How the fuck that happened is beyond me, but we’re here now and we can’t go back.
In preparation of puck drop, I’ve got five additional thoughts I’ve been pondering since we recorded our 150th episode of the podcast. So, he’s a nice, juicy mind dump for everyone as we prepare ourselves for the 2018-19 season:
1. Welcome to the Year of Buchnevich[/text_output][image type=”circle” float=”none” src=”785″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”aligncenter” style=””][text_output]Yeah, yeah. I know what you’re thinking, “every year is the Year of Buchnevich for Blueshirts Breakaway. Get a life already, geez.”
First of all, why the rudeness? That feels unnecessary. Check the ‘tude.
Second, while you’re absolutely right that Buch has been both mine and Ryan’s adopted son since we started podcasting, this year is more important than any other for the Russian Assassin.
For starters – and I promise not to talk about this every fucking week on the podcast – Buchnevich has a fresh set of eyes on him this season. No more is he ticketed unjustly to the Vigneault Niche à Chien. Coach David Quinn has said every player is being given a clean slate under his watch, and nobody seems more primed to take advantage of it than Buchnevich.
We’ve already seen him featured exclusively next to top line buddies Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider in the preseason, and he dominated when on the ice in the exhibitions. Yes, it’s preseason and yes, we should always temper expectations from any performance – good or bad – during meaningless hockey games. But my god, is it hard not to be excited about the possibilities Buch has ahead of him under Quinn.
This year is doubly-important for Buchnevich than other years because, well, he’s playing for the bag.
This is the final year of Buch’s three-year entry level contract, and will enter his first season of restricted free agency this summer. The Rangers will have plenty of wiggle room to sign him to whatever extension they want, but that’s the big question: how much is Buch going to be worth?
He’s coming off a career-best 43-point season, all while being yo-yo’d up and down the Rangers line-up. A full year on the top line and top power play unit will, at least we expect it to, inflate his numbers and highlight everything we know he can do well on the ice. Are we talking a $5 million per year extension? $6 million? How high are we going? That’s almost entirely up to Buchnevich, for better or for worse.
2. It’s Real Nice To See The Plan, Isn’t It?[/text_output][image type=”circle” float=”none” src=”3174″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”aligncenter” style=””][text_output]Specifically, talking about the Rangers defensive pairings.
Before getting too deep into the woods here, let me be as perfectly clear as possible: regardless of how the Rangers organize their six defensemen on a given night, the defense is going to be bad.
Real bad. Laughably bad.
The Rangers have two known quantities on the defensive end who should be playing top four minutes for any team in the NHL, but neither are top pairing options at this point in their career (talking about Brady Skjei and Kevin Shattenkirk). Then, the Rangers have a practical rookie with upside in Neal Pionk, a reclamation project in Brendan Smith, a depth defender with limited upside in Freddy Claesson, a former first round pick who might not even be able to play defense in Tony DeAngelo and two veterans who really shouldn’t be in a starting line-up on a nightly basis in Marc Staal and Adam McQuaid.
Pick six names out of that group of eight, pair them however you want, it really wouldn’t matter at the end of the day. This team is going to struggle defensively.
And yet, we can still see Quinn’s plan when it comes to how he would like to deploy defenders in the future. He’s putting guys together who have complementary skills, where one guy side can push the tempo while the other (attempts to) cover holes on the back end.
At some point – hopefully in the not-too-distant future – Brady Skjei will be allowed to push pace with his zone exits/entries while having someone willing to linger back and cover the final third of the ice as to not leave Hank completely exposed in case of a turnover. The problem to begin the season is we’re asking Adam McQuaid to be that guy, and he just really isn’t. But, we can still understand why that pair exists. Same goes for the Staal-Pionk relationship, and same goes for the Smith-Shattenkirk relationship. It makes sense in theory.
Those are words I was unable to type in consecutive order under Alain Vigneault and that’s already a breath of fresh air.
3. I…Kinda Like Jimmy Vesey Getting A Top Six Shot?[/text_output][image type=”circle” float=”none” src=”2664″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”aligncenter” style=””][text_output]Wait a second wait a second wait a second.
Greg, didn’t you just spend the last two weeks on the podcast shitting on Vesey and his recent performance?
I sure did! And I meant every word! And that’s exactly why I like the idea of Vesey playing top six minutes to start the season.
This is the season about answers. A lot of questions need to either be answered thoroughly or answered to near-completion. Jimmy Vesey is one of those lingering questions that needs to be answered, and leave no doubt while answering it.
Is Jimmy Vesey, in the long run, a top six forward? No, and I’m fairly certain we have been able to answer that to this point in his career. It’s a bit much to expect a 25-year-old third-year pro to make a significant leap and change the entire course of his career (Jonathan Marchessault notwithstanding, though that was more about him finally getting an extended look and less about him taking his game to a new level).
It’s simple – this is the year of opportunity for the Rangers. Everyone on this Rangers roster should be given a chance to punch above their weight class. If starting the season with Jimmy Vesey on a line with Kevin Hayes and Mats Zuccarello will give the coaching staff all the evidence they need to say “yep, that guy shouldn’t be playing top six minutes”, do it! What do the Rangers have to lose? Literally, what do they have to lose? A regular season loss this year is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if it helps you answer a long-term question.
Stick him in the top six for a month. If he can’t swim, congrats. We can move on to the next lingering question facing this team, which has many.[/text_output]
Author: Greg Kaplan
Greg Kaplan is a man of mystery. Did he write this? No. Was he asked to write this? Yes. But did he write this article? Maybe, do you like it?