Blue Line Station
Fansided

The good, the not so bad and the ugly

By Curtis Jetter

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 29: Chris Kreider #20, Mika Zibanejad #93 and Pavel Buchnevich #89 of the New York Rangers celebrate after defeating the St. Louis Blues at Madison Square Garden on March 29, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 29: Chris Kreider #20, Mika Zibanejad #93 and Pavel Buchnevich #89 of the New York Rangers celebrate after defeating the St. Louis Blues at Madison Square Garden on March 29, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 03: Pavel Buchnevich #89 and Brady Skjei #76 of the New York Rangers talk during a break in the action against the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden on March 3, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 03: Pavel Buchnevich #89 and Brady Skjei #76 of the New York Rangers talk during a break in the action against the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden on March 3, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The ugly

Let’s jump ahead to the opposite end of the spectrum and offer up the worst case scenario next.

A would be top line of Zibanejad, Panarin and Buchnevich just does not gel.  Buchnevich takes a step backwards and soon finds himself on the hard end of one on David Quinn’s tough love lessons. Only this time he doesn’t respond and instead sulks when benched and spirals downward. The top line is in a constant state of flux.

Chris Kreider just can’t get the trade deadline scenarios out of his head and it takes a toll on his game.  He seems lost and disinterested at times, playing without an edge or physical presence. Even a move back to the top line to replace Buchnevich has no impact.

This move also forces Panarin to the right side where he just is not as comfortable. Quinn is forced to juggle the top line night after night. The top six becomes a rotisserie of players and combinations.

The rookies play like….well…rookies.  Kakko gets off to a slow start and soon becomes frustrated to the point where he just can’t seem to provide any help to the offense. Defensively, he is lost. Kravtsov finds the NHL game a bit too physical for his liking and plays a brand of hockey that just does not sit well with coach Quinn.  He soon finds himself heading to Hartford.

Chytil and Howden struggle at the center position as sophomores, Ryan Strome winds up anchoring the second line which features a rotating menu of wingers around him. Panarin and Zibanejad are doing everything they can to keep the Rangers alive, but it’s all just too much.

The defense does little to improve over last years campaign as Trouba and Skjei are forced to eat more minutes than they can handle.  Tony DeAngelo does not mature, Fox takes too much time to mature and Hajek suffers another injury that sidelines him before Thanksgiving.  Only Marc Staal lives up to expectations.  Fans are seeing this incredulous look on David Quinn’s face all too often.

NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 19: Head coach David Quinn of the New York Rangers looks on from the bench against the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden on March 19, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 19: Head coach David Quinn of the New York Rangers looks on from the bench against the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden on March 19, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Hank is getting beat high glove side with alarming regularity, his frustration bears witness to the fact that he has just one year left to live out his ultimate dream. Georgiev however proves he is the real deal, but with Igor Shesterkin learning quickly and playing at an all-star level in the AHL, that only puts Georgie high on the hit list at the trade deadline.

By the time 2020 rolls around, John Davidson and Jeff Gorton are already making plans to move Kreider, Strome and anyone else that has value on the open market in order to load up on picks in one of the deepest drafts in years.

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