What the Wilson Signing Means for the Giants on Draft Day

Don't look now but Joe Schoen is having himself a pretty good offseason. In just the last few weeks, he has revamped his secondary, fortified his offensive and defensive lines, re-signed his second-best wide receiver, and, oh yeah, signed two veteran quarterbacks that are more than capable of starting in the NFL.

No, Russell Wilson is not Matthew Stafford, but come on, you didn't really think the Giants had a shot at getting him, did you? There's optimism and then there's delusion. And, no, he's not Aaron Rodgers either, at least not statistically. But he is the perfect bridge for a team looking for a franchise quarterback, and he doesn't come with an ego the size of the Grand Canyon. After what happened with the Jets the last two seasons, why on Earth would Schoen want to import that circus atmosphere into the Giants locker room?

Having both Wilson and Jameis Winston on the roster opens up all kinds of possibilities for Big Blue in next month's NFL Draft. For starters, everyone is assuming that Shedeur Sanders will still be on the board when the Giants select at three. But what if he isn't? What if the Cleveland Browns snag him at two? Schoen now has a number of good choices available to him.

1. He can take Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter and then trade back into the first round to grab a QB (Jaxson Dart),

2. He can take what is widely regarded as the best prospect in the draft, Colorado CB / WR Travis Hunter, and then trade back into the first round for Dart, or

3. He can trade down and acquire more draft capital, which he can then use to either take Dart later on in the first round and fill some holes, or just continue to improve his overall roster and draft a QB in '26.

And if Sanders is still there at three:

1. He can take him,

2. He can take either Carter or Hunter and trade back into the first round to grab Dart, or

3. He can trade down and acquire more draft capital, which he can then use to either take Dart later on in the first round and fill some holes, or just continue to improve his overall roster and draft a QB in '26.

What a difference a year makes. Last offseason, the Giants lost Saquon Barkley to the Philadelphia Eagles - for nothing - and seemed perfectly willing to go into the 2024 season with Daniel Jones as the starting quarterback and Drew Lock as the backup. Whatever else you may think of Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, they are considerable improvements over Jones and Lock. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me at all that, even if Sanders is available, Schoen doesn't take either Carter or Hunter and grab Dart later, or punts the QB situation to next year, perhaps hoping that Arch Manning is available. Then again, he could wind up with Sanders. There's no way of knowing.

Everything hinges on how Schoen and his staff feel about Sanders. If they think he's their future franchise QB, they'll take him. If, on then other hand, they're not entirely sold on him, they won't. The point is with Wilson and Winston signed, the Giants now have a number of options at their disposal. A couple of weeks ago, all they had was Tommy (Cutlets) DeVito and a shit load of agita.

Frankly, I haven't been this impressed with a Giants front office in a very long time. Joe Schoen has gotten a lot of flack over the last couple of years, most of it deserved. But if we're going to give the man grief for his failures, the very least we can do is give him an attaboy when he does a good job. His offseason moves have not only improved the roster, they've put the Giants in position to succeed down the road.

Well done, Joe.

Mets 2025 Season Preview

Let's face it: the moment the New York Mets signed Juan Soto to that $765 million contract, expectations for the 2025 season began to soar. With the re-signing of Pete Alonso, those expectations have now passed the stratosphere. Next stop, thermosphere. 

With Francisco Lindor leading off, the Amazins' have arguably the best batting order in franchise history. I say arguably because the 2006-08 Mets had Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and David Wright batting 3-5. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Regardless of which order you prefer, there's no denying that this team is better and deeper than the one that was two wins away from its first World Series appearance since 2015. 

Don't take my word for it. Just check it out for yourselves:

1. Francisco Lindor - SS
2. Juan Soto - RF
3. Pete Alonso - 1B
4. Mark Vientos - 3B
5. Brandon Nimmo - RF
6. Starling Marte - DH
7. Jeff McNeil - 2B
8. Franciso Alvares - C
9. Jose Siri - CF

Objectively speaking, only the Los Angeles Dodgers boast a better 1-9.

If there's one concern about this Mets team, it's the starting rotation. Both Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea will start the season on the disabled list and are not expected back until mid-May. That means that the bulk of the load will fall onto the shoulders of converted reliever Clay Holmes, Tylor Megill, David Peterson and Kodai Senga. Holmes had an outstanding spring training, boasting a 0.93 ERA, but Megill and Peterson are ostensibly .500 pitchers, while Senga is coming back from an injury that kept him out most of last season. In other words, Carlos Mendoza will have his work cut out for him managing this staff. 

