You can reasonably debate whether Kovalchuk specifically is right for the team but the Rangers absolutely need a few veterans in addition to Lundqvist to get through the next few seasons as they acquire and develop young talent. As a Rangers fan, I was initially annoyed when I heard about Kovalchuk coming but I've warmed up to the idea due to the reasons above and the fact that they won't be contenders for at least a few seasons anyway so this would simply serve as a bridge to the future.
I’d rather develop the young kids than have Kovy take up a spot.
Agree it’s good to have vets as part of a rebuild...but Kovy is past his prime and wants to win now. If they were at the end of their rebuild it would be a good signing. But the rebuild is just beginning, Rangers mist likely won’t contend for a few years..just don’t see the purpose adding someone who’s goal is to win now.
We will see what happens.
I am concerned that a Kovy signing, along with Lundqvist’s comments that he expects the Rangers to be back to a winning team next year, means the Rangers are going to halfass the rebuild and end up with a team that can make the playoffs but not go deep.
I'd be more concerned if Lundqvist said he expects the Rangers to be a losing team next year. His job is to stop pucks and give the team a chance to win every night.
I've resigned myself to at least one more year of missing the playoffs and getting a decently high first round pick which would be better for the long term but this being the Rangers, you never know how it will play out.
I have no problem with his comments, except that he reportedly has a lot of influence in the organization, but I still wouldn’t worry until I hear things like this Kovy deal which gives signs the Rangers don’t have the patience a real rebuild would require.
For the life of my I don't understand why Kovy would want to sign up for a rebuild. He wants to win a Stanley Cup. He was on enough bad teams in Atlanta to last ten lifetimes. Let's be completely honest. The Rangers are not going to be Cup contenders in the next 2-3 years. He's not going to command the money he's earned in the past, and probably doesn't need to earn another dime anyway. It's all about a cup for him now that he has his Olympic gold.
I don't really think the Cup is that much of a motivator for him. If it was, he wouldn't have left the NHL, and as you mentioned, he probably wouldn't want to go to the Rangers right now. My guess is he probably just wants to move back to the US and live in this area again, and the Devils won't take him back.
You're both missing the obvious. He's a Russian spy doing Putin's bidding.
Not sure how I feel about the Kovalchuk deal but past his prime is no where near accurate!
He is currently the scoring leader in the KHL.
Link- http://www.quanthockey.com/khl/seasons/2017-18-khl-players-stats.html
He is currently the scoring leader in the KHL.
Link- http://www.quanthockey.com/khl/seasons/2017-18-khl-players-stats.html
He's said repeatedly that he wants to be on a contender. He wants to win the Stanley Cup, he said so himself. The other thing is, he's not even allowed to talk to teams until this Sunday, and he can't sign until July 1st in any event.
Maybe he ends up there regardless; plenty of things that have made no sense to me end up happening.
Kovy is still as good as anyone. Wherever he lands, he will be a big difference maker, provided he stays healthy. As a Devils fan, I would hate to see him on the Rangers.
