Re: The NHL Thread
 

It's official. Vesey is a
NYR.

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Of the reported finalists, aren't they the worst off going forward? Devils and Leafs are building, Sabres are turning it around and Pens and Hawks are Cup contenders. Bruins and Rangers would have been at the bottom imo. Some aging players and don't seem to be trending in the right direction.

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Again, only two years. Not a long term situation. "Building" teams seems like the worst option.

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But he's an RFA after the two years. Not like he just jumps to Buffalo after these two years.

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Woooo!!! We got Lebron!!!

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FWIW regarding why Vesey chose NYR: http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/08/19/...cting-rangers/

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Yeah, I figured Kevin Hayes played a big part. Supposedly Jimmy Hayes was a big reason why he didn't want to go to Boston. Jimmy telling him not to go there.

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If that's true, that's a huge slap to the face of Bruins.

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Rumors will be rumors, but apparently he's not happy with his healthy scratches and his ice time.

Honestly, the Hayes brothers seem like stereotypical entitled brats. Jimmy was that way in Chicago, he even started a Twitter campaign himself called #FreePirri when Brandon Pirri wasn't getting ice time in Chicago (and now look, Pirri is a 25 year old free agent that no one wants).

Re: The NHL Thread
 

It was always going to be the case that he fans of the teams who didn't sign him were going to be upset. I would have been too and said a lot of the same.

I hope this works out well for everyone. I excited to see what he can bring to our team. Hopefully he can develope into a solid NHL player that can help keep this team in the hunt.

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I'm not upset in the slightest.

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Well I didn't mean you really. As far as I am concerned, you don't have the right to be upset about anything for at least another 5 years since you team has won so many freaking cups in the past 6 years!

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I heard the Avs made a pitch to Vesey as well, but it was for their head coaching job.

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I saw someone ask EJ Hradek on twitter if Vesey was elibigle for the 2016 NHL draft would he go 1st overall.

:lol :lol :lol :lol

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Honestly after all this stupid hype I can't remember the last time I hoped a player fails as much as I hope Vesey does

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Yeah, but you are also a pretty bitter hockey fan who already dislikes the Rangers. At least now you know how everyone else feels/felt about Ovi (and Crosby).

Anyway, here are my thoughts:

I know a lot of people are just upset that he didn't sign with their team, or are upset about how he went about this. I too was not the biggest fan of him not signing with Nashville during the playoff run.

That said, people around the internet are really trashing his choice to go the the Rangers, and that has resulted in some pretty bad posts.

The NY Rangers did take a step back last season. However, people are talking like they are a last place team now. They just earned 101pts last year and lost to the eventual Cup champions. Maybe they did take a step back, but when the step is one back from ECF and SCF in the last 3 years, it is not really a huge step in the wrong direction. They will be competitive and have a real chance of being a top 5 team in the east again next year. His addition should only help this.

Of course NY makes sense for him. Like them or not, the NYR are a first class organization. Everything from the top to the bottom is the best of the best. It is easy to see how anyone without a bias could be blown away from what the team has to offer. Amazing facilities, world class building, superstar life style and the best city on the planet for having everything to offer someone. I'm not a Yankees fan, but it is a similar situation in baseball. There is a reason why players keep choosing these teams.

This was a huge win for the NYR. They basically got a first round pick back for nothing. Huge help with the cap issues as well. If things don't work out, it is basically a two year trial for very little money. A lot of the disappointment in people's posts has to be that they know their team missed a great chance. This deal literally can't backfire for the Rangers. Only one with pressure is the player himself, and that is the best motivation.

