Jan Levine: Chris Kreider holds court on the first day of training camp Discusses Laf, Staal, Fast, Hank

You need another very good Center......
Dubois for Strome + Kaapo
That outta give you a better offence!

You need another very good Center......
Dubois for Strome + Kaapo
That outta give you a better offence!
- HenryHockey

Solid offer but I honestly think Columbus would want more...

I was just watching some of Schneiders play in the WJC, and what I am seeing raises some interesting questions:

1) How highly did the Rangers REALLY have him on their draft board? We have all seen the draft night video of JD pumping his fist when the Devils selected Mercer and Gorton finalized the trade up with Calgary. Rangers clearly did not expect him to fall so far. The fact that the Rangers have a glaring organizational need at center and they STILL traded up for a defenseman speaks volumes to me.

2) Did the Rangers really steal Schneider from the Devils? Did the Devils take Mercer only because they believed the Rangers were seeking a center and figured they could still get a defenseman at 20? Did the Devils have Mukhamadullin rated over Schneider?

3) Where did Calgary have Schneider ranked? Did they assume Rangers were trading up for Lapierre? Would the Flames still have selected Zary at 19?

Of course, we may never get the answers to these questions, but this trade is looking better and better every game I watch this kid play. I am a fan of physical, crease-clearing play, and was excited when we drafted him. I have to admit though I did not expect him to look so confident on offense. He's no Brian Leetch ( yet ) but he doesn't play like he has a grenade on his stick either.
Hopefully in time, this may go down as one of Gortons best trades!

I was just watching some of Schneiders play in the WJC, and what I am seeing raises some interesting questions:

1) How highly did the Rangers REALLY have him on their draft board? We have all seen the draft night video of JD pumping his fist when the Devils selected Mercer and Gorton finalized the trade up with Calgary. Rangers clearly did not expect him to fall so far. The fact that the Rangers have a glaring organizational need at center and they STILL traded up for a defenseman speaks volumes to me.

2) Did the Rangers really steal Schneider from the Devils? Did the Devils take Mercer only because they believed the Rangers were seeking a center and figured they could still get a defenseman at 20? Did the Devils have Mukhamadullin rated over Schneider?

3) Where did Calgary have Schneider ranked? Did they assume Rangers were trading up for Lapierre? Would the Flames still have selected Zary at 19?

Of course, we may never get the answers to these questions, but this trade is looking better and better every game I watch this kid play. I am a fan of physical, crease-clearing play, and was excited when we drafted him. I have to admit though I did not expect him to look so confident on offense. He's no Brian Leetch ( yet ) but he doesn't play like he has a grenade on his stick either.
Hopefully in time, this may go down as one of Gortons best trades!
- TommyGTrain

How many freakin defense prospects am I supposed to be excited about (half sarcastic)? Schneider, lundkvist, Miller all top tier. Then there’s the 3-4 middle pairing tier guys. We have fox, deangelo, trouba, lindgren already there. Assuming even 1/4 of our d prospects pan out we’d have to trade several defensemen at some point. Deangelo seems like the most liable to be moved to make room but that still leaves us with 4 potentially high end RHD. Glad I don’t have to make those decisions

I was just watching some of Schneiders play in the WJC, and what I am seeing raises some interesting questions:

1) How highly did the Rangers REALLY have him on their draft board? We have all seen the draft night video of JD pumping his fist when the Devils selected Mercer and Gorton finalized the trade up with Calgary. Rangers clearly did not expect him to fall so far. The fact that the Rangers have a glaring organizational need at center and they STILL traded up for a defenseman speaks volumes to me.

2) Did the Rangers really steal Schneider from the Devils? Did the Devils take Mercer only because they believed the Rangers were seeking a center and figured they could still get a defenseman at 20? Did the Devils have Mukhamadullin rated over Schneider?

3) Where did Calgary have Schneider ranked? Did they assume Rangers were trading up for Lapierre? Would the Flames still have selected Zary at 19?

Of course, we may never get the answers to these questions, but this trade is looking better and better every game I watch this kid play. I am a fan of physical, crease-clearing play, and was excited when we drafted him. I have to admit though I did not expect him to look so confident on offense. He's no Brian Leetch ( yet ) but he doesn't play like he has a grenade on his stick either.
Hopefully in time, this may go down as one of Gortons best trades!
- TommyGTrain

Pretty sure the trade happened after the Mercer pick, and he was hands down the best player on the board. Its not like theyre on the draft floor and guys are walking around visibly making deals. Im confident they would have taken him regardless. When Rangers moved up the immediate expectation was Hendeix LaPierre to Rangers and Schneider to Devils.

What Im wondering is have the Rangers given up on scouting centers to this point since theyve really been terrible at it? Maybe the goal here is like what NFL teams do for quarterbacks. Develop everything around that position so that when one beautiful shiny piece becomes available its hard to pass up for them. Barkov please?

You need another very good Center......
Dubois for Strome + Kaapo
That outta give you a better offence!
- HenryHockey

Solid offer but I honestly think Columbus would want more...
- TommyGTrain

Id give them more options to choose from starting with Chytil and Buchnevich. Id open up some of the D prospects we have, including potentially Lundkvist.

Strome doesnt really have much value on the trade market as weve seen in the offseason so to me its a lateral buffer.

Kreider has a Callahan look going on heading into camp! Or, maybe I'm just seeing that because he is exuding more captain-like qualities?

Looks like another exciting match-up tonight, boys!
Hell of a resilient effort last night against the pesky Finns.
Cozens and Zegras head-to-head for the tourney scoring title. As it should be, since they look like men amongst boys for the most part.
Can't wait!!

