Rangers At Rock Bottom

We hit a breaking point with the Rangers: a fragile core, a stalled identity, and a front office that feels scared to act. Early buy‑in faded when results didn’t come, and the room slipped into solo habits. We lay out a three‑year plan built on bold hockey trades, cap flexibility, and roles that fit skill.

• why “fragile” from coach and players signals a core issue, not a bench issue
• good players on a bad team and how that happens
• Drury’s risk aversion, poor summer bets, and prospect hugging
• trade Trocheck and Schneider for prime‑age RFAs, not picks
• stop defaulting to no‑move clauses across the roster
• power play roles that match skill sets and urgency
• kids who drive play but can’t finish and how to fix it
• why a 10‑game heater still isn’t a plan
• three‑year roadmap: reset the core, weaponize cap space, attract a star

“Thanks for tuning in. We’ll try to get on next week. Hopefully, our schedules line up.”

Chapters

• 0:55 Back From Hiatus, Mood Check
• 4:40 From Optimism To “Rock Bottom”
• 9:55 Fragile Room And Leadership Void
• 16:10 Is The Core The Real Problem
• 21:45 Drury On Trial: Trades, Drafting, Vision
• 31:50 What A Smart Rebuild Looks Like
• 41:10 Kids, Depth, And Development Gaps
• 51:00 Power Play Choices And Usage
• 1:00:05 Losing Streak Math And Goaltending
• 1:09:40 Cap Space, Free Agents, And Fit

Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:55

Well, here we are. Nice little midday edition. Sean and Rock, two guys want to cup. Back after a little uh hiatus that we've had for past what almost a month, right? Since our last show. Uh guys, we I believe it was before Christmas as we did a show. We have yeah, definitely since before Christmas. Um, we apologize that we our schedules just have not met meshed for us to be able to get on and uh and actually do a show. The holidays, especially, are you know a little bit of a tough time with families and all the all the pomp and circumstance that go into that. Even this week, we wouldn't have had time, we couldn't do anything during at night. So this worked out. I'm glad that we were both able to uh figure out a time slot. We also have a lot of shit to talk about. Uh Rock and I have both done live videos for our Patreon group this week. And I think that really, you know, when we're both sitting there, you know, chomping at the bit to talk about shit, it was really time to figure out a way to get a show together. And here we are, Rock. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, happy new year. Uh happy to be back with you. This is uh long time coming. We've been trying to figure out something to get something going here, but like I think we both said on our uh our Patreon lives that uh we didn't want to keep regurgitating the same nonsense. So I feel like now there's there's a little bit more to chew on, a little bit more to discuss. Um, and uh, you know, we're ready to get back at it. And rock rock has channeled his uh his his Darth Vader on to me, where he has told me that uh you know I don't understand the power of the dark side, and the dark side has has found its way into my brain. And I'm sad about that, Sean. I am. I know. I love and the one thing I love about doing the show with you, especially more than anyone else, is I would say more Ranger fans are doom and gloom like myself, yes, where you are this you know, ray of sunshine, these this rosy everything is is good in in the world of the Rangers, and everything's wonderful. And and for you to feel the way you feel, it make it hurts. I think it hurts all of us because you're the optimism that most of us don't have. So when you don't feel it, I mean now you then you really know it's bad. Well, think about it for a second. Uh the the sunshine and rainbows aspect, yes. I always I'm a fan. I I don't wanna this is like the next three months, four months, other than like the excitement of whatever changes are made. None of this is gonna be enjoyable or fun for me. No, so the whole point of hockey or sports in general for me is entertain me. And I'm always looking at I'm always trying to be a GM in my own head, or I'm always trying to be a coach. I can't be a player, you know, other than beer league, you know, type shit. But I'm always trying to see things through well, how do the how do the coaches see this? How do the GM see it? How does the league, you know, what goes on in the rest of the league that produ and and how that affects us, yeah. And so when I think about it, we've had the show now. This is what our fifth season, right? Uh we our first season was the first was the summer of Lobbyette of Galant, excuse me. Right. So two Gallot years, two Lobulette years, and now a Sullivan year. So this is our fifth season. We've been to two Eastern Conference Finals in those four completed seasons. So my sunshine and rainbows has really just been mostly a take on what I've seen. And what I've seen is teams that I get we don't have a cup during this, right? But we have had success, more success than not. Last year, obviously, is a dud, and this year is turning into what I've uh I've named the show this week rock bottom. I think that this team has officially as with this core hit rock. It can't get worse than what they're doing, right? This this is the bottom. Um this week, this week, rock, and I'm gonna give you the chance to to run with this. I'll set you up here. Um the reason that I have come to the dark side, so to speak, the reason why I am I on the live video waved, I waved the napkin, I waved the white, the white flag. You have in the last week forget that they're two, six, and two in the last ten. Forget that. That's something a lot of good teams go through and can overcome. You've had the coach, you've had the players all come out and use terms fragile and I don't know. I don't have the answers. So when the coach says he doesn't have the answers, the players in the locker room, the captain, who I love, saying I don't know, and walking off, and players like Braden Schneider coming up and saying that this is a fragile locker room, that this is a fragile team, and Mika joining on that and saying, you know what, he's right. We are fragile, Rock. We said this when they fired the last you've said this. I well, yeah, the fan base, I believe, in general, has said that this was never a coach problem. This was a core problem. This has been a core problem since day one. Going back to the bubble, this was a core problem in a lot of ways. Now, looking back on it, hindsight's always 2020, but it was a core problem even going back then. That when they this with the it's funny because I'm not saying when they have had had have had adversity, you know, being down 3-1, like you said, they have shown glimpses where they've been able to overcome certain circumstances. But there are times where they they mail it in, and you're like, what's going on here? Like, why? Like instead of instead of going the reverse, like saying, Okay, we're gonna beat all odds, we're gonna we're gonna put pedal to the metal and we're gonna prove everybody wrong, instead they've like, they're like, oh we're not gonna win. That's it. It's over. We're not even gonna try. And and you know, for for for a captain or for a coach to say, I don't know. I mean, I have you ever seen the movie U571? No, Matthew McConaughey, it's about a submarine. Anyway, there's a scene in the movie where the uh the chief goes to the captain, because the cap the original captain died, which was Bill Paxton's character, and he goes to Matthew McConaughey, who's the second in command, and the crew goes to him and says, You know, what cap, what's what's our plan? He goes, I don't know. And the chief, who was the the next guy underneath him, says, You always know, you're the captain, right? You always know, and you you remember Bucky Dent, I believe, got fired by the Yankees for saying, I don't know. So there is a history of coaches and GMs and captains and whatever else. When they say I don't know, that's that's scary. And what what what Sullivan is trying to say, and I he's trying to protect his guys, he's saying he does not have the horses to win. Plain and simple, he's saying it nicely. When he says I don't know, it's I don't want to answer the question. Right. Play that's it. There's no other way around it. And we knew this coming in. And and it's come to fruition in the sense where you can't enter a season with two, with, with, uh, with more than say one or two question marks. And they came into the season with what five, six question marks in a lot of ways in a lot of different spots. You can't go into a season like that. I mean, when when when Connor Shiri is beating out three of your youngest players on this, on this, that is a organization organizational failure. It goes back to the Rangers brought in Peter Nedved on a tryout. And the reason they brought him in was because they were not sure if the the young players were going to be able to uh beat you know, beat him out in the in the same sense, or for that third line center spot. Callahan beat him out in training camp, even though Nedved had in a phenomenal training camp that year, Ryan Callahan beat him out. The three guys that were supposed to beat out Connor Sheary did not. So there's the one problem, and