Rangers Analysis: Who has disappointed you so far?

Drury is tied for 3rd on the team in Pts per 60 minutes of ice time thus far @ ES (behind Gaborik and Avery). Since he’s not getting PP time w/ the new lineup, this is where he needs to be good. Now, he’s only on a 41 pt pace, which is not good, but when you look at it more closely, it’s actually very good for him:

2009 – 56 pts, 34 @ ES.
2008 – 58 pts, 27 @ ES
2007 – 69 pts, 39 @ ES
2006 – 67 pts, 28 @ ES.

So you can see that in recent history Drury has been most deadly on the PP, at least when it comes to his scoring. Since he’s not being used in that role, his production is bound to slip. I can’t blame Chris for that, if he gets 40 points playing only ES and SH, then it’s right in line with his career.

The contract is his biggest issue, which makes him the Redden of our forwards, he’s not playing bad persay, but he’s getting way too many dollars for his production.

He’s been the best forward on the PK thus far, at least in terms of goal prevention. He’s not as flashy as a Callahan or Dubinsky though, who do it with a lot of energy and are much more noticable. So at least he’s been valuable in that role.

His production otherwise though is horrendous. 2 pts in 10 games is not good. I’m glad he’s been dropped in the lineup, and if it continues I’d be fine with dropping him all the way down to Brashear-Boyle land.

By far, he’s been the Ranger whose Expectation : Production Ratio is the lowest.

this should be a fan post, but i couldnt stop typing.
in no particular order.

Voros/Brashear – i dont expect much out of these guys anyways. but they are 4th line guys anyways. brashear shows flashes(very brief) of decent puck handling skills, but not much happens from it. The big fourth line shows signs of great puck possession at times and draws a random penalty sometimes, but its been a while. Not really a disappointment, just a lack of offense hurts when the top lines arent producing.

Higgins – what do we have to say about him? Well, the obvious is he isnt scoring. That IS the problem. I dont think higgins is much of a playmaker from what ive seen in limited time with the rangers and at times w montreal, but he has the ability to score. I believe if higgins was scoring during the first 9 games, this team could be 9-0 or 8-1.
secondary scoring would definitely push this team to a higher level. Right now Gaborik has 7 goals. Without him the rangers would pretty much be like last years team with scoring problems. Someone else needs to step up and put the puck in the net more regularly and the rangers would become a VERY dangerous team.
more on the offense later.

On Defense, the team really hasnt played a full game as a unit flawlessly(the shut out was helped out by goaltending too).
On a nightly basis AT LEAST 1 defensemen makes multiple mistakes. i cant say that any ONE individual stands out to be awful, but all have seemed a step behind where they were defensively last year. hear me out.
Redden – i hate him. but hes playing okay. better than last year but i want more from him. he makes coverage mistakes at times and he is pretty bad with handling the puck along the boards in the offensive zone.
Ditto goes for Rozsival. But rozy looks slow this year… anyone else notice this?
Gilroy, he is still adjusting. He gets lost but i love the potential. his puck handling looks a little sloppy but i like how he thinks. he will get more comfortable as the season goes and i think we all will be happy.
Del Zotto… i dont even care what he does defensively, as long as he keeps the PP clicking im happy. but he is just as good as the other 5 defensively.
Staal -is it me? or does staal look like he has regressed a little? I like that Torts has him thinking more offensively, but he seems to be half a step behind and a little weaker on the body checks. maybe he is hurting?
i actually think girardi has been the worst overall this season. he has been uncharacteristicly sloppy. he was a solid avg dman for the rangers over the past couple seasons. He just got the job done. never was he a constant liability, but this season his play has slipped. While scoring 3 goals this season, i feel that is a result in the offensive system in place.
im happy with the goaltending. what else can we say. Valiquette and lundqvist are playing good. minus the SJ game.
I just get frustrated at how lundqvist always gets beat glove side… it always seems the goaltenders glove hands develop at a young age, but sadly i think thats hanks weakness. That and shots from the point, always seem to go in.

For the rest of the offense…
people that need to pick up their play
Drury – Seriously, pick it up.
Anisimov – i wanna see that big frame put to use, he shys away from contact too often while forechecking. He has the hands, but he needs the grit. When those come together he will push for more playing time. Right now he doesnt deserve it.

i think when higgins picks up his play, another player might drop production a bit. like a dubinsky kotalik or prospal. Those guys are racking up points in the early going but if they keep on truckin and higgins joins in with gabby… then this team is going to be gang banging goaltenders in and out of the net on a nightly basis.

Brashear and Rozsvial are playing exactly in line with what I thought they’d be, so I wouldn’t even call them disappointments. They’re shitty players who are playing shitty.

I have two which are going to take some flack for and that’s fine, but when I think disappointment, I’m thinking “who isn’t playing up to their expectations”

The first is Ryan Callahan.

