10 Teams That Can Win It All: New York Rangers
 

Sportsnet is doing a series where they list their ten teams that can win the Cup next season. They give three reasons why they can and why they may not be able to. Here is their piece on the Rangers...

His predictions:

Can't post the whole article as it is against site rules, so if you'd like to see the three reasons for why they can and can't win the Cup, click here: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2012/..._york_rangers/

dont see why not.

As long as we don't run into the Penguins we'll probably be fine. Head to head we are not good against them. In all likelihood however, based on my own power rankings and this forum's power rankings, Pittsburgh and Philly will meet in the first round. That would be Pittsburgh's toughest opponent because the Flyers are a better model of what the Penguins are. Crap defense and goaltending covered up by explosive offense. The Pens have the two best players in the world but the Flyers core also has a world talent in Giroux and better depth IMO, especially with Pittsburgh trading Staal. Flyers also lost Jagr, but Pittsburgh losing Staal was a bigger deal.

Way too early to be predicting playoff matchups.

I agree about Gaborik. Even if Nash and Richards light it up something fierce, if Gaborik isn't good for at least 30 and ghosting the majority of the year, it will be a shorter post-season than we'd like. One dependable goal scorer doesn't cut it.

Gaborik will be fine if healthy. Predicting trends based on "well he's had one good year, one bad year, then one good year, so he's due for a bad year!" is dumb as hell

Yeah that part was dumb, but you do never know.

Yep, Gaborik's proven that he scores whenever he's healthy.

Well obviously if a major player has a down year, then they're not going to be as good. There's no reason to single out Gaborik though.

If there's any reason to suspect Gaborik is going to have a down year it's because he just had a major ******* shoulder injury and won't be back until December and it will probably then take at least another month or two to really get up to speed

My hope would be that by the time the playoffs roll around, Gaborik is feeling healthy and back into form and ready to head into the playoffs with all systems go

Of course it is. This forum did it anyway though.

https://p.twimg.com/Az6tfJ_CcAEFrOb.jpg:large

Life as a Rangers fan, ain't it grand?

I'm good with Gabby getting 15-20 goals in half a season. He'll be warmed up for the playoffs and adding a healthy Gabby for the stretch with a team that already has Richards & Nash on the first line is ...."Oh Baby"!!!

Besides, Gabby has never had a situation where he was coming off the 2nd line where the top line had serious offense that other teams focused on. Nash and Richards on line one, with Gabby Stepan on line two can do wonders for opening the ice up for Gabby.

Oh and not many teams will have a 1-2 40 goal scorer punch centered by solid playmakers.

Oh and I'm booking Krieder for 30 goals! Throw him on Steps' other wing and you've got serious firepower on your 2nd line. The likes of which the Rangers haven't had in a very, very long time. Potential for two 1st lines in NY once Gabby is back and playing healthy!


The NHL hates the Rangers!!!!

Fortunately, from reports hes been strengthening his legs/lower body and cardio.

So there shouldn't be an excuse for being out of shape. He just needs to heal the shoulder and strengthen it.

The writer wasn't up to date with the Gabs/Richie chemistry that developed in March & though the Playoffs.

I could see Gabs putting up between 20 & 30 goals in 55-60 games. Gabs will have more space to move around & score now that he doesn't have to worry about faceing the other teams top defensive pair evey game.

I also think Torts will continue to juggle lines endlessly

We said that last year. Look what happened.

Wait until we see how we play overall and how we look when we get to that point.

So, were the Kings one of the ten who had a chance last season? I doubt it.

They were actually considered a contender, if I remember correctly. Everyone was shocked that they were doing as bad as they were during the regular season.

They were on my list.

I thought the article was a good one. I do feel as though Porth was drawing at straws for the 3 negatives or opposition shall we say, to why the rangers won't succeed in winning the cup.

1) Sure Gaborik has had a trend throughout his career, but you just can't guarantee it will continue. His rehab is going well. He had a down season his second year with the rangers because he was hampered with injuries throughout the season. This year he won't be starting his season until he is healthy and ready to go. I do believe he will go out and score 35 goals.

2) The rangers was used as a positive note in the first breath, and then a deterrent in the second. The only one I can see having true bumps in the road is Kreider. He is not used to an 82 game season. Stepan is very used to an 82 game season by now. Hagelin slowed down towards the end this past year so he has gone through the growing pains. And the argument that McDonagh and Del Zotto will have to handle bigger minutes is pretty foolish to make. McDonagh handle big, big, big minutes all year long. He played 50+ minutes in that overtime game in washington. Del Zotto will get 2nd pair, possibly 3rd pair minutes. He will absolutely be fine. And I'd hardly say he had an up and down postseason. He struggled towards the end of the devils series, however, his grandmother did pass away and I believe that had an effect on him.

3) This is the only argument I can somewhat entertain. The Rangers did look a step behind when they entered the playoffs. However, that was because their depth was not that strong. I think Sather will definitely address those needs once the cba is solved. They will get a 5/6 defenseman. And they will either sign Doan or Arnott for the 3rd line center. Or they invite Arnott/Rolston/Holmstrom to camp to compete for a 3rd line spot along with Miller being in that mix of competing. Say Miller makes the cut but struggles during the year they can make a deadline acquisition for the playoff run.

All in all I think this team is set for something special.

That's the way I remember it.

I'd have to agree.

This Rangers team could win it all with a healthy Gaborik and Sauer, provided everything works out.

The Kings were chosen by A LOT of people to win the Cup/make the finals. By people, I mean NHL "experts".

NHL.com did a thing on pre-season Stanley Cup predictions, and LA was in a lot of them. They were contenders from the beginning, and how much they were struggling was a HUGE surprise.

I had them winning the cup last yr.

Richards move triggered that. Their lineup was just so complete with him as the #2 guy. Lots of defensive depth with Johnson/Doughty and grizzled veterans like Green, Scuderi and Mitchell. Quick, I thought was a great goalie, but didn't expect him to be this good this yr. Obviously, in the end, they won with a new looking roster, despite having a miserable regular season.

Pre-season I had LA over Pittsburgh in 7.

there are a fair amount of snipers in this league who dont hit 30 goals. kreider is considered more of a power forward type guy. yes he did well in the playoffs, but im still saying if he hits 20, im happy.