The bullpen should be just fine with closer Edwin Diaz leading the way. And Brett Baty, Luisangel Acuna, Jesse Winker, Tyrone Taylor and Luis Torrens provide plenty of depth in the lineup. No one can say that Steve Cohen and David Stearns haven't done a great job here.

But while this may be the most talented Mets team in almost twenty years, they are hardly a lock to win their division. That's because while the Dodgers may own the NL West, the NL East is the deepest division in Major League Baseball. The Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves are perfectly capable of emerging on top come October. That's why it's essential that this team get off to a good start. They can't afford a repeat of 2024 when they began the season 24-35.

That's why I have the Mets as the prohibitive favorites to win the NL East. Assuming that Soto and Lindor stay healthy and Diaz is lights out, I don't think there's a team east of the Rockies that can touch them.

And now for my predictions for each division, plus which teams will make the league championship and World Series.

National League East:

Mets
Phillies (WC)
Braves (WC)
Marlins
Nationals

National League Central:

Brewers
Cardinals
Cubs
Pirates
Reds

National League West:

Dodgers
Padres (WC)
Diamondbacks
Giants
Rockies

American League East:

Red Sox
Yankees (WC)
Blue Jays (WC)
Rays
Orioles

American League Central:

Guardians
Tigers
Royals
Twins
White Sox

American League West:

Mariners
Rangers (WC)
Astros
Angels
A's

WC = Wild Card

NLCS:

Mets over Dodgers 4-3

ALCS:

Red Sox over Mariners 4-2

World Series:

Mets over Red Sox 4-2

As with all my predictions, you should take them with a rather large grain of salt.

Drury Needs To Find His Mike Keenan

If there were any doubts that this Rangers team isn't playoff material, Tuesday night's lay down at the Garden should put them to rest. Artemi Panarin opened the scoring at 1:13 of the first period with his 30th goal of the season. From the ensuing face off on, the Calgary Flames controlled every facet of the game. They out-skated, out-hustled and out-chanced the Blueshirts over the next 58 minutes. The only reason the final score was 2-1 instead of 6-1 was because Igor Shresterkin refused to let his teammates get the ass-whoopin' they so richly deserved. At least someone showed up to play.

Not since they were blanked 5-0 by the New Jersey Devils on December 23, have the Rangers been so thoroughly dominated by another team this season. Stephen Valiquette's firm CSA Hockey tracks scoring chances for all 32 teams in the NHL and then computes the expected goals total for each team per game. The .6 expected goals total against the Devils and the .72 expected goals total against the Flames are among the worst in the league this season. According to Stat Boy Steven, the last time the Rangers had two games in which they were limited to 13 shots on goal or less was the 1998-99 season when they had three such games. Their record that season was a dismal 33-38-11 for 77 points. 

There's no sugar coating this anymore. After a stretch of games in which the Rangers began to resemble a playoff team, they have dropped six of their last eight. And while two of those losses came in overtime, both were the result of blown leads in the third period. Yes, they have played better since the beginning of the year, but that's only because they were so brutal in December. The sad truth is that this a deeply flawed team. As Bill Parcels used to say, you are what your record says you are. And right now, the Rangers are barely above the .500 mark. Even if by some miracle they should make the postseason, the likelihood is that they would get swept by the Washington Capitals, which is ironic given that they swept the Caps last season. 

Throughout the season, I have been hesitant to pin the blame for this calamity on Peter Laviolette. After all, this team had its best regular season in franchise history. You don't fire head coaches coming off that kind of success. And to be fair, it's not entirely his fault. The special teams have been anything but, the top scorers are underperforming and the goaltending has been inconsistent to say the least. Coaches can scream till they're blue in the face, but the last time I checked, they're not the ones wearing the jerseys. That would be the players, and after last night's performance, every one of them should be ashamed of themselves.

But fair or not, you can't fire all 22 players, even if at least half of them deserve it. You can, however, fire the head coach. It's obvious Laviolette has lost this team. When you can't even get up for a game with playoff implications, that is a direct reflection on the man standing behind the bench. Mike Keenan would never have put up with what we saw on the ice last night. Indeed, the Peter Laviolette of a few years ago would've blown a gasket. Something has to give. Even if Chris Drury has resigned himself to this team not making the playoffs, he cannot let this coaching staff return next season. Whether he does it now or waits until the summer, he must clean house.

