177 replies to this topic

[Colin226]

Hope Nash likes boring hockey and blocking shots.

It does make me wonder how much players consider that when going to the Rangers.. "hmmm the coach wants me to put my face in front of pucks and will scream his head off at me all the time.. sign me up"

[CarpathianForest]

I think Nash is a bit more concerned with getting to see his name in lights. He's been relegated to obscurity by the casual hockey fan most of his career.

[centralnj]

It does make me wonder how much players consider that when going to the Rangers.. "hmmm the coach wants me to put my face in front of pucks and will scream his head off at me all the time.. sign me up"

Exactly. That would be my thought process.

[AEWHistory]

that looks horrible. i dont think they will be a much better team. they lost depth and thats what teams need now a days

Exactly! What people are missing in analyzing this trade is the system/luck factor the Rags enjoyed last year. For a team to play a shot block heavy system to be as healthy as the Rags were throughout the season and into the post-season was amazingly fortunate and simply not something an organization can afford to count on. Consequently, if they can expect injuries then they MUST have depth and they've lost some of that critical element. One bad shot and Gaborik is gone; another and so is Nash. And that assumes that Nash is willing to buy into the Rags' "take one in the nuts for the King" system. It isn't clear to me that he will.

Edited by AEWHistory, 23 July 2012 - 09:19 PM.

[oconnellrules]

It does make me wonder how much players consider that when going to the Rangers.. "hmmm the coach wants me to put my face in front of pucks and will scream his head off at me all the time.. sign me up"

this.

tortorellas style is their issue. cant wait til nash breaks his face eating kovalpuck!!!!!!!!!!!!

[David Puddy]

HA HA

[Devil Fan]

Nash is overrated. Rags still rely heavily on their D and Queen. Any good teams will make Nash plays like Bertuzzi (defensive liability).

[hargsy]

I think Nash is a bit more concerned with getting to see his name in lights. He's been relegated to obscurity by the casual hockey fan most of his career.

Bingo, Bango, Boingo

From what I've read ..the rags were the only team on his list, and that is for ONE reason....fame. Just like Gomez wanted the world to see he landed in NYC so does Nash.
It will be interesting to see if he buys into Torts "defense & backcheck & block shots first" game plan.

Edited by hargsy, 24 July 2012 - 06:44 AM.

[justdo3043]

i think he's under rated....he's played on the bad team for to long and i expect a good year out of him this year

[DaneykoIsGod]

Everyone knows Kovy is a better value than Nash, that doesn't mean they aren't better than last year and we aren't as good as currently constituted. They basically add Nash and Kreider (didn't play a regular season game) over Dubinsky and Anisimov from last year's team, we subtracted Zach with no additions 'yet'.

Doesn't make them better. How many times have we seen the Rangers win a July sweepstakes, only falter the following spring? The way Tortorella's system takes a toll on his players, depth is paramount to the Rangers' success. This trade gives up depth while making them even more top heavy.

We complain about Lou not doing anything this offseason, but at least Stu Freaking Bickel isn't our No. 5 defenseman at the moment.

[Devils Pride 26]

Bingo, Bango, Boingo

From what I've read ..the rags were the only team on his list, and that is for ONE reason....fame. Just like Gomez wanted the world to see he landed in NYC so does Nash.
It will be interesting to see if he buys into Torts "defense & backcheck & block shots first" game plan.

That's a common misconception with the Rangers system. There is no back check because the puck never leaves their zone. Might as well just call it a check. Now back checking on a fast break is a different story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhh9jfh9kGA

Nash will fit right in with Hagelin and the former 'savior' Brad Richards to come up lazy on the back check.

[insanity_gallops]

Guess I'm in the minority on this, but I think the Rangers did improve with this trade. Yes, giving up Dubinsky and Anisimov hurts their depth, but they can be replaced. If the Rangers land Shane Doan and/or sign a guy like Dominic Moore, their depth rebounds significantly. Anisimov was a nice player for them last year, but Nash is a major upgrade. And considering the Rangers did well with Dubinsky having a rough season, losing him seems like it could hurt most in the locker room rather than in the win-loss column.

It still takes a hit short-term with Gaborik sidelined, but a powerplay with Nash, Richards, Gaborik, Callahan and Del Zotto as a first unit is pretty formidable.


