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1st overall (Lafrienere), 2nd overall (Kakko), and 7th overall (Andersson), and the Rangers might not have gotten a true impact player out of any of those picks. One went full bust, and there's real concern now that Kakko might as well. I think Laf will be a *good* player but I don't think he'll be the franchise cornerstone everyone thought he'd be.

That's not even counting Vitali Kravtsov (9th overall) who looks like he has one foot out the door because Gerard Gallant values guys like Blais and Goodrow.

I've said before I did not like the Rangers rebuild, and I still stand behind that. But the situation is even worse than I imagined. Some point soon (perhaps even now) Panarin is going to regress due to age. Once that happens, if Shesterkin doesn't go into full Hank Mode every night to bail their asses out, they're in huge trouble.

Drury adds Tarasenko, doesn't give up much for him. Probably a better bet than Kane at this point, who Staple says needs hip surgery.

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Rangers trade a conditional 1st (very likely the pick they got from Dallas in the Nils Lundqvist trade), some ECHL scrub named Hunter Skinner, and Sammy Blais to STL for Vladimir Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola.

I actually think Mikkola will have a more net positive effect for the Rangers than Tarasenko.

Tarasenko hasn't really been an elite talent for the last 3-4 years or so. He still puts up points but his defense has gone from bad to nonexistent. There's definitely hope he can make some magic happen playing opposite his boy Panarin but he has to be sheltered pretty heavily, not sure the Rangers have the personnel or system to do that. The goaltending hasn't quite been up to the task this year either.

Mikkola is by no means an impact player but the Rangers have really struggled to fill out their defensive depth chart, so having a guy on the blueline who can mash guys into the boards is a plus.

Well, it FINALLY happened.

Kane to the Rangers for a 2023 conditional 2nd rounder and a 2023 4th rounder.

The condition is that the 2023 2nd becomes a 2024 or 2025 1st rounder IF the Rangers make the Eastern Conference Final.

I still say the Rangers are loaded with firepower to spare...but they also now have two wingers who are damn near bottom ten of the league when it comes to defensive play. Kane may very well be dead last in that category. And I'm not convinced the Rangers have the infrastructure to cover for that. If Shesterkin at least hit "elite" status again, this isn't an issue at all. But if he's merely good, then I don't see them going deep in an absolutely brutal Eastern playoff picture.

In a move that should surprise no one but him, Gerard Gallant gets the axe once again.

And...tell me if you've heard this before...he got into a fight with his GM to boot.

Did they at least get him a cab this time? Or did Kane punch the cabbie?

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

I actually think this team is pretty good and shouldn't do anything rash, but New York gonna New York.

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Nice, I had forgotten about the Kane cabbie thing.

I could see their narrow contention window already being closed. Panarin is showing signs of significant decline already (why they wasted two fucking years of his prime with David Quinn I will never know) and after one career season where he broke records for power play goals, Kreider is looking once again like a *pretty good* player. Their top two centers are old AF now, and their defense beyond Fox and Miller (the latter of whom will be seeking a significant raise) isn't that great.

Add to this that their two highest-touted young players, taken first and second overall respectively, are nowhere near the franchise cornerstones they were reported to be.

That leaves Shesterkin, who's as good a goalie as there is in this league, and who may be relegated to the same fate as his predecessor, Henrik Lundqvist, buoying a team that just isn't quite good enough year after year after year.

In hindsight, if ya already got two left wingers signed long-term, I don't care if the consensus "best player available" is another winger, DON'T DRAFT HIM. Either trade down or just take the damned center. You can't build around elite wingers unless they're generational talents, and even in the case of Alexander Ovechkin, the Capitals still had to get two really fucking good centers in Kuznetsov and Backstrom to win it all.

And even at the time of the pick I thought the Lias Andersson selection was a terrible pick, and it turns out he was a complete and total bust. That's hurting them even more than Lafreniere and Kakko not panning out.

Rangers need to make a trade for JT Miller....................that will fix all their problems and if not it will at least fix a few for the Nucks.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

The rape allegations and then Kyle Beach coverup make it easy to forget he actually, definitely punched a grown man, even if it was off a rink and the guy was not at all suspecting it. Fucking turd.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

And like the Rangers did for years and years and years, it looks like they'll have one of the best goalies in the league to bail them out of their bad decisions. Plus, league GMs just cannot resist bailing them out of bad contracts.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

Yeah, I remember thinking "Yeah that ain't cool, Pat," when it happened but thought it was just the antics of a drunken idiot kid. Little did I know what a monster he was behind the scenes.

I don't know how much to read into it but there was a guy on HF who chimed in claiming he knew a girl who went to high school with 88 and was told by her parents to stay the fuck away from him, even back then he had a reputation apparently.

Not surprising. So many athletes who appear to be making it are incredibly entitled and think they can get away with whatever they want. Too often, they do get away with things.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Lafreniere gets a two-year bridge deal, but those in the know say he'll get one chance with the new coach, and if it's not working he'll be dangled for a more sure bet.

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Imagine tanking it and getting a first and second overall pick in consecutive drafts…and both those guys end up being busts. Meanwhile the Hawks plummet down the standings for one year and come out with a (possible) generational talent.

Yeah...imagine that, but also dropping 3 spots in the draft and still coming out with a generational talent

https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/ ... games.html

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

The funniest part about that is they didn’t tank on purpose. But boy did they ever tank.

All I'm hearing about is how Lafreniere has finally found his groove, but he's still just got 4 goals in 8 games. Nothing earth shattering. Remains a work in progress.

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Check my math, but doesn't that project to 41 goals on a full season? I don't want him playing like that!

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.