it just snowballed after that. I mean, I mean they the back and iron in signing. I mean, they they tried to force feed Parsonan when you knew he wasn't good enough. I mean, we saw last year, you had hoped. I I mean, and then we got Elliot Friedman trying to you know feed in, you know, because someone fed him Parson. I'm sorry, right? Someone fed him parson because he does not come out of thin air and book a pill out use of Parson. Come on, yeah. So that's my problem. It's an organizational problem, it's a depth problem, it's a drafting problem, it's a lack of courage and a testal fortitude problem, and it all starts with one person, one guy, and he is the problem. I don't trust him to rebuild this team, I don't trust him to fix anything. I hate to say this, and I hope I'm dead wrong. This is Isaiah Thomas written all over it. Yeah, we just it's I mean, the chance have already started for fire jury. I was listening to uh that happened already. It's coming, it's coming. Well, it's gonna get worse. Yeah, well, now that it's gotten legs, it's gotten legs on. I mean, they're talking about an NHL network today on radio. Good about the fire jury chance. Good, good, it's about time where Gord Stellick was was shocked to hear that. Usually it's the coach. I've never heard uh you know uh them them booing a GM, you know, except in LA. LA's the only one. Did you boo Sadher? This is what this is. I'm all in. You want to sit here and debate me who's a better GM? Seder was so inferior to this guy. He has failed in every facet possible. Spending money is not a skill. Trading draft picks for rentals is not a skill as a general manager. He's failed in every aspect. Every aspect. Uh here here's and I I know I don't want to defend Drury in any way, shape, or form. I really don't, because it it the buck stops with him, regardless of everything. Right. I said to you last night when we were texting about this team a little bit, and I said, This team has good players, they're a bad team. Because when you when which if you go up and down the lineup, there are a lot of good players on this team, right? Artemi Panarin, Mika Zabenajad, Vinny Trojek, JT Mill, like this, Adam Fox, Igor. The team has talent, but the team as a whole, it's not a good team because you look at the record, the record is what they have five wins at home this year. Five. It's been a regulation win since November 24th, almost two months because they had a regulation win. Oh no, that uh at home, that's a regulation win at home. Correct. A regulation win at home, yeah. And you look at their two and eight in their last 10 games. Yeah, no, that they're bad. They are a bad hockey team with they're a bad hockey team with good with good pieces. So when I look at when I look at the and we've done this a little bit in the past, you look at the pluses and minuses of jury, because jury has made some good moves and he's he's made some bad ones. Like you said, trusting him to be the guy to to pull us out of this and rebuild this team. And you've you've been critical since day one of him that he doesn't make a hockey trade. Correct. He made one, and it was his first transaction as ranger GM, where he trades Bushnevich away to try and bring back some muscle and and and in uh what's his name? Sammy Blay. He gets back a second-round pick with it, of course, but to me that was still more of a hockey trade where he tried to he tried to take one asset that that they he felt he had enough offensive ability and bring in more of a sandpaper guy, and it backfired, and it didn't work. And I think he's been scared stiff since to get burned again on an actual hockey trade. Trading Brayden Schneider away for a pick, like you traded Keandre Miller away for for picks and cap relief, and he used that to go sign. I would, I would, I would, I would disagree with you in the sense where Buchnevich was a salary dump because they thought he was getting Jack Eichel. He wasn't making an update. It's a very similar, but it's a short, it's a very similar trade. The trade for for Blay is how is that any different than Keandre Miller for for Scott Moro and and a first? Because Moro was really kind of brought in as just a prospect. The first round pick was the centerpiece of the trade. The Buchnevich trade, he factored in on Blay playing a role here, playing a legitimate. How many games did Sammy Blay have under his belt when they acquired him? I'm gonna I haven't looked, but I would play a hundred games. Yeah, I would think 200. Oh, he played that many games? Yeah, you know better than me. I I never followed his career. Listen, I I I could I agree with everything you said. If you're scared to make another trade, get the fuck out of here. I don't want a coward as a general manager. I don't I don't want a coward re leading my team into battle. A little over understand and afraid and afraid to to make moves. I we can't have that, Sean. You gotta have a set of balls, you know, and and I one thing I will give him credit for, which I which I I hate doing, but the fact that they were in on Quinn Hughes, I like that. What what what to what degree? Honestly, I would have given them everyone. Who do you want? Take them, take them, take them. You want shiny one this guy, you want that guy, take them all.

SPEAKER_00: 15:19

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 15:20

I there's no one touchable. This zero, this is not La Frenier and Kaco five years ago. I I mean, I don't know why they don't have obviously don't have the center depth, which again is another fucking problem that they've never drafted centers, at least not in the top three rounds in the last 10 years. So that's one issue. But I I like the fact that they tried to get Quentin Houston, and you had the detractor saying, Well, what are they gonna do with Fox? Well, if I remember correctly, they had Leech and Zubaff the year they won the cup on the power play, and that seemed to work out pretty damn well. And that'd be that'd be really interesting to watch the two of them. Yeah, that would have been fun. Oh, I mean, do you have to have four forwards on the ice? Not if you have those two. Oh, so anyway, I remember a few years ago. I mean, you you watched Brent Burns and Nerah Carlson playing on the power play together in San Jose. So 100% you can go back to two. When do we have to play four forwards on the power play? Right. So I don't again, I don't know. That's I that's the only one they'll give him credit for right now. That at least it shows that that he's trying to do something. The problem is, is they're drafting and and they they sold their soul in draft capital for the over the last five years, and then the assets they do have aren't worth anything anymore. They've held on and held on and held on this prospect hugging. And I'll tell you, I will go back to it. Could also be possible that he got burnt on Brett Howden, too. Could be a reason why he doesn't want to trade these guys too soon. And I'm not saying Brett Howden, you know, is is Marc Messier, but he's a serviceable third, fourth line guy. Right now you're going out and spending, you know, a million, two million dollars on on uh on another guy. I can't have a scared GM. No, no, no, and it's clear that he is, and maybe you know, you listen Dolan is loyal to a fault, and it's it's like we can sit here because I've seen this with the Knicks, uh yeah, the fired Thomas stuff. If he hadn't had the sexual harassment suit, Isaiah Thomas was never getting fired, regardless of results. He wasn't fired because he was a shit GM. He was only fired because of the lawsuit and the PR. It's the only reason he was ever let go. When you have Ranger fans longing for Glenn Sayther, you know how bad this GM is. And that's the only the only way that he that jury ever gets fired is if Sayther says, let's you know how jury can save himself, Sean. Talk to the fucking media. He won't because he doesn't have answers either. The sky has fallen on this franchise, and well, come out and say what the plan is then. Doesn't have one. I think that's part of the problem. Then that's a fucking problem. No, then he should come out and say, our plan is to try to win the Stanley Cup, our plan is to retool and to try to get better and then back into the playoffs as soon as possible. That's all he has to say. Tell us what you what you what you want to do, what you what you're in, what the plan is. I think he's game by game on which way he wants to go with it. Jesus Christ. I mean, you know, and and it's funny, I I maybe I'm dead wrong, but you would have thought that you know the the Vince article about Keeper Sherwood that came out would have sparked this team something something better. That at least the GM was trying to add, right? He was trying to add and make things better. You would have thought it would have made this team better. Now, we may came come back at the end of the season and Miller's playing with two torn groins, you know, Panarin's pert. Uh, you know, Borgens playing with an injury. Who knows? They look slow, they look tired, right? Uh, and and and uh Braden Schneider got um beat to the outside. I mean, they got beat in that Boston game, they were getting beat wide all game. Braden Schneider, I don't know what the fuck has happened to him lately. I mean what trade