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kilgore

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Everything posted by kilgore

  1. All I'd like to see more is someone on the team (Schenn?) to "say hello" to Gaudette from Sutter
  2. Fair point. But its like he's judged on that for his entire career. He's a solid old school Dman. Not fast, but for his role he doesn't have to be. Hughes always seems to play with more confidence when he's the partner.
  3. Love Schenn. Never understood the criticism. Hits, defends the net, and doesn't dilly dally with the puck in his own zone when it needs to be cleared. I'm glad he was rewarded.
  4. Never seen a team have so much difficulty just getting it over their own blue line.
  5. How often does no draft pick jump to the NHL? Of course its a bit of a crap shoot. Its like that for every team, every GM. But at least you got a ticket. I was on board, in Jim I trusted, for the first few years. I gave him all the rope he wanted. He had previous experience in a front office. He must have had some kind of plan right? Would a Skille, Megna, or Chaput been any worse than Vey, Gagner, or even Player Name? I take exception to your premise that a GM has to cater to or even consider fans feelings at the time. That is a burden of the job. I was okay with a proper rebuild, especially by 2016, after giving the Sedins four more seasons to regain the magic and contend again, and it not happening, and when you could visibly watch their decline in points production. I don't think I was alone. But even if a lot of fans would have been unhappy, so the #$%@ what? Wally Buono wouldn't have flinched. That's the kind of GM we needed in here after Gillis. I may even have been a little p*ssed about it. But I'll bet, just like Geroy Simon, the Sedins would have forgiven their GM, and still have returned to help this team and live here when they finally retired, no matter if they had been convinced to leave or not. And of course, in hindsight, being afraid it would not be a "quick rebuild" is kind of moot at this point. We are up the cap limit, with a new slew of "foundational" final pieces like Dickenson, Poolman, Dowling, Hunt on the books now, while shedding more young prospects. With 2 lost #1 picks missing from the system, even if they were only 18. Jim is even more of a gambler than Gillis. I actually admire that to a degree. Sometimes it works. It may have. Player Name COULD have been the missing triplet. Or Gudbranson the missing anchor on our D. Or any number of his deals. But they didn't. A lot was terrible pro-scouting. And a lack of proper communication with players. He just can't seem to put together a team that meshes well with each other and plays above their pay grade, not below. That's the bottom line.
  6. You've convinced me....its all Gillis's fault. Poor Jim. Nothing he could do I guess. Like trading the ones he could, pressuring others in the core to consider waiving their clauses, or weaponizing the cap. or other creative ideas were just too radical to even consider. His hands have been tied for eight years now. Poor guy, must be tough to live under such a big shadow as Gillis that all he can do is desperately trade picks, and make premature moves, and sign overvalued players on the hope and prayer of squeaking into the playoffs every season. Dam you Mike!!!!!
  7. Still with the: Bennings failures were really Gillis's theory. Almost eight years in. That takes a lot of fortitude, I'm impressed. Gillis was facilitating a Presidents Trophy calibre team. Even then, he was cautious with trading high picks. He only traded away one first round pick. That's amazing to manage to keep 4 out of your 5 years of #1 picks while still building a contender that was one game away from winning it all. The problem was he had zero experience with amateur drafting and relied on the team already here. So the first round picks were... Cody Hodgson Jordan Schroeder Traded first...for our Cup run year for Ballard Nicklas Jensen Brendan Gaunce Luck has always been a part of the draft, projecting how a young player will develop. But what kind of GM is more to blame for a sparse top prospect corral? One who delegated drafting responsibility to who he thought were experts? but knew the importance of keeping your top picks....or one who strides into town as the Drafting guru, picks Virtanen as his first big pick, and then proceeds to trade away other 1sts and 2nds and prospects more than any other GM? Benning has traded away 2 first round picks and 4 or 5 2nd rounders. He has been way more scorched earth in depleting the cupboards deliberately. Gillis didn't give the team a lot of young pieces, but at least it was not directly a fault of his own. Even though the buck stops with him. And he will get the blame. Which is fine. Here's the kicker.. if Gillis was "absolutely reckless" in how he managed his team, and we had a depleted farm, shouldn't stocking up that farm be a top priority for the next GM? Especially one touted as a draft specialist? Please explain that one. How do you still defend a GM that thought riding the coattails of his predecessor's declining core, adding FA pieces with his new draft capital, and then that pro-scouting failed, season after season. Forget about slaying the Dragon, he has been perpetually chasing the Dragon. His management was (and is) so reckless that he stumbled into an accidental rebuild, no matter how much he tried not to, and was gifted high picks because of his failures on the ice, and we get Petey and Hughes. But two budding, potential stars, is not enough to build a team, as we are witnessing. If Gillis was "reckless", Benning has been a disaster. Its about adding up (or subtracting) VALUE. Gillis left Benning with value. In still valuable veterans, and picks and prospects that his scouting staff had given him for what they were worth. Benning took whatever value, and frittered it away. Whether it was the value in picks, or prospects, or the value in making smart deals with signings in your core, but also FAs and trade pieces who will play above their pay grade. (As Gillis managed to do with the contracts for Burrows, Kesler, the Sedins even...). Conversely, failing at your pro scouting so badly, year after year, where acquired players consistently play below their pay grade, is also losing VALUE. You end up buying them out, and taking on risky contracts. Chasing the Dragon, living day to day, is no way to run an NHL hockey team.
