June 27, 2015 it was draft day morning, and I received two notifications on my phone.

“The Rangers have traded goaltender Cam Talbot, and the 209th overall pick, to the Edmonton Oilers, in exchange for the 57th, 79th, and 184th overall pick.”

I knew this trade was going to happen. Was I disappointed that the Rangers did not receive the first round pick they were rumored to get? Yes, but three picks for a back-up goaltender is pretty solid.

Then, I saw the next notification, and my heart sank.

“The Rangers have traded left-winger Carl Hagelin and two draft-picks (59 and 179), to the Anaheim Ducks for right-winger Emerson Etem, and the 41st overall pick in the 2015 draft.”

From a business perspective, I understood this trade. Hagelin was coming of a two-year 4.5 million dollar contract and was deserving of a raise, which he received when he signed a four-year, 16 million dollar contract with the Ducks. The Rangers used Hagelin’s cap space to sign Viktor Stalberg, Jarret Stoll, Rapheal Diaz, Oscar Lindberg, Emerson Etem, Jesper Fast, J.T. Miller, Derek Stepan, Boo Nieves, Antti Raanta, and Pavel Buchnevich (there were more signings, I listed the players that made the team either then, or in the future).

The Emerson Etem experiment never worked out with the Rangers as he only played nineteen games with the club, and was later traded to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Nicklas Jensen.

The Rangers lost a key penalty killer and a blazing fast skater in Carl Hagelin, and were looking for a cheap free-agent option. Enter, Michael Grabner. Grabner signed a two-year, 1.6 million dollar contract on the opening day of free-agency. The Rangers thought that they signed a poor-mans Carl Hagelin, but instead, they received a scorer.

In six seasons played with the Vancouver Canucks and Islanders, Grabner scored 95 goals and 155 points in 317 games. His best season was 2010-11, when he scored 34 goals and 52 points in 76 games with the Islanders. The Islanders traded Grabner to the Maple Leafs for five players during the 2015 season.

However, Grabner was a disappointment for the Leafs. He scored 18 points in 80 games with the Maple Leafs. Thus, the Leafs opted to let him go via free-agency.

Grabner has excelled with the Rangers over the last two years. Under Alian Vigneault, Grabner is able to use his speed to his advantage, and his line-mates will keep up with him, because the Rangers are a fast team. Last season, Grabner scored 27 goals and 40 points. Grabner was one goal short of the team lead. This season has been more of the same for Grabner, as he has 15 points through 26 games.

The Rangers will have a busy offseason. The Rangers have eleven free agents that they will have to deal with! Rick Nash, J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner, David Desharnais, Jimmy Vesey, Boo Nieves, Paul Carey, Nick Holden, Brady Skjei, and Ondrej Pavelec will all be free agents in the 2018-19 offseason. Presuming that David Desharnais, Paul Carey, Nick Holden, and Ondrej Pavelec are not offered contracts, the Rangers will have approximately $7,088,396 in cap-space.

On Friday, November 17th, in a press conference in Montreal, NHL Comissioner Gary Bettman stated that NHL league revenues could be between 4.5-5.0 billion dollars. This could mean a drastic increase in the NHL salary cap.

The Athletic’s own James Mirtle reports that the NHL 2018-19 salary cap could increase 5-7 million next summer. This could mean that the Rangers would have anywhere from 12,088,396-14,088,396 million dollars in cap-space. This is not only good for all NHL teams looking to sign free-agents, but this could also mean that the Rangers will have cap-space to sign Micael Grabner as well as their other free agents.

Michael Grabner is putting up excellent numbers with the Rangers, and the Rangers should make a serious effort to keep him.

Pavel Buchnevich has always been this enigmatic icon among Rangers fans. Even before he ever took the ice for prospect camp, fans all over were drooling over his YouTube highlights; instantaneously warranting the viewpoint that Buchnevich had to be a talent the likes of Vladimir Tarasenko. His first season with the New York Rangers organization was a roller coaster, one marked by highs and lows alike.

The Good

Buchnevich began the 2016-17 season on the opening day roster and through his first six games only managed two assists, despite getting ample playing time of roughly 15 minutes per game. He then turned on the jets in his next four games, scoring four goals and 2 assists. Putting his ten-game total at eight points. Not a bad start to a rookie campaign, eh?

The Bad

However, that’s when the New York Rangers made the decision to shut him down for an extended period in order to strengthen his core, as he was having some back pains. A lot of that has to do with the NHL way of training versus the International. It’s why you see more growing pains with international players coming over to the NHL.

For comparison’s sake, the KHL season lasts 56 games, but unlike the NHL who plays 82 games beginning in October and ending in April, the KHL season plays those 56 games beginning in late August. That’s an eight-month season with roughly seven games per month, as opposed to the NHL average of twelve games per month. Breaking it down a little bit more, a KHL team will usually play 1-2 games per week, whereas NHL teams play 3-4 game per week. It’s very similar to training for a marathon versus a sprint.

The Ugly

Buchnevich then returned to the Rangers lineup in January and over the course of the final 31 games only managed to record another four goals and eight assists. He finished his rookie season with a stat line to 41 GP, 8G, 12A and 20 points. Many fans were disappointed by this, blaming his lack of production on what they perceived to be poor coaching decisions by Alain Vigneault planting him on the fourth line.

