What is the rationale for saying they are bad moves? That we haven't won the cup in the year since they've been made? I think there are very good reasons as to why Yandle and Stralman were not only not bad moves, but good moves.
Yandle is the best offensive and puck moving defenseman we've had since the 05 lockout and it's not even close. He makes so many subtle plays that no other Ranger could make if their lives depended on it. Take the play on McIlrath's goal. He grabs the puck under pressure on his back hand after a face off win, brings it to his passing side, eludes a defenseman with a nice fake, moves the puck to center ice and puts it on a tee for McIlrath who drives it home. Nobody else makes that play. He's been doing stuff like that since we got him but all anyone wants to talk about is his play in his own zone. No he's not great there, but he wasn't brought here to do that. We have McDonagh, Staal, Girardi who are supposed to play that type of game. Not to mention that Yandle-McIlrath have been far and away the team's best pairing for a good few weeks now. Keeping those two together for the next few years should be a priority.
Regarding what we gave up to get him...our number 2 winger prospect (behind Buch), who has documented effort and character concerns, and a 1st. The first hurts, but don't forget, we got him for HALF PRICE CAP HIT. That was absolutely huge. It gave a very clear sign that this year and last year are go-for-it years. Last year if our top 3 defenseman didn't ALL get hurt (not 1, not 2, but all 3) in the playoffs and require surgery who knows where we are now. And we still have this year to go. Yandle at 2.6m leaves space for another add towards the deadline that otherwise wouldnt have been possible. No way he's here for 2.6m without that first going the other way. And I want to see him signed. Good deal there in my opinion.
Stralman...it's been beaten to death but it came down to term. McDonagh, Girardi, Staal, Klein all factored into the long-term plans. Stralman could be here if he wanted to be, but he wanted term. It's HUGE that Boyle's 4.5 hit is coming off the books after this year. Imagine if we still had Stralman's contract, and that contract would be the difference in not being able to afford a guy like Kreider this offseason? His disappointing year aside, there would be a meltdown here that we kept Anton freaking Stralman over a kid like Kreider. Stralman added nothing that we didn't already have on our defensive core. Klein plays the same type of game, on the same side, for 1.5 million cheaper. He was a decent player, but he was not physical, not offensively gifted, redundant to what we already had, and wanted term we couldn't afford to give him. And he's NEVER been the top guy on his pairing. No issue letting him walk whatsoever.
Boyle was brought here because Richards had been bought out and there was nobody on the roster who could play the PP point. Nobody. We grabbed Boyle because he was the only guy worth a damn who would sign for only 2 years. That move unfortunately hasn't worked out. He was hurt early and often, never hit is stride, and Yandle made him not needed. But I feel very good with the right-side D being Girardi-McIlrath-Klein going forward, and the extra 1.5 million dollars Stralman would have cost is in no way, shape or form, worth it.
Reasonable people can disagree, but I just don't see how someone can look at all the facts and call them "bad moves." You can say in hindsight you probably wouldnt have done it, but that doesnt make it a bad move. A bad move is signing Tanner Glass to 3 years.
Either way, the focus should now be on what can be done going forward. We still need a top 6 forward like Ive been saying since the damn draft, and we need Staal and Girardi (who again, are both coming off lower body surgeries) to wake up. I'm still confident they will.
