Does Patrick Kane bring the Rangers enough to escape the talent packed east?
The Rangers won a thriller last night in Philadelphia after Vladimir Tarasenko scored an overtime goal to notch the Rangers 3-2 over the Flyers. Igor saved 26 of the 28 put on net for a .929 Sv%. The Rangers took an early lead in the first 3 minutes of the game when Zibanejad scored a power play goal. However by the end of the second the Rangers found themselves down 2-1 after 3 penalties led to an eventual goal along with another one in the 2nd. However the Rangers just somehow seem to always figure it out towards the end with a goal by Kreider and then the eventual winner by Tarasenko. There is a lot of good to talk about that game and also some bad but I will choose not to focus on any of it and rather get into the real story today: Patrick Kane.
The Rangers have had their fair share of high level acquisitions in the past. Most notably, Mark Messier comes to mind when thought of impactful trades made but McDonagh, Callahan, Jagr all have a rightful spot. Being in NYC and headquartering in the “worlds most famous arena,” New York teams have been a breading ground for high level talent to want to play there. Patrick Kane has now joined that list by making his only trade of his 15 year tenure with the Blackhawk’s to the Rangers. This trade was thought to be dead just a few weeks ago when the Rangers picked up star winger Vladimir Tarasenko from the Blues. The former Blackhawk was a three time Stanley Cup winner and is dubbed by many as the greatest American hockey player ever. Kane’s infamous 2010 overtime goal to end bring the Blackhawks first Stanley Cup since the 60/61 season forever sits in the heads of many Chicagoans. The Blackhawks fanbase and organization alike are indebted to Kane for his years of absolute domination. This might explain why the Rangers were able to acquire him for only a conditional 2023 2nd, a 2023 4th, along with some AHL complications. He basically said the Rangers were the only destination he would go too, and at this point in the rebuild the Blackhawks really had no other choice. This all comes at the right time for a Rangers team who is on track to play the Devils in round 1 of the playoffs in an eastern conference LOADED with talent. The Devils were also involved in a big trade this week, picking up left winger Timo Meier from the San Jose Sharks. Between the Rangers, Devils, Canes, Leaf’s, Bruins, Lightning, the east is a playoff bracket that is tough enough to escape on its own. The real question here is: will Kane make the impact the Rangers need? From a standpoint of will they all mesh, to me that’s a no brainer. Think about it, Chytil, Kakko, and Laffy have all said Kane was their favorite player growing up. I mean look at the video of Laffy below in regards to his favorite player. Do you not think these guys will play good together?
Along with the praise Kane has received from some of the younger Rangers, he also has some already solidified chemistry with his new line mate. Him and Artemi Panarin were teammates during the two seasons Panarin played in Chicago. Panarin and Kane will not only help each other but help their third linemate Vincent Trocheck, who in my opinion will have the best results of the three when its all said and done. All of these reasons combined still leave one major question: Will all of these high level forwards make up for a lack of defenseman? The Rangers surely have one of the most talented if not the most talented offensive lines in the league, however, their defense is lackluster. With K’Andre Miller out for two more games for spitting (I was at the game, everyone was screaming at the refs wondering why spinning was considered a match penalty), and Lindgreen day to day with a shoulder injury which looked WAY worse than it turned out to be, the Rangers need some help from their forwards back on defense. Mikkola, who came to the Rangers in the Tarasenko deal has been lackluster at best and has basically just racked up penalties. There are definitely holes in the Rangers defense, but that all goes away when Igor is Igor. The 2022 Vezina Cup winner had been the most dominate goalie in the league last year, with an insane .935 Sv%. If he can manage to be who we all know he is, and the Rangers newly improved offense can rack in the goals, does a defense really matter? Definitely a complete flip from their 21/22 approach, but could still be effective. The Rangers (-184) host the Senators tonight in what is set to be one of the most electric games at the Garden all year.
Are the Knicks the real deal?
The Nets have been pretty bad since trading away KD and Kyrie last month. And by pretty bad I mean really bad. They are 1-6 in their last 7 and progressively get worse game over game. Not just they look bad, but the coaching staff looks equally as bad. Could be that long term deal that Jacque Vaughn just locked in through the 2026-2027 season. The Knicks however have been the exact opposite winning their last 7 and being arguably the second hottest team in the east behind the Bucks. The Knicks (-7.5) absolutely torched the Nets 142-118. The Knicks led by Jalen Brunsons 39 points came out of the gate hot, with the team scoring 47 in the first quarter to take a double digit lead. Maybe Brunsons hot performance came after his pregame outfit??
But seriously, the Knicks scored 142 on a Nets team who on paper looks really good defensively. Josh Hart looks to fit in really well and the overall team chemistry just all meshes really well together. The Knicks put in 20 three’s shooting 61% from the field in a game where they were basically unstoppable on every side of the ball. This is exactly the kind of basketball that the Knicks need going into the playoffs. If the season were to end the day the Knicks would end as a 5 seed and take on the Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs. The Knicks are super hot right now and couldn’t have gotten hot at a better time. I wouldn’t be surprised if this team climbs to the three seed by the end of the season with the way things are playing out.
Sam Darnold????
Well Sam Darnold has finally done something good for Jets fans. I just want to say that when I read Jet’s fans on Twitter advocating for Darnold to return if in the event we did not land either Rodgers, Carr, or Jackson, I wanted to throw up. I even read that he is better than JIMMY G, who was 15 minutes away from leading the 49ers to a 2019 Super Bowl against the Patrick Mahomes/Travis Kelce/Tyreek Hill trio. I digress. Darnold and the Panthers are reportedly working on a deal to bring him back. How this benefits the Jets is that by him signing with Carolina, that takes one less team that Carr can possibly go too. No, I do not think Rodgers is going to come here or if it is even worth it too if in the event he wants to be traded, but I will leave that point for another time. Carr is at this point, the best solution for the Jets at QB and I think the Jets organization believes that as well. He is a seasoned veteran who’s 9 NFL seasons would be in the top 10 best seasons in Jets history minus Namath’s 69 season. With Carr heavily linked to the NFC South, to eliminate a team like the Panthers from landing him is huge for the Jets. Don’t get me wrong, Darnold made improvement this year from his previous years, but he’s still in my opinion a bust nor a franchise QB. Will he be better than Zack Wilson? Most definitely. I was more impressed with Darnold’s performance with the Jets than I ever was with #2. I mean, Darnold was bad, Wilson was horrible, how could the last 5 years get any worse? However, Jets fan should thank Darnold today after he now will be able to torture the Panthers for however many years they plan to sign him.
Nice post. "Kaner" has been the real deal in Chicago for years. I was sorry to see him go, but the rebuild requires it. You've received one of the very best. Good luck down the stretch.
Agreed! Josh hart brought life to the Knicks. And Kane 🥹 LFG 💪🏽