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mrmel29

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Lunchtime game against the up and coming red wings who just shut out carolina at home. Have to come out strong and not take them for granted. Don’t know if Laf is out again but Vince is reporting he was out of the 4 line rotation again in practice. Rangers have a ton of decisions coming up shortly with the logjam at LW and their 2 best forward prospects coming up Othmann and cuyyle LW Also. I think more and more strome is allowed to walk. Kreids not going anywhere but I wonder if rangers get the right offer for panerin (young center) they entertain it now and open up some cap space which will be very tight next year.
 
Kakko down again this time with some kind of leg injury. If it’s serious we may need kravtsov back so we don’t have hunt in the top 9 again!
 
What a friggin highlight goal by Laf to give rangers a
4-0 lead to tie for first again. That was a Laf jr’s goal!
 
Rangers back tied for first with Carolina and Carolina’s game in hand is tonight in Colorado
 
For all the Lafreniere doesn't play on PP1, and his development is being hurt, I just don't see it. Kid has 17 goals in his 2nd season, and over his two years on the team he has the most even strength goals on the team. Kid will be a stud IMO starting next season.

I am not as sure about Kakko who gets hurt a lot, and has played in the top 6 a good bit, and hasn't produced enough IMO. At some point he needs to step up, and that isn't on either of the coaches he has played for as a Ranger. By no means is this a closed book situation at his age of course, just means he needs to start taking his game to the next level, and that is on him I think. Hopefully he'll be able to play in the playoffs after his latest injury today. I want to see what he does in that situation.
 
What a priceless response...funny.

Sounds like it may not be too serious with Kakko - that's potential good news:

“Lower body– I don’t think it’s too serious,” Gerard Gallant updated. “We’re being cautious and I’ll know more tomorrow.”
 
I said that about KK last year that i had doubts about what he will ultimately be. I think he will be a consistent 50-60 pt guy but not some perennial AS like you'd expect from a #2. The injuries aren't helping of course.
 
Gallant saying kakko day to day. Last time he said that with him he missed 31 games!
 
If they put Lafreniere on the PP next year full time, he's going to break out.
 
Like I wrote, he will be a stud starting next year. And scoring 17-18 goals this year, and leading the team in even strength goals the past two seasons doesn't equal Quinn and Gallant stunting his growth. It isn't oh he doesn't play on PP1, that means they are stunting him. That is small minded.

Where is Kakko scoring 17-18 goals? But let's blame Quinn and Gallant for him underproducing in his career thus far. Kakko needs to stay healthy, and get stronger and shoot more IMO.

Overall I think Lafreniere is a stud next season. I think Kakko will be very good if he gets stronger on his skates before next season. Still have very high hopes for both, and we have a bright future.

BTW - at this point no shot I re-sign Strome. Re-sign Copp instead, who does so much more, and let Strome go.
 
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No one can argue that putting Laf or Kakko on the PP would not have resulted in more goals/assists for them. Obviously it would have and maybe they would be a little more well rounded skills-wise. But there was no rush to put them out there. The Rangers had (have) one of the most effective PPs in the league...I don't know that having either of those two players on PP1 would have made the PP any more effective.
HOWEVER...come playoff time it is a totally different game. You're playing against the same team and they will figure out how to neutralize the top players. The Rangers are totally front loaded with their scoring and it's mainly because of the PP. If the Rangers PP1 (as currently constructed) gets shut down in the playoffs they are going to need secondary players to score. Thankfully, Drury added a couple guys who can take some of the pressure off Kreider, Zibanejad and Panarin with Copp and Vatrano. It's going to be those guys, Laf, Chytil and Kakko (if healthy) that are going to help the Rangers make a deep playoff run.
 
There's little you should be complaining about when it comes to this year's team. 104 points and tied for first with six games to play. Who ever expected that?
 
Messiah717 said:
There's little you should be complaining about when it comes to this year's team. 104 points and tied for first with six games to play. Who ever expected that?
Click to expand...
From some I couldn't tell if we were tied for first or lottery bound.
 
When the first and second overall picks in the draft aren't being developed properly, there is a lot to complain about. That's because Strome is gone after this year. Panarin and Kreider are going to decline sooner than later. If you don't have these two kids carrying your offense soon, you're fucked.
 
Lafreniere has 17 goals this season, pretty darn solid in his 2nd season. He also leads the team in even strength goals over the past 2 seasons. How isn't he being developed properly by two coaches, because he isn't on PP1?

As for Kakko, the kid has been hurt a lot in 3 seasons. He has been given chances to play in the top 6, and has not stepped up yet (I say yet because I am sure he will over time). Again, how isn't he being developed properly by two coaches, because he isn't on PP1?

Is PP1 time your only litmus test? I have to say yes because that is all you ever write. Your MO is very clear. All you want to do is find something to complain about and someone to blame, even when the team is playing really well. Now it is both coaches for Lafreniere and Kakko. Funny.
 
When you see what their teams are doing with high-pick players like Hughes, Stutzle and Raymond you realize how hard Lafreniere and Kakko have gotten fucked by this organization.

Hughes: 19:33 TOI/G, 56 pts, 14 on PP
Stutzle: 18:14 TOI/G, 52pts, 23 on PP
Raymond: 18:10 TOI/G, 55pts, 18 on PP

So their teams are playing them 18+ minutes per game with tons of PP time and are reaping the rewards, in the present and for the future.

