They are essentially dead to me at this point. I do not think they will make the playoffs and even if they do so what. they cannot beat any of the top 8 teams in the east in a 7 game series. NO WAY Not gonna happen. It isn\'t like the powerplay is all of a sudden going to wake up and start scoring on a consistent basis. They will be golfing soon enough.
My hope is that they miss the playoffs and Sather is fired. But the problems for the rangers runs DEEP. Gomez @ 7.5 Drury @ 7, Redden @ 6.5, Rosival at 5 and all for multi-year contracts some with no trade and or no movement clauses. Even if they sign NO FA\'s in the off season and only sign the RFA\'s they will once again be right against the cap. they are screwed for a long time to come.
See, I don\'t get it... You guys loves Gomez and Drury when you got them and they both produced. Having seen Gomez on my team for so many years, I wouldn\'t mind him still being on the team (except for one tiny detail... he\'s a traitor). You have to hope that they keep the 8 seed; once you\'re in the playoffs, you never know what will happen...
The issue is their salaries not really the players. They are decent enough but they are not the kind of players u build a team around. They are role players. Drury is a 20 goal scorer, Gomez is the same. The Rangers are a team of role players. There is no gifted goal scorer on this team, add to that they have terrible over priced D and we are screwed. They did nothing to replace the scoring that Jagr brought to the team. Except to add a few 20 goal scorers.
Avery is a bust IMHO. he gave the team a quick boost in the heart dept. but has fizzled completely. He went from being a surge > to barley noticeable > to taking bad penalties.
When Torts first took over they were a go go go team. Then the trade deadline came, they got rid of 2 hussle guys and the team now plays a slow boring Renney type game again with all the same trouble.
Perfect example. Corey Potter scores a goal and an assist in his 2 call up games. So what did the rangers do ? they sent him down WTF!!!! so precious terrible slows-ival can get his spot back. Redden, Rosival, Drury, Gomez, hank can all play without any repercussions for bad play and they know it and it shows on the ice.
I do know that if the Rangers make the playoffs they do not get out of the 1st round. Name 1 team in the East that you honestly think the Rangers match up well with in a game ? let alone a 7 game series.