All that being said, I agree with other posters that I'm just having trouble seeing the Rangers do quite as well this upcoming season. Lundqvist will have another outstanding season (sucks, but true), but a number of things just seemed to go the Rangers' way last year that seemed flukey. Maybe that's just wishful thinking, but I can't see them as the #1 seed in the East, or even winning the Atlantic again.

[mxm262]

First thought I had was the "We don't need you" chant when the Jackets played in NY right before the deadline. I'm sure that will be conveniently forgotten

[maxpower]

One thing about the Rangers, I don't think that is really how Torts WANTS to play. Yeah, "safe is death" was overblown, but I don't really think they want to be a 60 minutes (or more) blockedshotathon 82 times during the regular season.

It's how he felt they HAD to play. The have a world-class goalie and are stronger on defense than they are at forward and alot of their forwards are more of the defensive "grit" type. So, that's what they do. I am not 100% certain that's how they are going to play in the future, although their forward corp is still pretty thin.

[Triumph]

One thing about the Rangers, I don't think that is really how Torts WANTS to play. Yeah, "safe is death" was overblown, but I don't really think they want to be a 60 minutes (or more) blockedshotathon 82 times during the regular season.

It's how he felt they HAD to play. The have a world-class goalie and are stronger on defense than they are at forward and alot of their forwards are more of the defensive "grit" type. So, that's what they do. I am not 100% certain that's how they are going to play in the future, although their forward corp is still pretty thin.

Well, you can see it in part by how Tortorella deployed his forwards - ZS%:

Gaborik: 63%
Stepan: 62.9%
Richards: 54.4%
Anisimov: 52.7%
Hagelin: 52.6%
Callahan: 48.8%
Mitchell: 45.7%
Rupp: 43.2%
Dubinsky: 41.8%
Fedotenko: 36.5%
Prust: 33.7%
Boyle: 28.8%

Trouble is, the Rangers just lost Mitchell, Dubinsky, Fedotenko, and Prust. They've replaced them with Nash, Pyatt, Asham, and Halpern, but I don't know if that's an upgrade. A lot's going to fall on Hagelin and Krieder to carry the water on this team, because Gaborik, Richards, and (likely) Nash can't do it, and Stepan was awful at it last year.

[hargsy]

That's a common misconception with the Rangers system. There is no back check because the puck never leaves their zone. Might as well just call it a check. Now back checking on a fast break is a different story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhh9jfh9kGA

Nash will fit right in with Hagelin and the former 'savior' Brad Richards to come up lazy on the back check.

hey Ryan Carter is from Minnesota ...... how come he didnt "go home" when he had a chance!!!!

[SterioDesign]

safe to say now that Doan is going to sign in NY too and that Semin will endup in pittsburgh.

great offseason. simply great.

hey Ryan Carter is from Minnesota ...... how come he didnt "go home" when he had a chance!!!!

same thing with Salvador

[Mayday]

Ah, I still remember, Girardi going around the net, Richards flopping around, McDonaugh sprawled out, and Lundqvist bewildered. Then out of nowhere comes Henrique who.just.slides.the.puck.into.the.net.and.the.rest.is.history.because.the.rangers.are.gone.

[insanity_gallops]

Trouble is, the Rangers just lost Mitchell, Dubinsky, Fedotenko, and Prust. They've replaced them with Nash, Pyatt, Asham, and Halpern, but I don't know if that's an upgrade. A lot's going to fall on Hagelin and Krieder to carry the water on this team, because Gaborik, Richards, and (likely) Nash can't do it, and Stepan was awful at it last year.

Nash is an upgrade on offense over Dubinsky, but he's not the same type of player. Pyatt helps, but I still wouldn't be shocked if they sign someone like Dominic Moore, Matt Bradley, etc.

So if Nash/Dubinsky is viewed as an upgrade, Pyatt/Prust is essentially a wash, Asham/Fedotenko as a downgrade, Halpern/Mitchell as a downgrade.

Big question mark is regarding how they replace Anisimov's contributions. Doan is obviously out there, but they could try to gamble on someone like Eric Fehr who will be cheap. Maybe they kick the tires on Andrew Brunette.

[JakeDev]

In my opinion this whole Nash situation is exactly like the Zach Parise situation if we replace him with Semin.... Yes we get offense but there an unknown defensive part that is missing or in question