Rangers Trying to Move Gaborik? LOL!!!!!!!!
I'm going to first apologize for posting this, but I felt it was my obligation to address this non-sense.
Bruce Garrioch at the Ottawa Sun reports that Glen Sather is unhappy with the Rangers inconsistencies this season and is looking to shake-up the club by possibly trading Marian Gaborik and adding more grit to the line-up.
Garrioch adds that John Tortorella's job is currently safe.
...oh Garrioch, you silly, silly man. Readership must be down at the Ottawa Sun, so why not conjure up a rumor about the Rangers. I know Gaborik has been in Torts' "Chateau Bow Wow" this season, but am I supposed to believe that the Rangers, whose biggest issue is scoring, are looking to move a guy who's scored 40+ goals in two of the last three years to bring in some 'jam'? I know the Rangers need more toughness, but trading Gaborik is not the answer.
...btw, Gaborik has a no trade clause. Clinching that this will never happen.
Garrioch also notes that the Rangers are one of a few teams looking for a defenseman.
...ground breaking stuff Garrioch.
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I agree @rangersfan - never blame your line mates, especially when you've never had the luxury of someone who can find you in the slot in the first place, which is a shame because the one thing he's good at is getting open. Anyway, his mediocre start still puts in on pace for a 30 goal season btw, I'm not happy either that his fight level has dropped off this year. I think he's babying that shoulder personally, and we all know about Gabby and injuries. I don't think he'll stay on that 3rd line and off the power play for long. I know the coaching staff wants to see him compete more. We really need that from him if we are to go deep into the playoffs this year. Guess we'll wait and see
@Betweentheworlds Think about this: who would you rather have right now for the rest of the season, - Hagelin or Gaborik. IMO, that's an easy question to answer, which goes to show how far gaborik's game has fallen off. Agree that he's babying the shoulder, but he wasn't strong on the forecheck to begin with. He may be the worst forward on the team on the forecheck. Whos's worse? Not Boyle. Not miller. Not halpern. Not Powe. Ok Bickel. That's really saying something.
I have to agree with @ShreddyMercury , and not just because I love the name lol - the Rangers basically have 2 guys who can put the puck in the net so why would you even think of trading one of them???
41 Goals, and I can freakin' count on one hand how many of those 41 came off nice feeds. Someone get this man a play-maker! Maybe he'd get 50. I like Gabby when he's sneaky and plays with a subversive edge like he did when they first got him. He can get his game back. This coaching staff needs to start working with him and not against him if they want their most prolific scorer to start scoring again whether or not he's a "Torts player". It's a simple formula guys. No goals. No win. don't matter how much grit you got.. And the Gartner comparison was hilarious! We're talking about a much older player here who was clearly past his prime and got traded by a team that had much more scoring depth than our 2013 Rangers have. No basis whatsoever for a comparison.
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@Betweentheworlds @ShreddyMercury I suppose. The Rangers need goals for sure. But I don't agree that Gaborik's mediocre start has everything to do with his linemates and nothing to do with him. The reason he has the puck on his stick a lot less this year than in the past is because he's avoiding contact much more than in years past. No way of knowing whether it's mental or physical. It takes 3 forwards to forecheck. If you working with 2.5 on the forecheck the other team has the puck a lot more and all of a sudden, you are invisible. One of the Rangers biggest problems this year before the Tampa game (and Torts has talked about it a lot) is that the Rangers haven't had the puck enough. Gaborik is one of the guys he's talking about in terms of puck retreival. He can score, so torts has given him some leash, but now he's fed up. He wasn't even on the PP's first unit for christ's sake (MDZ, Richards, Nash, Stepan and Callahan)
Watch closely how he goes into the boards with an opponent, especially when's he the second to arrive. It's always to the side, never straight on. He hurls himself against the boards to try and block a clearing attempt or a pass, but he never takes the man and ties him up. It's a big problem.
And when I said trade him for a 2nd line winger with grit, I didn't mean a Brandon Prust type. I meant a guy who can score 20-30 goals in a full season - a true 2nd line player (not a Pyatt). The thing is no one would give up an asset like that for Gaborik right now because he's hasn't proven he's still on the same level after coming back from his surgery. To the contrary, he's looking like he's not the same player.
