The Worst Case Scenario
Well, the Rangers got another point last night, making it four points out of eight possible thus far. That leaves the Rangers in the #9 seed with 67 points, two points behind Boston, who has two games in hand. The Rangers hold the tie head-to-head tie breaker with Boston, but that’s only if they finish tied in both points and wins at the end of the season. Considering the remaining schedule (10 road games, 8 vs playoff teams), there is a very strong possibility that the Rangers will miss the playoffs. They are going to need a hell of a run, to the tune of 25 points out of the maximum 32 in the remaining schedule. Suffice it to say, the Rangers are going to need a miracle to make the playoffs.
The worst thing they can do to us as fans is continue this OTL stuff. Yes, the points are good, but they need wins, and a full two points. Against some of those opponents, they are going to need to do it in regulation as well. At their current pace, the Rangers are going to get 16 points out of the 32, and finish with 83 points, which will definitely be out of the playoffs. The problem with 83 points is that it probably puts the Rangers as the #24 team in the NHL, just out of the bottom-five and without a shot at the #1 overall pick.
While many of you have voiced your opinions that you want the Rangers to tank the season, I find that to be absurd. How can you actually root for the Rangers to lose? I want them to win, I want them to make the playoffs. Rooting for your team to lose is ludicrous. That said, a top-5 pick would really help this team out. Someone like Tyler Seguin or Cam Fowler would instantly fill a hole on this team. If they don’t get in the top-3, someone like Brett Connolly or Kirill Kabanov might be good enough to crack the roster right away.
There’s so much going through my mind right now about this team. I want them to win, but I want a Tyler Seguin or Cam Fowler. I can’t even organize it into a coherent post. This team is not making the playoffs. Period.
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By Rick in Boston, March 8, 2010 @ 11:20 am
Dave, I agree with you. I want this team to do well, but I also wonder if it’s time to blood Grachev and bring up some of the Pack’s better prospects.
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Dave Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 11:55 am
Grachev isn’t ready, he is going to need another year there. He isn’t even going to hit 40 points this year.
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By BBDC, March 8, 2010 @ 11:55 am
After last nights game I was thinking the same points, Scouts and talent evaluators are calling this draft crop one of the best on record which will rival the class of 2003 (I know, I know, the Rangers just happened to pick one of the lone busts of that entire draft, Hugh Jessiman), at least 3 and possibly 5 players could make a strong case to be no. 1 overall picks in weaker years.
Tht being said it would be a shame to miss out on those players because we finished 6-12.
This leads to another side benefit, missing the season may finally convince Dolan to dump Sather. While I don’t hate Sather with the burning passion of some other Ranger fans, his ego is becoming an obstacle to building a championship contender. Anothe GM wont hesitate to waive Redden, Roszival and possibly Drury if a decent trade cannot be had.
In all this might be the year where “tanking” as much as I hate the concept could really pay the team dividends.
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Dave Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Funny, there is a consensus that after the top 15 or so picks, the draft is very weak. Guess it depends on where you get the info from.
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By Bettman's Nightmare, March 8, 2010 @ 12:23 pm
I love how people think that “tanking” is the only way to get a high draft pick. Ever hear of trading up?
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Dave Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Do the Rangers have the assets to trade up?
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By Jeremy, March 8, 2010 @ 1:02 pm
I was at the game last night, and there was a feeling in the Garden that they were gonna lose. I think people were shocked when Dubi scored. I even turned to my buddy and said, “Watch, Buffalo is gonna score before OT”. I was a few minutes late, but you get the point.
This team is not a playoff team. Even if they do make the playoffs, they’ll get bounced in 4 or 5 games. Is is really that worth it? We’ll play Pittsburgh or Washington, and they’ll just overpower us.
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By Mikeeyyyyy, March 8, 2010 @ 1:59 pm
Seems the lines need a big shakeup.
Prospal and Gabby won’t play harder knowing that they will work the top line.
Best I saw was from Dubi-AA-Callahan that scored the tying goal….makes me wonder why they aren’t a given in terms of lines.
If the first line is set in stone, then we are doomed. Joker needs to learn to play with GAbby and Prospal, as Christiansen is starting to tail off again.
Personally I would like to see this for the rest of the season.
Prospal-Jokinen-Gaborik
Dubi-AA-Callahan
Avery-Drury-Lisin
Prust-Boyle-Shelley
And Torts NEEDS to start rolling his lines. Enough of the leaning on players till they crumble. He doesn’t have the same players he did in Tampa and needs to change his approach to maximize the players skills that he has.
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BBDC Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Line shakeup is the usual modus operandus for the Rangers, its not usually the answer. I have a definite problem with Jokinen on the top line as either he seems tgo have lost more then a step (either that or his motor just shuts down at innoportune time) too many times the last couple of games I’ve watched him circle out of what was a clear path to the goal with the puck either when a defender has chased him down or sometimes allowing the defender to chase him down. I,m afraid he’ll slow down a first line.
Unfortunately I think the Ranger’s problems go deeper then line changes, too often when I watch I see players who are not where they are supposed to be. How often do we lose the zone when our own tgeam sends the puck around the boards and there is no defenseman there to stop it? (this would be wrong but forgiveable if the defenseman was caught cheating in, but most of the time the defenseman has just drifted away from the boards). I won’t even start on defensive assignments suffice it to say that Kaleta had all the time in the world to take advantage of multiple opportunities before knocking one past Lundqvist the other night. Additionally we seem to have major problems in our passing game controlling the puck, this I really dont understand because it shouldnt be an issue at the NHL level but the simple lesson of leaving your stick on the ice and letting a pass come to you, seems to be missing.
These are all mental things that are correctable given time and a different attitude, but changing up the lines, to me, seems to be like shuffling the deck chairs.
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Jordan Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Agreed. Can’t stand the send around the boards and the defensemen, namely MDZ, not able to handle the puck so it skips out of the zone.
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