I was looking up something on Wikipedia about the Rangers but I stumbled upon something else. In our 85 year history we've only won our division... 5 times. I know the Rangers don't have a wonderful winning history, but jeeze. We haven't won our division since we won the cup. I'm not slamming my fist on the table demanding that this years team win the division, but yeah, we really need to kinda improve on that in the next couple of years, hopefully.
I think you really got a chance to do something when you can "compliement" your core with cheap players.
Right now we have especially Callahan, Dubinsky, Boyle and Prust playing well over what they earn. Next season Cally, Dubi and Boyle are in for big raises. Sauer will get a modest raise too. The season after that MZA, WW and MDZ's contracts are up.
We will have a lot fewer "cheap" guys even next season, and after the seasons after that -- we will have non basically (besides Staal who will be a steal at that point).
If we can draft well going forward, I think we really will be able to compete in 4-5 years for a top 4 position in the East.
Natrually, Torts needs to adopt to the new NHL or be kicked out before that can happend.
I don't see us beating out Pittsburgh/Philly anytime soon. NJ will be a bother as well.
Are we that ready to dismiss the Isles as well?
Tavares, Okposo, Bailey, Moulson, Grabner...
El Nino in the system...quite possibly another #1 overall this year...
The Atlantic will be a juggernaut for the next 5-10 years....
Whether we end up on top, or at the bottom depends on if Sather is finally for real about finishing the rebuild...this yrs deadline makes me shutter, but so far so good.
Only because of Hank and our good young D, I think we could challenge for the top of the division in 2 yrs barring anything wierd
El Nino in the system...quite possibly another #1 overall this year...
The Atlantic will be a juggernaut for the next 5-10 years....
Whether we end up on top, or at the bottom depends on if Sather is finally for real about finishing the rebuild...this yrs deadline makes me shutter, but so far so good.
Only because of Hank and our good young D, I think we could challenge for the top of the division in 2 yrs barring anything wierd
I feel the same. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up finishing last for a few years. I don't expect it to happen, but if it did, I would not be shocked at all.
When there is a lockout again and instead of canceling the season they decide to replace every team with ECHL players- and the Rangers players cross the picket line. Then MAYBE we could beat out Pittsburgh and Philly if we find a way to improve the PP.
El Nino in the system...quite possibly another #1 overall this year...
The Atlantic will be a juggernaut for the next 5-10 years....
Whether we end up on top, or at the bottom depends on if Sather is finally for real about finishing the rebuild...this yrs deadline makes me shutter, but so far so good.
Only because of Hank and our good young D, I think we could challenge for the top of the division in 2 yrs barring anything wierd
Completely agree. At the start of the season, I thought there was a very good chance the Rangers could finish behind the Isles.
El Nino in the system...quite possibly another #1 overall this year...
The Atlantic will be a juggernaut for the next 5-10 years....
Not overly impressed what the Islanders have. This Ranger team has equal or more young talent and more depth with young players.
Stepan slightly worse than Tavares (Stepan will get 50+ points and Tavares will get 65 points
Dubinsky is better than Okposo
Gaborik way better than Moulson
Callahan way better than Bailey
Kreider is not yet proven but has close to the same wheels as Grabner
Thomas is outscoring El Nino in juniors
Plus.. the Isles young defense does not compare to the Rangers young defense
and there is no goalie close to the Hank that the Isles have
when crosby retires and the flyers get old. then hopefully the isles dont finish their rebuild by then and the debs fall apart. so prob within the next 25 years.
The Islanders have a young core comparable to ours (we have more depth, but Tavares may be a guy who can carry a team) and if they can get league average out of just one of that goalie hydra of theirs they will be a threat moving forward. I've always been worried that Wang will game everyone one of these offseasons and buy like an entire FA class. That just seems like something that would happen to the Rangers.
The Kovalchuk signing was a risk NJ almost had to take with a team full of old men and a prospect pool that excited no one. Pittsburgh will always have Crosby and Philly is ridiculous. Unless someone implodes our division is going to be filthy.
Not overly impressed what the Islanders have. This Ranger team has equal or more young talent and more depth with young players.
Stepan slightly worse than Tavares (Stepan will get 50+ points and Tavares will get 65 points
Dubinsky is better than Okposo Gaborik way better than Moulson
Callahan way better than Bailey
Kreider is not yet proven but has close to the same wheels as Grabner
Thomas is outscoring El Nino in juniors
Plus.. the Isles young defense does not compare to the Rangers young defense
and there is no goalie close to the Hank that the Isles have
But..Moulson's scored more than Gaby this season, doesn't that mean Moulson is an all-star?
Not overly impressed what the Islanders have. This Ranger team has equal or more young talent and more depth with young players.
Stepan slightly worse than Tavares (Stepan will get 50+ points and Tavares will get 65 points
Slightly? Let's not fool ourselves here, Tavares is a much better player than Stepan. He's younger and he's basically playing at a 35-30 level. He'll be a 40-40 player for years to come, even with his supposedly bad skating.
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Dubinsky is better than Okposo
True, but that could change in a few years. Okposo is 3 years younger.
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Gaborik way better than Moulson
Moulson also isn't made of glass. Very, very good player. Should be a consistent 30 goal scorer.
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Callahan way better than Bailey
Bailey's no slouch. He should be a good 2nd line center in his prime. Bergeron - lite.
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Kreider is not yet proven but has close to the same wheels as Grabner
Grabner has scored 25 goals at the NHL level. Kreider is still a unproven prospect.
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Thomas is outscoring El Nino in juniors
They're in completely different leagues.
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Plus.. the Isles young defense does not compare to the Rangers young defense
MacDonald, de Haan, Streit, and Hamonic is a very good top-4, and will be for years to come.
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and there is no goalie close to the Hank that the Isles have
Stepan slightly worse than Tavares (Stepan will get 50+ points and Tavares will get 65 points
Dubinsky is better than Okposo
Gaborik way better than Moulson
Callahan way better than Bailey
Kreider is not yet proven but has close to the same wheels as Grabner
Thomas is outscoring El Nino in juniors
Plus.. the Isles young defense does not compare to the Rangers young defense
and there is no goalie close to the Hank that the Isles have
Jon Tavares has more points now (51 in 56 games) than Derek Stepan projects to finish with (46 in 82). Tavares is going to be a guy, when given halfway decent line mates, that pots 45 goals and 90 points every season. Stepan looks like a very good young player, but he's not close to the level of Tavares.
How many points did Okposo have last season? 52? What is Dubinsky's career high? 44? They're actually very close in terms of talent, and Okposo is 2 years younger and 2 seasons greener. I'd wager money that within the next few years Okposo is considered the better player.
You just seem to be assuming that these Islanders players won't progress at all. What if they add a couple of decent veterans to that lineup? They have exceptional young talent, and they'll be a very good team if Wang spends even a modest amount of money on them.