I'm not arguing or saying you're wrong rangersfan. Love him or hate him he's a Ranger though so work with him and not against him. Wasting him on Boyle's line and keeping your best scorer out of a powerplay that is having a difficult time scoring does not make sense. Yes, he needs to compete. Agreed. Putting him on the 3rd line sends a message. I get that but as soon as he decides to start playing hockey again please move him back to Stephan;s wing, who is actually finally showing signs of becoming a decent play maker. Other notes from this comment stream - I never posted this as to not be a downer but I do not see this club as Stanley cup material and never did, unless Henry stands on his head the entire playoffs. They needed to get Nash but giving up Duby, who's numbers were atrocious is something I knew would have implications. this guy plays mean and was a spark plug for this club and the Rangers need mean players. They are one cannon from the blue line and 2 power forwards away from being a true Stanley Cup team in my opinion right now. A fighter wouldn't hurt either. We'll see what they can do about adding grit without sacrificing much as we approach the deadline. They're close but not there yet. (I hope I'm wrong)
@rangersfan @ShreddyMercury Nice of them to wake up in the 3rd period in time to win a game. Nash is such a beast!! GO RANGERS
@Betweentheworlds @ShreddyMercury
I agree with that -Rangers certainly shouldn't be favorites to win it anyway. There are a lot of talented teams out there. But I don't agree they need THAT much additional help. I think they are one power forward away. If you could delete Gaborik and insert a good power forward (Milan Lucic, Wayne Simmonds), you'd be there. Even if you could get a Hagelin clone or a Callahan clone, you'd be there. That was my point from the beginning. My other point was that you'd never get anything close to that kind of player for Gaborik.
I also disagree on Stepan for what it's worth (which isn't much!). I think he's been a good player for them for while.
GO RANGERS!
Chris, everyone just wants to see Gaborik's effort match the amount is his paid, which is a hell of a lot. He was supposed to be fully healed by November. When did the season start? His surgery has nothing to do with his slump right now. If his shot lost some pace or something along that line, you could say the shoulder is still bothering him. That has nothing to do with getting open, creating plays for your teammates, hustling, etc. Instead, the guy is practically invisible out there and you know that from the few times his name is mentioned during a game. Now, again, I think Gabby is a terrific player, but I also believe Tort's system is just sucking the life out of him. I say get some value now -- and before his next injury -- while you can. And, when I talk about grit, I am again talking about Lucic, or even a guy like Wayne Simmonds. I just watched the guy score his 9th goal of the season and the winning goal today against OTT. He is a power forward. He can score, drop the gloves, block shots and he is consistent. People are tired of the inconsistency with Gaborik. He is a 40 goal scorer. Score 40 goals or somewhere close to that. And don't even get me started on Richards. Nash hasn't scored how we would like, but he is making everyone around him better. That's what we need right now.
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Are you all eating bath salts and trying to determine if your cat's face would taste good if you ate it?!?!?
Gaborik isn't being traded. The team isn't interested in trading him. Trading him isn't going to solve any of the problems this team is currently facing.
Back to your regularly scheduled programming of #Kreiderpics and #DelZaster
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Swith to decaf, bro. Gaborik isn't a torts kind of player and now he's playing on a third line. Heard a lot of comments about grit being a problem for the rangers this year, and trading gaborik for a gritty 2nd line LW would actually potentially solve some of their problems. A lot of people said the same thing about Mike Gartner (whom I also loved) in 1994.
@rangersfan Decaf is for people who actually think coffee tastes good. This team made it as far as they did with a combination of grit and some scoring. The team now wanted more scoring so they got rid of the gritty players like Dubinsky, Prust and Fedetenko. The move has not worked out for them at all as the team is sans grit and the scoring is satirically poor.
All I'm saying is that the way to win games is to score goals last time I checked, and getting trading a goal scorer for a gritty 2nd line wing isn't really going to help that.
@TheNYRBlog Crazy, right? Like anyone would want a guy who shows up to play once every few weeks ...
@ScottyHockey If he's going to score 40+ I can live with it. No way Rangers get 40 goal scorer return for him.
@Chris_Mandala @scottyhockey I love Simmons so maybe. Eff Clarkson. Rangers couldn't get either one for Gabby anyway.
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Not so far-fetched. Gaborik has recently been benched and now dropped to the third line. The Rangers (nor any team) can afford a $7.5m 3rd line winger. They need to clear up cap space for this yr. and the future. Look at the interest that Briere is getting (and I would rather have Gaborik between the two). As far as Gaborik's NTC, he might just want to leave the Rangers and Tort's demanding system to play in a more free-wheeling system (somewhere out west)?. His low production can be replaced with a more character & versatile player (Steve Begin)?
I'm not the biggest Gabby fan but Slats would have to be overwhelmed too trade at this point in the season. Our biggest need is a defenseman and a Colton Orr clone.
Maybe instead of trading Gabby the Rangers should think about finding a center man who can actually get him the puck??? Gabby's a soft player yes but he's a master at getting open with a terrific shot - but no one ever seems to find him. He had 41 goals last season basically playing one on one, or maybe one on five. think about it...