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NYR as the best of the best? Please

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Sorry dude, NY was one of the last spots i would have gone but that's me. I personally would have signed with Nashville because they drafted me but that's me and I can accept he didn't since it's the rules. He's with the Rangers for 4-5 years since he'll be an RFA when this contract is done. Obviously if he fails or asks to be traded that chances things but you know what I mean. Do I see NYR being a great team in that time frame? No. Maybe they rebound this year but they have some bad contracts and some aging guys too. Boston is the same way imo. Not knowing exactly what he wanted, I would have looked at Buffalo hard because in 4-5 years they should be really good and it would be cool to be part of that team as they grew. Islanders would have been a good place to look too because they are relatively young and a playoff team that seems to be trending up. NJ would have been tempting with Hall, Henrique and Schneider but still a big question mark. I get the Chicago and PIT arguments but you'd have a shorter leash there than in some other places and sometimes young players need to work through it and harder to do that if your ice time is greatly reduced. Again, I don't know why wouldn't want to be in Nashville. Rangers better than them? No. More guaranteed ice time in NY than NAS? No. Sure it's closer to home but not like you are going home every weekend. NYC is a cool city but you could have gone to the Isles and still been near the city and had a better team.

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Not my words, literally have heard this time and time again that what they have to offer can't be beat. Maybe matched at best. Money is not an issue and the team has the best of everything. I'm not taking about the team's playing ability, I'm talking about the comfort that these guys are given by staff and equipment.

Again, I started off by saying I was disappointed he didn't sign with the Preds. I would have.

That said, it is easy to see why he picked the Rangers. A lot of what you said here is personal bias. That's okay, but he you have to remember he had his personal bias too.

As to the bad contracts: if he turns out to be successful, the Rangers already addressed a position on the team for no cost. If he is not successful, they didn't waste a lot of money.

Yes the Islanders are in NYC too, but anyone who knows the city knows that there is a big difference between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Also, he would be playing in a building that had attendance issues and is not even meant for hockey. They are a second class team in their own building. Plus, you are comparing the Rangers with a team that multiple of the top sports announcers in NY have called a "third rate team" that has issues even scheduling a radio show interview.

I think everyone keeps looking at this and saying "the Rangers??! They are not going to win the cup anytime soon!" When the reality is JV made a decision based on life style a team could offer and not hockey trends. Which when you step back from it all, was obvious from the start since the Preds would have been the perfect fit for him for both playing time and instant chance at a cup.

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It literally has zero to do with the Rangers. It didn't matter where he ended up. The comparison to Ovie and Crosby isn't a good one since neither of those players bailed on the team that drafted them and then made a huge production out of where he ended up signing. The fact that it's the Rangers doesn't have anything to do with it.

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You and I are so alike it hurts.

But seriously, Vesey picked a team. The reasons were his own. Good luck to him. Now back to my nightly sacrifices to the hockey gods in the hopes that the Avs hire Hartley.

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My comparison was only to the point that those two players were very hyped up and everyone who was not a Caps or Pens fan wanted to see them bust. Both have been great, although Ovie may always be considered a bust if he never makes a finals at the very least.

Fair point to the rest. I think I had mentioned as a joke a few pages back that I felt similar "unless he signs with the Rangers." Obviously I don't like how he treated the Preds situation. I am just merely defending the reasoning behind the decision to sign with NY and explaining that things are not as bad for the Rangers as people have made them out to be.

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:lol:lol:lol

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:lol

I just think he's going to be totally screwed by this hype. I think realistically, 30-35 points is a good expectation. If he scores 10 goals with 20 assists, I think you got what you can expect. Anything beyond that is too much.

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well he's in the perfect media market for reasonable expectations and very little attention

:rolleyes

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Vesey probably ended up in the worst possible place where he can succeed. Have fun having the most expectations out of a third round pick in history of the league.

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Agreed. The media hype was created around Vesey for a couple reasons, not the least of which was simply a slow offseason where there wasn't much else to talk about. 30 points in a rookie season for a player like him? That's a solid rookie campaign. :thumbsup

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Vesey = third round Daigle?

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But...But...He won the Hobie Baker Award! I wish him the best, but I agree that he really did not put himself in the best position to succeed.

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It's "Hobey" Baker. Might as well have just said the NBA was better than the NHL. Sheesh.

Seriously though, if you look at previous Hobey Baker winners, there's not a lot of NHL success there. Look no further than when the Hawks signed Drew Leblanc as a free agent a couple years ago. Also a 23 year old that signed coming off his Hobey Baker Award win. There was a lot of hype around that, and he was a total bust.