Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period joined Gord Stellick and Scott Laughlin on Monday on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio. He was asked about who he thought were the disappointing teams that did not make the playoffs this season.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
NHL Rumors: Los Angeles Kings, and the New York Rangers
Gord Stellick: “Now we can sort of start post-mortems about, like, what really strikes you as the team or two that you cannot believe won’t be starting the playoffs this Saturday or Sunday.”
Dave Pagnotta: “Yeah. I mean for me, it’s Vancouver in the West and the Rangers in the East. Just for both of these teams to have progressed in the manner in which they have, and just not being able to get things going. And I understand they were dealt with injuries. Then we had the little turmoil. They had to move out J.T. Miller and so on. I thought there was going to be enough in the tank and guys that have stepped up in order for them to get there, but that just wasn’t the case.
Very similarly, with the Rangers, the way they’ve imploded, it’s just boggles the mind to see how they completely derailed this season, and with everything that they went through and making the Miller acquisition. And then moving out some pieces ahead of the deadline, but still believing they had enough in there to get things going, and nobody really stepping up. The performance that they had on almost a nightly basis seemed like so many guys just weren’t there and didn’t step up when they needed them. Kind of bit themselves in the foot in that respect.
And then to have Calvin de Haan come out and say what he said . And with everything going on within that organization, they’re just surprised, not only that they missed the playoffs, but to have done it in such a manner is just very surprising for me.”
NHLRumors.com Note: When we look back on the New York Rangers season, we see a lot of dysfunction and turmoil that goes back years. There was a lot of hot shooting for immediate success. The Rangers made two Conference Finals and won the Presidents Trophy last season. However, everything was self-inflicted because GM Chris Drury decided to change the team’s complex early in the season when the Rangers were among the top three in the Metro.
NHL Rumors: Vancouver Canucks; Pettersson, Hughes, Blue Line, Tocchet, and Boeser
He couldn’t move out Jacob Trouba in the summer, but did it in December. The players did not like that. They also did not like how Barclay Goodrow was handled, being put on waivers. Again, the players chose a mutiny with their GM and head coach Peter Laviolette paid the price. Though there is something to say about second-year Laviolette.
But there were a lot of distractions with the Igor Shesterkin deal, the Alexis Lafreniere deal, the trade rumors of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, and K’Andre Miller. Not to mention the acquisitions that Drury acquired that did not play, and how the coach handled their draft picks. Now, the whole Calvin de Haan mess is coming, and there are changes.
Similar to Vancouver, there was friction between Miller and Elias Pettersson that was not resolved. Winning covers a lot of problems, but Thatcher Demko was not healthy all season. Vancouver dealt with a lot of injuries, not to mention how they handled Brock Boeser. Now they have a situation with their head coach, and he could leave too. What is the future for Quinn Hughes?
There is a lot going on in Vancouver, so it will be interesting to see what happens in the offseason with the Canucks and New York Rangers.
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