rumors break down break down this the what was he thinking when he went after the same puck as JT Miller and laid Miller Keystone cop thing. I was like, which one's Abbott and which one's Costello? But what was it was what was he going like? What did he see that I I'm I've watched the replay of that no less than 50 times, and I still can't understand for the life of me what he was doing. I don't know, dude. I I don't know. He's lost. I I think I think I just think that this entire team, they need to just it's almost start over. You know, you want to keep Mika, you want to keep JT. I would get rid of everyone else. Everyone else. There's real, I I mean, really and five coole and lava are two games. I trade them in the right trade too. Oh, yeah, no, they're not. They're not they're not untouchable. I mean, Cooley Cooley's a nice player, but I I I think he's like a middle six guy. I think he might develop. Well, he might he could probably play up in your lineup a little bit. I think I think he could develop it to something. And the the thing is, is like there should be zero untouchables. If the right guy comes along, who do you want? Take him. If the Rangers are going to be a good team, Will Cooley's a third liner. They're so afraid of fucking. He is so afraid. Because that first offseason, Sean, I mean, that ranks up there with the offseason where Sayers signed Redden, Roosevelt, Voros, Patrick Miller, Patrick Riss Miller, and Valaquette. That's how bad Jury's first offseason was. It's it matches up almost to the T to that Sayther offseason. Right. One of the worst offseasons I've ever seen. And that Jury's first offseason, the worst I've ever seen by a Rangers general manager. Hands down. And he is, in my opinion, the worst Rangers general manager that I have ever witnessed. And he's worse than Esposito. So it's hard to see because all right. I hate when people because it's a to me, it's a lazy take when people say that the Rangers have a development problem. I don't think that the Rangers have a development problem. I think they have a scouting problem. They have a forward problem, forward development problem. They can find goals. Think of how many look at the forwards that are in on our team. Cooley, second round pick. Lava, fourth round pick. Edstrom, sixth round pick. Like they find NHL talentby in the late rounds, right? Rempey, it mid to late rounds. So to me, it's a scouting problem where they're not drafting the right guys in the first round. They're developing guys just fine. Sean, that's been an organizational problem, and we talked about that for years. But I got to separate regimes because the Gordy Clark era ended with Gorton, and Juries had his own guys. So jury's draft picks. Okay, you know, because we're talking about the current regime, we're not glossing over Jeff Gorton's picks, which Jeff Gorton's picks have turned out to, for the most part, be dog shit. You know, all the failed first rounders, they're all Gorton's and Gordy Clark. So you move past that because those guys aren't here anymore. It starts with Alfman. We are gonna do when when the time comes, we're gonna do like a look back and into the draft because what you said you because you what you sent me through the text, we won't go into it now, but I think that deserves something to that's a good talking point. We will talk about the draft as we get closer, uh history and what they've done so forth. But so it's I mean, with with the picks that Drury has had, it's still very, very inconclusive. Obviously, we all wish that he would have drafted Wyatt Johnston over Brendan Offman. There's a lot of guys that picked that passed on Wyatt Johnson, though, right? But Offman is himself right now. I know he had one very good game. Are there never Sean? I mean, 60 years of drafting. You you have I mean Mark Savard's the best forward you've ever drafted, or Alexei Kovalev. I don't I just think you get lucky one time, one time. I don't think that it has anything to do with the sweater, put it that way. I think no, I don't. I just I'm just saying it's just incredible that they have never been able to draft a stud superstar, 100-point player. Right. I agree, not one time, and the two years they have back-to-back high picks, they don't even get them either. And they traded away the two guys that probably were the two best forwards they ever drafted, and Doug Wade and Amante. But at least they were out there, and neither of them were first round picks, right? Um, my solution for this whole thing, and it's it's funny, I hate to draw on the islanders, I really do, but you have to give them credit. Last year, the trade that they made for with Brock Nelson, who was a pending UFA, correct? They got back a first round pick and they got back Cal Ritchie. Correct. Cal Ritchie is 20 years old, I think he's got 10 goals already for the Islanders this year. Looks like a player. Center. He was a he was a late first-round pick for Colorado a couple of years ago. In the uh Perot draft. We could have drafted Cal Ritchie ourselves, and we drafted Perot instead. Um, again, another unwritten book. I'm not drawing conclusions on Perot just yet. He's still got some time to uh to figure out his career. It's not and it's not great that he's in this in this lineup right now. He really should be playing in Hartford. Anyway. Neither here nor there. Um we have Vinny Trochek, who on the trade market will be as you when when uh Craig Button or whoever you know from TSN comes out with their their top trade list, guys. Vinny Trochek's gonna be one of the five top trade candidates if he's if he's made available. His contract at 5.25 million for three more seasons. I think it's 5.75. 5.7, whatever it is, it's in the fives. Yeah, is as good of a contract as there is in the league for what he brings. Correct. Every contending team can use Vinny Trochek on their roster, every single one of them. Correct. He's gonna be highly sought after. The return, I don't I mean it's not like I personally want, I'm not putting any of this season on Trochek. He's actually played really well this year. I don't know if really well is the word, but he's been he's been one of the better. He's been one of the better. He's one of the few guys that he's actually and he's played well the last the last two weeks where no one else really has. Um, but the return, you want to turn this thing around quickly. You're not trading these guys for first round picks. I want to go after teams pending RFAs. Braden Schneider is a perfect example of the type of guy, the type of situation I want to get from somewhere else. Braden Schneider can never be a first or second pair right hand defenseman on this team. They've already signed Borgan, they committed to Borgan, and they have Fox. So at best, when everyone's healthy, he slots in as a third pair guy. I mean, Borgan could slide down to the third pair. I mean, that's not then you're paying five and a half million dollars for$5 million right now, but in two years, five million dollars for a third pairing might not be a big thing. But I I get what you're saying, keep going. So I want to get someone else's, you know, 23 to you know, 22 to 24 year old guy. So I want Derek Broussard from Mika Zabanajad trades. I don't want to be trading off our guys just to get first round picks that it's gonna take three to four years to turn this around. A Drury won't be here in three to four years to see that through. B Dolan will get impatient and fuck it up again by making us go out and sign big free agents when we have kids that are need time to develop, which is what happened with La Fournier and Kako. Look at what Kako's doing where he's got freedom. He's playing well. I'm not saying that he's worthy of a second overall pick, but he's playing well. No, I Kako's gonna play 15 years in the league, and we said that. La Ferniere still, you know, I I don't know what to make of him, but it's not his team. I don't think any I think he defers too much. I don't Did you hear what he said after that stupid play that he made? I don't get I don't I don't remember it or something like that. I don't know. I don't remember I stopped watching postgame press conference. But but but I I mean I I I I don't blame you. And I I have also I read the quote, I didn't watch what he said. Yeah, I gotta I got for me to judge what anyone says, I kind of gotta see it. So for context, you don't remember to play. I gotta I gotta see how it was there. He doesn't give a shit. I'm sorry, he doesn't care. He'd not say you're wrong. I just can get into him later if you want. Yeah, I don't want to crush him just yet. Oh, I'll crush him then for you. I know you will keep going. I know you will. I would have traded him three years ago, too. Keep going. But that's how to me, that's how you rebuild this team. You get young, hungry guys with talent. I'm not saying you you just you know trade off for third liners and fourth liners here, but there are guys who are blocked, and there are guys who teams, you know, Jason Robertson's another perfect example. Had the had the cap not gone up$10 million. What would Dallas do with Robertson? He'd be a guy that they'd have to lose. He's still not signed, so I don't know. That I think it'll get dumped. I wouldn't put it past jury this to an offer