Around the NHL: 2024-2025 Season

[Archie Lee]

It is hard not to conclude that Adams has no authority to spend beyond a certain level. While the Sabres could use a top tier talent, I think the current swoon could have been avoided with 2-3 additional vets in the Zucker, Greenway, Clifton category.  Such players are available, I think. They mostly don’t have trade protection. I’m not letting Adams off the hook. He could spend the money he has more effectively. But I think we are in a $ in / $ out situation. Sad. 

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

And ppl want Drury as gm. Lol

[Brawndo]

 

[Wyldnwoody44]

This is IMPOSSIBLE!! teams aren't ALlOwEd to makes moves in season. Whattt?!? 

[Flashsabre]

12 minutes ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

This is IMPOSSIBLE!! teams aren't ALlOwEd to makes moves in season. Whattt?!? 

Uh those teams don’t have an owner that believes the solution is in the room 😁

[inkman]

[Jorcus]

2 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

Gives me funny feelings about what we could somehow get for Jokiharju lol

A very unusual trade to say the least in terms of value.

 

Joker certainly has some value.

As far as the trade goes it is not as lopsided as it seems. Kakko has become a very slow player on a team that is full of slow players. I am not sure what Seattle thinks they can do with him. Borgen at least gives the Rangers more back end speed. It will be interesting to see if Kakko improves out west but I think for the most of his NHL life he will be a third line winger mostly playing on the defense side of the ice.  

Edited Thursday at 02:57 AM by Jorcus

[Stoner]

20 minutes ago, inkman said:

Now I'm high as a mofo.

[inkman]

11 minutes ago, Stoner said:

Now I'm high as a mofo.

The Solos!!! 

[Stoner]

8 minutes ago, inkman said:

The Solos!!! 

But I'm seeing multiples, bruh.

[SabreFinn]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

 

It is time for Adams to wake up. A good trade for Montreal.

[PerreaultForever]

I don't think Kakko would solve any of our problems but that's a pretty low price tag. Borgen's a pending UFA too. 

[Rasmus_]

1 minute ago, PerreaultForever said:

I don't think Kakko would solve any of our problems but that's a pretty low price tag. Borgen's a pending UFA too. 

Kakko is so vastly overrated.  He's an average middle six player at best. 

[PerreaultForever]

1 minute ago, Rasmus_ said:

Kakko is so vastly overrated.  He's an average middle six player at best. 

Ya, I wouldn't argue that, but Borgen's a bottom pairing D man not really any better than Gilbert. Maybe slightly, but not much. A 3rd is not much and a 6th is basically nothing. Seattle desperately lacks scoring and a middle six guy for that price is just fine for them. 

[Archie Lee]

10 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

And ppl want Drury as gm. Lol

I would bet on Drury fixing the Rangers or on him getting another job and getting his new team high in the standings and deep in the playoffs, before I would bet on Adams. 

The Kakko trade is a warning about falling in love with young players. There were some who thought trading Quinn in the off-season in a package for a legit top 6 forward was crazy (more than crazy actually; some fans thought that trading Quinn straight-up for an actual good established NHL player would have been GM malpractice). No doubt Adams shared that view. Today, Quinn’s value has surely sunk below what Kakko just returned. 

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Archie Lee said:

I would bet on Drury fixing the Rangers or on him getting another job and getting his new team high in the standings and deep in the playoffs, before I would bet on Adams. 

The Kakko trade is a warning about falling in love with young players. There were some who thought trading Quinn in the off-season in a package for a legit top 6 forward was crazy (more than crazy actually; some fans thought that trading Quinn straight-up for an actual good established NHL player would have been GM malpractice). No doubt Adams shared that view. Today, Quinn’s value has surely sunk below what Kakko just returned. 

Ok, I still don't want Chris Drury near my team. 

