Joe's Reaction of the Week: The Final Stretch
If losing is the goal, why not learn something too? The Rangers’ lineup decisions still aren’t adding up.
We're truly at the home stretch now, with the New York Rangers just 10 games away from ending this miserable season.
The good news? As of this writing the Rangers are sitting pretty in second place in the draft lottery, good for a 13.5 percent chance to draft Gavin McKenna this summer.
The bad news? The Rangers play the Chicago Blackhawks tonight in a game that, for all intents and purposes, is a must lose for the tank. Chicago sits two points "behind" the Rangers in third place with no games in hand.
Which returns us to a point that has been made for the past few weeks, if not months: If losing is good for the team, why not get silly with it?
Last week I talked about the differences between a lost season and a bad season. We discussed this very point again this week on the podcast.
The reality is a draft lottery is just that—a lottery. I ran the Tankathon simulation about 25 times and the Rangers won the lottery in five of them, and finished second just once. The lowest they can fall (if all remains as it does) is fourth. Just outside of the range of the top two forward prospects who would be needle movers for this team.
That means these next 10 games need to be something more for the team, and not in the way you're thinking. The Rangers need data. The Rangers need information. They need answers.
Vincent Iorio played in his first game in three weeks against Toronto and played just 12:37. Scott Morrow continues to wallow in Hartford. Drew Fortescue burned a year of his ELC and can't yet get into the lineup. Don't even get me started about Gabe Perreault and the first power play unit—although at least Mike Sullivan has kept him on the top line.
