Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas on the 32 Thoughts: The Podcast – Couple Clubs Reach Their Tipping Point episode, on the New York Rangers and where things stand.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Bukauskas: “The Rangers are still trying to find the answer to pick themselves up again. Elliott, they’ve won three times in the last 13 games. They dropped both games over the weekend. Lost to the Blues on Sunday, Kaapo Kakko was a scratch for that game.
You said on headlines on Saturday night with Ron McLean, to no surprise, they are a team that is open for business. They’re willing to consider all options. Of course, like Igor Shesterkin would not be one of them.
But we talked. It was only a week ago figuring a guy like Chris Drury after making the one deal for Trouba, but how long would he wait until more decisions are made? And the Rangers haven’t done much within that time to suggest this group is on the path to finding their way out of this funk. So where do things stand?
Friedman: “Out of the playoffs. That’s where they stand right now. They are, I never would have thought that we’d be sitting here approaching Christmas and the Rangers would be out of the playoffs.
And you know, you take a look at it, Philadelphia is ahead of them, but they’ve played one more game. But all of a sudden, they’re a point behind Ottawa, same amount of games played, they’re three points behind Tampa. Tampa has got two games in hand, and in their own division, they’re already eight points back of third place, Carolina.
So they’ve really put themselves in an incredible hole. I don’t think anybody saw this coming. And then again on Sunday night, you know, it’s just unbelievable how they start games right now. They start games stunned. 5-0 to the kings. 25 minutes in at home, and 3-0 to the Blues Sunday night.
You’re always trying to climb out of a deep hole, like it’s an impossible way to play. Comebacks in this league happen more often than they used to in the dead puck era or the hook and hold in water ski era, Kyle, but still not when you’re doing that.
And you know, you look at it. The other night, as you mentioned, Kakko got scratched, and that really shocked people. But to me, the real story was, you know, they moved a couple guys down the lineup. Like, if you look at Kreider, Kreider averages 17 and a half minutes a game. On Sunday night he played 15:17. But the big one was the (Mika) Zibanejad. I mean, he plays 18:22, a game, and on Sunday night, he played 13:04.
Now (Vincent) Trochek still played a lot. He still played 19 minutes, and he does play a lot. (Alexis) Lafreniere played 19 minutes. (Filip) Chytil played 19 minutes. (Will) Cuylle played 15 minutes, but it was pretty obvious by the way they used him, that they’re really starting to trust him a bit more.
And here’s the thing, here I wonder, like, I’m not sure where this is going to go with the Rangers. Like I said, I think he’s open for business and willing to consider anything and there’s some wild rumors flying around about what that organization could do.
But you know, the thing that stood out to me on Sunday night is, you know, everybody knows Kreider’s out things got a partial no move. Zibanejad has a full no-move. And you know, you always look at this, like any player can get benched or move down the lineup at any time. But if this 13 minutes on Sunday night, to me, the question now is, is this a one-off, or is this real? Is this the Rangers trying to make Zibanejad uncomfortable?
You know, Larry Brooks went on the Spittin’ Chicklets pod last, last week, and he he talked about how Zibanejad has a bit of a thin skin. And I think you have to understand that there are people in life who are like that, and there are people who in life who have thick skins. That doesn’t mean that people are wrong or bad. We all need thicker skins, but, you know, some people are just wired certain ways. It’s life.
And you know, at times it’s obvious that the Rangers try to be really careful of that with Zibanejad. They know he’s got a really thin skin, or he’s really sensitive, so they try and protect him Right now, what this is, and on Sunday night, they said they didn’t care about that. And the thing that you well look at is, is that a thing now? Is that a one-off until he plays better?
Or is that this is the Rangers trying to make him uncomfortable, to see if, in any way shape or form, he either (a) starts to play better, because ultimately, that’s what everybody wants, or does it get to a point where he says, ‘You know what? If this is the way it’s going to be, I’d rather go somewhere else.’
So you always have to, and look, they, they did what they had to do with Trouba. Not everybody liked it, but they did it. So if you and they did what they had to do with (Barclay) Goodrow, and people didn’t like it, but they did it.
So now you have to look at this with Zibanejad and say, ‘Okay, what is this? One-off or is this the Ranger saying we’ve got to do what we need to do.’ So that’s the, even more than the Kakko scratch, that’s what stuck out to me about Sunday night.
Bukauskas: “Do you think, looking back, had those two names, Trouba and Kreider, not got out, are the Rangers in this position now?
Friedman: “That’s a great question. That’s a great question. And, you know …”
Bukauskus: “Only because, like, part of that is, you know, was because Drury in the organization, there was some underlying trends that were not going in the right direction before things really started to get rocky. And that was part of the reason why what happened, happened, and Trouba is now in Anaheim. And there was a shift, but to go from rocking the boat to three wins in 13 games, my gosh.”
Friedman: “I don’t see how you could look at it any other way. And, you know, I mean, I obviously I reported, so I’m right in the middle of it, but, you know, I’m sure there’s some GMs out here, you know who are, who are looking at it, Like this is why Steve Yzerman or Lou Lomoriello or Doug Armstrong is the way they are.
Even though that’s the trade list, so it’s 32 people know what’s going on. I think that’s why those guys would say why they are the way they are. It’s that when it does get out, look what it does. Or look what it can do, and this, doesn’t always do it, but in this case, it certainly did it. I don’t know how you can’t say that, this played a huge factor in it.
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