Including this blog, to date, I have now covered 13 F, 5D, 1G, leaving Henrik Lundqvist and Alain Vigneault remaining. It seems appropriate to have those two close out the grading. From there, I will post a schedule analysis blog leading us into the World Cup and Training camp. In addition, if anything breaks, like it did with the Chris Drury news, I will post a blog on that immediately.
In other recent Rangers news:
- congratulations to Mats Zuccarello, who helped Norway clinch a berth to the 2018 Olympics with their 2-1 win Sunday over France.
- the Henrik Lundqvist will miss the World Cup due to an injury while playing golf rumors were put to bed yesterday. Larry Brooks reported: "A few days ago I took a puck right to the rib cage when my equipment somehow moved,” Lundqvist said in an email. “I did have some discomfort, and it’s sore and stiff and probably will be for a while, but I’m OK.” Lundqvist, who underwent an MRI exam, said he “skated the next day and didn’t even think about it.” Exhale, move along.
Today is a good news/bad news kind of day in Rangers history. Below are both. First the good, then the bad news.
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.
As requested, to get the ball rolling on possible line combinations, moving forward, as i give a grade, I will note on which line that player could slide in during 2016-17.
Covered in this blog:
J.T. Miller
This is what I wrote on Part III of my Rangers tear down and post-mortem blogs.
The player who likely made the most strides this year was J.T. Miller. After showing signs of a break out in last year's playoffs, Miller took off this season, notching 22 goals and 21 assists. AV finally showed confidence in Miller, who rewarded him and the team with a stellar season. Miller has a mixture of skill and strength, willing to get his nose dirty and score greasy goals. He made just 874k this season and as an RFA, might not get a huge raise. But if GM Jeff Gorton was smart, he would lock him up now for several seasons.
As we all know, Miller, who was a restricted free agent and scheduled for an arbitration hearing on August 2, reached an agreement with the Rangers on a two-year deal. Miller will be paid $2.5 mil in 2016-17 and $2.75 mil in 2017-18. That's a heathy raise over the $874k he made last year when he only signed a one-year deal betting on himself to earn a bigger deal this year, which clearly he did. I would have loved a longer-term deal, but Miller once again is betting on himself to produce and be rewarded with a bigger deal two years down the road that he might have received this off-season. I had predicted that Miller will triple his salary on a one-year deal to about $2.5-2.6 mil. A two-year deal would probably be close to $3 mil a year, so I was off by a bit, and a 4-5 year deal would be in the $4-$4.25 mil range, which would have been my preference..
Overall Grade:
B+.
For all of the questions that arise about AV's handling of young players, it's hard to argue with his treatment of Miller paying dividends. He pushed and prodded Miller to be better and Miller responded with the best year of his career. Miller still has areas of growth, especially in his own zone and in being more consistent, but the arrow is clearly pointed upwards.
Miller still occasionally makes daft plays, which causes us to scratch our heads. But those are coming less and less frequently. In terms of consistency, Carp pointed out the gaps in scoring that need to be narrowed for Miller to take that next step. "He scored one goal in his first 13 games of the season, then scored one in 14 games starting in mid-November, then had a 13-game streak without a goal in the middle of the season, then one goal in his final seven games of the regular season. He had no goals and three assists in the five-game first-round loss to Pittsburgh." If those gaps are narrowed even slightly, then 25-28 goals should clearly be in his future.
His play this year was recognized as Miller was named to the North American Under-23 World Cup squad. Miller wasn't an add on but one of the original named members. The future clearly looks bright for Miller and NY should be the beneficiary.
Possible Line Placement:
I wrote about this a while ago, as the below is how I see the season starting.
Kreider-Stepan-Nash
Zuccarello-Zibanejad-Miller
Buchnevich-Hayes-Vesey
To date, nothing has swayed me from the above view. Combinations will change during the year, and maybe Miller moves to the third line. But for now, he deserves to and should be in the top-six.
Players covered in prior blogs,
My grade,
Consensus Grade
Dylan McIlrath B/B-
Oscar Lindberg B-/B
Marc Staal C-/C-
Jesper Fast B/B
Dominic Moore C-/C-
Ryan McDonagh - C+/C+
Derek Stepan C+/B-
Eric Staal D/D
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+
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