Rangers move Lindholm in early season trade 2018-12-01 The New York Rangers are a week into the 2018-2019 season and have started out sluggish. The team has several questions to answer going forward. A hockey team is a living, breathing organism that takes on the shape of the players on it. Through three games so far this year, the New York Rangers are a struggling group that has a few quality pieces. Obviously, three games are way too small a sample size to draw final judgments, so put away the pitchforks. However, the first few games did put the coaching staff’s vision of the team into focus. The preseason is not a true measuring stick of anything and is pretty much only important for the final few players that may or may not make the team. The real games are the first time that everything is put together at game speed. While practice time is important, there is nothing like getting reps in live action. There are certain things the team is doing, finishing checks, engaging after the whistle and skating hard, have come from practice, questions were raised in the games so far. While the New York Rangers trade of Elias Lindholm for Brandon Montour and Oskar Sunqvist may not mean much for this season as Lindholm was playing the 3rd line, it’s reflective of a greater understanding of the organization’s situation. Throughout Martin Auzin’s tenure as general manager of the New York Rangers, he’s always shown a willingness to make moves. Whether it be desperate moves at the trade deadline to sure up a contender or this past year in which he sold off expiring assets to start a rebuild. At the very least, everyone knows Auzins is aware of where his team is at in the grand scheme of things.The hiring of John Hynes as head coach is a clear example of this effort. With a three year contract, Hynes is being given great leeway in decisions as his lineup choices prove. Now on to the latest trade for the New York Rangers. 2018-12-01 01:31:41 New York Rangers trade Elias Lindholm to the Florida Panthers for Brandon Montour, Oscar Sundqvist and MTL 2019 1st round pick. At $1.75 million per season Montour is a low-cost risk worth taking. A young player who had an outstanding break out season. The 2017-18 season was the sophomore season for Brandon Montourin the real NHL. Despite only having one season of prior NHL experience, the Anaheim Ducks had no other choice than to rely on Montour beacuse all of the injuries that coincided with the 2017-18 season thrust Montour into more prominent roles on the team. It is a smart play by getting Sundqvist. That cannot be denied. There was not going to be a market out there for someone who scored one goal and four points with little else to show for his time on the ice. Sundqvist obviously has talent or he would not have reached the NHL level. That said, at this level his talent is only seen by the coaches and management. Fans have no clue why he is put on the ice other than to justify being included in a trade of a popular player. We would all like to believe teams are above such posturing, but it is hard to see any other reason since he just is not that good. Sundqvist was not fast, did not possess great pucks skills and was not overly physical. You have to be able to hang your hat on one of those attributes, normally. The Rangers could still send Sundqvist down to the minors, but it just feels like it takes a spot away. It will be interesting to see what happens. New York is deeper on centers now, so he does not have that advantage. They also have quicker players like Sam Bennett and Tom Wilson for the fourth line. It seems hard to find a spot for him. Why we will succeed The Rangers are taking a similar path this season as previous winners. Though there are a lot of danger signs, if the stars are aligned correctly, they could make some hay. There are some obvious reasons why. The reasons: Elite Goaltending: I can already hear the muttering. “Elite goaltending? Rask is past his prime.” The simple fact is thatTuuka is who he is and he can singlehandedly win hockey games. Another positive this season is that Alex Stalock, Laurent Brossoit and Alex Georgiev all can battle for a backup spot. Ranger goaltending could take them very far. The New Coach: They have a new coach who is having a positive effect and does not want to lose after a mysery of a season in Calgary. John Hynes holds players accountable and is instilling an attitude the team has been lacking for years. As evidenced by the third period collapse in Toronto, they aren’t immune to bad games, but as the season goes on that kind of effort should become the exception. The Core: The Rangers have a solid core of players who are battle tested and know how to win. As an ensemble, the Rangers can be a formidable opponent when everything is clicking. Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, Mika Zibanejad, Jonathan Marchessault, Jason Spezza and Alex Wennberg may not inspire fear in opponents, but as a group they are pretty good. Defensively they may be challenged, but with support from the forwards, Ryan McDonagh, John Carlsson, Brandon Montour, Neal Pionk and Chris Tanev can compete. The Kids: The current crop of kids is pretty impressive and have a lot to prove. Neal Pionk, Tage Thompson, Troy Terry, Logan Brown, Tyler Benson, Jakub Zboril and Jeremy Roy are going to see a lot of action and will be tested if they can meet the challenge. They can only get better with more experience. And don’t forget, those young legs have A LOT of energy. It could be a recipe for success. Take the current roster, add in a new coach and mix in the unpredictability of the Metropolitan Division and voila, the post season beckons. And if you get into the playoffs, anything can happen. The combinations are as follows: Forwards Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Mats Zucarello Max Domi - Jason Spezza - Alex Wennberg Jonathan Marchessault - Bryan Little - Craig Smith Sam Bennett - Adam Lowry - Tom Wilson Defense Ryan McDonagh - John Carlson Dan Girardi - Brandon Montour Chris Tanev - Neal Pionk Goaltending Tuuka Rask Alex Stalock The first and most obvious thing to take away is a lack of risk. There are a lot of choices cased on safety and protecting someone else on the line. For example, using jason Spezza as a top six forward wreaks of security blanket for a guy like Tom Wilson. While Spezza is a fine player, using him in the top six is a miscast and a disservice to both players. Second, using Chris Tanev as Neal Pionk’s defensive partner is the same exact concept. It is a high floor, low ceiling combination that looks to minimize risk. The biggest hole in Pionk’s game is his weakness around his own net. On the other hand, Tanev is an old school clear the crease defenseman that will not tolerate any nonsense around his goaltender. Trade is subject to league's approval.
