Allan Muir at Sports Illustrated gives us his offseason rankings and has the Rangers at #22...
22. Rangers - If nothing else, the long-suffering Blueshirt faithful have to be thrilled that Glen Sather didn't spend his summer handing out goofy, unjustifiable contracts to aging, over-rated...oh, wait. Alright, the inexplicable Derek Boogaard deal aside, Slats actually won some points for nabbing intriguing free agent Mats Zuccarello-Aasen (top scorer in Sweden last season) and the low-risk contract he gave to Alex Frolov. Neither is a sure thing, but both bring hope of improvement. Adding Martin Biron to lighten Henrik Lundqvist's load was another solid move.
The Rangers are the #12 Eastern Conference team.
Last week The Hockey News ranked the Rangers #13 in the 15-team Eastern Conference.
...keep the hating coming. I love it!!!! I just can't see how this team can be ranked lower than #10. Until the season starts no way teams like Atlanta (who made some nice moves this summer), Carolina and Tampa (also a nice offseason) can be ranked above the Blueshirts.
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16 comments:
Really?
Here's where the Rangers finished last year: 21st if you can't remember
http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?type=lea#&navid=nav-stn-league
Then there's that the Rangers have done very little in the offseason.
And any argument that the youth should improve? That holds for every other team near the bottom of the list. Shockingly, despite being in NY, they have some elite prospects
I'd say Tampa and Atlanta are in the right direction, but still nowhere near the Rangers, especially in net. Carolina had a quietly efficient second half last year after winning only five of their first 27 games, but goaltending for all these teams will definitely be the main issue.
I have to agree with Anon here. I don't think the negative predictions we're seeing from the press are unjustified given last year's performance and the off season moves. Granted, I hope they are wrong, but I can't say that they are the result of some unjustified anti-Ranger bias. And does the fan-base really disagree? I mean, there's a reason why Rangers fans are so disgruntled right now and are calling for Sather's head on a platter.
finishing 10th in east is worse than finishing 13th due to draft. rather get the better pick if we're going to miss the playoffs either way.
i think the experts are right - atl picked up several chi guys plus recent good draft picks. tb made some very good pick ups again in combo with good drafts
I actually think the Rangers are a better team on paper this year, IF you're assuming Frolov from 2008 is on the roster. I think D pretty much remains the same, mediocre at best, but goaltending, if anything, is better with the addition of Biron. the team still lacks dynamic speed and overall puckhandling ability. Last year they couldn't break out the goddamn puck. If you routinely watched them play, this had to be one of the most glaring weaknesses. To me, it's the sign of an impatient, inexperienced, and slightly over-matched hockey team --- at any level.
Meh. These writers have as much knowledge as I do. I say this because i watch a lot of hockey. Mostly Rangers yea but still I know nothing matters more than how the team meshes, how the kids step up (Dubi and callys time to shine) and how the team stays consistent (our biggest problem IMO)
sorry dan but i'm not buying into the dubinsky time to shine hype. what you've seen is what you'll get a very inconsistent guy who plays ok when he wants to show up
Joe,
I think every forward on the team not named Marian is going to be inconsistent. That's the nature of the beast when you're scoring less than 30 goals.
Callahan potential 30 goal 50 point man and dubi potential 50 point guy, that's all they will ever be. But that's not a bad thing, because both are solid on both end of the ice, not bad second and thid line players but there being pushed into larger roles
keep in mind the only valuable guy that atl brought in is probably andrew ladd, buff is a ghost during the regular season and ben eager is your standard fourth-liner. kane, bergfors, antropov and little need to be the leaders if that team hopes to make the playoffs. they'll be a tougher team to play against but still an inferior one. tampa still has concerns on defense; bringing back pavel kubina (career -105!!) won't do much accept fill the void left by kurtis foster. still, their top six is gunna do some serious damage this year and that is a bit disconcerting but we murdered them every game last year so we'll see what happens this season i suppose. i would pay a ton of money to timewarp to october.
RobY is right- there is nothing wrong with Callahan and Dubi, they are 2nd to very good 3rd liners. They are responsible in both ends and can play numerous roles - from PK to end of game situations. They contribute offensively and what is wrong with 50 point seasons on the 2nd and 3rd dlines. You should be puking and moaning about a 3rd line center in EC playing on the 1st line, to me that is part of a dumb and dumber skit.
Rick,
How dare you say Callahan is just a 2nd to 3rd liner. The internets will crash down upon you
[sarcasm]
i just dont see us being behind teams like atlanta, florida, carolina and tampa. they are going to be tough competition but they arent going to be ahead of us.
i would think at least 2 of the 4 will finish ahead of us - likely tb and atl
Li Joe- agree tb and atl both added some nice aquisitions. Whether their D holds up will be the question. Atl has the goaltending, TB, not so much but Ellis might surprise(which would be everyone), though I doubt it. I say we are all even. All three have issues down the middle.
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