But who does he hire as a replacement? After all, this will be Drury's third head coach in four years. Gerard Gallant took the Rangers to the Eastern Conference finals in his first season, then underachieved in his second; Laviolette guided them to the Presidents' trophy in his first season before the bottom fell out in his second. Notice a pattern here? I'm starting to think Scotty Bowman would have a hard time coaching this group. If you're James Dolan, you gotta be taking a long, hard look at your front office. The man fired John Davidson AND Jeff Gorton on the same day because he grew impatient at the progress of the latter's rebuild. Don't think for a moment he wouldn't do the same thing to Drury.

That's why the next head coach of this team has to be someone that will hold the players accountable. If there is one legitimate criticism of Laviolette, it's that he's been way too loyal to his veterans. Last night was a case in point. After two very uninspiring periods by his top six, rather than start the third with the Carrick line, he went back to his top six. His explanation at the post-game presser was that he needed goals and those players were more likely to produce them. While technically correct, the message he's sending to his players, particularly the younger ones, is that some contributions are more valuable than others. It's this sense of entitlement that is mainly responsible for the way the Rangers have underachieved this season. When more than half your roster knows that no matter how badly they play, they will still get their ice time, it can't help but foster a sense of resentment within the locker room. Not to mention the fact that your worst offenders literally have no incentive to improve their level of play.

Say what you want about John Tortorella, there were no sacred cows in his locker room. You earned your ice time by how well you played. Period. Just ask Marion Gaborik. The star winger was benched by the former Rangers coach for the crime of failing to go down to block a shot. Can you imagine what Torts would do with and to these players? Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider would be in group therapy. I'll tell you one thing: the post-game pressers wouldn't be boring, that's for sure.

But in all seriousness, Drury has to hire a coach that will stop coddling this team. He has to find his Mike Keenan the same way Neil Smith did after he fired Roger Neilson. Some things are beyond your control as a head coach. Bad calls, hot goalies, but a lack of effort isn't. It is anathema to a well-run organization. Take a good look at the teams that are currently in the playoffs and they all have one thing in common: their best players are pulling their weight. It's not Laviolette's fault that Kreider is having his worst season as a Ranger; it is his fault that he keeps dressing him over someone else who might inject some life into the lineup.

The 2024-25 season is all but over. The time to start thinking about 2025-26 is now. 

Bridges Has the Last Word

Less than twelve hours after he expressed concerns over the amount of minutes the starters were getting, Mikal Bridges put his jump shot where his mouth was. His last-second three pointer propelled the New York Knicks to a 114-113 overtime win over the Portland Trail Blazers. For the game, Bridges dropped 33 points and went 2-4 from downtown.

Make no mistake, the Knicks were 3.4 seconds away from what would've been an extremely disappointing loss to a 10th place Portland team. And with the Golden State Warriors coming up on Saturday, they were facing the very real prospect of going 1-4 on this road trip. Now, thanks to Bridges, they have a chance at a winning road trip. 

Let's face it: the man Leon Rose surrendered five first-round draft picks for over the summer, with a few notable exceptions, has been underwhelming in his first year in a Knicks uniform. With their captain Jalen Brunson sidelined with an ankle injury for the next few weeks, his teammates could ill afford another nondescript showing by him.

Forget about the draft picks for a moment, Bridges simply hasn't been the player the Knicks thought they were getting when they made the trade. While he's always been known for his defense, it's his offense that has been, well, offensive a good chunk of the season. Against the L.A. Lakers, he took just six shots and scored only 6 points. Against the Miami Heat, he went 2-11 and scored 5. Against the Milwaukee Bucks, he went 2-5 with 6 points. And against the Oklahoma City Thunder, he was held scoreless on 0-9 shooting. For a player with this much talent not to be more of a factor offensively is simply unacceptable, especially on a team with a bench as thin as the Knicks.

Which makes his comments yesterday morning all the more curious. Not that they weren't spot on, mind you. Indeed, I give Bridges credit for saying the quiet part out loud. The worst kept secret this side of the Milky Way Galaxy is that head coach Tom Thibodeau has a history of running his starters into the ground, or court, if you prefer. But it's not like Thibs has Payton Pritchard and De'Andre Hunter coming off the bench. On a good night, Deuce McBride, Precious Achiuwa, Mitchell Robinson and Cam Payne might combine for 25 points. And that's on a good night. Most nights it's closer to 15. Pritchard and Hunter are averaging 14 and 18 points respectively.