sheet, too. That's see, but that's the loser's way out. I'm just telling you, don't don't he's there, he's scared for his job, though, Sean. I mean, how I mean, how many more patient now? How many more years out of the players gonna go seven years again? No problem. Well, that's why that's why you can't trade these guys off for picks. He's not gonna be given a four-year leash to see it through for one, whatever these 18-year-old kids you're gonna draft this year, yeah, and next year become NHL players. I'll tell you we thought we'd we think we're bad. Look how bad Vancouver is with 10 points up on them. Fuck them. I'm just saying, like, I was looking at the standings, like to see where we would fall. I and we think we're bad. I was looking at that. I was like, wow, you read and we got shut out by them this year, yeah. Unbelievable. But yeah, no, but you you gotta start, you have to be creative about this and and look at other teams' rosters and guys that you can pluck. Right. You said the operative word be creative, and like I said on my live, you know, Kiefer Sherwood has been the only other than Majia Pani has been the only guy that has been on everyone's tongue as far as being available. And of course, Chris Jury is interested. I mean, what why would you be interested in someone that everyone else is interested in? Why don't you probably be so fucking creative and try to find somebody else? Someone that nobody's talking about. I I'm just so tired of his of his just lack of of uh intestinal fortitude. It's awful, it's it and it's pathetic. It's it's he's like a little shriveled up mouse. Like I I can't even I don't even know how to describe him. He's just such a fucking coward. I uh and I gotta hear Dolan, who like I said, I like Dolan. I mean, from the sense where I I can respect the fact that he's being loyal and all this other nonsense. He puts money into the team, he spends money, he does what he needs to do, but I don't want to hear that Jury's a competitor and he hates to lose. If you like losing, then you should you're not a professional athlete. And then I gotta hear about a culture. Well, what was wrong with the what was why was the culture bad last year and it wasn't bad the year before? Who created the poor culture? Right, who created the problems? And you know, and it's a it's becoming a common theme where you have to make players uncomfortable to waive their no trade clauses. I mean, the Rangers did it with Truba, excuse me, and and the Devils just did it with Dougie Hamilton. I mean, it's gonna be the way things are. Stop giving them out, stop giving out the no movement clauses unless you're Cindy Crosby or or a Hall of Fame caliber player, stop giving out trade protection. Can't get the player, you can't get the player. Let him go to San Jose or a shit fucking place that that you know that and even though San Jose is probably up and coming, but let him go someplace else. Ridiculous with this no move and no trade bullshit in three years. You want to get rid of the guy every time, every player, right? Even Panarin, 100 points every year. They're talking about we're worrying about his trade protection. It's incredible. And you won't get much for him. No, because Panair, the Panarin trade, and you know what, Sean? He might say, Fuck you. You don't want to. I thought if the I'm just throwing devil's advocate out there. I've been here seven years, I've been your leading point scorer. I've put up a hundred points, don't want to throw forth, and you don't want to pay me again. He might say, you know what, then you don't get any shit for me. Maybe maybe they have a bone to pick with Dray. Maybe they want to help him. I yeah, but don't Paneron will help himself financially by playing in the playoffs this year. You think so? Going to a contender. Look at what Marshan just did. Marshan just got himself a pay day. And you know what? That the Rangers are smart. What would Marshan have gotten in free agency this year if he had just played out the string with Boston to finish the season last year? I don't know. He wouldn't have gotten six by six. No, probably not. So he got an extra 36 million dollars because he went to Florida by somebody. He would have maybe not that much. He probably would have gotten maybe 30, 25. Not at all. He was done. He was thought of as being done. He would have gotten probably two years, five million dollars each. He would have gotten a two-year, ten million dollar contract from somebody. No, Panera's not helping himself right now because he hasn't been good either recently. So whatever. You're only so he's gonna pick where he wants to go, which is gonna kill having any type of uh leverage to get anything. So you might get you might get a late first. I don't think you will, and I think you probably get a second and and a pro and a B level prospect, something along those lines is probably all you're gonna get. And it is what it is, so don't expect much. Zabanajad all of a sudden has a ton of value because what contending team wouldn't want what he's doing is this you know playing down in your lineup as a second or third center. He's playing great, he's been our best player all season. Correct. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think he's waving. I don't think he's waving either, but the fact is, at least there's an option there, at least there's value. Whereas last year, you would have had to have eaten, you would have had to have eaten half the contract. You know, and and and and Johnny Lazarus made a great point on on one of his reels. He said that you know, Mika, who's who they've essentially traded all his friends away, and he's only having a resurgence right now, right? In that sense. Now, again, uh a resurgence on a team that's kind of floundering. You know, I guess you kind of kind of take the good with the bad, but uh I don't know. I I don't know what to expect by anybody anymore. I don't know what's real, I don't know what what's legit. Uh I for me it's just well here's my take here's my take on this. So we're at what 47 games played, right? And that's the sad part. We still had half the season, though. And I would say the first, and I'm not pinpointing this on an exact game to say where I think it turned, but let's just use a number. I would say the first 30 to 35 games of the season, they played really good hockey and didn't get the results that they probably deserved in a lot of those games. Had those results flipped, we're not having this conversation. It's crazy how how many times I mean, think of the power play didn't score for weeks. Well, what if you expect by taking Chris Kreider, a 20-plus goal scorer, off your lot off your roster and replacing him with nobody, right? With a guy that hasn't scored in the NHL than Brandon Offman and Perot, neither of them had scored at that point, and with Barard, who has scored, you know, what four or five goals, and Shiri, who was an AHL player. They were essentially trying to replace him with Will Cooley, getting getting that that spotly already put up 20 goals last year. You needed Cooley to double that. You took 25 goals out of your lineup and did nothing to replace it. I think they were banking on 30 from him, and then it clearly, clearly another misfire. They're also looking to get rid of the source. Oh, I know. Listen, I'm not, I am not, I am not, I am not disputing that part of it, but this is where the creativity part of this whole equation needs to come into the into into focus. Right. Where you I understand that you have so you should have tried something else. I mean, you the the to stand there with the sign of the cross, praying that one of these three guys gets you 25 goals to me is not the way the way you operate. Well, if he had 20, he had 18 last year. You were hoping that with more ice time and more opportunity. This is what I was thinking because every year it's happened. They got a they got a first-year bump from Quinn. They got a first-year bump. Not maybe no, Quinn wasn't a first-year bump. They they lost the first year with User. Yeah, Galant, they got a first year bump, La Violette, they got a first year bump. They were anticipating a first-year bump from this coach that didn't come. Right. And that's kind of what happens. But where I have where I don't put it on the coach so much is he did his job in getting this team to buy in to what he was selling, and they they played their asses off, they played great defense, but they just couldn't get that one goal. Like I said, they were at one point they were 19-4 and 4. In games that they just scored two goals in. Forget what they gave up. In games that they scored two goals, they were 19-4 and 4 as of the winter class. They need a guy that can pick a corner on this team, and obviously, other than Panarin, nobody can just no one else can. You know, they need Marion Gabrick circa, you know, 2009, 2010. I mean, that that they need a guy that could pick a goddamn corner because what they're doing is they're getting opportunities and they're just they're firing it, and it's going right into the goalies' belly. They're not picking us a corner, yeah. They got a lot of lunch pale guys and a lot of guys that work hard, but they don't have the finishing part aspect of it. And we're right back to where we were prior to Rick Nash coming out. But you got but you got guys that are 30 goal scorers every year that haven't been able to score. 