You will be wrong about Jack Quinn. You are judging him based off of a 25 game slump in which the rest of the team was also mediocre at best. Sure, Quinn was part of the problem, but I just don't believe a guy who looked like and played like Quinn did for 1.5 seasons is in reality who he was in the first 25 games. 

[That Aud Smell]

7 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

You will be wrong about Jack Quinn. You are judging him based off of a 25 game slump in which the rest of the team was also mediocre at best. Sure, Quinn was part of the problem, but I just don't believe a guy who looked like and played like Quinn did for 1.5 seasons is in reality who he was in the first 25 games. 

JACK QUINN WILL BE FINE.

[Archie Lee]

29 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

JACK QUINN WILL BE FINE.

I agree.  But getting better means having better players.  If we are comfortable waiting on Quinn and Peterka and Benson and Kulich to become players who collectively (not individually) are good enough to help us win, then we are in the same boat as Anaheim or San Jose or Chicago, and our expectations should be adjusted accordingly.  You can’t have 4 developing or struggling forwards 23 and under in your top 9 and expect to win in the NHL. Well, you can I guess, but you would be unrealistic in your expectations. 

[Flashsabre]

13 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

And ppl want Drury as gm. Lol

https://www.tsn.ca/video/the-smokehouse-gm-drurys-effect-on-rangers-has-been-negative-not~3049542
 

https://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/rangers_blame_struggles_on_gm_chris_drury_at_players_only_meeting_report/s1_17615_41434753
 

The bloom is off the rose for Drury in NY.

Edited Thursday at 03:44 PM by Flashsabre

[Dreams Burn Down]

5 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

https://www.tsn.ca/video/the-smokehouse-gm-drurys-effect-on-rangers-has-been-negative-not~3049542
 

https://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/rangers_blame_struggles_on_gm_chris_drury_at_players_only_meeting_report/s1_17615_41434753
 

The bloom is off the rose for Drury in NY.

[PerreaultForever]

9 hours ago, Archie Lee said:

I would bet on Drury fixing the Rangers or on him getting another job and getting his new team high in the standings and deep in the playoffs, before I would bet on Adams. 

The Kakko trade is a warning about falling in love with young players. There were some who thought trading Quinn in the off-season in a package for a legit top 6 forward was crazy (more than crazy actually; some fans thought that trading Quinn straight-up for an actual good established NHL player would have been GM malpractice). No doubt Adams shared that view. Today, Quinn’s value has surely sunk below what Kakko just returned. 

I wouldn't argue with any of that, it's not wrong, but there is another way of looking at this trade. Kakko got sent to the press box for his poor play. He publicly bitched about how he felt he wasn't the worst player and didn't like it. Boom, he's shipped out of town. That's zero tolerance and that's what you have to do if you want a winning team first culture. might not work, but it is saying there's a line not to be crossed and nobody is exempt. 

[thewookie1]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

I wouldn't argue with any of that, it's not wrong, but there is another way of looking at this trade. Kakko got sent to the press box for his poor play. He publicly bitched about how he felt he wasn't the worst player and didn't like it. Boom, he's shipped out of town. That's zero tolerance and that's what you have to do if you want a winning team first culture. might not work, but it is saying there's a line not to be crossed and nobody is exempt. 

According to multiple sources his comments had nothing to do with the actual trade. And while I struggle to fully believe that; I could certainly see a scenario of Kakko being told he’s getting traded soon as well as scratched until then and thus he lashed out. 
 

Drury is honestly a very bad GM and is likely damaging the Rangers brand for general players. When you’re good, you get far more leeway and players will tolerate more to be a part of the success. The Rangers however broke a serious unwritten rule by using waivers to circumvent a NTC. And used it on a team favorite who was well liked in the room. While a loophole that isn’t illegal; it creates discord in the room by playing the lawyer game versus being in good faith. Trouba being outright threatened with the same occurrence if he didn’t waive his NTC is another example of this type of management.

