Rangers Getting Good Reports on Kreider, More to Work On
With six goals in the eight games since being reassigned to the CT Whale, Chris Kreider seems to have rediscovered his scoring touch, but that doesn't necessarily mean the Rangers are ready to call him back up. Here's John Tortorella (via Bergen Record)...
“We’re getting good reports,” Tortorella said. “When he started scoring some goals, there was still some things in his game that Kenny (Gernander, the Whale’s coach) and those guys wanted him to work on. There are still some things for him that need be worked on. But the reports are good over the weekend. In the two games won, we got some really good reports on him. He’s certainly in our discussion along with number of other people. We’ll see where it goes.
“We don’t want to keep on knee jerking him back and forth, we want to make sure if we do (call him up), we feel he’s ready to play.”
Tortorella also discussed the difference between JT Miller and Kreider...
"The reason why J.T. is playing with us right now and Chris is not is we felt J.T. is doing more things on the good side of it. He makes some mistakes. We’re dying to get a guy that’s 6-foot-4, 6-foot-3 that can skate like hell into our lineup. But we’re not going to do it at the expense of him, in hurting (Kreider) as far as developing him.”
...while I've been calling for Kreider to be recalled, I do understand the argument against it. He has played the role of a yo-yo this season, and just because he's had a nice eight game stretch doesn't mean he'll magically dominate at the NHL level. Having said that, he makes the Rangers line-up so much deeper. Especially if he's on that third line, which continues to drive me mad.
...as far as Miller getting a longer leash, I also agree with Torts. Because of Miller's borderline cockiness, he's not afraid to make mistakes and when he does, he's not phased by it. His game is also more well-rounded than Kreider's. So if he's not contributing offensively, he's likely helping out physically or on defense.
Thought Rick Carpiniello at the Rangers Report had a great quote from a member of the Rangers organization on Miller's confidence level...
"Here’s what somebody inside the team told me about Miller taking that penalty shot (vs. Carolina): 'I guarantee you his heart rate didn’t even change.'"
...boom!
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Miller= confident. Kreider= deer in headlights look. Surprising due to the playoff run he had he took a major step back this year. Hopefully he has a longer leash this time and is allowed to play. 6 3 big body skates like the wind with a great shot. Sounds like a player that should dominate to me.
not sure Kreider will get any scoring chances on the 3rd line. If he's not scoring and he's still developing the defensive side of his game, then what's the point of him being here? I like Kreider but burying a speedy kid like him on the bottom two lines probably doesn't help much.
Still don't understand the Asham signing. A waste of a roster space.
%s so long as he doesn't take Haley's place on 4th line, it's good. Bump Pyatt to 4th, Kreider with Boyle and Miller %s
@TheNYRBlog I meant replace Haley on the 4th line since he's going down. It'd be a waste to play with Halpern and Powe
@ManowarXXIX I thought Asham had some pretty good chemistry with them earlier this year. And who's going to fight?
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Okay. Personally, if we call up Kreider, I want Clowe to be playing for us. I think we should do the same thing MTL is doing, have the two rookies play together (Miller and Kreider) and they have a body guard on their line that wont let anyone near them in Clowe. They can flourish offensively, like Galchenyuk and Gallagher have.
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Why is this even a controversy any more. Kreider is not playing on the Rangers because he was afraid to play his game, not because of Torts, because of his own fears! All the other young kids on the team are not afraid. How many mistakes has MDZ made in the past, and still makes? But it doesn't stop him from trying the same things until they work. Same with Miller, or Hagelin, or Stepan, or McDonagh. Torts did not "ruin" Kreider, as many have suggested. What the hell is the point of giving a kid 20 minutes per night if he's going to play scared? Kreider needs to fix himself and it looks like he may be on his way to doing that with the Whale. Torts will give him every reason to play, but only if Kreider is willing to make plays.
I've posted this often but I really miss the Kreider-Miller-Cally line. I expect that we will see Kreider back up in time to be there for the final run to the playoffs and hopefully in the playoffs. I hope he gets used in a way that can lead to success. With Miller's grinding and passing and his shooting they could be lethal together.
I love how now torts doesn't want to jerk him around back and forth. But when he wasn't playing well he didn't mind at all. Fact is torts screwed the pooch on this one. If he had done it the right way Kreider could have gotten 2 extra weeks with the whale, and in a week or two would have been primed to help us make a run at the end of the season and playoffs. I stick by my statement that he is an xfactor for us this year. He can immediately bring depth scoring for us and make us a more dynamic team if he plays well
@TheNYRBlog isnt.komisarek a better.alternative than hamrlik and gilroy combined...guy is only in early 30s and was a force with mtl...
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I know everyone loves Kreider, but look at what all the time in Hartford did for so many of our current core guys. Wouldn't it be great if Kreider got a chance to develop like Cally did? I don't think he's ready to make the jump to the NHL yet, and I don't think the absolutely ridiculous level of hype he got before he even played an NHL game helped him any. Why were there Kreider jerseys & shirts all over the Garden stores when there were often none of Girardi, McDonagh or Stepan? Sorry, but that is messed up. I am excited to watch this kid play for years to come, but let's just take a deep breath. Kreider is not going to be the reason we do/don't win the Cup this year.
Whenever Kreider comes back up, I hope he starts using his frame to get to the net the way Nash and Callahan do. Miller almost pulled one off last night too, which was great to see. It'd be nice to see Boyle and Pyatt do the same, but that's probably wishful thinking. The forwards are still not creating enough offense, outside of Stepan and Callahan all the goals recently have been plays made by defensemen.
@TheNYRBlog You think Boychuck or Komisarek would be good pick ups on waivers? Just curious of your opinion.
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Kreider will be fine, between him and Miller and a few of the other prospects Thomas, Mashinter, Segal, and the Swedes playing in Europe the future of the Rangers looks bright and very promising.
@TheNYRBlog like this: nash-gabby, cally-hags-step, kreider-jt-boyle, halp-ash-pyatt? fast big forwards on each line
@TheNYRBlog I love the way call-step- hags play together. 3 young fast skaters that create opportunities. and there transition game..wow!
@TheNYRBlog Yes they are. hopefully JT and Kreider can pick up there habits and create opportunities the same way
