it's amazing how much speed, with the ability to play the boards can change the dynamic of the team. those 2 rockets paired with Richards has made Richards far more deadly, he can stretch the offense, he can find room, those guys zooming all over the plays have created havoc all over the offensive zone. they retrieve pucks so damn fast it's insane.
I think the biggest thing about Hagelin is he actually may be our best board player on the team. So he can play Torts hockey, while still zooming around the ice playing a transition game as well. thats HUGE.
Richards has been a born again player with these 2 guys. He looks downright dominating at times.
Now, go get me Kreider. You'd have possibly the 3 fastest guys in the NHL in the same lineup. Speed can erase a lot of mistakes out there.
After watching the pre-season I wanted him on the roster, and he was one of the last cuts. I knew he would be one of the first guys up if we needed someone from Hartford. He has surpassed Zuke on the roster and even though I think having both is ideal, Zuke was clearly a step behind him.
He's so fast a creates space for the rest of his linemates, whoever it may be with that speed. Combine that with Gabby's speed and goal scoring, Richards has so much more space to create, and it looks good.
Is he a first liner in the future? It's possible, but I don't see him going any lower than the 3rd at this point in time and at any point in the near future. He's become an essential part of the core group management has put together.
Along with the current group, Kreider, McIlrath, Miller, and a cast of solid players in the juniors, this team is set up for long term success. It's going to be a time to make an impact trade at some point in time (possibly the draft) to get another 1st liner and add much more top end talent to our roster.
After watching the pre-season I wanted him on the roster, and he was one of the last cuts. I knew he would be one of the first guys up if we needed someone from Hartford. He has surpassed Zuke on the roster and even though I think having both is ideal, Zuke was clearly a step behind him.
He's so fast a creates space for the rest of his linemates, whoever it may be with that speed. Combine that with Gabby's speed and goal scoring, Richards has so much more space to create, and it looks good.
Is he a first liner in the future? It's possible, but I don't see him going any lower than the 3rd at this point in time and at any point in the near future. He's become an essential part of the core group management has put together.
Along with the current group, Kreider, McIlrath, Miller, and a cast of solid players in the juniors, this team is set up for long term success. It's going to be a time to make an impact trade at some point in time (possibly the draft) to get another 1st liner and add much more top end talent to our roster.
Parise is the guy we'll definitely go hard at in the offseason
I still cannot picture that line as a long term line. Richards and Cabby are two dynamic players that can make their own lines sing-given the proper personnel.
Gabby is 4th in the league with goals scored-not because of Richards. Give Gabby a good power forward that can clean up in front of the net, with maybe Hags and supply Richards with two 20+ goals scorers with good IQ and you have the makings of two solid lines. Couple that with our D and goaltending, that makes a solid team IMO. But the report card on Hags as a top six is still incomplete.
I still cannot picture that line as a long term line. Richards and Cabby are two dynamic players that can make their own lines sing-given the proper personnel.
Gabby is 4th in the league with goals scored-not because of Richards. Give Gabby a good power forward that can clean up in front of the net, with maybe Hags and supply Richards with two 20+ goals scorers with good IQ and you have the makings of two solid lines. Couple that with our D and goaltending, that makes a solid team IMO. But the report card on Hags as a top six is still incomplete.
if you put gabby and richards they pretty much have to score, every game. Rangers secondary scoring has been zilch since they were put together...maybe 3 or 4 chances a game from the other lines combined.
I still cannot picture that line as a long term line. Richards and Cabby are two dynamic players that can make their own lines sing-given the proper personnel.
Gabby is 4th in the league with goals scored-not because of Richards. Give Gabby a good power forward that can clean up in front of the net, with maybe Hags and supply Richards with two 20+ goals scorers with good IQ and you have the makings of two solid lines. Couple that with our D and goaltending, that makes a solid team IMO. But the report card on Hags as a top six is still incomplete.
Not sure I can get on board with the idea of two solid lines rather than one unstoppable one. I mean, Richards is one of the best playmakers in the game and belongs with one of the best scorers in Gabby. Otherwise he is wasting half of his brilliant passes. And if Gabby is not getting setup appropriately he is wasting half of his time on the ice. If they mesh and keep meshing, keep them together long term in my opinion.
if you put gabby and richards they pretty much have to score, every game. Rangers secondary scoring has been zilch since they were put together...maybe 3 or 4 chances a game from the other lines combined.
