Jan Levine: State of the Rangers: Lots of blame to go around and areas to fix Not just one person’s fault or one aspect to fix

if AV was fired, Rick Nash would stop shooting it directly into the goalie.

GUARANTEED

Jan Levine: State of the Rangers: Lots of blame to go around and areas to fix
Not just one person’s fault or one aspect to fix
- airjan23

"Like Yandle, AV failed to deploy Staal properly, both in terms of ice time and line mates. Staal rebounded last season in Minnesota, showing that he still had some gas in the tank."

I disagree Jan, Staal didn't get top line minutes; sure. But AV moved Hayes to the wing allowing E.Staal to play his natural center position. Eric Staal didn't put forth the effort here. He can take a puck to the chops for all i care.

if AV was fired, Rick Nash would stop shooting it directly into the goalie.

GUARANTEED
- jimbro83

For sure.

For sure.
- JRR1285

Agreed.

to me the best summary is, take away the Toronto game:

Zucc has 1 goal
Kreider has 1 goal
Miller has 1 goal
Nash has 1 goal
Buch has 1 goal
Vesey has 1 goal
Grabner has 1 goal

Rangers are scoring goals at half the pace they did last season

all the other things that everybody else is obsessing over are inconsequential when you consider all those guys listed above have only 1 goal in 9 games excluding that travesty of a game in Toronto
- jimbro83

Nash - Had a ton of chances, just can't buy a goal. Same old story with him.
Zucc - Aside from the Toronto game has been pretty much invisible
Kreider - He played better vs. the Sharks, at least he was involved. Too inconsistent
Miller - Has he dressed this year? Invisible.
Buch - Gets limited minutes. I think he's a better set-up guy than finisher
Vesey - He's been playing better than other guys, but he's not a "goal scorer" per se
Grabner - Has missed at least 5 breakaways already

So yes, their complete lack of scoring is a big concern. But they HAVE to stop falling behind in the first few minutes of each game. It really is tough to play catch up all game long.

I've watched this team for 40 years.... they just seem so vanilla. I don't think there's a strong locker room presence with any of them. And the coach is the same way. I think that works if you have a veteran team that can get themselves up for games, but in this case for this team, they may need a more vocal, in your face coach.

Nash - Had a ton of chances, just can't buy a goal. Same old story with him.
Zucc - Aside from the Toronto game has been pretty much invisible
Kreider - He played better vs. the Sharks, at least he was involved. Too inconsistent
Miller - Has he dressed this year? Invisible.
Buch - Gets limited minutes. I think he's a better set-up guy than finisher
Vesey - He's been playing better than other guys, but he's not a "goal scorer" per se
Grabner - Has missed at least 5 breakaways already

So yes, their complete lack of scoring is a big concern. But they HAVE to stop falling behind in the first few minutes of each game. It really is tough to play catch up all game long.

I've watched this team for 40 years.... they just seem so vanilla. I don't think there's a strong locker room presence with any of them. And the coach is the same way. I think that works if you have a veteran team that can get themselves up for games, but in this case for this team, they may need a more vocal, in your face coach.
- TheMessiah94

Not directed at you, but everybody who expected him to duplicate his scoring from last season is naive.

Zucc has been one of the biggest disappointments to me

Zucc has been one of the biggest disappointments to me
- mrn22

That damn A is to heavy

Not directed at you, but everybody who expected him to duplicate his scoring from last season is naive.
- tomburton99

scoring aside dont you think his explosiveness isnt there this year?

That damn A is to heavy
- TPC

have you seen the Galchenyuk for Kreider rumors on twitter? prolly nothing to them

Not directed at you, but everybody who expected him to duplicate his scoring from last season is naive.
- tomburton99

Oh I certainly didn't expect him to put up 27 again. But these are clear-cut breakaways that he's missing. Gotta pot some of them.

scoring aside dont you think his explosiveness isnt there this year?
- mrn22

He can do everything he did last year, that's not the issue. But it would be almost impossible for him to replicate his 16.7 shooting percentage. That was a career high for him.

He can do everything he did last year, that's not the issue. But it would be almost impossible for him to replicate his 16.7 shooting percentage. That was a career high for him.
- tomburton99

im just talking from a skating perspective. he doesnt look as dangerous

im just talking from a skating perspective. he doesnt look as dangerous
- mrn22

He's one of the most frustrating players ever.

scoring aside dont you think his explosiveness isnt there this year?

I was thinking the same thing. Hard to tell though, the team is just so out of sorts. Half of the times he came out of nowhere last year were from passes that sprung him. They can barely connect on passes 10 feet apart right now.

im just talking from a skating perspective. he doesnt look as dangerous
- mrn22

Nobody does. They all seem to be a step behind. Don't know if that's physical. I think it's more mental. They are all playing like they're reacting instead of dictating the play. It's obvious none of them have any confidence at all.

Zucc has been one of the biggest disappointments to me
- mrn22

Miller too.

im just talking from a skating perspective. he doesnt look as dangerous
- mrn22

Yeah, he showed some of it during the Sharks game but since the beginning of the season it hasn't been there. Last year it was every game. Even if he didn't score he would keep the other team on its toes.

They either gotta win the next 3 or lose all 3. somethings gotta give, going 1-2 or even 2-1 is going to drive me nuts.

They either gotta win the next 3 or lose all 3. somethings gotta give, going 1-2 or even 2-1 is going to drive me nuts.
- mrn22

The way the Knights are playing, idk if the Rangers can beat them. But if they don't get all 4 points vs the Habs and Yotes...

Nice work Jan, don’t forget that Sather is still the VP and has his input on the team, his opinion should be completely ignored

"Like Yandle, AV failed to deploy Staal properly, both in terms of ice time and line mates. Staal rebounded last season in Minnesota, showing that he still had some gas in the tank."

I disagree Jan, Staal didn't get top line minutes; sure. But AV moved Hayes to the wing allowing E.Staal to play his natural center position. Eric Staal didn't put forth the effort here. He can take a puck to the chops for all i care.
- tomburton99

The real flaw of that trade was assessing the team as a buyer and not seller

Scouts at the Avs game last night, we’re gonna do something stupid, you can smell it

Scouts at the Avs game last night, we’re gonna do something stupid, you can smell it
- KreiderBomb

Can't be Duchene. Even if the Avs eat half the cap hit. No need to worry.