Gilroy is not terrible. At all. And he would be an asset.
We have 6 D signed. Del Zotto hasn't signed yet. But will. Thats 7 D.
We have 12 F signed. No spare F.
Two of our signed D have played F in a pinch.
Sign Gilroy and now you have 8 D, 2 of which can also fill in as a spare F.
Thats maximizing your assets. Saving money on the cap.
Gilroy is fine. He can log above average minutes. He hasn't hurt anyone in the playoffs. Not us and not Ottawa. We already have arguably the toughest top 4 D in the league. Gilroy and Stralman add a dynamic that is hard to quantify on paper. They are both able to skate at a high level and can add to what used to be a somewhat anemic offense (though statistically it was in the top 10 last year i believe).
Sauer is never coming back. That's how they have to operate. Bickel is fine, too. He has potential. Gilroy, Bickel, and Eminger in a bottom pair/spare D and poasibly spare F role helps this club. Good depth.
Gilroy is not terrible. At all. And he would be an asset.
We have 6 D signed. Del Zotto hasn't signed yet. But will. Thats 7 D.
We have 12 F signed. No spare F.
Two of our signed D have played F in a pinch.
Sign Gilroy and now you have 8 D, 2 of which can also fill in as a spare F.
Thats maximizing your assets. Saving money on the cap.
Gilroy is fine. He can log above average minutes. He hasn't hurt anyone in the playoffs. Not us and not Ottawa. We already have arguably the toughest top 4 D in the league. Gilroy and Stralman add a dynamic that is hard to quantify on paper. They are both able to skate at a high level and can add to what used to be a somewhat anemic offense (though statistically it was in the top 10 last year i believe).
Sauer is never coming back. That's how they have to operate. Bickel is fine, too. He has potential. Gilroy, Bickel, and Eminger in a bottom pair/spare D and poasibly spare F role helps this club. Good depth.
id rather have McIlrath learn on the job if he wasnt hurt over Gilroy....
id rather have McIlrath learn on the job if he wasnt hurt over Gilroy....
eh, I'd rather let McIlrath learn in the AHL, he still seems to be a pretty raw player at this point. No need to rush him, Gilroy/Eminger/Bickel will be good enough for now.
Bickel had a bad PO's and has gotten a terrible rap for that.
He played well for the Rangers defensively during the regular season and is better than Gilroy on that side of the puck not to mention light years more physical all over the ice especially in front of the net.
Not only playoffs, but he shouldn't have been on the roster in the regular season to begin with. He wasn't a great AHL defender and somehow the coaching staff believed that he'd make a bottom pair defenseman. He was always constantly out of position, getting turned inside out when pucks went passed him and couldn't lead a breakout without a heart attack occurring. I've seen many, many bad NHL defenders play for the Rangers, but I think Bickel is by far the worst I've ever seen. That's quite something when you consider the garbage we had on display early this decade and the first seasons post lockout.
Not only playoffs, but he shouldn't have been on the roster in the regular season to begin with. He wasn't a great AHL defender and somehow the coaching staff believed that he'd make a bottom pair defenseman. He was always constantly out of position, getting turned inside out when pucks went passed him and couldn't lead a breakout without a heart attack occurring. I've seen many, many bad NHL defenders play for the Rangers, but I think Bickel is by far the worst I've ever seen. That's quite something when you consider the garbage we had on display early this decade and the first seasons post lockout.
Yes. Kalinin wasn't that bad for his first half in his only Ranger season, but he literally fell apart down the stretch.
Malik wasn't a great player, but I think he was passable as a #6 guy on an average team.
Besides, I think there were much worse players than the two you listed; Strudwick had a lot of heart, but he was a pylon like Bickel. Anders Eriksson played a few games, but he was absolutely horrendous in them. Correy Potter was also up there.
Yes. Kalinin wasn't that bad for his first half in his only Ranger season, but he literally fell apart down the stretch.
Malik wasn't a great player, but I think he was passable as a #6 guy on an average team.
Besides, I think there were much worse players than the two you listed; Strudwick had a lot of heart, but he was a pylon like Bickel. Anders Eriksson played a few games, but he was absolutely horrendous in them. Correy Potter was also up there.
From what I remember about Malik (and maybe I was too young) he was bad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Atoz
I'm not saying Malik was slow but he was hit by a car with a flat tire being pushed by two guys.
Malik was asked to a be top four defenseman. And he really was never meant to be that. But he performed admirably. For what they paid him and what he gives them, he was great value. He never was a punishing hitter despite his size, but he gave the Rangers a lot of good minutes.
People didn't like Malik because he was 6'6 and didn't put anyone in the front row. He was fine, he was just the scapegoat. Every team has a scapegoat.
Yes he was soft, but he was a fine NHL defenseman. At one point he led the league in points after a 3 point opening night.
Malik gets a bad rap.... He wasnt ad bad as people say... Imo the worst was... Cant remember his name.... Oh ozolinch or whatever it was... He was just terrible by the time his career brought him to ny
Malik gets a bad rap.... He wasnt ad bad as people say... Imo the worst was... Cant remember his name.... Oh ozolinch or whatever it was... He was just terrible by the time his career brought him to ny
Malik was horrible at times..Rozsival always had to cover for his mistakes...Tom Poti was a pansy and brutal..way worse than Malik and i never liked Malik..
The critique of Bickel is a bit much. Worst since the lockout?
1.Wade Redden--plain and simple--lost his legs, played soft, took up tons of cap space.
But there were plenty of others. For instance:
The very overrated Paul Mara. Tom Poti--weak defensively and another cream puff. Darius Kasparaitis--knees were shot. Sandis Ozolinsh--terrible defensively--always forcing plays--almost always out of position. Bryan McCabe--old and couldn't skate anymore. Christian Backman. Strudwick. Eric Reitz. Kalinin. Jeff Woywitka--our worst d-man last year. Thomas Pock. Eminger is no great shakes either and Matt Gilroy himself--weak in his own end--his next bodycheck will be his first ever.
Gilroy was the last Ranger who left that I was thrilled to see walk out the door. He's a great skater, but he's awful positionally, constantly outmuscled, has no shot, and is a mediocre passer at best. If you are as much as a defensive liability as he is, then you'd better offer something else - he doesn't. I loved seeing him on opposing teams last year bc if you get body position against him then you are getting a scoring chance - this division will eat him alive.
Malik was fine. He performed admirably considering the Rangers depth was so bad that he was a solid 3rd pairing guy asked to play top pairing minutes. The problem was that he was big and non-physical - those players don't tend to be popular.
Gilroy is not terrible. At all. And he would be an asset.
We have 6 D signed. Del Zotto hasn't signed yet. But will. Thats 7 D.
We have 12 F signed. No spare F.
Two of our signed D have played F in a pinch.
Sign Gilroy and now you have 8 D, 2 of which can also fill in as a spare F.
Thats maximizing your assets. Saving money on the cap.
Gilroy is fine. He can log above average minutes. He hasn't hurt anyone in the playoffs. Not us and not Ottawa. We already have arguably the toughest top 4 D in the league. Gilroy and Stralman add a dynamic that is hard to quantify on paper. They are both able to skate at a high level and can add to what used to be a somewhat anemic offense (though statistically it was in the top 10 last year i believe).
Sauer is never coming back. That's how they have to operate. Bickel is fine, too. He has potential. Gilroy, Bickel, and Eminger in a bottom pair/spare D and poasibly spare F role helps this club. Good depth.
Last year with all the injuries the Bolts had him on the top pair with Brewer and he did a very good job, in an injury pinch he could play with Staal on the 2nd pair...not for the whole season but as an injury fillin for a few games...2 years ago in the playoffs he was one of our best players...
Poti got a bad rap as well. Pretty impressive for a "brutal" defenseman to have an 800+ game NHL career. But like Rozsival, he wasn't a big hitter and was hesitant to shoot...which in these parts, means you suck.
Poti got a bad rap as well. Pretty impressive for a "brutal" defenseman to have an 800+ game NHL career. But like Rozsival, he wasn't a big hitter and was hesitant to shoot...which in these parts, means you suck.
Agreed.
It also didnt help that Poti was mislabeled as the heir apparent to Brian Leetch.
Last year with all the injuries the Bolts had him on the top pair with Brewer and he did a very good job, in an injury pinch he could play with Staal on the 2nd pair...not for the whole season but as an injury fillin for a few games...2 years ago in the playoffs he was one of our best players...
I agree. But i think we are in the minority on this.
The team lacked depth, if Gilroy signs with the Rangers we have very good defense depth.
McDonagh
Girardi
Staal
Del Zotto
Stralman
Bickel
Gilroy
Eminger
And Bickel, Gilroy, Eminger could dress as forwards in a pinch.
It also didnt help that Poti was mislabeled as the heir apparent to Brian Leetch.
If anyone labeled him that way, it wasn't anyone with remotely realistic expectations. Leetch was a once-in-ten-years offensive defenseman. Poti was a 1B
power play guy on a weak team in the height of his career.