Let's also keep in mind that since they have been put together, Callahan has not played. Callahan/Stepan/Anisimov or Dubinsky could be a solid second line in the playoffs.
Not sure I can get on board with the idea of two solid lines rather than one unstoppable one. I mean, Richards is one of the best playmakers in the game and belongs with one of the best scorers in Gabby. Otherwise he is wasting half of his brilliant passes. And if Gabby is not getting setup appropriately he is wasting half of his time on the ice. If they mesh and keep meshing, keep them together long term in my opinion.
The pack line did decently well last year. They would have made a pretty good second line. The problem is that Dubi has struggled this year. The personnel is clearly there that can give the team the depth of scoring that they need. It's a matter of getting certain people back on track.
Just imagine Gabby-Richards-Hags followed by last years pack line.
Remember a possible second line of Krieder/Arty or Step/Cally..........Cally has 26, Arty I think is close to 15 and Krieder from what we hear has great hands
I still cannot picture that line as a long term line. Richards and Cabby are two dynamic players that can make their own lines sing-given the proper personnel.
Gabby is 4th in the league with goals scored-not because of Richards. Give Gabby a good power forward that can clean up in front of the net, with maybe Hags and supply Richards with two 20+ goals scorers with good IQ and you have the makings of two solid lines. Couple that with our D and goaltending, that makes a solid team IMO. But the report card on Hags as a top six is still incomplete.
Hagelin-Richards-Gaborik
==
return of
Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan? (I'm sure Anisimov-Stepan-Callahan would do well as a line as well) follow up with
Feds-Stepan-Zuccarello (this could work )
Rupp-Boyle-Prust
I'm no less than shocked with how consistent Hagelin has been with his production... Even before he started playing on the top lines. I knew he had an engine, but he's really racking up points. He hasn't gone more than a handful of games without a goal.
I've said it before, but I was expecting him to be a 3rd liner who could chip in on the 2nd line when needed. I'm blown away by his ability to transition to the NHL game so quickly. 53 point pace in his rookie year without a single point being registered on the powerplay. That's just flat out ridiculous.
Kid has absolutely no quit in his game. What a player.
Guy's giving me the Jordan Eberle effect; I cannot for the life of me put an upside on him.
Menace on the boards, has shown the tendency to make brilliant passes, very defensively aware, incredibly fast. Once he gets a little stronger and puts more time into his already solid shot, and look out.
This is a figure of the top 30 rookies in scoring looking at how many points they get per hour of ice time. This is better than goals/game imo as obviously players have vastly different ice times / game.
It looks like RNH, Hagelin & Henrique are the clear 1,2,3.
This is the number of even strength points scored per 60 minutes of even strength ice time. I took the top dozen or so top even strength point scorers to do this graph.
Hagelin excels...
Last edited by MorrisWanchuk: 03-14-2012 at 02:44 PM.
Reason: forgot to include RNH
Nice job. Now you need to do an analysis of the average goals scored per 60 minutes on the PK, PP and ES across the league. Then weight those numbers against the players' actual results in each category.
I still cannot picture that line as a long term line. Richards and Cabby are two dynamic players that can make their own lines sing-given the proper personnel.
Gabby is 4th in the league with goals scored-not because of Richards. Give Gabby a good power forward that can clean up in front of the net, with maybe Hags and supply Richards with two 20+ goals scorers with good IQ and you have the makings of two solid lines. Couple that with our D and goaltending, that makes a solid team IMO. But the report card on Hags as a top six is still incomplete.
We need more analysis like this to think about. Could you imagine a player or two with the attributes of someone similiar to Lucic for left wings to create more space for Richards ,Stepan etc...?
Guy's giving me the Jordan Eberle effect; I cannot for the life of me put an upside on him.
Menace on the boards, has shown the tendency to make brilliant passes, very defensively aware, incredibly fast. Once he gets a little stronger and puts more time into his already solid shot, and look out.
Would totally be excited if he was able to put 10-12lbs. of muscle on this summer without losing speed
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