Realistically, if they redrafted the 2009 first round right now, Kreider would probably go 4th, after Tavares, Hedman, and Duchene. My biased Ranger fan side of me says he can be better than ANY OF THEM.
- jimbro83

I just looked at that draft, and aside from the three your mentioned, there are probably only 3-4 guys that are even arguable after that. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is one of them. The shine is kind of off Evander Kane, so I would put Kreider ahead of him. He would definitely be in the Top 10, and probably Top 5.

I think Renney deserves some credit here as well.

The Ranger revival didn't start with the Tortorella era. Renney did a good job getting this team back to respectability, with a lot of help from Jagr and Hank, without question.

The team came close to beating the President's Trophy Sabres and advancing to the conference finals in 2007. That was Renney, he deserves a little credit too.

The team has been slowly building to becoming a legitimate contender and all of the coaches, along the way, deserve some credit.

Vigneault is definitely the right coach for this team.
- MidnightMarauder

That Jagr, Nylander Straka line had some great chemistry.

I think Renney deserves some credit here as well.

The Ranger revival didn't start with the Tortorella era. Renney did a good job getting this team back to respectability, with a lot of help from Jagr and Hank, without question.

The team came close to beating the President's Trophy Sabres and advancing to the conference finals in 2007. That was Renney, he deserves a little credit too.

The team has been slowly building to becoming a legitimate contender and all of the coaches, along the way, deserve some credit.

Vigneault is definitely the right coach for this team.
- MidnightMarauder

Renney deserves a good deal of credit for turning around the losing culture of the previous decade, and making the team defensively responsible (with no pure studs on the backend). Tortorella built on that, and really made the team a lunch pale committed group. I think both of them were let go at the right times, but they also deserve a great deal of credit. It's very rare that a coach will stay around for 8-10 years, no matter how good the coach is, because things just get stale sometimes and you need a change to shake things up.

Don't known what's worse, no penalty on the hit or the announcers, listen to when he says he was watching Stamkos bat the "ball" out of the air

1st one always so sweet ,especially how it went down....But my 1st thought when game started was relief its finally here ,forgot it was st lou time 8pm . I find psychology amazing when i rushed for 7pm and that 1 hour wait .....OMG
reason i mention is once game is on about 5 min into 1st period it dawns on me how far JUNE 15' is from now.... OMG !2 seasons of life have to pass before we will see the results of this potential great season.....decided real quick to treat it like a fine wine ,take your time ,let it breath , alot will happen from now till but tonites win is like a glimpse i think of things to come ...great line from NAsh after when asked about his nite he answered w/ that dead pan look and said
"I did the exact same stuff last yr" ... BUT thats last yr ,new yr..... new start
alot of people would say different in reference to NAsh ,but how powerful did they look with a center who is not one .... Step ..hurry up & be ready to come out flying with the bruise brothers ....MSL pops a post in 2nd froma gorgeous feed from Krieds ....

Depth ,its our strongest weapon in the game for us ,its already being tested and will be the difference in our winning ...Boyle ..at least it s not his legs ... our top 5 can adjust ...MOORE ? needs more responsibility anyway...
we looked solid in 1st ,then it took till middle of 3rd or later to respond to tough
checking attempts form ST lou... the Kreider goal was just the type breakout that
will happen alot when they cheat or think they have a play turn on them like it did ...then wham ,tough to recover from ... St lou line was +2... not great either , at times we looked overmatched but stayed in position and relied on Hank..
SPeed ...we got tons...teams will have to adjust to us & not other way around
look at minutes on wingers and pretty even & low ,mac &g man ate about 26 -27 min.each ....due to penalty situations other lines were less effective but saw glimpses of possibilities .... dont like the kid line ...miller hags stepniak
i could see malone on left side w/ brass-zucc .. sit Fast ....dukey could go off on PP & 4th line w/ moore -glass ?? lots of depth to use and combos to find ....
fun is watching this unfold 1 game ata time... L G R !!!