He’s my favorite player, easily. I love his hustle, his grit, he’s going to be a fantastic player. But thus far? 5 pts in 10 games, with 4 of them on the PP, is not what I expected out of him. That’s a 41 pt pace, and is thus not where he needs to be for this team to excel. This was supposed to be a leap year, where he gets in the 55-60 points range. Maybe disappointment is too strong for him, but this is at very least unsettling.

The other is Matt Gilroy.

It’s hard to really kill him since he’s a rookie, but watching MDZ flourish has, to me, shined the light on Gilroy. He’s supposed to be an offensive defenseman, but 2 pts in 10 games doesn’t really seem offensive. Now his defense has been a surprise, he’s actually much more sure in his own end than I thought he would be, so that’s something to build on.

I think his offense will come, but thus far it’s been disappointing.

Neither of them classifies as a “bust” of course.

Dan Girardi and Marc Staal. Both inconsistent, with the former being terrible at times, and the latter prone to the epic turnover.

Sadly, Brashear has disappointed me. As much as I hated the signing, I did look forward to him taking charge out there and dishing out righteous retribution. So far, all I’ve seen is an inability to skate, play well with the puck, and play well defensively. I am literally scared whenever he’s out there.

Staal has disappointed me, but I think it’s mainly because he has been producing turnovers, not for his defensive play. He is by far the best defenseman we have. Torts is trying to turn him into Brian Leetch and I just don’t think he ever will be that type of player. When he’s trying to stick handle through a clogged neutral zone with no one behind him, something is very wrong. He got burned last night.

Girardi has made some serious blunders this year but I expected that. I’ve never thought he was very good and he is not a great skater. How many times have you seen him either get caught flat-footed or have people skate right around him? I was saying this off-season that he is way overrated. Being paired with Staal helped cover him a little. How many times has he taken a slap shot right into somebodies shin pads and have a breakaway the other way? I doubt he gets re-signed this off-season especially if he’s wanting over 1.5 mil.

Drury, well he’s about what I expected based on last season. I’m not paying his salary so I can only question why Torts has him on second line.

Rozsival was killing me for the first 6 games with his stupid and timid play. The guy is a disaster in his own end. I can’t even count the number of times he has skated alone behind the net for the puck and ended up turning it over. i haven’t noticed him the last couple of games so that is a good thing.

Higgins came her being advertised as a rugged winger with a 30 goal season to his credit. The guy skates OK. I don’t see any offensive flair there. No points in ten games? I guess I can call that a disappointment.

Brashear is old and beat up. He is slow, he doesn’t play physical enough. He’s already sat out two games. What exactly did he do to get sore? skate for 5 minutes every other day? At his age it’s a good thing Sather only signed him for one year. Oh wait, nevermind.

I hate being negative about the Rangers when so many good things are happening.

With Sanguinetti and Mcdonagh in the system, our blue line is looking really strong and deep for the next TEN years.

Gaborik has an awesome shot and he is a good skater. Instant offense, just add water. I liked Dubinsky on that line carrying the puck and making room for him. I don’t know if he got demoted or if Torts is trying to pick up Callahan and Higgins.

Dubinsky is stronger on the puck than last year and he is shooting more. I like everything about him. He has made some great passes to Gaborik. He takes people out, not a sissy check that doesn’t take the guy out of the play.

Anisimov needs to be a little more physical but he has skill and size. I can wait another ten games before I criticize him.

MDZ and Gilroy – I like them both. I like their defensive play as well as their skating. I was always taught that skating is 90% of the game and they are great skaters. MDZ has a lot more points right now, but they are all on the power play.

Callahan hasn’t been scoring but he is not a disappointment. I remember his game winner in Washington. He doesn’t take nights off.

and of course our goalie Hank. I’m disappointed that he ever gets scored on at all. He is great. He has already been the difference in a few wins. He could take us pretty far in the playoffs. When we get there, all these losses will just be good experience.

OK maybe it wasn’t a game winner but big imomentum sing.

Given their relative salaries, Montreal must be howling at unloading “CHRISTOPHER” Higgins. This guy better wake up or he’s going to be riding the bus in Hartford. Brashear…Yikes…I’ve never seen Henirk take more shots. He’s been entirely invisible. Will he last the year or is it another Voros where he gets scratched many nights.

Will be interesting to see how they rehabilitate Vally after a nightmarish second period. Phoenix would be a good opportunity, but that assumes they can end the losing streak in Montreal, a tall order. Can’t really send him against the Islanders, although they do really suck (apparently).

Cally needs to do alot more. The rangers offense needs a more then just one line to produce the goals. If callahan wants to be here next year he needs to do alot more. He’s making good money and not really showing his value right now.

Get him on the point with the second power play unit (instead of Staal) and play him with Kotalik at even strength…then I think his points will increase.