Even when given an opportunity in the playoffs, Buchnevich was held to a measly one point over the course of six games and was infamously taken off the roster during the Montreal series in favor of Tanner Glass.

Note: It didn’t help fans’ narrative of blaming lineup decisions for Buchnevich’s perceived shortcomings when Tanner Glass sparked the team’s turnaround vs. Montreal and famously snarked “If you mess with the bull, you get the horns.” Glass also had this comment for fans to pour a little salt on the wounds of those opposed to the move. Despite most initial reactions to this reference, it does hold relevance in this evaluation.

The Current

Pavel Buchnevich has returned with a vengeance. Many will credit this resurgence to Buchnevich finally getting what they have been pleading for, a top line assignment alongside Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. Buchnevich has four goals and three assists for seven points since the promotion. So far this season, Buchnevich has 8 goals and 7 assists for 15 points.

The contrarian view might say that despite his 15 points, eight of them have come on the man-advantage and the issue remains that he’s a -2 on the season. (a stat which I personally don’t love, as it doesn’t tell the whole story usually).

Success Breeds Questions

All signs now point to Pavel Buchnevich becoming the player so many fans hoped he would be when the team first drafted him and brought him over from Russia. His performance forces us now to have two conversations though. The first is, can Buchnevich be a building block piece for the Rangers going forward and in the future? Doug MacLean recently agreed with this point on Sportsnet Hockey Central, mentioning Buchnevich alongside Mika Zibanejad and Brady Skjei as possible core building pieces for this team going forward.

First things first though, and the other conversation we need to have is to take a step back and take an alternate look at the narrative that’s surrounded Buchnevich. Fans for so long have been pleading with beat writers and pleading with Alain Vigneault that Vigneault was hurting the team by not placing Buchnevich in a more prominent role. The perception of Alain Vigneault not trusting young players was something I recently took a look at here on Forever Blueshirts, when I posted the question, “Maybe we’re wrong about Alain Vigneault.”

I’ve seen all the Corsi stats that explain why Buchnevich needed a top line role, and many of them were absolutely compelling. The really interesting part is we will never truly know whether it was the chicken or the egg in this scenario. However, there are a few key points that need to be examined when making your conclusion on this topic.

The Truth

Alain Vigneault employs a very structured system. It’s very unique among NHL standards in that he employs a “man” defensive zone structure as opposed to a “zone.” The Rangers played a zone defense under John Tortorella. The striking difference between the two and the complexity of the “man” defensive zone structure directly correlates to the Rangers ugly start to the 2013-14 season. The “man” defensive zone structure can make even the most skilled defensemen look silly. This could also have a lot to do with the reasoning behind AV’s choice to play guys like Nick Holden and Steven Kampfer over younger players. It’s necessary for the Rangers to play a “man” defensive zone system as it compliments the transition and counter-attack game the Rangers employ much better than a “zone” structure would.

Pavel Buchnevich has always had high-end talent, but top-six players play against the opponents’ top-six players. If you aren’t buttoned up enough in the defensive zone, the holes in your defensive game are more glaring and easily exposed. It’s a big reason why the Corsi numbers don’t truly apply to that narrative. They don’t prove why a guy who has had a certain level of performance on the 4th line will automatically have that same success on a top line (See: Adam Clendening, Emerson Etem).

The Difference

There’s also the adjustment from the KHL/International rink to the NHL ice. In the NHL, the space between the goal line and the boards is 11′, whereas a KHL rink has 13′. The surface in the NHL is significantly smaller in width as well (85′ wide versus the KHL 100′). Most notably, while both rinks are 200 feet in length, the NHL defensive zone from the goal line to the blue line is 64 feet, 7 feet longer than the KHL’s 58 feet. That’s a lot more room to cover defensively north and south in a tighter space east and west.

The Reality

This all comes down to being able to not be a detriment in the defensive zone. Alain Vigneault is tasked with the responsibility of putting a team on the ice that has the best understanding of his system, both defensively and offensively. He also has the luxury of being able to find scoring throughout most of his lineup. The biggest concern really was making sure that he wasn’t putting the team in harm’s way defensively by giving Buchnevich those minutes. Not only did Buchnevich play his entire life on international ice, he never before played in any defensive zone structure until he came over to New York.

In sports like football, coaches are heralded as a genius and disciplined when they take a talented young player and give him time to learn their system in a lesser role (see Aaron Rodgers). Yet somehow, a large contingent of fans ignore the same fact and learning curve a young player goes through coming over to the NHL. At least in football, the playing surface is the same.

To further this point, in football you get the luxury to put players in where they succeed while they develop where they don’t. You’re able to use a running back who hasn’t developed his blocking game well enough yet as a 3rd down back. In hockey, even if you only start a player in the offensive zone, odds are the play will end up in your defensive zone at some point during his shift. It’s the reason why through all levels of USA Hockey and Hockey Canada, coaches emphasize the importance of being a good “200 ft player.” I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve personally witnessed a highly talented player (at times, the most talented player) get cut from a team because he didn’t play three zones and the team was better off for it.