I was just watching some of Schneiders play in the WJC, and what I am seeing raises some interesting questions:

1) How highly did the Rangers REALLY have him on their draft board? We have all seen the draft night video of JD pumping his fist when the Devils selected Mercer and Gorton finalized the trade up with Calgary. Rangers clearly did not expect him to fall so far. The fact that the Rangers have a glaring organizational need at center and they STILL traded up for a defenseman speaks volumes to me.

2) Did the Rangers really steal Schneider from the Devils? Did the Devils take Mercer only because they believed the Rangers were seeking a center and figured they could still get a defenseman at 20? Did the Devils have Mukhamadullin rated over Schneider?

3) Where did Calgary have Schneider ranked? Did they assume Rangers were trading up for Lapierre? Would the Flames still have selected Zary at 19?

Of course, we may never get the answers to these questions, but this trade is looking better and better every game I watch this kid play. I am a fan of physical, crease-clearing play, and was excited when we drafted him. I have to admit though I did not expect him to look so confident on offense. He's no Brian Leetch ( yet ) but he doesn't play like he has a grenade on his stick either.
Hopefully in time, this may go down as one of Gortons best trades!
- TommyGTrain

My only question is , what the (frank) were you doing up at 2:11am?!

I was just watching some of Schneiders play in the WJC, and what I am seeing raises some interesting questions:

1) How highly did the Rangers REALLY have him on their draft board? We have all seen the draft night video of JD pumping his fist when the Devils selected Mercer and Gorton finalized the trade up with Calgary. Rangers clearly did not expect him to fall so far. The fact that the Rangers have a glaring organizational need at center and they STILL traded up for a defenseman speaks volumes to me.

2) Did the Rangers really steal Schneider from the Devils? Did the Devils take Mercer only because they believed the Rangers were seeking a center and figured they could still get a defenseman at 20? Did the Devils have Mukhamadullin rated over Schneider?

3) Where did Calgary have Schneider ranked? Did they assume Rangers were trading up for Lapierre? Would the Flames still have selected Zary at 19?

Of course, we may never get the answers to these questions, but this trade is looking better and better every game I watch this kid play. I am a fan of physical, crease-clearing play, and was excited when we drafted him. I have to admit though I did not expect him to look so confident on offense. He's no Brian Leetch ( yet ) but he doesn't play like he has a grenade on his stick either.
Hopefully in time, this may go down as one of Gortons best trades!
- TommyGTrain

after seeing those behind the scenes draft clips, I really believe if the Rangers were even able to trade up to the 12/13 area they were taking Schneider, I think they would have taken him over Lundell.

I think they were absolutely in love with Schneider, and I am too.

after seeing those behind the scenes draft clips, I really believe if the Rangers were even able to trade up to the 12/13 area they were taking Schneider, I think they would have taken him over Lundell.

I think they were absolutely in love with Schneider, and I am too.



- jimbro83

Yeah, but what about Jack Johnson.

Yeah, but what about Jack Johnson.
- JRR1285

He makes drummers fall asleep.

Kreider has a Callahan look going on heading into camp! Or, maybe I'm just seeing that because he is exuding more captain-like qualities?
- Tonybere

Definite Captain like qualities. Appears he has fit in the role and very active with the young guys.

My only question is , what the (frank) were you doing up at 2:11am?!
- mdw7413

Clearly this was so important to him that he couldn't sleep.
He's invested....

Kreider has a Callahan look going on heading into camp! Or, maybe I'm just seeing that because he is exuding more captain-like qualities?
- Tonybere

Thought the same thing last night that he is starting to remind me of Cally. Love it!

Clearly this was so important to him that he couldn't sleep.
He's invested....
- NYRCeph

Maybe Tommy is a stripper. They close at 2:00 am, that would give him 11 minutes to post that. It lines up.

My only question is , what the (frank) were you doing up at 2:11am?!
- mdw7413

Pornhub isn't going to watch itself

Thought the same thing last night that he is starting to remind me of Cally. Love it!
- Fenrir

Now he just needs Cally's work ethic during the game. He might not have been the most skilled guy, but you always knew when Cally was on the ice.

Pornhub isn't going to watch itself
- TPC

Wait for the family to go to sleep... It was so much harder when we had the dial up telephone modem making all that noise

Kreider has a Callahan look going on heading into camp! Or, maybe I'm just seeing that because he is exuding more captain-like qualities?
- Tonybere

I want Kreider to be captain but if it doesn't happen prior to this season he will never be captain. He is locked in long term, has put in the time. If they don't do it now it just won't happen.

I think they could be waiting for Zib to sign an extension, they won't make him captain if there is a chance he could hit the open market in 1.5 years.

Or since they have gone 3 years without one, maybe they wait to see what they have in LAF or a guy like Adam Fox before deciding on one.

Wait for the family to go to sleep... It was so much harder when we had the dial up telephone modem making all that noise
- mdw7413

I want Kreider to be captain but if it doesn't happen prior to this season he will never be captain. He is locked in long term, has put in the time. If they don't do it now it just won't happen.

I think they could be waiting for Zib to sign an extension, they won't make him captain if there is a chance he could hit the open market in 1.5 years.

Or since they have gone 3 years without one, maybe they wait to see what they have in LAF or a guy like Adam Fox before deciding on one.
- TPC

All good points.
I honestly feel like Zibby doesn't have the temperament to take on the C and not have it affect his game. He is in such a great place right now, I want them to just leave him be.
I am the first to admit that I did not like Kreids for the Captaincy for quite a while. He has completely made me a believer over the last 18 months. I get the impression that taking on that role will keep him engaged more than ever before. He seems to be a man of integrity and would not feel good about disappearing shift after shift while he is supposed to be leading.
I'm on board!! Let's set the press conference for Saturday!!!

I thought Cole Caufield was a much better player than he actually is

watch he'll get a hat trick tonight