1st one always so sweet ,especially how it went down....But my 1st thought when game started was relief its finally here ,forgot it was st lou time 8pm . I find psychology amazing when i rushed for 7pm and that 1 hour wait .....OMG
reason i mention is once game is on about 5 min into 1st period it dawns on me how far JUNE 15' is from now.... OMG !2 seasons of life have to pass before we will see the results of this potential great season.....decided real quick to treat it like a fine wine ,take your time ,let it breath , alot will happen from now till but tonites win is like a glimpse i think of things to come ...great line from NAsh after when asked about his nite he answered w/ that dead pan look and said
"I did the exact same stuff last yr" ... BUT thats last yr ,new yr..... new start
alot of people would say different in reference to NAsh ,but how powerful did they look with a center who is not one .... Step ..hurry up & be ready to come out flying with the bruise brothers ....MSL pops a post in 2nd froma gorgeous feed from Krieds ....

Depth ,its our strongest weapon in the game for us ,its already being tested and will be the difference in our winning ...Boyle ..at least it s not his legs ... our top 5 can adjust ...MOORE ? needs more responsibility anyway...
we looked solid in 1st ,then it took till middle of 3rd or later to respond to tough
checking attempts form ST lou... the Kreider goal was just the type breakout that
will happen alot when they cheat or think they have a play turn on them like it did ...then wham ,tough to recover from ... St lou line was +2... not great either , at times we looked overmatched but stayed in position and relied on Hank..
SPeed ...we got tons...teams will have to adjust to us & not other way around
look at minutes on wingers and pretty even & low ,mac &g man ate about 26 -27 min.each ....due to penalty situations other lines were less effective but saw glimpses of possibilities .... dont like the kid line ...miller hags stepniak
i could see malone on left side w/ brass-zucc .. sit Fast ....dukey could go off on PP & 4th line w/ moore -glass ?? lots of depth to use and combos to find ....
fun is watching this unfold 1 game ata time... L G R !!!
- Dundee13

Love the energy man. But if you could next time break that up into about 3 or 4 seperate posts. Its just a lot for me to read while I'm sneaking onto hockey buzz from work!

Renney deserves a good deal of credit for turning around the losing culture of the previous decade, and making the team defensively responsible (with no pure studs on the backend). Tortorella built on that, and really made the team a lunch pale committed group. I think both of them were let go at the right times, but they also deserve a great deal of credit. It's very rare that a coach will stay around for 8-10 years, no matter how good the coach is, because things just get stale sometimes and you need a change to shake things up.
- Pete V

I give a lot of credit to Renney and Torts. A.V. jumped into a great situation because of those 2 Coaches. I think the biggest factor in the Rangers turn around tho is wearing No. 30
Just goes to show how much an elite goaltender can change a franchise completely.

I give a lot of credit to Renney and Torts. A.V. jumped into a great situation because of those 2 Coaches. I think the biggest factor in the Rangers turn around tho is wearing No. 30
Just goes to show how much an elite goaltender can change a franchise completely.
- forthehorde

I somewhat agree with this, but AV's system is 180 degrees different from Torts. I think all 3 coaches had different systems that have benefitted the franchise as a whole. Renney & Torts were defense 1st, AV is more speed & offense.

Renney deserves a good deal of credit for turning around the losing culture of the previous decade, and making the team defensively responsible (with no pure studs on the backend). Tortorella built on that, and really made the team a lunch pale committed group. I think both of them were let go at the right times, but they also deserve a great deal of credit. It's very rare that a coach will stay around for 8-10 years, no matter how good the coach is, because things just get stale sometimes and you need a change to shake things up.
- Pete V

Renney and Tortorella definitely each served a solid purpose and helped the organization to move forward instead of backward.

Vigneault is a great NHL head coach despite never winning a cup. He walks that fine line of patience and disciplinarian with ease and class. His players seemingly have a lot of respect for the entire staff but mainly Vigneault. I loved the hire, the day it happened, and I have grown to appreciate it more and more each passing day.

I somewhat agree with this, but AV's system is 180 degrees different from Torts. I think all 3 coaches had different systems that have benefitted the franchise as a whole. Renney & Torts were defense 1st, AV is more speed & offense.
- mdw7413

Tortorella's tactics grew thin and his approach towards the game was outdated.

Modern day players don't respond well to his brand of motivation. Vigneault has his finger on the pulse; he knows how to handle his players without being domineering.

Aside from that, Vigneault knows how the modern day NHL needs to be played. Speed and skill are more prevalent now than it has been, in recent memory, and the team needed to improve on both in order to compete and ultimately beat the top teams in the NHL.