30 goal scorers, Sean, you know, but they're on the other end, they're on the other side of 30, though, now. So you might not get 30 anymore. But they weren't playing, they they weren't when you look at their overall body of work playing wise, right? It didn't look like age was a problem, other than Miller, because Miller got hurt in training camp and he was trying to find his way. Which he should have thought. He sure. And we finally saw Miller back to being Miller just before he hurts, you know, separates his shoulder, you know, three weeks ago, how you know, whenever that was. We finally started to see that guy again. It sucks. Injuries play a big part in why we are where we are. Problem started, the problem started. Well, to the part of Panthers about injuries. You know, I mean, every team has injuries. There's 47 games played. Trochek, Igor, Miller, and Fox have played together 11 times in four record games. 7 and 4. 104-point team. Maybe it is what it is. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. They have they listen, they have only themselves to blame that they can't score. Justin Dowling is being is one of your call-ups, Sean, to come and play. I'm just saying, like again, where is the depth on this team? It's two games. Where is the depth? I got I got no problem with with with that aspect of it. Here's where here's where it starts to concern me. Here's where it starts to concern me. And why I also feel that this team just needs to move on from so many players. It trickles down, like the young kids that are coming up, I don't want them to be you know poisoned by this. No lava to me is one of the I love watching the guy play hockey. Love him. Right. Doesn't produce. I mean, he plays the game exactly the way you want your third line center to play the game. Right. He's great defensively, plays really well in the neutral zone, skates hard, he's fast. Right. You can't take the punk. He's not hey, he's 6'2, what, 200 pounds? You can't take the punk. He wins so many board battles. Right for a rookie, I can't think of another rookie that I've seen win board battles at a consistent rate the way that he does. And I don't sit there and look at metrics or anything like that, just pure eye test. And but he doesn't produce. And you watch all these other kids that come up on all these other teams and got a guy with four three career goals that scored four goals against us the other night with Boston. Like, why don't any of these kids that come up when you see them play, you know, they play well, they don't score. Perot. He's just been in he's been invisible. Invisible. The problem is, Sean, they have no they have no other choice but to play him right now. That's the sad part. What are the kids' age of playing in the NHL? Ryan Leonard's playing in the NHL. The same age, same draft cliffs. On better teams. They're able to shelter him better. But everyone bitches when he's on the third line. I know. The problem is that the problem you're right. I don't know what the correct I don't know what the answer is then. I really I really wish I had a clear understanding of what the right thing to do is. You do bring a guy up and and you know allow him to have play sheltered minutes and and succeed. But it just they never you never have a guy that comes up here and just I mean, who was the last guy that called Ryan Callahan came up and just from day one was just a good player. Wasn't great, but he was he gave you energy, he scored. Yeah, he just he came out there and played high. I agree with Lava since day one to me has done everything but score, which is like if you were to put if you took the first half of this season Rangers and wanted to give them a title, it's just like the uh the the book about the Rangers in the 70s that did everything but win, this team did everything but score. Because I thought they played excellent defense, they played very well as a team. We lost rock. Um it's just very frustrating when we have young kids come up and and just they don't produce just like the veterans on this team that just haven't produced. It's very concerning. And you know, I I I just don't want these kids to get infected by this and it become an even an even bigger problem long term. I think Rock's trying to get back on. Um Lava Lava's got 12 points. He plays 13 minutes a night. It's not like he's playing fourth line minutes, playing eight minutes a night. It's not enough production. To me, it's very, very concerning. La Fournier is another another guy who it's it's almost like at this point he's 24 years old. I don't know what value he has. I I mean obviously I'd explore trying to trade him, but I'm not I'm not dumping him. I'll use a name for instance, if you were able to trade La Fournier, let's say for like Zach Benson, you were able to trade him for someone else's young player that you know maybe they just feel a change you know might help, or they really like what La Fourniere brings and think that you know he's being underutilized here, or whatever you want to put it, maybe a one-for-one swap you know can work. I just I don't want to see these guys. You want to trade La Fourniere for players, good. You want to trade Schneider for players, good. Have at it. You know, re just re-revamp this entire roster with new blood and and make it a fresh new locker room. And you want JT Miller to lead the locker room, I got no problem with that. But I I just I can't see this team just trading off all these pieces and just winding up with a bunch of draft picks. We did that already. You know, you think you think of the successes that the Rangers have had and how they got those players, they weren't through the draft. You know, they they traded, you know, it started off with them trading Broussard to get Mika. That's the type of trade that you need to make. You need to trade Lafreniere or or Trochek or the Sadi's back. Yeah, back. There he is. Um, I was just saying yeah, the this team needs to rebuild itself back through trades and not through the draft. It's yeah, you use some draft picks to supplement, of course, but the the Rangers last run, the the first domino to fall was trading Brassard for Zabanajad. It was a trade, it wasn't a draft pick, right? And then when you traded Nash, who was the UFA, you traded him and you got Lindgren. Yeah, you got the draft pick you used on Miller. Well, I mean, the the difference between the Nash trade and the Brassard trade was that Brassard, the Brissard trade, they were still in a window. They're not the the Nash trade, they were out of they were out of the window. They were they were dumping at that point. They were clearly looking to retool the team. They they felt the 1415 team got to where it could get to, right? And then it was time the Pitts after the Pittsburgh series, they realized it's time to it's time to move forward, right? And that's why they they needed to get younger, and they were trying to quote unquote rebuild on the fly. And that's that's where it started. You traded a known commodity who still had value in Broissard, which is very similar to Trochek, a big game player who's 31, 32 years old. He's not old, but he's not young either, and had term. You know, Brassard wasn't a pending UFA, he had a couple years left on his contract, and you got somebody's soon-to-be pending RFA that Ottawa didn't want to pay. They didn't believe Zabanajad worked hard enough in the offseason, they felt his his mind was elsewhere, and the Rangers were able to pluck a former, just like they got Broussard, who was a former sixth overall pick, they were able to pluck someone else's former sixth overall pick and look at what he became. And you can say whatever you want about it him now. He's been here a decade and is one of the greatest rangers of all time, right? Yeah, and those are the types of trades you need to make. Let's see. Let's see if this guy does it. I I I just don't I don't know. I don't trust him to make these moves to this team. But that's that's I trusted Gordon, I trusted Sayther. I don't trust this guy. I don't think he knows what he's doing. I think he's over his head. Uh, I don't know, I can't speak for his support staff. Like I don't know Dan Martin well. Uh I I don't know. I I just don't trust this team to do the I don't trust this general manager to do the right thing. But that's what scares me. Well, we got to live in the real I can and it can scare you. I I can agree with you on that, but we do have to live in the reality of the fact that this owner went on national radio just last week. Well, what is it gonna say though? I mean, let's be fair. No, he went above and beyond to say that this is the start. These guys are these guys, Sullivan and Drew. So he so we put the hip here's rolling a new culture. But this is what pisses me off is when you have non-hockey guys sitting there. Then you should say they should have said, okay, so then you're okay, Jim and Mr. Dolan, if they don't make the playoffs for seven years, you're okay with that, you're good with that. Is that okay? Right. That's what the follow-up question should have been. Because the last time when Glenn, when you should have said when