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, thewookie1 said:

According to multiple sources his comments had nothing to do with the actual trade. And while I struggle to fully believe that; I could certainly see a scenario of Kakko being told he’s getting traded soon as well as scratched until then and thus he lashed out. 
 

Drury is honestly a very bad GM and is likely damaging the Rangers brand for general players. When you’re good, you get far more leeway and players will tolerate more to be a part of the success. The Rangers however broke a serious unwritten rule by using waivers to circumvent a NTC. And used it on a team favorite who was well liked in the room. While a loophole that isn’t illegal; it creates discord in the room by playing the lawyer game versus being in good faith. Trouba being outright threatened with the same occurrence if he didn’t waive his NTC is another example of this type of management.

idk if Drury's a bad GM or this is a second team where a goalie with an exorbitant contract demand hasn't damaged his own team (Boston being the other if it wasn't obvious). There's no question the GM there is removed from the team and doesn't care about how they "feel" about anything, they are just assets and commodities and Trouba was treated as one who wasn't delivering his value and as such was removed to put their cap back where they wanted it after the goalie signing. But is that bad? Kevyn Adams wants to be their friend and values them all and how's that working out? 

Management should not be worrying about players feelings imo. Coaches and team leaders can worry about that. management has to run things like a business with only one goal, winning, at any cost. 

Edited Friday at 12:56 AM by PerreaultForever

[thewookie1]

2 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

idk if Drury's a bad GM or this is a second team where a goalie with an exorbitant contract demand hasn't damaged his own team (Boston being the other if it wasn't obvious). There's no question the GM there is removed from the team and doesn't care about how they "feel" about anything, they are just assets and commodities and Trouba was treated as one who wasn't delivering his value and as such was removed to put their cap back where they wanted it after the goalie signing. But is that bad? Kevyn Adams wants to be their friend and values them all and how's that working out? 

Management should not be worrying about players feelings imo. Coaches and team leaders can worry about that. management has to run things like a business with only one goal, winning, at any cost. 

But that's not exactly a good way to do it; players aren't robots or purely assets. They have intricate personalities, backgrounds, demographics, etc. 

You have to balance both the personal and professional side of the sport. Adams is far to personal, Drury is on the opposite side of the spectrum. Players aren't numbers or merely stats on a sheet. You can't handle them as you would merchandise or property. Emotions do matter and they do make an impact on other players inherently. You can't baby them but also can't be an ***** to every player on your team; players talk to each other and to their agents. Fear doesn't create order; it can force order to a point but will eventually create resistance that will tear everything apart. What Drury did to Goodrow and then Trouba may give a message of high standards but it can also simultaneously make players feel their management is untrustworthy and isn't going to treat them like humans or in their best interest. The message of standards will get inevitably lost in the possible paranoia and/or vitriol players will feel about things. 

[PerreaultForever]

4 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

But that's not exactly a good way to do it; players aren't robots or purely assets. They have intricate personalities, backgrounds, demographics, etc. 

You have to balance both the personal and professional side of the sport. Adams is far to personal, Drury is on the opposite side of the spectrum. Players aren't numbers or merely stats on a sheet. You can't handle them as you would merchandise or property. Emotions do matter and they do make an impact on other players inherently. You can't baby them but also can't be an ***** to every player on your team; players talk to each other and to their agents. Fear doesn't create order; it can force order to a point but will eventually create resistance that will tear everything apart. What Drury did to Goodrow and then Trouba may give a message of high standards but it can also simultaneously make players feel their management is untrustworthy and isn't going to treat them like humans or in their best interest. The message of standards will get inevitably lost in the possible paranoia and/or vitriol players will feel about things. 

maybe, but that sort of balancing act is easy to put into words and really hard to do in practice. I mean even Tampa tossed Stamkos aside when the business model said his time was over. That was cold. Team seems fine. 

I would suggest that this is where veteran player leadership comes in. Players know it's a business and if they also know there's a high standard, they usually embrace it if they want to win. There can be a gulf between upper management and locker room.