Hate to Say I Told You So
The Rangers five game skid, and still counting, along with their play over the entire season thus far, demonstrates that this team is not great. Not even good, just mediocre.
During the summer, while there was a flurry of signings and trades, the Rangers largely held their ground. The highlights of the offseason were the signings of Matt Cullen, Aaron Ward, and the Adam Hall trade… I would hate to say I told you so, but like I said these players were and are not the answer.
Like I said during the summer Matt Cullen is a useful player, but not a second line center. He is a third liner. And as of now this miscalculation has cost the Rangers big; Cullen does not provide the scoring or playmaking necessary to anchor a second line. If not for the presence of Shanahan on the wing it would be the worst second line in the league, but that’s not saying much as even with Shanahan it is one of the worst. Plus the Rangers signed this guy to a four-year contract… 4 years? You can’t be serious and it’s not like he’s making peanuts.
Aaron Ward… I don’t even know where to start with him. When he was signed I said something like this: Ward will be slightly better defensively than Poti, but his offensive skills are tremendously worse. These words have proven prophetic. Poti is having a very solid year on the Icelanders while Aaron Ward hasn’t done much. I, and I would think every Rangers fan, was counting on the team to acquire one of the elite Dmen available this past offseason, but it wasn’t so. Aaron Ward is a decent player, but more a 5th or 6th defensman, not the answer. Let me put it like this: in terms of replacing Tom Poti, Aaron Ward was a downgrade. The only good news is it was only a two year deal.
Adam Hall, I liked this trade, but Hall isn’t bringing the same dynamics that Dominic Moore did. Hall may be a better scorer but is definitely not a better overall player.
Another big disappointment has been Petr Prucha. Just think about it, we could have had Martin Havlat if we were willing to trade Prucha. Petr just isn’t doing what he did last year, frankly Petr looks lost. He is split between trying to score and playing an aggressive 3rd liner role. And even when he is trying to score he doesn’t have the touch. This is partially Renney’s fault for not sticking with Prucha on the second line, as mentioned it couldn’t be much worse anyway.
Right now I think the Rangers will make the playoffs, and maybe even win a game, but they are not Cup contenders as of now.
So what is the fix? Well I vote for cloning Jagr, Nylander, and Straka. That way we can have all four lines filled with them. But more seriously there is no simple fix here. What would you guys do?
Maybe the best thing would be just to ride the season out and make changes in the offseason. The only thing is that the Rangers have been leaving all this cap room to sign a young budding superstar, but where is this star coming from? My head hurts thinking about this team.
Happy Holidays—–Potvin Sucks