I don't think trading Gabby is a very good move, even with him being eventually UFA.He is bringing the points, which the Rangers need, and they aren't going to find those points or scoring growing on trees.Its a simple as that.He's a productive player, who we don't want to or need to trade.In fact, even though he'll be 32 when his contract finishes we should try to sign him if he hasn't lost a step, cause he sure won't lose his hands. Anyways unless we get a better player or scorer for him, then its not happening.Scorers are lasting longer in the league these days- Teemu, Jags.Gabs is not in a different sphere than them.
I love Gabby but let's face it , he's not exactly a "Torts" player, cannot argue with 40 goal seasons though...its a tough situation, if getting rid of Gabby means bringing in someone like Corey Perry in a trade or as a UFA though it makes sense.
If they don't trade him when his current contract expires he is liable to return to the wild
I believe Torts and the fanbase are idiots for the way they are treating Gaborik. This guy is coming off of surgery and wouldn't of been ready for the beginning of the season. Who knows where he is physically and mentally after the surgery. I have to give Gaborik atleast a little bit of next season, and a full offseason to train before I ever think about moving him.
I don't think the principal of moving Gaborik for someone is that whacky, but in practice, I just don't think you'd get equal value in return. As far as the principal is concerned, the Rangers now have Nash and Callahan for the RW on the top two lines. Gaborik has been playing the left side, reluctantly, but was actually moved to the third line against the Bolts. And we all know that Torts has issues with him, and rightfully so, because it isn't so much his defense/shotblocking but his puck retreival (ie playing below the hash marks and grinding for the puck) that this issue. Hagelin, for instance isn't THAT physical, but he gets the puck and he grinds in the corner. Gaborik is very weak at that and since his shoulder surgery, I dare say he has become worse. He looks scared to bump to much. I love his talent - he's graceful and fun player to watch, but I'd take Nash and Callahan over Gaborik, based on the entire package. So would it really be that crazy to move him for a 2nd line LW or a top 4 defenseman? No, I would argue.
However, I think hockey management types know that Gaborik is overpaid and less than the sum of his points. And has shown a major decline in his physical play this year. Given his salary, I really don't think you'd get much in return for him.
And I love Gaborik's talent. And I think he's a gentleman. But . . .
We're not talking about cutting him. Why not trade a guy who's not going to be resigned next year when maybe you can get excellent value for him. If you think the Rangers are going to win a cup in the next two years, by all means keep him. I don't think so. I much prefer the Phil Kessel trade scenario.
The Rangers desperately need help on the backline. There is not a single viable defenseman prospect in the entire organization other than perhaps Brady Shea (sp) who is years away. McIlrath appears to be a dud...no goals, one assist , 23 shots in 25 games. There are teams that are genuine cup contenders that might trade good players and prospects for a guy who can put them over the top like Hossa did for the Wings and Hawks.
@shishya100 But, we'll need those cap $ that we'll get when his contract runs out in order to re sign some of our better young players.
I think a combination approach would work, Mike. I know guys like Lucic do not grow on trees, but someone like that or a Shanny in his prime would go a long way to complement Nash and some of the young, developing players. It's a tough call. We definitely need Gaborik, but only if he is going to play to his potential. Right now, he's giving us very little. I am shocked at this and don't understand what is going on right now.
@TheNYRBlog Gaborik is miserable. He would waive NTC if asked...but he isn't gonna get asked. The NYR need Gaborik. Gariooch=Eklund
@cwgatti Miserable going to Eastern Conference Finals and being on a Stanley Cup contending team?
@TheNYRBlog he looks miserable because Torts beats his brains out every other game. I don't think Gabby likes being made an example of.
@TheNYRBlog Personally, I think the NYR need Gabby. But, I think Gabby would waive his NTC if asked. Torts, 3dr line w/Boyle, will do that.
@cwgatti No one likes to be made an example of. He's a streaky player coming of major shoulder surgery.
Wahey! Bruceys Wacky World of Trades strikes again! In other news, Henrik Lundqvist fined for being too scruffy and Tortorella confesses his secret love for Sean Avery
@TheNYRBlog just wish Torts wud let a 40 goal scorer do his thing and not jerk around because of Gabs D. Not signed to block n check
Only players I would trade Gaborik for are other players that have hit the 40 goal mark in the last 3 years. And not even all of them.
@TheNYRBlog at least Buccigross tried to sell us on trading him for power play help! This is worse than the Dan Boyle rumor.
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My tweet to Mr. Garrioch is as follows:
@SunGarrioch Your blurbs about the possibility of Rangers trading Gaborik are as plausible as Lanny McDonald looking cool w/o a mustache.
and everything Rich just said is why the NYR will never win a Cup. Team needs to SCORE not grit.