Lafreniere: 13:54 TOI/G, 27 pts, 1 on the PP

At one time he was even asked to learn to play RW and has constantly played with 3rd liners rather than top-line players. I don't give a shit he leads the team in even strength goals when he has less than 30 points in his 2nd year. He is closer to being a bust than being the franchise player he should be being groomed to be. That so few people see the horrible mismanagement of Lafreniere and Kakko is shocking.

The moment these 2 kids got drafted the focus should have shifted to maximizing their talent and grooming them to carry the team for the next decade. Instead we fucked around putting them with has-beens or never-beens and they're nowhere near where they should be developmentally. Next season, his 3rd in the league, we should have been looking at Lafrieniere leading the team in points, getting 20+ minutes a game and being an absolute force. Instead, with the new additions at forward, it'll be another year where he'll be lucky to get any time on the top 2 lines and breaking 40 points will be a success.
 
NYR31 said:
When you see what their teams are doing with high-pick players like Hughes, Stutzle and Raymond you realize how hard Lafreniere and Kakko have gotten fucked by this organization.

Hughes: 19:33 TOI/G, 56 pts, 14 on PP
Stutzle: 18:14 TOI/G, 52pts, 23 on PP
Raymond: 18:10 TOI/G, 55pts, 18 on PP

So their teams are playing them 18+ minutes per game with tons of PP time and are reaping the rewards, in the present and for the future.

Lafreniere: 13:54 TOI/G, 27 pts, 1 on the PP

At one time he was even asked to learn to play RW and has constantly played with 3rd liners rather than top-line players. I don't give a shit he leads the team in even strength goals when he has less than 30 points in his 2nd year. He is closer to being a bust than being the franchise player he should be being groomed to be. That so few people see the horrible mismanagement of Lafreniere and Kakko is shocking.

The moment these 2 kids got drafted the focus should have shifted to maximizing their talent and grooming them to carry the team for the next decade. Instead we fucked around putting them with has-beens or never-beens and they're nowhere near where they should be developmentally. Next season, his 3rd in the league, we should have been looking at Lafrieniere leading the team in points, getting 20+ minutes a game and being an absolute force. Instead, with the new additions at forward, it'll be another year where he'll be lucky to get any time on the top 2 lines and breaking 40 points will be a success.
Click to expand...
So right now you would rather be a devil fan...a sens fan and a red wings fan...

Here is another fact about those three kids...they HAVE to play those minutes why..because those teams do not have talent in front of them..or besides them...or behind them.

Why are you all in such a hurry to rush kids to the PP..what in God's name names playing on the PP the only want to improve their game?

And yes...one day..maybe next year Kreider won't score 50 goals...and one year breadman isn't going to be a top 15 point leaders..maybe that next season..they can go to the back of the line and allow the younger generation to take the reins..but for now let the kiddies sit at the kiddie table and learn from the vets.

Or we could have an eichle..a nuggent hopkins..a McDavid ..all those top picks who got all those great pp points and developed...what have any of them done with all those pp points...more importantly what has any of those teams done with those top picks?
 
So the priority for you is developing the #2 and #1 overall draft picks over, say....winning?
What you are not talking about with the three players you mention is the fact that they are either alone or in very slight company of other talented players on their not-even-close to sniffing the playoffs teams. Like, laughably BAD teams. You're comparing apples and oranges.
 
Let's not forget that Lafreniere started the season on the top line with Zibanejad and Kreider...so BOTH players got 1st and 2nd line opportunities at the start of the season.
And judging by just the one game after Lafreniere was a healthy scratch it seemed to light a fire under him. Whatever message Gallant was trying to send to him about having a consistent level of effort was received.
 
Greyvtrayn said:
So the priority for you is developing the #2 and #1 overall draft picks over, say....winning?
What you are not talking about with the three players you mention is the fact that they are either alone or in very slight company of other talented players on their not-even-close to sniffing the playoffs teams. Like, laughably BAD teams. You're comparing apples and oranges.
Click to expand...

that opportunity to prioritize their development already came and went. The past 2 seasons when this team was mediocre is when they should have been playing in every situation and learning from their mistakes.

Now the team is in a win-now mode so they’ll lean on the veteran players to win because they never cared to develop Kakko and Lafreniere to be in those leading positions and will continue to have marginal roles on the team.
 
NYR31 said:
that opportunity to prioritize their development already came and went. The past 2 seasons when this team was mediocre is when they should have been playing in every situation and learning from their mistakes.

Now the team is in a win-now mode so they’ll lean on the veteran players to win because they never cared to develop Kakko and Lafreniere to be in those leading positions and will continue to have marginal roles on the team.
Click to expand...

You make it sound like they were sitting in the stands or in the minors.
 
Since game 1 both Kakko and Lafreniere have been played by both coaches. They have both gotten top 6 chances. They have both gotten PP time, not PP1, but some PP time. No they have not been handed 18-19 mpg and major PP1 time like other tops picks on awful teams, but they have been given good solid roles. That is despite Kakko being hurt a lot. And with that opportunity Lafreniere has scored 17 goals this season, and has the most even strength goals on the theam since the start of last season - something no one mentions.

Is the only way to grow them properly to throw them to the wolves and give them 6 or 7 extra mpg and play them on PP1? Seems a bit narrow of a path to "grow them" if that is the only way it can be done. One may argue that playing 12 mpg or so, on a winning team, surrounded by other really good players, playing in the top 6 off and on, and on PP2 may help them become winning well rounded players. But I guess since it isn't 18-19 mpg on PP1 for a bad team, that doesn't count.
 
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