But while Thibs is correct in saying that against elite players like LeBron James and Jayson Tatum, the starters are going to have to play 40 plus minutes per game, what about against a player like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? When the Knicks played the Thunder in January, SGA logged only 37 minutes. Yet all five Knick starters were over 40. When three of your players are among the league's top six in minutes played, that's no accident; it is the direct result of the coach's philosophy.

It should be noted that in that game in OKC, the Knicks were ahead 97-92 with 6:10 left in the 4th quarter before the Thunder rallied to win 117-107. Against the Lakers, New York blew a 10 point, 4th quarter lead and lost in OT. This has been a familiar theme for the Knicks all season long: a failure to put opponents away because the starters simply run out of gas late in the game.

If this is happening during the regular season, what do you think will happen once the playoffs begin? As of now, the Knicks likely first-round opponent will be either the Detroit Pistons or the Indiana Pacers. The former should be fairly easy to beat, but the latter represents a much tougher challenge. The Pacers have a deep bench and are one of the quickest transition teams in the NBA; just the kind of opponent that can push a team like the Knicks to the brink. It's one thing to lose to the champion Boston Celtics in the second round. But if this team should lose in the first round, Thibs will have some serious splainin' to do, I can assure you.

And that's why for the good of the team, Thibs must force himself to do something he's not comfortable doing: play the long game. Putting his starters on a minutes restriction might cost him a win or two during the balance of the regular season, but if it means they have more gas in the tank when the playoffs roll around, it could be the difference between a deep run or an early exit.

As for Bridges, last night's performance can't be a one-off. He has to assert himself more. Until Brunson comes back, he and Karl Anthony Towns will have to carry the bulk of the offensive load. While OG Anunoby is certainly capable of scoring 20 plus points now and then, that's not his principal role on this team. Josh Hart, like OG, is also capable of contributing to the offense, but as we saw last night, when his shot is off, it's REALLY off.

This is Mikal Bridges' moment to shine; his opportunity to silence all the critics who think he's overrated and that Rose was stupid to give up all that draft capital for him. He doesn't have to score 30 every game, but the nights of him taking only six shots have got to stop.

To quote Shakespeare, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have it thrust upon them."

How Does Chris Drury Stack Up Against His Predecessors?

Before I begin, I'd like to state for the record that I am, by no means, an apologist for Chris Drury. I make it a point never to hold anyone's water. It's just that with all the vitriol the man has been getting over the last few weeks, a sober and objective look at his tenure as Rangers GM seemed to be in order. 

One of the advantages of being 64 years old is that I've had the "pleasure" of living through a litany of Rangers general managers over the last six decades, and with a couple of notable exceptions, their track record makes Drury look like Sam Pollock. By the way, if you don't know who Sam Pollock is, that might be your problem. I couldn't help but notice that the vast majority of the Drury haters on Twitter were probably in diapers or grade school the last time this franchise won a Stanley Cup. Perspective for many people these days is a four-letter word.

Anyway, one of the best ways to evaluate a general manager is to compare him with his predecessors. So with that in mind, I thought I'd go all the way back to the mid-1970s and start there. Hopefully this will help some of you through your "grief."

John Ferguson (1976 - 78). Ferguson replaced Emile Francis as GM in January of '76 and tore down what was left of the core Francis had assembled. His most "memorable" moves were trading Rick Middleton for Ken Hodge and (I hope you're sitting down for this one) bypassing Mike Bossy in the '77 NHL Draft for Lucien DeBlois. Yep, you heard right. Ferguson could've had one of the greatest pure goal scorers in NHL history and elected instead to take a player who couldn't carry Bossy's skates. Lucky for Fergie they didn't have Twitter in those days. Grade C

Fred Shero (1978 - 80). The Fog, as he was known, gets credit for signing the Swedes - Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg - and for coaching the Rangers to the Cup finals in '79. But he also lost Nick Fotiu and Pierre Plante in the expansion draft that summer, took Doug Sulliman over Brian Propp in the NHL Draft and overpaid for Barry Beck. A painful reminder of why GM - head coaches rarely make it in the NHL. Grade B-