Mr. Sayther, who he likes to refer to, when Glenn took over, they had seven years, or it might have been before that, it might have been when Neil Smith might have been. Yeah, first three years. Whatever. You're good with not making the playoffs for four to five years. You're good with that. And he says, Well, well, you you know, then then the problem is it's he doesn't probably have an answer to that. So they just let it go because he doesn't know anything about the prospects or the play screen. Like you said, Craig Harton has no idea what exactly couldn't tell you a thing about hockey. C Mac, I give I give credit, probably knows enough to hold a conversation, but I don't think he's I mean he's a he's a baseball football guy, he's not what I would consider to be a hockey guy. It would have been nice if someone like Chris Lepresti was on that, was on that. I don't even know if he has the I don't know if they would have allowed allowed him to question even that Chris McMonacle, who apparently is a big Ranger fan, barely asked him any question any follow-ups either. And that that's what I would have said. I said, so Glenn, you would be you would be okay with you'd be okay with not making the playoffs for a few years. That's what the follow-up should have been. It was Carton's first show. They wanted to get the rating on their first show. And when you get Jim Dolan in this town because he doesn't speak often, it's a big guest. Correct. And so they were probably told layups only, and you know, Carton's gonna play the game. He keeps getting fired every fucking two seconds. Yeah, so he needs this is his last chance to uh keep a career going. So he wasn't gonna he wasn't gonna take any barbs, and I'm sure C Mac, if he is an actual hockey fan, was probably told uh well the overnight took the overnight took a huge blow, too. Yeah, that's another story. Um but yeah, the the they they just have to we have to get used to the fact that he's going to be here. He's to me, Drury has at least two more seasons after this to try and turn it around. Because to me, he's linked with Sullivan and Sullivan has a five-year contract, they are not firing Mike Sullivan after year two, they're not firing me after year one, they're not firing me after year two. If this if there's not progress made after year three, this owner has shown that he will bite the bullet for two years, he won't bite the bullet for what I will say is unless a star, whether it's uh and again, I hate keep using this example, but unless a Marc Messier big type guy becomes available, Sean, this team's going nowhere. No, but the what you want to have you see. Here's my goal for the next if you want to say what's my goal for the next three years, okay. Roster turnover, okay, young kids, okay, coming up. Yeah, I get it. JT Miller's gonna be here, and you do, you need a leader in the in the room to to you can't just have all kids. Um Miller's gonna be here. I I've accepted the fact that Saben and Jad is 90 gonna finish out his contract here. Um, you know, maybe he leaves his maybe he leaves to go chase a cup at the end of his you know final season here. Five more years. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. So those two guys have five more years or four more years? I think four. I'll look that up after I make my point. Um you you're gonna have a couple of veterans, but you know, let Perot play and learn. Let I don't think you're gonna get much for La Frenier. I was oh, that's what I was talking about. I was talking about La Frenere while you were uh while you were on hiatus there. Uh I hit something. I don't know what the hell I did, but you want you went on uh show in show sabbatical, pretty much. Um all I was saying was I I don't want I don't know how much value La Frenier has. I know someone in the media said that he still has value. I I don't think he does. I think there's gonna be a team out there that thinks they can they can resurrect him. And the fact that he's only 24, 25, however old he is. I think there's a team out there that thinks they can do that. But then you trade him for someone else's similar. I I I use the name Zach Benson. I heard that. I like that. I like I like that. I like that uh I I would make that trade. So Mika's signed through the 2820 2930 season. So uh one, two, three, yeah, he has four years. Oh no, I'm sorry. Am I right? Is that right? Yeah, 28 29 30 season. He's a UFA in 2030. So he's got four years left. Um, but I wouldn't mind. I'll be honest with this because I because the trade value is not is not great. When we traded Kacko, we were still trying to win, and we needed to get better on defense. So I understand making the Kaco trade for Borgan, and I like Borgan a lot. We're not trying to win right now anymore. And so, unless La Fournier is gonna net you something, someone you really covet, right? That the same way the other GM really wants to get La Fernier, you really want to get their player, unless that trade is out there, I would rather La Farniere get a chance to be one of the veterans on this team and have a line be his type of thing, and at least see. At least see what that's like. Because right now you don't get to see that. Because if he's playing with Panarin, it's Panarin's puck. If he's not playing, if he's playing with Zabenijad and Miller, it's it's their puck. He's still always deferring and always playing off of somebody else. So if he's truly like the veteran and the puck is his, I'm just curious what it looks like because you got nothing else to lose. If you're just gonna trade him off for you know for a pick, for a mid to late round first round pick or you know, B-level prospects, then then what's the point? You you don't you have no chance of gaining anything at that point. So the Rangers have uh uh 29 million dollars in cap space next season. Right. You have 18 guys under contract. I mean, they could add anybody. I mean, they could literally add any guy they want. But who's the but I'm I'm just saying that that that's that's the that's the caveat. That's the nice part about it right now is that you could you could. I mean, I'm not going out and spending 10 million dollars for Alex Tuck. I'm not doing that. I just watched him play the other night against Buffalo was not impressive to me. Now that's me. And if he's not impressive against us, then he's not good. He scored a goal. He did, yeah, the deflection in front. Oh well, okay. Yeah, deflection goal, so something we could use, but no, but there's no point in signing another 30, another 30-year-old exactly winner. Well, that's what didn't make sense to me about key for Sherwood, unless well, what I will say though is all right, with the way I like Keith for Sherwood, and I said this. I like him as a player. I think I think on a great team, if you would have added Key for Sherwood two years ago to the Rangers, he makes a difference. What difference is he making on this team? Well, when that was rumored, think about it. The the day that that rumor came out, it's not like the Rangers had that conversation that morning or the night before. It was probably a week or two beforehand that those conversations took place, and then that conversation gets leaked out, you know, over the course of a few days. Because it's Elliot. So Elliot's not just gonna sit there and hear from one source and come out and say it. Vince came out with the show. Oh, Vince was the one who came out with it. Sorry. Usually they wait for a second source before speaking out. But Chris Johnson, Chris Johnson backed him up on it. My my point being the Rangers may have only been two or three points out of a playoff spot when those conversations took place. Now they're seven, they're no longer having that conversation. Yeah, it's a shame. But you do realize though how important Fox is, though, now, right? Yes. Still don't think he's you know he's not Quinn Hughes or Cal McCarr or Mira High. But this team without him, they can't function. They can't function. I just don't know why. I don't know why they will not give Brandon Morrow a chance on the fucking first power play. Jesus Christ. It's mind-blowing. But that's all these cops. It's all these cops. And now that now that the dust is, and I did this on the live on the uh for the Patreon people, so everyone else will get this now. Now that the dust has settled in my brain as far as the course of this season, like the playoffs, it's it's it's laughable at this point to think of this team making the playoffs. So now I could take the rose-colored glasses off and all the hope that that keeps me going. Right. I hated Sullivan when he was an assistant here. I like the hire because I felt that the team had the talent, and they just again they needed a culture change in the room, they needed a new leader, someone uh to to get to galvanize them. And he did his job. He did, he did his job in that sense. But now we see the X's and O's and the lack of their ability to make adjustments, and some of the lineups that this guy comes out with. And there's a lot of there's a lot of things that lead you know he's no different than Laviolette and Gallant. They play the veteran players. I mean, it took Brandy, it took Kondashiri to get hurt for him to take for him to stop really playing him. They all do it though, they all do