The Future

Now that Buchnevich has begun to show signs of defensive zone reliability, as well as displaying his scoring ability for all to see, it does seem like he’s here to stay. He isn’t perfect in the defensive zone, but he has been noticeably better. It’s key to point out that during this Rangers six-game winning streak, they have come up large against three very special talents named Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and most recently Connor McDavid. Against Edmonton, where Vigneault had the last change, he consistently matched the Kevin Hayes line up against McDavid, not the KZB line. He also did the same against Tampa Bay, and you’ll most likely continue to see it against other teams.

Buchnevich has made his biggest impact though on the Power Play, as evidenced by more than half of his points coming on the man advantage. The Power Play as a whole has been a revelation for the New York Rangers and has become an area where they can punish teams.

This isn’t all to Kevin Shattenkirk’s credit though. No matter how you draw it up, a good Power Play needs three elements. A quarterback, a sniping threat, and a net-front presence. Shattenkirk has been that quarterback, and so was Yandle and many who came before them. The biggest difference I’m seeing is that teams can’t overcommit to Shattenkirk because of the threat Buchnevich’s, and by extension, Mika Zibanejad’s, shot poses. This keeps the opponent’s PK honest and ultimately gives Shattenkirk more room to move or shoot the puck.

Only time will tell what Pavel Buchnevich develops into. I see a really good talent in him, but I don’t see a Nikita Kucherov or Vladimir Tarasenko just yet. The thing is, nobody saw Nikita Kucherov coming the way he has (also another offensively gifted player who’s coach brought him along slowly over the years.)

For more on this topic, hear The Tilted Ice’s take on the matter below.

https://soundcloud.com/user-200365995/tilted-ice-north-of-penn-short-is-pavel-buchnevich-a-building-block-for-the-future

This was my reaction when I found out that Alexandre Daigle donned a Rangers uniform. I had no idea how I missed it, but I did! Lesser Known Rangers dives into this topic by looking into players to whom you had no idea donned a Blueshirt. So strap yourselves in and prepare to take a trip down obscure hockey player avenue! Let’s begin!

Patrick Rissmiller, Left Wing

Time with Rangers: 2 games in the 2008-09 season.

Known for being a strong, two way forward for the College of The Holy Cross, Rissmiller signed as an Undrafted Free Agent with the San Jose Sharks. After putting up solid numbers for the AHL’s Cleveland Barons and a brief stint with the Sharks, Rissmiller was called up a second time for the 06-07 season. In this run, Rissmiller tallied 22 points for the Sharks including  seven goals and fifteen assists. On April 27, 2006 Rissmiller scored his first career playoff goal off a deflection against the Nashville Predators.

Rissmiller signed with the Rangers as a Free Agent on July 1st, 2008 and made the opening day roster out of training camp. Unfortunately for Rissmiller, after winning in his debut as a Ranger, he was injured and after just 2 games then was demoted to the AHL. Even though putting up decent numbers (54 points in 64 games), Rissmiller was never able to find his way back to the big club on Broadway.

Rissmiller’s tenure with the Rangers officially ended as he was dealt to the Atlanta Thrashers, along with Donald Brashear for center Todd White. Rissmiller only made it back to the NHL for one game with the Thrashers before being sent back down to the AHL. Rissmiller bounced around signing minor league contracts with the Avalanche and Sharks but was never able to crack the NHL and eventually; after a two year stint with Ritten-Renon with the Italian Serie A, Rissmiller retired from professional hockey.

Rissmiller is working as a development coach for the New Jersey Devils.

Nikolai Antropov, Center

Time with Rangers: 18 games in 2008-09, 7 playoff games.

The 2008-09 campaign was an interesting season to say the least. They began the season in Switzerland, Adam Graves‘ number was raised to the rafters, Tom Renney was fired, John Tortorella was brought in and all the while, the roster was shuffled to save the team from falling out of playoff contention. One of these moves was acquiring Nik Antropov from the Maple Leafs for a second rounder and a conditional draft pick. Antropov helped the Rangers keep the ship afloat to a 7th seed in the old conference playoff alignment.

In his stint as a Ranger, Antropov was effective in his 18 regular season by tallying 13 points (7 goals, 6 assists) and in the first round versus the Washington Capitals, in seven games, Antropov scored 2 goals and 1 assist. Unfortunately, the Rangers were eliminated in that first round on a late goal by Sergei Fedorov.

Antropov did not re-sign with the Rangers after that season, opting to sign a four-year, $16.25 million deal with the Atlanta Thrashers, who then became the Winnipeg Jets. Antropov scored the first goal for the new Winnipeg Jets in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. After his contract with Winnipeg ended, Antropov went to play in the KHL before ending his professional career in 2015.

Personally, Antropov was one of my favorite Rangers. A large center with good hands stood out on a team that wasn’t physical at all. I wanted the organization to bring him back but his age and potential contract demands weren’t going to hurry the Rangers into giving him an offer.

Emerson Etem, Right Wing

Time with Rangers: 19 Games in 2015-16

This has the potential to be a future Lesser Known Ranger, so might as well get right to it. The summer after the Rangers lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Rangers were coming out with their heads held high, considering the injuries they were playing with. They had just won the Presidents Trophy and boasted a core of players that was primed for consistent playoff runs. There’s only one problem with all of that: the salary cap. Many of the Ranger core players were due for a raise and one of those players was fan favorite Carl Hagelin.