I somewhat agree with this, but AV's system is 180 degrees different from Torts. I think all 3 coaches had different systems that have benefitted the franchise as a whole. Renney & Torts were defense 1st, AV is more speed & offense.
- mdw7413

Renney I thought was the most "hands off" as they would say. Because other than Lundqvist and Prucha, that team was built around veterans.

Tortorella's tactics grew thin and his approach towards the game was outdated.

Modern day players don't respond well to his brand of motivation. Vigneault has his finger on the pulse; he knows how to handle his players without being domineering.

Aside from that, Vigneault knows how the modern day NHL needs to be played. Speed and skill are more prevalent now than it has been, in recent memory, and the team needed to improve on both in order to compete and ultimately beat the top teams in the NHL.
- MidnightMarauder

Exactly, couldn't have said it better myself.

Tortorella's tactics grew thin and his approach towards the game was outdated.

Modern day players don't respond well to his brand of motivation. Vigneault has his finger on the pulse; he knows how to handle his players without being domineering.

Aside from that, Vigneault knows how the modern day NHL needs to be played. Speed and skill are more prevalent now than it has been, in recent memory, and the team needed to improve on both in order to compete and ultimately beat the top teams in the NHL.
- MidnightMarauder

AV knows how to play to his roster's strengths. Fast lineup so we go with a fast north south game. Great defense and goalie so we can cheat a little to create more offense.

Renney I thought was the most "hands off" as they would say. Because other than Lundqvist and Prucha, that team was built around veterans.
- tomburton99

Yeah, they had a crap load of vets on that team. Renney & AV personality wise I think are pretty similar. Except AV laughs more. Both are calm guys that never get overly emotional.

AV knows how to play to his roster's strengths. Fast lineup so we go with a fast north south game. Great defense and goalie so we can cheat a little to create more offense.
- rangerdanger94

This year's Rangers are more his style than the team he inherited last season. Most of the plodding forwards, aside from Stepan, are gone: Richards, Boyle, Callahan etc.

The Rangers can claim to be one of, if not the, fastest teams in the entire NHL. Stepan is slow but he definitely is a very useful player, defensively and offensively.

The rest of the forwards can skate; most can absolutely fly.

This year's Rangers are more his style than the team he inherited last season. Most of the plodding forwards, aside from Stepan, are gone: Richards, Boyle, Callahan etc.

The Rangers can claim to be one of, if not the, fastest teams in the entire NHL. Stepan is slow but he definitely is a very usefull player, defensively and offensively.

The rest of the forwards can skate; most can absolutely fly.
- MidnightMarauder

I think that really showed last night. At times you saw the Rangers really missed him. Especially in the defensive zone.

This year's Rangers are more his style than the team he inherited last season. Most of the plodding forwards, aside from Stepan, are gone: Richards, Boyle, Callahan etc.

The Rangers can claim to be one of, if not the, fastest teams in the entire NHL. Stepan is slow but he definitely is a very usefull player, defensively and offensively.

The rest of the forwards can skate; most can absolutely fly.
- MidnightMarauder

For sure and Stepan makes up for his lack of speed with excellent positioning thanks to his off-the-chart hockey IQ.

I think that really showed last night. At times you saw the Rangers really missed him. Especially in the defensive zone.
- tomburton99

Definitely one of the most important forwards on the ice. As Michaletti said, losing Stepan effects the team in every aspect. Even strength, PP, PK, draws, whos out with a minute left protecting a lead...or chasing a lead, who plays in which position.

I think that really showed last night. At times you saw the Rangers really missed him. Especially in the defensive zone.
- tomburton99

He is missed for sure; Stepan is an all situations type of player.

For sure and Stepan makes up for his lack of speed with excellent positioning thanks to his off-the-chart hockey IQ.
- rangerdanger94

Can't argue with that; Stepan is one of the smarter players on the team. He's positionally a very sound center. He's improved a lot in the face off circle as well. Brassard and Miller got assaulted on the draws last night.

Where is TPC? I wanna talk about how great Kreider's game last night was.

Is the broadway hat retired?

Where is TPC? I wanna talk about how great Kreider's game last night was.
- tomburton99

Go back a page or 2, you are a little late to the party

Where is TPC? I wanna talk about how great Kreider's game last night was.
- tomburton99

He's resting his right arm in a bucket of ice.

Is the broadway hat retired?
- rangerdanger94

I think Stralman was getting his Corsi powers from it...I heard its in Tampa