Blog parameters:
Each person covered will be given a rating. Factoring into that rating will of course be his performance but another input is going to be performance versus expectation coming into the season. Much of the background I likely covered in my tear down blogs, so don't expect massive chapter and verse but possibly some quick hitting information if not already covered in those blogs. In addition, to create some parameters, a player will have had to play 20 games to get a grade. Anything less means there isn't a representative sample for which to make a decision, so Brady Skjei and Marek Hrivik, to name two, will not get grades.
Here is where it gets really funky and interactive. I want you the reader to comment on the blog as to the rating. But not just hey I think you are right on or you are crazy but to provide your own rating and rationale for it. So if you agree with what I wrote, great, say that. But if the belief is the rating should be higher or lower, then you have to provide the rationale accordingly. Plus and minus grades are allowed to enable a broader opinion. Before the next blog, we will see if the blog comments consensus rating mirrors mine.
In addition, to shake it up, I will jump around a bit, so not all the players of the same rating are listed in a row, same with positions. So in the immortal words of Forrest Gump, you never know what you're going to get.
Covered in this blog:
Eric Staal
This is what I wrote on Part IV of my Rangers tear down and post-mortem blogs.
Eric Staal, who was brought for a pair of second rounders and Aleksei Saarela, which might have been spurred on by the team's 13-4-1 mark before the trade deadline, is likely gone. After struggling in his 20 games in New York, putting up three goals and three assists, three of those points coming in one game, he was was even worse against Pittsburgh. Staal was on the ice for 10 goals by the Penguins (four at even strength, two into an empty net, three on the penalty kill and one on the power play) and none by the Rangers.
Staal, other than to say that his goal coming to New York was just to fit in, didn't make excuses on breakup day. “I don’t think they saw the best I can be. I’m not going to make any excuses. I need to find a way to be better and to produce more. But for whatever reason it didn’t work out and it wasn’t how I envisioned. But as a group, as a team, we didn’t play well enough, didn’t do enough, to warrant a longer run than we had.”
Staal, in the final season of his seven-year, $57.75 million deal he signed with Carolina, was almost exclusively used on the third line. He typically shifted to left wing with Kevin Hayes in the middle until Hayes was scratched the last two games of the Pittsburgh series. AV never could seem to find the right fit for him. His best run came while centering Viktor Stalberg and Oscar Lindberg for three straight games. But AV never reassembled that trio, neither in the final 15 games of the regular season nor the five in the playoffs. Unless something extremely radical occurs in NY, which could mean several players jettisoned, I can't see Staal returning. That is the case even if his contract demands wouldn't make it untenable for him to be back.
Overall Grade:
D (Staal clearly subjugated his ego to come to New York, moving from center to wing while a Ranger. In addition, AV failed to find the right fit for him. Despite each of these factors, Staal's time in NY was an unmitigated failure. I admit that I was okay with bringing him to Broadway but also was not happy with giving up Saarela as thought his marketplace had dried up and the two picks might have been enough.
Staal's production had declined for the past several seasons prior to coming to the Rangers but his advanced metrics seemed to indicate that a bump might come after a trade. At worst, we figured he might help on the PP and provide some depth either on the third line or as a potential second line winger.
“We never discussed roles,” Staal said. “I came to be on a good team and hopefully go on a long run. I came in to try and fit. There were moments that were good, but not enough. For me, I’m not making excuses. I needed to be better than I was. But at the same time, it is what it is and that’s how it played out.”
I thought Staal’s game was sliding from the few times I saw him with the Hurricanes against the Rangers, but obviously the Rangers scouted him and thought his pedigree, his size and skating, and his pedigree would be a welcome addition. Staal's speed has completely vanished following his devastating knee injury a few years ago and he was unable to use his size effectively in NY. Regardless, even if he wants to return, the Rangers need to move on, which looks likely to occur).
Players covered in prior blogs,
My grade,
Consensus Grade
Antti Raanta B+/B+
Kevin Hayes D/D
Viktor Stalberg C+/B-
Chris Kreider C+/C
Mats Zuccarello B+/B+
Kevin Klein C+/C+
Tanner Glass C/D
Rick Nash C-/C
Assistant Coaches C/C
Dan Girardi D+/C or C-
Derick Brassard, B/ B+
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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