I went from 100% behind Drury after his first year embracing the gritty philosophy. After his second year and the firings I'm with you dump, he's really painting himself into a corner. If the Rangers take a step backwards it's on Drury, he should have kept GG one more year with an ultimatum.
From day one I thought he was in over his head, and I think Dolan/Sather put him in a spot he wasn't ready for. He had a great trade DL last season, but since then has been a mess IMO. He needs to get this coach hire, and off-season right or else he'll be gone, but with Dolan/Sather running the show, who knows for sure.
Sather has been a bane on this organization, decades of failure from the guy who was smart enough to draft Gretzky and is still chasing the undersized player with the big heart windmill as if there will ever be another Great One.
I'm giving him one more year, then get his ass out. I wanted Bennett here. Gourde here. I wanted Barbashev here. Guys who are playoff guys. Drury could have gotten at least one of them. Bennett was when moron Gorton was running the team. Gourde maybe Drury could have gotten. I talked about Drury getting an fn fourth line center to win faceoffs. He screwed the pooch on that just like all our latest GM's have done. I've been talking for years about our GM's the need to stop giving out these dumbass NMC and NTC's. Dolan needs to make that a team policy. No more of those. If you want to play here, it's a privilege. No more of this you are here for life crap.
Hockey Writers has a spot on article about the Rangers and their poor drafting history. Gorton did some good things here but the 17-18 1st round misses on long shots were killers. You can't take risks like Andersson and Kravstov when you're rebuilding a team. It seems like Drury is making things very hard on himself, the new coach he hires has ridiculous expectations and he's once again cap strapped. I would trade Fox, he doesn't have a NTC yet and can actually bring back top tier starting talent. It would certainly be unpopular at first but the guy was booed at the Garden attending a Knicks playoff game, if the Rangers could let Messier walk they can trade Fox. I don't see any of the guys with NTCs going anywhere,
The first-round misses have been absolutely brutal. If Lias hits and is our 2-way second line center just coming off an ELC this team looks entirely different. Same with Kravtsov. I hated that pick at the time, but putting aside whether or not he was the right type of player, we completely whiffed on whether we were even getting a player at all. Now he's fled the country, again. Those two picks have set us back significantly. Worse, they have caused us to shell out more FA money that could have been reallocated elsewhere to fill the holes. Missing that badly with successive top ten picks is simply inexcusable. Re Fox. No way I'm trading him. Gallant rode this guy into the ground and Lindgren, who has more heart and soul than anybody, is too banged up to be a reliable partner for him. We also went the entire year (again) with zero other puck moving defenseman, forcing Fox to play in all situations and in a system that does not create easy exits and outlets. Watching this guy game in and game out, he is constantly trying to make a play out of nothing and if he does not do it himself it rarely happens. I think he is going to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of a more structured system and will also benefit from reduced minutes. To ease the burden we also need to find another puck mover. I liked Mikkola overall but he is another guy that can't create much with the puck without falling all over himself. Since we can't spend FA dollars, Zac Jones needs to be given a real shot back there. I'd even pair him with Trouba to get some better puck handling, outlets and exit capabilities out of the top 4. Move Miller up to play with Fox and play Lindgren with Schneider, where we can keep his minutes down. That gives you a more well balanced (albeit small) D core that can get the puck up ice.
Kane was a terrible move by Drury. As others said it was a move just to make a move and frankly wasn't a need the Rangers had. They have issues moving the puck and needed a forward not afraid to go through a brick wall.
Have to disagree on that based on what we knew at the time. Kane is a top scorer, SC winner who would bring plenty of experience which we could use in the playoffs. However, now knowing he was damaged goods obviously (for me) changes things dramatically.
Agree - and we need to understand it was add Kane or done. We were not making another big deal given our cap space. Kane was a perfect storm to go through all the gymnastics to add him. We weren't doing that for any guy, and there wasn't another guy with a NMC that said NYR or bust to even entertain doing it. My guess on Kane is they knew he was compromised, but they said hey for a lower cost it is worth the risk that he can add some value on the ice, and leadership in the locker room. Obviously didn't work out, and maybe he was more hurt than they thought/knew. Hindsight not a good move, but big picture I am not sure it mattered. If we didn't add Kane, we weren't going to add anyone else most likely, maybe a bit 4th line guy at best, so I am not sure it really changed our situation. And the potential upside of Kane made it worth it in Drury's opinion. Again didn't work out obviously.
And not for nothing, Kane did have 6 points in the 7 games. Outscored all other forwards besides Kreider. Plenty of other guys up front to point the finger at first.
What's done is done. He's essentially getting a form of hip replacement but hopefully for him will still allow him to play a few more years. Then the traditional replacement is likely.
More Lias salt in the wound - 11 centers picked in the 1st round after the medal tosser, 10 have established 100+ game careers including Chytil. Looking at the no brainers that Gorton passed on to take a chance on Lias is sickening.
The incompetent stupidity of not developing Lafreniere and Kakko needs to end. If they can’t get rid of Panarin, he no longer can be on the first power-play unit. Lafreniere and Kakko need to be on that unit full time. The fact that Lafreniere is not signed yet is not a good sign.
Panarin has been given two playoffs to prove himself. He has failed miserably. This year in the playoffs he was an fn embarrassment.