Hagelin was traded, along with two draft picks, to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Emerson Etem and a second round draft pick. On paper, this trade made sense for the Rangers, as they acquired a younger, faster, and cheaper player who had a high ceiling. The Rangers were hoping that Etem’s speed could contribute to AV’s fast paced system just like Carl Hagelin did, unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

Even though Etem made the team out of training camp, he failed to make in impact. Only tallying 3 assists in 19 games, Etem was a non factor. Sometimes, you didn’t even know he was on the ice at times. Touted as a high talent draft pick and being selected 29th overall by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, none of what was shown by Etem in his junior days came out in his time as a Ranger. This prompted him to be dealt by a second team, as the Rangers traded him on January 8th, 2016 to Vancouver for Forward Nicklas Jensen and a 6th round pick.

After failing to stick with Vancouver, Etem is currently playing for the Arizona Coyotes while Carl Hagelin has lifted two Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh.

There is something deeply engrained within the sports fan. Past passion, past excitement, past memories, past the ability to get oh so high from a trade that seems to go in your favor, right where irrationality meets frustration lays that dirty ugly five letter word, blame. The Rangers lose: polls run, who’s to blame? Beat writers search for the scapegoat, irrational fans go to their old favorites “That was definitely Girardi’s fault on defense and Stepan never put home that puck on the goal line.” But wait, it’s 2017. Those names are long gone, but still, the instinct is to blame and blame who or what’s comfortable.

The Rangers are seven games into the 2017-18 campaign, just a smidge under 10% of the season, and have to dig themselves out of a 1-5-1 hole that puts them dead last in the Eastern Conference. Let’s call a spade a spade here; it’s time to be concerned. The Rangers have upcoming matches against the Islanders, the Western Conference champion Nashville Predators and the San Jose Sharks, before finishing out their homestand that will see it’s finale introduce a new character, Derek Stepan the Coyote. Can you see the script writing itself going forward like I can?

In seven games, the New York Rangers have done everything they can do wrong. They’ve gotten off to poor starts and played extremely well in their comeback attempts only to fall short. They’ve let go of leads in games they’ve commanded, and they’ve commanded games to hit a brick wall disguised as a goalie. Bad penalties and bad giveaways have become the norm. Whereas in years past, if one thing went wrong, the team would shake it off and get back to work, things seem to have gone wrong and gotten worse, not better.

Going around, where’s the blame lay? Well, here’s some we’ve seen so far; AV has lost the room, Staal is still on the team, McDonagh isn’t playing well, or the personal favorite, the irrelevant Corsi statistic blaming a player.

No matter which way you split it, everyone is to blame, and that is a fact at this point. Recently, there have been whispers of unsettlement as far as Head Coach Alain Vigneault goes. Questions have justifiably been raised: “Has he lost the room?” (I can answer this simply: yes he absolutely has but that’s not really the problem.) However, there’s one sneaky character flying under the radar here that needs to be held accountable. I’m going to call him out, show you why, and then proceed to explain why he is absolutely comfortable with how things stand.

Enter Jeff Gorton, the disciplined negotiator who bent Kevin Shattenkirk to his will in negotiations. The shrewd man at the helm who dealt an aging center the team didn’t need and could replace for a #7 overall pick and a defensive prospect. The stern navigator of the ship who refused to overpay for Shattenkirk at last year’s deadline and instead paid less for Brendan Smith, a move I like by the way. Jeff Gorton has gotten the biggest room for error of any GM in any major professional sports team in New York. He’s been able to operate to the herald of beat writers, while in essence stripping the team bit by bit, piece by piece with the greatest built-in reason, the salary cap.” Let’s take a look back at the three-year track record of Jeff Gorton though.

Gorton officially replaced Glen Sather as Rangers GM on July 1, 2015, a mere few weeks after the Rangers coming a game shy of a return trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. That team was made up of players like; Rick Nash, Martin St. Louis (was heading into retirement), Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider, Carl Hagelin, JT Miller, and Jesper Fast as team’s wings. Up the middle, the roster had Derick Brassard, Derek Stepan, Kevin Hayes and Dominic Moore, and the blue line contained Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Klein, Dan Boyle, Marc Staal, Dan Girardi and Keith Yandle. Not to leave out a superb back up goaltender in Cam Talbot.

Carl Hagelin will be “Asset #1” and Cam Talbot will be “Asset #2” in this explanation. Now, it’s no mystery that sometimes teams need to make difficult decisions with their personnel. However, in Jeff Gorton’s first test as New York Rangers General Manager, he was tasked with converting those two assets into assets that fit the team’s financial needs. Asset #1 was a proven commodity, yet he was traded to Anaheim for Emerson Etem, a completely unknown and unproven asset. The Rangers traded the 59th and 179th picks in that year’s draft to Anaheim in the same trade in return for the 41st pick; essentially valuing the drop-off between Hagelin and Etem to be equal with the addition of the commensurate draft picks. With the 41st Overall pick of the 2015 draft, the New York Rangers selected LW Ryan Gropp. Now to make matters worse, it was rumored that Hagelin was willing to re-sign with the Rangers for the $3.5 million they were budgeted for, but the organization still chose to move on from the fastest guy in the league. Okay…

