We all know that the Rangers have amassed a plethora of young, promising pieces since embarking on the major rebuild leading up to the 2018 trade deadline. However, it is still impossible to say whether the team is ahead, behind, or on track. because let’s just know, the look of the final photo will not only remain unfinished but also a bit of a puzzle.
But we know with certainty that the Rangers wouldn’t even be close to where they are today were it not for the fact that general manager Jeff Gorton, who was brought back from Boston on February 25, 2018, took the deal for Rick Nash was able to enlarge both four and nine months later.
The letter-banned reconstruction included trades from Ryan McDonagh, Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Hayes and JT, Miller among the major players sent off Broadway, but the bounty received for Nash represents the top prize in this process.
Ryan Lindgren came from the Bruins during his sophomore season at the University of Minnesota after his second-round selection in 2016. A first-round draft pick was included, as well as salary dump Matt Beleskey and a fallen out of favor Ryan Spooner. OK, looks good, but maybe not that special.
But Gorton sent the Bruins ‘first rounder and the Devils’ second rounder (obtained on the deadline for Michael Grabner) to Ottawa to move from 26th to 22nd overall to select K’Andre Miller. And in November 2018, after a series of hopeless performances by Spooner, who never invested in David Quinn’s schedule, Gorton sent the forward to Edmonton in exchange for Ryan Strome.
So essentially it was Lindgren, Miller and Strome, all of which were the main ingredients of Friday’s Garden Party of a 6-2 win over the Bruins in front of about 1,800 fans who almost made it sound like it was June 14, 1994. again, in exchange for Nash and his expiring contract.
Beautiful, beautiful, quite good.
The Blueshirts were even better than that in this one, playing with cleverness, with swagger and with controlled fury against a Boston team that has lost four of the last five. They did not deteriorate, and they did not deteriorate. On the contrary, the Rangers rose and owned the battlefields. They owned the neutral zone. Simple, hard plays right through the entire lineup allowed talent to thrive.
“No one got worse tonight,” said Lindgren, who had four hits and a few assists on this plus-three night. ‘They are a physical team. They love to jaw after the whistle and, you know, do things like that. We did not deteriorate. We returned it immediately.
And we were smart with our physicality too. We didn’t take stupid punishments. It was a great team effort and we came to play tonight. “
One of those four scored hits out of the Rangers’ total of 32 (17 in the first period) came with about 40 seconds remaining in the first period, when Lindgren dropped his shoulder and hit David Pastrnak, causing the Boston winger to the ice trying to carry the correct boards through the neutral zone. Oops. Sorry. Roadblock in the way. Pastrnak should have checked Waze.
“I mean, you saw him coming off the wall, and I knew he’d try to get it red [line] and throw it in, ”said No. 55.“ So I just tried to finish my hit and the fans loved it. So it felt good. “
Lindgren was considered a marginal prospect when Boston GM Don Sweeney sent him to the Rangers. He was read about ‘great leadership qualities’. It sounded like a “great personality,” a scouting report about a first date. Shortly after the deal, Lindgren left school after his sophomore year and joined the AHL Wolf Pack on an amateur tryout. He spent nearly all of 2018/19 in the AHL before appearing on the scene early last season.
He has formed a perfect union with Adam Fox, with whom he was a teammate and often a defensive pair partner in Team USA’s 2015 U17 team and 2016 U18 team, and in the U20 team in 2017 and 2018 at the World Juniors. Lindgren is as hard to play as any Rangers defender since Jeff Beukeboom, but his game is more than that.
“My relationship with Ryan goes back to the national program and was very familiar with him as a player and with many of the intangibles that he brought into play,” said Quinn. “I thought he had a chance to become an NHL player, but this is a man who has wanted to be a good NHL player in a short period of time.
“What I really appreciate is that he has adapted. He’s bent over, he’s faster, his hands are better. His skating has improved, as has his conditioning. He’s a great addition to Foxy, but I think he would make a great addition to anyone. “
From there the compliments to Gorton. Because there on the ice were Lindgren, Miller and Strome. Lettermen, under a different name.