Craig Patrick (1980 - 86): After coaching the team to a surprising appearance in the '81 semifinals, Patrick hired his former boss Herb Brooks to run the bench. From '82 to '84, the Rangers had the satisfaction of knowing they were probably the second best team in the Patrick Division. Unfortunately for them, the Islanders just happened to play in the same division. The Blueshirts lost four straight years to their suburban rivals. Despite all that, Patrick did an outstanding job assembling an otherwise good team. He also drafted Mike Richter in '85 and Brian Leetch in '86. Grade A-

Phil Esposito (1986 - 89): Trader Phil's tenure in New York was marred by questionable trades and equally questionable hires. The worst of those trades was Mike Ridley and Kelly Miller for Bobby Carpenter. He then flipped Carpenter for Marcel Dionne. He gave up a first round pick to hire Michel Bergeron as coach, only to fire him on April Fool's Day. Espo might well have traded Brian Leetch had he not been fired in '89. Grade C-

Neil Smith (1989 - 2000): Without question, the franchise's best GM since Emile Francis, Smith's acquisitions of Jeff Beukaboom, Adam Graves, Mark Messier, Esa Tikkaknen and Kevin Lowe turned the Rangers into bonafide contenders. But it was his decision to hire Mike Keenan as coach in '93 and his deadline trades for Stephane Matteau, Brian Noonan and Craig MacTavish in '94 that helped end the Blueshirts 54 year Cup drought that spring. To be fair, though, he passed on the chance to land Brendan Shanahan in '96 and was principally responsible for driving Messier out of town in '97. Grade A

Glen Sather (2000 - 15): Perhaps the most polarizing GM to ever hold the position. During the first four years of Sather's reign, the Rangers failed to make the playoffs. His free-agent signings of Wade Redden and Bobby Holik are considered to be the two worst in franchise history. He also traded away Brian Leetch on his birthday after he pleaded with Sather not to trade him. It wasn't all doom and gloom during Sather's tenure. He hired Tom Renney, John Tortorella and Alain Vigneault as coaches, and under Vigneault, the Rangers advanced to the finals for the first time since '94. He also hired Jeff Gorton and Chris Drury as assistants. Grade B

Jeff Gorton (2015 - 21): Ironically, his claim to fame was that infamous 2018 memo informing the fanbase that the team was going into rebuild mode. He then ended the rebuild early by trading for Jacob Trouba and Adam Fox and then signing Artemi Panarin. But when it looked like the Rangers were going to miss the playoffs for the fourth straight season, owner James Dolan grew impatient. After the Tom Wilson incident at the Garden, he finally had seen enough. He fired both Gorton and his boss, team president John Davidson. Ironically, most of the current roster consists of players Gorton acquired either through the draft, trades or signings. Grade B+

Chris Drury (2021 - Present): The book is still out on Drury. He beefed up the team his first summer, and has used the trade deadline effectively to improve his team's prospects in the playoffs. But he's also had a couple of questionable free agent signings. After a disappointing loss in the Eastern Conference finals last year, Drury decided the core needed an overhaul. He successfully managed to unload the contracts of both Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba without any salary retention, he re-acquired J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks and he's revamped the defense corp. Regardless of whether the Rangers make the playoffs or not, he will need to make further changes to the roster over the summer. By far, this will be the most consequential offseason of his tenure. Grade B+

So there you have it: every GM the Rangers have had going back 49 years. The good, the bad, the ehh. Any reasonably objective assessment of Drury would conclude that he is far from the worst this organization has had. Indeed, one could argue that given what he's had to work with, he's done a fairly good job, hence the B+ grade.

But then what do I know? I'm just an old fart who's been watching this team since Richard Nixon was in the White House. And for your edification, that's a fucking long time!

Drury Retools on the Fly

To paraphrase that classic line from the Mel Brooks movie Blazing Saddles: "Memo? We don't need no stinkin' memo!"

Regardless of how you feel about Chris Drury, he's never been one to pussyfoot around when it comes to making changes to the roster. Coming off a season in which the New York Rangers won the Presidents' trophy for the first time in nine years, Drury took a long, hard look at his team and concluded it wasn't good enough to win the Stanley Cup. So he went to work.

Barclay Goodrow was waived in June; Jacob Trouba was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in December for Urho Vaakanainen and a 2025 fourth-round pick; Kaapo Kakko was traded to the Seattle Kraken - also in December - for Will Borgen and a '25 third and sixth-round pick; Arthur Kaliyev was picked up off waivers from the L.A. Kings in early January; Filip Chytil was traded to the Vancouver Canucks, along with Victor Mancini and a conditional first-round pick, at the end of January for J.T. Miller; Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey were traded to the Colorado Avalanche in March for Calvin de Haan, Juuso Parssinen and a '25 second and fourth-round pick; Reilly Smith, who was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins over the summer, was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights the day before the trade deadline for Brendan Brisson and a '25 third-round pick from the San Jose Sharks; and, then Drury sent that third-rounder to Vancouver yesterday for Carson Soucy.