Now onto Asset #2, Cam Talbot. Let’s dispose of the “we should’ve kept Cam” talk immediately. It wasn’t possible. Rumors were flying around that the Rangers may have a top 20 overall pick returning for him. Florida offered Jimmy Hayes, but Jeff Gorton made the move to Edmonton, where Cam has gone on to be a Vezina candidate. Looking back, Gorton should have pulled a Sakic and known what he had in Talbot, who had another year under contract to boot and held out for what the team needed. A team that was a win away from back to back Cup Final appearances did not need was draft picks. The Rangers traded Cam Talbot to the Edmonton Oilers for the 57th, 79th and 184th pick in that year’s draft. Draft picks are awesome if they work, and I applaud the strategy but let’s take a look at what those picks became.

Pick 57: Rangers traded away to Buffalo for Pick #62 and #113

Pick 62: Robin Kovacs

Pick 79: Sergei Zborovsky

Pick 113: Brad Morrison

Pick 184: Adam Huska

So in his first test, Jeff Gorton turned a “could’ve re-signed, missed him for a year and replaced him with a lesser version Michael Grabner” Carl Hagelin and a soon to be Vezina Trophy candidate with one year left on his contract Cam Talbot for Ryan Gropp (just cracked the Wolf Pack roster), Robin Kovacs (left Hartford for SHL), Sergey Zborovskiy (playing with Rangers ECHL affiliate Greenville), Brad Morrison (playing his 20 year old season in the WHL) and Adam Huska (UConn). As a result of trading off those assets, the team got worse. As the 2015-16 season got underway, the Rangers struggled with an up and down season, noticeably missing speed in the lineup just at the same time as Carl Hagelin was sent off to Pittsburgh to be a key component of a team making and winning a Stanley Cup final. As the season concluded, more “Assets” came into Jeff Gorton’s hands, namely Keith Yandle.

Yandle, an offensive minded 45 point scoring defenseman in his prime who would be commanding a $6 million per year contract. Knowing that Yandle wouldn’t be re-signed, Gorton could have moved him at the deadline for players and pieces that benefitted the team immediately and in the future. Instead, he let him play the season out and taking “Asset #3” and flipping him down to Florida for a 2016 6th rounder and a conditional 2017 4th rounder. This is the same Keith Yandle that cost the Rangers a first round pick, a top 6 defenseman, and a top prospect in Anthony Duclair. Gorton did make some good pickups in the offseason that year such as Jimmy Vesey and Michael Grabner but my point is in his handling of assets, not signing players.

Fast forward to 2017, an offseason in which the Rangers blue-line came under question. Dan Girardi or Marc Staal were due for greener pastures and as such Dan Girardi was bought out despite the fact that Girardi had a much better year and playoffs than Staal had. Girardi was also more of a tradeable asset than Staal, as Tampa Bay had no problem paying the man to come and play. The defense needed to be revamped like the offense had been the year before. They brought back Brendan Smith as their 3rd defenseman and with Brady Skjei emerging as an elite scoring defenseman, a top three of McDonagh, Skjei, Smith looked pretty solid.

That’s when Gorton fumbled the ball yet again on Asset #4, Derek Stepan. The Stepan trade was one that was heralded by many as a shrewd move that had to be done. But the common theme I’m finding here is that when there’s a move that has to be done, Gorton is going to screw it up. The Rangers traded a luxury they had in a solid backup goaltender Antti Raanta alongside the team’s first line center Derek Stepan to Arizona for Anthony DeAngelo and the 7th overall pick. While on its face the deal seemed great, the actions following the trade make it look like a giveaway.

Anthony DeAngelo is an offensive defenseman that needs a lot of work in his own zone. Add in Brady Skjei, and it’s pretty rare to have two potential 40 point defensemen on your blue line as is. Now, the 7th overall pick got fans very excited and it should, but the team opted to go with Lias Andersson. Andersson, a very talented player, was a reach at #7 however and the rationale behind it was this: “we may not have gotten the highest ceiling guy available, but we got the guy with the best chance to crack the roster this season and help the team.” With that explanation, I was all for it. Now as we move forward through the offseason, Gorton goes out and signs Kevin Shattenkirk, an admirable acquisition, but one that came with a few flags, primarily his less than average defensive zone play. This was a 40+ point defenseman who never in his career played top pairing minutes and could essentially be considered as Keith Yandle with less defensive ability. So why is it one year you don’t need that player and then the next you do? The money freed up from the Stepan trade was used on this signing, but did it strengthen the roster with the addition more than it weakened it with the subtraction? No.

To add to the cluster, the sole reasoning of drafting Andersson over a player that the organization has been searching for like Casey Middlestadt, who will need a year or two of college hockey before being an impact first line center in the NHL, was his year one availability. The Rangers didn’t even choose to give him the nine games to prove himself in the NHL before sending him back, so despite what their scouts said, the team felt he was not ready for the NHL.

When Jeff Gorton has assets and has a competitive team, his objective should be that of Glen Sather. Ryan Callahan was an asset under Sather, and he leveraged that asset to improve the roster at that moment. Sather didn’t trade assets for picks, he traded assets and picks for more assets.

