As December comes to a close Rangers fans should consider the season (to this point) as nice little Christmas gift. So as the calendar year comes to a close, let us all be in a giving mood this holiday season and offer up a nice gift to all of the Rangers’ Metropolitan Division rivals.
The New York Rangers have not disappointed their fans this year. It was expected to be another year of slowly progressing towards the ultimate goal and to this point in the 2019/20 season it is clear they are doing just that. Sure it has been a roller coaster ride, but roller coasters are fun. Would you rather be on the merry-go-round?
Of course one or three more wins would be great at this point and really add to the chances of the team making the playoffs but hey, they are in the thick of it, and we should all be looking forward to 2020.
That’s not to say fans wouldn’t want another gift under the tree on Christmas morning, but for now let’s be gift givers and hand out some holiday cheer to our closet NHL rivals.
Carolina Hurricanes
Look, we don’t know these guys all that well. They are definitely the relatives that you see only once a year around the holidays. So with that in mind, we are not going to give too much thought to this gift.
The Canes look like they will be in a battle all year for the third playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division. Dropping out of that spot into the first wild card spot would almost certainly mean a first round playoff match-up with the Boston Bruins. That’s not a great spot to land.
Let’s gift the Canes the number three spot in the division and see if they can’t knock off the Islanders just like last year.
Columbus Blue Jackets
The poor family that lives at the end of block. The ones who just can’t seem to get a break. The dad is always getting laid off and the mom rarely if ever gets out of sweatpants.
There is soooo much we can give to these guys, plus Rangers fans have to be in a really giving mood when it comes to Columbus, after all we did take Artemi Panarin away from them. He truly is the gift that keeps on giving.
Let’s make all of Columbus feel good this holiday season and give the Jackets a lottery win. The number draft pick in the 2020 NHL draft is yours Columbus. Pick wisely.
New York Islanders
Who are we kidding? These guys ain’t getting jack squat from Rangers fans, even if we are in a giving mood. Santa hates you!
New Jersey Devils
The devils just traded away the league MVP from two seasons ago, a nice gift would really feel good right about now.
But what to give the cross Hudson rivals who look like they are ready to settle for another chance with Lady Luck and the lottery? It’s a tough one, kind of like buying a gift for under $50 to bring to a gift exchange.
Sure we can cop out and just go with a gift card, but one has to think that what the Devils would really like is for someone to take P.K. Subban off their hands at the trade deadline so they can just start over. Getting P.K. and his $9 million cap hit off the books would be a great gift.
Philadelphia Flyers
Our old friend Alain Vigneault is doing a pretty decent job with the Flyers so far. They sit just ahead of the Rangers and just behind the Penguins in the standings. This is certainly a veteran team that should suit Vigneault perfectly since we all know he leans VERY heavily on his veterans.
Every Rangers fans should be well aware that if Vigneault was still coaching the Rangers Kappo Kakko would be getting 6 minutes of ice time per game.
So let’s make our old coach even happier this holiday season by gifting him Ilya Kovalchuk for the league minimum salary of $700,000. He can ride that mule all the way to the final day of the season when the Flyers will miss the playoffs by virtue of a tie-breaker.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Gotta hand it to the Penguins. They jettison Phil Kessel off to Arizona and barely miss a beat.
Tied for the third spot in the Metropolitan with the Canes they are right smack in the middle of the playoff picture once again.
But what to give them for a gift this holiday season is not hard to figure out. The one thing they need more than anything else is healthy Sidney Crosby. If Sid were to go down, the Penguins would surely go down with him.
Washington Capitals
These are the rich kids on the block, they always seem to get exactly what they want. Sitting in first place and making it look rather easy to this point. What can you possibly give to help make the team even better?
The Caps have the league’s top scoring defenseman in John Carlson and of course the Great Eight. So giving them the gift of something as simple as another player to fill out the roster just seems a bit off base. Instead let give them the gift of competition.
Having something to play for through the final weeks of the season can keep a team fresh and on edge leading up to the playoffs. Keeping the competitive juices flowing may be the best gift the Caps can receive this year. Just ask the Tampa Bay Lightning.
New York Rangers
The Rangers Christmas list may be like that of a seven-year old, long and kind of all over the place covering many bases. Rangers fans of course want everything as well.
So for the Rangers, let give a gift that we think will help the team win more games and become more consistent. Once the team starts to win more regularly, then the monotony of a merry-go-round definitely has much more appeal.
Our gift goes directly under coach Quinn’s tree.
A single line up card with a permanent black Sharpie.