It's possible that's the case but really I think it is a GM issue. The guys GG has wanted to bring in and play have been workers. Drury is fascinated by star power and he has neglected the roster in terms of bringing in grinders in the top 9. Trocheck is the one grinder that has been brought in and he is saddled with a star who does not work hard on defense.
Gallant lives in the 1980s. He’s the definition of old hockey, guys a fossil. They have one of the most talented top 9s hockey, figure it out.
The Rangers aren't going anywhere in the playoffs. Don't get too emotionally invested. Good players, bad team.
They want to win. Tarasenko wants to win. Kane wants to win. We all know the the rest of the top 7 wants to win. The team isn’t built to forecheck and grind, it never has been. They didn’t have the team speed to do it when the season started, and they don’t have the speed now. Hard work and grit isn’t winning this team a championship, imo.
This is how this team should look. Just put up so many goals that it crushes the other teams will to play.
If you were the GM, we'd have 2 defenseman on the roster. Relax. Mikkola is playing 1st pair minutes when he's a 3rd pair defenseman because Lindgren is out.
OK, I'll take your challenge. I admit this: If I was the HEAD COACH, I would be playing some of our scratched forwards in place of some of our current defensemen. I say that without any hesitation. They would absolutely do better than Harpur of Mikkola.
Mikkola is fine as a 3rd pair defenseman. He’s not supposed to be playing with Adam Fox. Harpur on the other hand, sucks, but he’s supposed to be scratched every night. We also don’t have any scratched towards, we have a 23 man roster, the 23rd man is Harpur.
Did anyone catch this last night? I'm usually not a fan of silliness, but the fact that they were able to animate a hockey game in real time is impressive:
Particularly given the way the Rangers are built. Having somebody with his head in the defensive half of the ice is really important when most of your guys play downhill a lot.