Now, I understand that Jeff Gorton is also tasked with restocking the cubbard with prospects, but he’s done so at the cost of the Rangers roster and at the cost of robbing his coach of the personnel he needs. His trades have not worked out yet by any stretch of the imagination; and n the three drafts Gorton has been at the helm, where he’s acquired pick after pick, not one player has cracked the NHL roster or gotten close to sniffing it yet.

Right now all the anger and vitriol is pointed at Alain Vigneault for this team’s horrible play so far, and in many cases, rightfully so. However, here is where it get’s worse. Nobody is pointing their finger up at Gorton yet, and nobody will as long as there is a scapegoat in place. AV has lost the room, that’s a given at this point. However, AV is a good coach so with the right pieces and support he would be successful. Gorton thus far has botched the job. If or when Gorton chooses to say sayonara to AV and the next coach has the same issues with the misgivings of the team’s personnel, the next head to roll will be Gorton’s. And it’s with that knowledge that Jeff Gorton will continue to “stay out” of the AV issue and do nothing until he is absolutely forced to. AV, while with plenty fault of his own, is Jeff Gorton’s scapegoat for his mistakes thus far and will remain so.

Year after year, Gorton has taken away key components from AV’s machine and leveraged them into picks, only to replace those same components with lesser quality. The revolving door of “core player” replacement parts has eaten away at the dynamic of this once strong-willed and close-knit group. A top six winger, two top four defensemen, and your first line center; find me a team in the league that’s had a similar overhaul in their core in a three year period and come out stronger on the other end. This game of robbing Peter to pay Paul has finally caught up to the core of this team and organization … but hey, they got draft picks.

Etem’s Story

The Rangers were forced to part with the beloved Carl Hagelin due to cap constraints. In return they acquired Etem and a draft pick (Ryan Gropp). The kid had speed but never put together a consistent effort in Anaheim. Some blamed the Anaheim coach, others said the kid lacked the maturity to play at the NHL level.

In 19 games with the Rangers he amassed 3 assists. That’s it…3 assists. He was then traded to Vancouver for Nicklas Jensen and the same fans that are in love with Clendening, cried foul over Etem. They cited that Etem was getting good chances and was not being used enough. Bottom line AV was treating Etem unfairly and wasn’t giving him a chance.

Etem averaged around 11 minutes of ice and produced nothing of value to the scoreboard where it counts. His corsi was also 47%, so he wasn’t necessarily killing it there either. No, the whole misguided love affair was that he was young and AV was bad with kids, therefore Etem never realized his full potential.

To date, the Canucks traded him back to Anaheim and he is currently playing for the San Diego Gulls (the Ducks’ farm team).

From Etem to Clendening with Love

Here we are just a season later and the new stats driven love child is Adam Clendening. At least in his case, there is a little more statistical foundation for it. In 15 games, he has a goal and 7 assists. Furthermore, in everyone’s favorite stat (corsi) he is sporting a really good looking 56.6%, which is 9 points higher than Ryan McDonagh!

Well move over Brian Leetch…you may have some competition.

Almost every game you hear about his ability to make a pass out of the zone. Or how well he doing getting the puck into the offensive zone. You never hear about his softness in his own zone, his mistakes under pressure (i.e. see SHGA in TOR) or how his partners have to scramble to cover for him.

Here’s another thing the stat lovers choose to ignore because the numbers don’t fit their overall view of Clendening.

1. Lowest starts in the DZ of all NYR defenseman (23.3%)
2. Lowest TOI.QoC of all NYR defenseman (28:41)
3. Lowest SV% of all NYR defenseman (89.19%)

Without going into a big explanation of fancy stats, the three points above can be broken down as follows:

1. The coaching staff doesn’t trust him in the defensive zone
2. The coaching staff matches him up against the opposition’s weakest players
3. When he’s on the ice, our goalies seem to have a harder time stopping the puck

So Why Are Fans In Love With Him?

Imagine you are stranded on a desert island with 3 ugly sisters and a high powered telescope. Through the lens of the telescope you can see the island of Ibiza and all the gorgeous women in bikinis, but you have no way to signal for help off the island and you still need companionship. At this point you come to accept your situation and make the best of it. (For my lady readers, just flip the script to 3 ugly brothers if you like…I’m all about equality).

This is basically analogous to what’s going on with the Rangers blue-line.

Dan Girardi and Kevin Klein are not playing well on the right side, so Adam Clendening seems like the best option. After being alone on the island for awhile, one of those three ugly sisters/brothers is going to start looking really good…but they aren’t anyone on that island of Ibiza.

However in fairness to Girardi, he plays against the hardest competition on the team. Matter of fact, he leads in that category of all NYR blue-liners. That makes his SV% of 90.46 a lot more palatable than Clendening’s. Girardi also starts in the defensive zone 34.1% of the time. Only Nick Holden and Marc Staal are higher.

Bottom line, Girardi and Klein are not playing great but the love affair for Clendening is irrational once a larger and brighter light is turned on.

Clendening’s NHL journey (so far)

Let’s ignore the fact that this is the 24 year old defensemen’s 6th team since 2014. Also ignore he couldn’t stick with a defense starved Edmonton or Pittsburgh squad and let’s try to find out why?