it. I I have bigger concerns with the fact, like you said, Gavrakov Columbus and LA have to be keeling over laughing at Gavrakov running someone's power play. He's a one of the best Ranger free agent, he's the best Ranger free agent signing since Strojack. And he's one of the top Ranger free agent signings in the last decade, Gavrakov. For the money he's making for what he gives you is excellent. He is not an offensive defenseman. I understand he's got seven goals. It's from throwing the puck on the net, it's not from him being ultra creative with the puck. And I I mean it it may almost it's almost pointless to get into now because the season's lost anyway. But when the puck comes to him on the point, teams are just pressuring the shit out of him because he can't make decisions and move the puck quick enough, and he can't evade anybody, so he's a he's a sitting duck up there. He's got a nice shot if he's fed a one-timer, sure. He's a big dude, of course. He's gonna have a you know a rocket from up there, but he's not able to move the puck and get everyone, he's not able to freeze when you're going side to side from the point. Guys who don't play or have never played, when you're coming across the middle up at the top on the power play, you're trying to freeze someone down low on defense and get them to stutter step or to freeze in their in their movement and open up a lane. Gavrikov can't do that. They don't have quick enough hands. At least Morrow, this is his calling card is to be an offensive defenseman. If you're not going to use him in that spot, then why is he here? To run the second power play for 15 seconds? What does that do? Again, I I I almost wish I need this team to lose another 10 straight so that they're mathematically eliminated faster and just start letting these kids play a little bit more. You know they're going on a winning streak, though, Sean. You know, you know it's gonna happen. You know they're gonna suck us in somehow because they do it every fucking time, and they're gonna they're gonna suck us in again. They're gonna win two or three in a row, they're gonna beat a good team. Like, I don't know, they play Colorado again or or they play somebody like that. Oh, oh, oh, and they're gonna suck us all back. In again us to go freaking go right back down to the shitter when they when they get shut out by Columbus or or San Jose or or you know or you know whoever else in the bottom end of the league, that's what's gonna happen. Rock, I'll give you cont here you you know I'm calculated before I wave a white flag, right? Right. I'll give you guys all context. If the Rangers starting tonight go on a 10-game regulation winning streak, 10 games. That's 20 points in the next 10 games, they will be on a pace for the season for 95 points. Say that one more time. If they win the next 10 games straight, they will be on pace for the season to finish with 95 points. That is fighting for the eighth spot in the playoffs. That's if they go on a 10-game run. If they do what what what Tampa's done for the last 10 games, right? It still doesn't even put them in the playoff spot. 95 points might it would be very low for the for an eighth seed to finish with 95 points. It's not like going on a 10-game heater all of a sudden puts us back in, you know, we're fighting for the metro again. A 10-game heater still puts us probably on the outside looking in. That's how far off we are. I know, I know, I and because we're not winning 10 straight. No, you know, not no, no, not at all. Especially not with Igor, Igor. I mean, Igor massed a lot of problems. And and listen, and that's the other thing I wanted to bring up. You know, Jonathan Quick, God bless him, man. He his heart and his determination. I mean, the fact that they have not bailed this guy out one time this season. I mean, the all for all that he's done as a leader and as as a as a as a as a mentor to these guys, for them to not bail him out one time, I I I I think it's a disgrace. And it just goes to you, the the character uh and the character floor of this team. They are too passive, they don't care, they don't care enough about losing, they're not angry enough. And I I don't know what I you can't teach people to be mean, but you're not gonna play it this way, you're gone. That's it. Yep, that's it. That's how it has to be. Mika, you want to hang around? You want to be the the token, you know, uh soft player that we have. God bless. But everyone else is gone. He hasn't played that soft this year, though. I don't I mean in the sense where he's not gonna get in a guy's face. That's my point. He has. I mean, he's not dropping gloves and knocking somebody out. That's I don't I don't want Mika Zabanan fighting anybody. No, I know that, but I don't know. I had he whatever. Yeah, he's tight. You know, he's the point production point, he's done his job, but everyone else, as far as I'm concerned, has has not lived up to their to their the back of their card this year, and that includes that includes a lot of guys. I mean, I don't know even if Panarin's on is Panarin's still on pace for 80 points. He's over he's over a point a game now. Is he okay? Go get 90 again. He's got he's got 50 points in 46 games, Panarin. You know, again, I'm not saying Panarin should do the Rangers any favors. I'm I'm not. The Rangers paid him. They paid him, and I and he and he lived up to his contract. I mean, you can't you can't throw them a bone. I mean, you got to get top dollar, you got to get 10 years or eight years. I mean, whatever he's looking for. I mean, he wants term and money. I don't think that they want to sign him. I don't think the Rangers want to sign him. I think that they want to move on. I do, I think they want to move on. And why have they asked him to waive his no trade clause then? Because what's the point of doing that right now? Yes. You do that when you have to. Why again? Then Sean, who we've seen, we've seen select those from the room. So you're telling me, so I I understand. Like you said, you want to bring in other players are other teams RFAs, which is fine. Yes. So you you can how are you replacing 90 points in this lineup? You're not. Oh, you're not. So you're expecting them to lose next year, too. Yes. I think this is going to be a one-year thing. So you're talking about this is a three-year point. Three years starting from now, or three years starting from last year. Three years starting from this upcoming season. Wow. Yes. So essentially, eagle almost most of Egor's contract, they're going to be in the here's because it's not like it's not like Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel or any of these guys are hitting the free agent market this offseason, right? Nobody is. Alex Tuck is the number one guy. So there is no there is no free agent. Ben Aaron's the number one guy, but there is no free agent you can go get. So this year. I haven't looked to see. Which is normally not the case. Which is normally the case. There's normally not an a an uh an Eichel or an Ovet on the market. I mean, that doesn't happen. So what do you do? If you if you unload your Trochecks, your Schneiders, let's say a lot more. You know what you do? You stay cap flexible for the next disgruntled superstar that that wants out of uh out of where his situation is. Thank you. And what do you do? You give the young kids a chance to show what they can do, and okay, God forbid you actually get a player out of it. The problem is, is I'm I really wonder, I really wonder how long the G the owner's gonna allow this to go on. But you need to have a foundation. Why would a superstar want to come here? Other than the fact it's New York and all and all we want to come here because you have one of the best, obviously, one of the best top three goalies in hockey, and you have a top 10 defenseman. And you saw what this team's power plays like without Fox. So obviously, he is a top top 10 defenseman in the in the league. But I don't care about the Olympic thing. The Olympic thing is if he's not on your top power play, then he shouldn't be on the Olympic team. I agree with that. So it has nothing to do if he's good or not. They need to have a foundation of youth that a veteran player, a veteran superstar is gonna want to come here and play with. Correct. Messier chose to come to New York, yeah, because I think he's got a huge ego, and you know, playing in New York was definitely just I I and I get all that, but the Rangers had a foundation of young players that made sense when he came here. You think Mark Messier knew who Alexei Kovalev was? No, I don't think anyone who Sergei Zuboff was. None of those guys really knew who Leech was. And I I think and I I I'm pretty sure I got I'm assuming he knew who Richter was, but I mean they knew. Gardner was here. Gardner was here still. James Patrick, which was a who was a was a 70-point defenseman, was here. Right. So they had guys. I mean, other than other than I don't think he cared about Turkot, but the the Of Dalf Dallin wasn't here. No, he wasn't here. No, uh I was thinking of somebody else. I'm just saying that there was a foundation of play that because the Rangers, remember, they had beaten the Islanders in the playoffs in the five-game series the year before, correct?

unknown: 1:07:10

Right?