In just nine months, Drury has turned over almost a third of his roster. Think about it: Jeff Gorton needed two years to "rebuild" the Rangers; his successor appears to have "retooled" it in less than half that time. More importantly, by resisting the urge to give up draft capital going after high-priced rentals at the deadline, he has put himself in position to add the pieces he needs over the summer to get this team back into contention for the 2025-26 season. And unlike that 2017-18 team, this team still has a chance to make the playoffs, even with the last two disappointing OT losses. 

Really, if you think Drury sucks as a GM, all I can say is you either haven't been paying attention or you don't know much about hockey. The fact is this is a tougher, grittier team than the one that got eliminated by the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference finals last year. If anything, Drury should get credit for smelling the caffeine and cutting his losses. I guarantee you the same people who are calling for his head now will erect a statue to him if this team goes on to win a Cup in the near future.

The more I think about it, the more this Rangers team reminds me of the 1992-93 team. If you recall, that team also struggled after winning the Presidents' trophy the year before. Neil Smith acquired Kevin Lowe and Esa Tikkanen during the season, and even though the Blueshirts missed the playoffs, they went on to win the Cup in 1994.

Now I'm not predicting history will repeat itself here; after all, that Rangers team had Mark Messier. And as good as J.T. Miller is, no one who isn't high on crack would ever confuse him for The Captain. But there is a quality Miller possesses that this core has sadly lacked the last few seasons that is already beginning to rub off on his teammates. If Drury can add a few more players like him over the summer, who knows what could happen. If I had to grade his moves, I'd give him an A minus.

Which leads me to my first NHL post trade deadline rankings in two years. I'll just do the top five teams in each conference. 

Eastern Conference:

Florida Panthers: They were already the front runners going into the deadline. With the addition of Seth Jones and Brad Marchant, they are the prohibitive favorites to come out of the conference. 

Tampa Bay Lightning: Julien BriseBois reacquired Yanni Gourde and landed Oliver Bjorkstrand to beef up his bottom six. The goaltending speaks for itself.

Washington Capitals: What a turnaround for a team that barely squeaked into the playoffs last season. They're big and explosive, and they're well coached.

Toronto Maple Leafs: They added some beef on the blue line, but as always, it'll come down to what the fab four do.

Carolina Hurricanes: They traded a point per game player for a player who scored 6 points in 13 games. Then when that player said he wouldn't re-up with them, they traded him for a player who's scored 29 points in 59 games. BTW, they still don't have a 2C or an elite goalie, but then you already knew that.

Western Conference:

Vegas Golden Knights: They reacquired Reilly Smith, but that's about it. Truth is, they didn't need to do much to this roster. They're already loaded.

Dallas Stars: They stole Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes for two first rounders and a bottom six forward. I see a Dallas / Vegas conference final. 

Colorado Avalanche: The additions of Brock Nelson and Charlie Coyle give them badly needed depth at center. Were it not for the Stars and Knights, they'd be the favorites in this conference. 

Winnipeg Jets: They might very well win the Presidents' trophy, and Connor Hellebuyck the Vezina. But I'll believe they're legit when I actually see them win in the playoffs.

Edmonton Oilers: Jake Walman will help them on the blue line, and Trent Frederic will give them some badly needed muscle up front. But Stan Bowman would've done better getting a goalie. 

And my pick for the Stanley Cup finals:

Panthers over Golden Knights 4-3

Four Worst Injuries in Rangers History

As we await the status of both Adam Fox and K'Andre Miller, I thought now would be a good time to write about what I believe are the four worst injuries in Rangers history.

1. Jean Ratelle - 1972: Throughout most of the 1950s and '60s, the New York Rangers were not a particularly good team. In fact, it wasn't until the 1967-68 season that the roster Emile Francis assembled began to coalesce into a playoff contender. Beginning in the 1970-71 season, the Blueshirts made it to the semifinals four consecutive years and the Cup finals once. That one finals appearance was in 1972.

That season, the Rangers ran a close second to the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference. Their GAG line consisted of Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert and