Quote:
Originally Posted by Jarkko Immonen
I don't think Corey Potter should be even looked at before Ivan Baranka. Potter isn't that good.
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Jarkko, I think we just encountered the first significant instance where we disagree about something!
And I can't disagree more on the "Potter isn't that good" statement. Over the course of the season, Potter was probably the second best all-around d-man in Hartford, behind Hutch, IMHO. Yes, he has consistency issues, and can make some really boneheaded mistakes on occasion. Really, really boneheaded mistakes. But there were games where he was a dominant force on defense. I can't remember the specific game, it was probably in January/February and I think it was against either the Pirates or Springfield, but it was the game that really made me sit up and take notice of him. He was singlehandedly thwarting scoring chances and standing up everything that dared cross the Pack blueline. After about the third time he laid a rushing forward on their butt coming over the blueline my husband and I just sort of turned to each other with a "who IS that defenseman in Corey Potter's uniform?" look on our faces. It wasn't long after that when he got his call-up to practice with the big club. And not long after that it seemed Gernander loosened the reigns a bit and we started seeing Potter start carrying the puck up ice more often. And unlike Pock, he's smart about when he does it. I think he has every chance in the world of being a Dan Giardi clone.
In addition to continued injury problems, Baranka's development just seemed to stagnate this season. I don't think he was any better at the end of this season that he was at the end of last. That concerns me. Potter, on the other hand, continued to improve. I have no doubt that was due in part to the fact that he played most of the season with a quality defenseman like Hutch, while Baranka often had to compensate for lesser skilled partners, but I think his progress this season was impressive, and I think he's another one, with Byers, who's underappreciated by most Rangers fans. Right now, if I had to pick one or the other, Baranka or Potter, to fill a gap on the Rangers next season, I'd have a really hard time doing so.
Edit to add: On another topic completely, I agree with Levitate regarding Moore. He's one of the closest to being NHL ready, but I honestly don't see him amounting to much at the NHL level.