SPEAKER_02: 1:07:10

That was 90 with nickels, correct. And then Messier comes the the following season. So they had already showed a young team that could win in the playoffs, that could win a playoff series. It you can't just you're not gonna attract if Connor McDaver was a free agent this this upcoming season. Why would he want to come here? Like I said, because you have a great because you have a great goaltender and a great defenseman. It's like you have nothing. It doesn't you have nothing, you have pieces, you just need that that piece that puts you over the top, fractured locker room. And I don't mean a fractured locker room to where they're all looking at each other and can't stand each other. I'm not talking about 20 25 guys, 25 cats. Like you like like you said, they're fragile. There's this was the oh, I'll bring this point up that I also made up on the live. There was buy-in to start this season. First 35, 30, 35 games, they all bought into what they were to to playing as a team, and when you're just not getting it done, what happens? You start to do start to go back to the old ways. Well, it's not old ways, you just you're trying to be the guy that steps up to make a play every time. When you have too many guys doing that and not sticking to it, they didn't get the results from sticking to it. So now they're all playing a little bit more out of their element, playing a little bit more as an individual instead of a team, and that's why you're seeing the results that we're getting. The message goes stale when the results when when you don't win. If you're winning, the message is great. And this isn't a Sullivan thing. I'm not putting this on Sullivan, I'm just saying that guys are starting to fade away from it and they don't have faith right in their teammates. Do you think Braden Schneider gets traded? Yes. Yeah, so do I. The only way he doesn't is if they have more confidence in Morrow. The only reason why I think I don't think it even matters. I think he's a trade chip, and I think I think they see the ship is sinking, and I think they're gonna try to move him while while the while the the value is still there. Um Drury, when he wants to keep a guy, he figures it out. And he has not made in my opinion, you don't hear anything. I mean, let's be fair. And again, I and I said this, and and people probably laughed at me when I said this. With Larry Brooks not being around, we get zero information. There's nothing. I mean, I don't know where Vince got that that key for Sherwood rumor from, or he must maybe he maybe he's become the new Larry in the sense where maybe the team leaks stuff to him, because I know Drury, I believe, has a soft spot for him. But I mean, with Larry not being here, I mean, this is I I can only imagine the the articles that he'd be writing, but him not being here, we have zero, zero indication of anything that's going on. No, we don't, nothing, and that's that that was really why I said, you know, with him gone, we're not gonna do anything anymore. And we don't hear anything about about Braden Schneider contract negotiations, nothing. Like I said, when Drury wants a guy, he gets it done. So I don't know. But it other than La Frenier, most of the RFAs have gone into off season, they haven't been signed in season. Uh La Frenier is the only one that I can think of that was signed during the season. Yeah, but I mean La Fren, I mean Cooley Cooley went into free, you know. He did too. But that but not off his entry level. Yeah. Cool, I mean off his entry level. This is not off trade in China's entry level. Um, I'm trying to think who else he's really had. I guess I guess Leroy and Lingren, he signed him like right after the season ended. Um, yeah, I don't I don't really know. Yeah, Jesse, when Panarin's gone, they're not gonna have absolutely it's gonna be a different type of offense. No, you're you're never replacing 90 points unless one of your guys becomes that type of player, and I don't think that that guy exists on this roster currently. What they need to do is is similar to trying to think of another team I could think of that doesn't have well. First off, they're gonna, I mean they're gonna get a player in this draft, I would hope. You know, that that you ready the guy you ready the guy they're gonna draft? I already know the guy they're drafting. Ready? Yep, Caleb Belhaltra. Maybe with the second pick, he's not gonna go with the first pick. According to mid-season power ranking scoutings, he's rated the fifth best prospect in the draft. I see him in the in the in the teens and twins. So maybe it was North American. So I maybe rephrase that. So maybe it was North American, but they're definitely drafting that guy. And he's a center. I almost hope they do just for your reaction, just they will. Your reaction would be pricey. They are drafting him, I'm telling you right now. So the rangers right now, they sit right now at six. I'm just using the the prospect rankings that's on tank-athon. Obviously, I know nothing about any of these guys. Zero. Zero. I don't pretend to. Obviously, we've heard Gavin McKenna's name for years, right? And I understand he's off to an average start to his NCAA career, but it's a big step for a junior slayer going to play. He's still there, he's still number one. Yeah, no, he's and he's gonna be. And I forget who I was listening to someone else's uh podcast, and I can't remember who it was, but they were saying all the criticism that's coming out about him, there's not gonna be one GM. Whoever's a number one overall pick, they're not gonna be the GM who passes up on him. They're just not as much as Keaton, and I'm always gonna call this guy Noah Vanderhoff from Waynes World. Keaton Verhoff, yeah, six foot four right-handed shot defense. You know, it's probably like a Victor Hedman type defenseman, yeah. You know, gold jacket guy is uh well, just like back then, you like the debate with Tavares and Hedman and Duchesne, like right people thought maybe headman was gonna have a better career, and then maybe in a lot of ways he has, but you weren't passing on Taveras. So you got McKenna's a wing, six foot, 170 pounds. Does that fit the Sullivan system? Yep. Verhoff fits probably like a glove, but again, right-handed shot defenseman. So does that mean that's my point? It's like you know, Will Borgant, as far as I'm concerned, they could trade him. Right? But are you gonna draft a kid? Are you gonna draft if if the Rangers got won a lottery and they were the first or second overall pick? Are you gonna draft a kid that you're never gonna play on your top top pair? Or you gotta have to wait five, six years for Fox to get old? Fox Fox is still he only has only has four years left on his contract. So that's what I'm saying. So you're gonna by the time that kid's prime, Fox might not even be here. We don't know. I don't know. Evar Stenberg. I mean, figure Fox is gonna be in his 30s by the time that four years rolls by right by the time that contract's over. Evar Stenberg, six foot, 180 pounds. Excuse me. Wing, another wing. Tynan Lawrence, finally, we get to a center. So this this is the top tiers, four guys. So we'll probably pick fifth, obviously. Um, Tynan Lawrence, center, six foot, 185 pounds. He just went from the USHL to uh to Boston University, so he's only played three games in college. But yeah, if you look at the centers overall, it's Lawrence, who they rate as uh the fourth overall pick. Then you get to twelfth is the next center. So there's no there's only one top ten, one top ten pick that's a center. Yeah, and that's Lawrence, which means he'll probably go higher than he than he should just because he's a center. He'll probably wind up going second or third. But yeah, uh who did you mention? Malholtra? Yeah, they have him as the fourth ranked center going 15th overall. Yeah, so that's that would that would probably be, I don't know, I don't know where they're second. It'll be in the 20s. So he'll he'll probably be gone before then. Maybe they get uh Dylan Rubrik's brother. Is he all is he in the top? Is he in the is he a top uh yeah. 6'4216 playing for Niagara in the OHL. But yeah, I mean we'll we'll we'll get Steve on and we'll you know we'll talk prospects. We don't know any we don't know a thing about these guys. But just for fun, I'll do one uh one lottery simulation here. Yep, before we say goodbye. Yep, no, we didn't win. Who got the first one we'll pick? Vancouver? Vancouver. And Chicago moves up to number two and gets another both teams that we've lost to this year. I believe we were shut out by both of them, too. This has us drafting Carson Carrolls, six foot six foot two, 195-pound left shop defenseman. Listen, we need everything, so it don't matter what they draft, they need they need a little bit of everything, so it doesn't really matter. It's not like they need a need for anything. Just draft the best guy available, and that's it. It's not like we're drafting EJ Emory this year. We're gonna wind up with someone who's supposed to be a building block piece in this draft. That guy's even gonna have to play in the NHL. EJ Emory? I'm sure he will. He just doesn't have any offense to his game. That's fine. He'll fit right in. Neither does Gavrikov, but he's up for but he's running our power play. Well, Gabrikov has seven goals, career high. Anyone can step into anything. All right, guys. Uh, we will try to get it. It's a good time. I enjoyed this one. We'll try and get on next week. Hopefully, our schedules line up. Yep. And uh we'll we'll try to get this more consistent. So thanks for tuning in. Later. Later.