In Chicago, he was a victim of talent overload and couldn’t find a spot. This caused a trade to Vancouver who was happy to land a much needed right handed young defenseman. He played well in his 17 game stint but somehow didn’t impress enough to stick on a rebuilding team. He moved on to Pittsburgh and then gets flipped to Anaheim, who never use him either and put him on waivers. That’s when the Oilers picked him up.

Is there any team in the NHL that screams “desperate for defense” more than the Edmonton Oilers? This is where Clendening gets his longest look (20 games) but ultimately can’t make it here as well. The NY native makes one more brief stint in Pittsburgh and is finally signed by the Rangers this past offseason. 54 games played, 2 goals and 11 points.

So What’s the Issue?

Well according to Rangers’ fans…nothing. Matter of fact he probably has become our best right defenseman according to them.

So what were the issues before?

Here’s some assessments of his game I found on Oilers Nation:

• At most I see him as a depth defender to slot in the 6-7 spot, which is infinitely replaceable, and I’d rather have a guy like Pardy in that spot.
• I like him with the puck on his stick in the offensive zone, and he is a nice passer. I don’t like the fact he gets knocked off the puck easily and is not a great skater.
• Not a great skater, not physical, not dominant defensively and doesn’t produce enough offence. I see him as maybe a depth signing…
• I think he is a good fit to finish off the season but there are no sure bets for next season. To change my mind he would have to improve his ability of getting shots through from the point.

The last quote was from former NHL defenseman, Jason Strudwick and at this point, they all seem to hold true this season with the Rangers.

History Will Repeat Itself

Just like Emerson Etem, history will repeat itself. Whether it be this upcoming deadline or this offseason, Clendening will not be on this roster long term.

He is a nice depth defenseman and can provide a temporary uptick in offense. He is not a longterm solution for one simple reason:

Clendening can’t play defense!

And as a defenseman, that is your first priority.

Now, I know many of you will be mad. Many of you will start posting charts on Twitter to make me look like an idiot. I get it….you’re mad!

I know many of you will just tear me up and chew me out over this…but don’t be mad because I turned the lights on in the nightclub.

The truth can be ugly sometimes.

When the Carl Hagelin was traded for draft picks and Emerson Etem, all New York Rangers fans wanted to see was how would Hagelin and Etem compare this season. Of course the Anaheim Ducks and Rangers have moved on from the original players involved in the trade, so comparing their seasons would be a waste of time.

It appears the Rangers may have received the diamond in the rough as part of the Hagelin trade. WHL left winger Ryan Gropp had a rough stretch in the middle of his junior season, but over the last couple of weeks he has been white hot.

In his last 28 games Gropp has registered 15 goals and 21 assists and is now the goal scoring leader for his Seattle Thunderbirds WHL team.

Gropp’s hot streak has coincided with his teams own hot play. The Thunderbirds have won 12 of their past 13 games and are about to clinch a playoff spot in the WHL. They have moved into first place in their division and are primed for a deep run this postseason.

Since the WHL is far from NHL talent, it was starting to get concerning when Gropp was not dominating, earlier in the season. He is starting to show why the Rangers wanted to move up to grab him with the 41^st overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft.

Take a look at Gropp’s Hockey’s Futures page for an in depth look at a player the Rangers will be excited to see at the next level. He is 19 years old, 6’2″, 185 pounds and is known for his speed and quick release. Hockey’s Futures projects him to be a power forward that should be an offensive force in the NHL.

Who says the Rangers have no talent coming up? Thinking a couple years down the road when we could be looking at a couple left wings by the name of Pavel Buchnevich and Ryan Gropp gets this Rangers fan pumped for the future.

There seems to be some sort of moral outrage as to how the Rangers handled Etem in NY. I have joked for the last few hours if they’ve gotten over Gordie Etem or Emerson Gretzky yet because this is ridiculous. For a player who mustered only 3 assists in 19 games and only made the team out of camp after scoring zero points in 5 exhibition games due to the following circumstances:

• Couldn’t be sent down to Hartford because he’d have to pass through waivers and would likely be claimed for nothing
• Was part of deal that saw fan favorite, Carl Hagelin lost to Anaheim because of cap issues

Yet today, there’s a group of Rangers fans who believe he was unfairly treated by Alain Vigneault. A coach who’s past records and accomplishments (as recent as taking this team to the Cup Final in 2014, a Presidents’ Trophy in 2015 along with a game 7 ECF loss) has no clue on what he’s doing.

They pound their chest by citing the NYR poor corsi stats, AV’s affinity for playing Tanner Glass, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal as reasons for justification. Apparently these spreadsheet samurais, corsi cowboys and EA Sports NHL 16 heroes are smarter than Vigneault and the organization. The latest criticism is he doesn’t know how to develop talent.

Let’s start with the fact that Emerson Etem was unjustly given an opportunity because of the circumstances mentioned above. He actually took that opportunity away from Jayson Megna, who in his first shot back, took the bull by the horns and made an impression. Come trade deadline, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rangers moved a 4th liner like Dominic Moore, Viktor Stalberg or Jesper Fast because of the kid. That is of course if he can keep up this play, which will be unlikely.