  8. Why not switch out Miller for Boeser on the first unit? Miller can score, true, but he's also prone to turnovers. It's time for the return of the Triangle of Death. Where if Petey is covered, Hughes dishes to Flow. Get his one timer confidence back. And if both are covered Hughes probably has a lane to shoot himself.
  9. I think this team could turn it around this season. Just too many good pieces. Love what Garland adds. Just not in time most likely. Its sad because I feel we've already lost a couple of years with COVID and roster changes, and now we will have to wait until next October to once again be excited about working towards the playoffs. Never say never. And I'm not going to say its impossible to make the playoffs, if other teams have injury troubles etc.. But I'm coming to terms with simply wanting to watch the team get better this season. Canuck Luck that we will get better, have a St. Louis like surge, and then just fail to make the playoffs and draft 15th. But that would be a successful season now IMO
  10. Is that you Sekeres? All joking aside, he may be. But not in the traditional sense. I don't see how his dropping off a cliff so suddenly and inexplicably, can NOT create tension in the room. A mixture of feeling sorry for your team mate and what he's going through, and wanting to support him, combined with watching how he just kills momentum on the ice, sabotaging scoring opportunities, and is frustrating to play with, when only a couple of years ago he was such a delight to play with.
  11. You know Canucks hockey has become toxic when... Apollo has stopped posting. I miss the fantastical and perpetual optimism.
  12. We needed Jeff Gorton back in 2018, or earlier. He wasn't afraid to call it like it was and then get to work: https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/a-message-from-glen-sather-and-jeff-gorton-about-our-team/c-295742648 A Message from Glen Sather and Jeff Gorton About Our Team As a member of the Blueshirt Faithful, we consider you a part of the New York Rangers family, and always want to ensure we share important news about the organization directly with you. Today, we want to talk to you about the future. As you know, since the 2005-06 season, we have been a highly competitive team. We have played 129 playoff games, won the Presidents' Trophy, reached the Conference Finals three times, as well as the Stanley Cup Final. While we're proud of all those accomplishments - we didn't reach our ultimate goal of bringing the Stanley Cup back to New York. So as we do every season, we have been continuously evaluating our team, looking for areas that can be improved to enhance our chances of winning. We began the process of reshaping our team this past summer, when we traded for assets that we believe will help us in the years to come. As we approach the trade deadline later this month and into the summer, we will be focused on adding young, competitive players that combine speed, skill and character. This may mean we lose some familiar faces, guys we all care about and respect. While this is part of the game, it's never easy. Our promise to you is that our plans will be guided by our singular commitment: ensuring we are building the foundation for our next Stanley Cup contender. There are no fans like Rangers fans. You are passionate, loyal and true. You fill The Garden every night, and we always know there will be a strong showing from RangersTown in every building across the League. We do not take your support for granted. We appreciate that you have always stood by us, and we ask you to remain by our side as we undertake this exciting new chapter filled with promise and change. We will keep you informed as this process takes shape. Thank you for the incredible loyalty, pride and respect you show to the New York Rangers, each and every day. I remember reading that and wondering where's OUR letter?
  13. I think many Canuck fans are just scared to death about committing to another GM's vision. Scared that Aquilini will pick another dud. Another yes man. We are looking for any past mistake or fault every single prospective GM has in their closet. And count me in to that paranoid crowd. But right now I'd take almost anyone else. Huge mistake would be to change the coach and not the GM until the end of the season.
  14. A Toffoli hat trick may not even wake up this cheap owner. He skimped on a President, and more expensive experienced coaches and GMs. One of the smallest front offices in the NHL. Fire the coach after just signing him?. Or the GM? The Aquas are too cheap to do that. They may be forced to at some point but it seems they are dragging this out as long as they can hoping for a Christmas miracle.
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