No, Etem had a fair shake. And yes, he even had minutes with skilled players like Mats Zuccarello and Derick Brassard (see the chart below) and could do nothing with it. As for being stuck playing with “losers” like Tanner Glass? Etem posted his best corsi numbers with him at 56.7%. Mind you, I could care less about an individual’s corsi numbers because he is reliant on 4 other players to help his stats.

Besides finding this “he wasn’t treated fairly” argument laughable, and seeing most of these “experts” ignore what AV has done with Kevin Hayes, Jesper Fast and JT Miller. I am going to focus on one particular prospect that unlike Etem, distinguished himself immediately and is still getting regular playing time because he EARNED IT.

Oscar Lindberg bursted on the scene like a house on fire. The kid, who is 1 year older than Etem, scored 4 goals in his first 4 games to start the year. In his subsequent 35 games he has 6, but he’s still playing. Why? Because when the kid gets out there he plays hard and can be counted on to make the right play. Plus, he has 18 points on the year so he can generate offense.

Are you going to argue that he plays more? You would be right! Etem averaged 11:05 of ice with the NYR. Lindberg has received an astounding 1:38 minutes more. Oh yes, you better believe that’s the difference maker. I hope you understand how dripping with sarcasm that last sentence was.

Matter of fact, Lindberg was given less time to play with the Rangers big names than Etem! Just look at the two charts below. It shows that Etem received almost 30 minutes with arguably the Rangers two best forwards this year (Brass & Zucc). Lindberg did get 24 minutes with Rick Nash and 22:49 with Zuccarello but got 12 minutes or less with Brass and Stepan. *chart has typo

This is the NHL where you get paid big dollars to play and coaches get paid to win games. The Rangers aren’t in a rebuild mode, so there is no reason to just run a prospect out there that can’t get it done with the hopes that they will develop. This is a win now team and Etem was given more than a fair chance to prove himself.

That same chance was given to Oscar Lindberg and he is developing while contributing to the Rangers at the same time. J.T. Miller was given a huge opportunity (out of necessity) in the ECF against Tampa and had a 4 point game and Kevin Hayes was given big minutes in his rookie season last year. Why? Because they earned it by doing something productive on the ice.

So please don’t tell me that Etem wasn’t given a chance when he has 131 NHL games under his belt and is heading to his third team. I saw it in October that the kid wasn’t cutting it. Today when Jeff Gorton spoke about the trade he said the same thing.

[su_quote cite=”NYPOST” url=”https://nypost.com/2016/01/08/rangers-give-up-on-emerson-etem-add-former-1st-rounder-in-trade/”]“I would say it’s clear that Emerson got off to a tough start here and it didn’t seem to gain any traction,” general manager Jeff Gorton said on a conference call Friday night. “It goes back to training camp, really, where it didn’t seem to be working and a fit. So, that’s why at this point, we just thought it was best for us to give him another spot to go to, and for us, find a player we liked and thought had some future.”[/su_quote]

This was a very professional way to say, “the kid couldn’t cut it here.” You simply don’t just give up on 23 year olds with size and speed unless you realized there was a bigger problem. Listen, everyone can have an opinion as to what is the right way to develop a player or how to run a team. Unfortunately in this case, they’re wrong.

I am often told that I can’t trust my eyes by those who are very pro analytics. The game of hockey is fast paced, and there will be things I miss on the ice. Let me leave you with this, what if the dependency on these new advanced analytics have made you so reliant on them that maybe you can no longer trust your own eyes?

Just some food for thought there.

It has been speculated that several teams have been talking to Jeff Gorton about Emerson Etem, but the likely landing spot appears to be Vancouver. Just moments ago, it happened.

Etem to VAN for Jensen and a pick

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 8, 2016

The connection to his former coach Willie Desjardins was strong enough to make the deal happen. In return the Blueshirts acquired forward Nick Jensen. The 22 year old makes an AAV of 925K and is considered a decent prospect.

In 24 NHL games he has 3 goals and 6 points.

[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfMP_zPr0eY”]

Emerson Etem is on his way to Hartford for conditioning. Hockey Insider, Bob McKenzie noted that the Rangers are still working on a deal to trade the 23 year old forward.

Alain Vigneault says Emerson Etem has been assigned to AHL for conditioning #NYR

— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) January 8, 2016

Emerson Etem has not yet been traded by NYR. Trade could happen today. Then again, might not (insert snide remark here). NYR working at it.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) January 8, 2016

Etem requires waivers to go to AHL so that’s not likely unless it’s on conditioning stint. A few teams have been talking to NYR about Etem.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) January 8, 2016

If he’s traded by NYR, a logical landing place could be VAN. Coach Willie Desjardins had Etem in the WHL with Medicine Hat. So we’ll see.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) January 8, 2016

Emerson Etem is on his way either to Hartford or out of the Rangers organization. According to Andrew Gross of the Bergen Record, something will be announced shortly.

Expect a transaction on Emerson Etem to be announced later today. Not sure what transaction is yet.

— Andrew Gross (@AGrossRecord) January 8, 2016

According to other reporters there doesn’t appear to be any news of an AHL transaction so we could be looking at a trade.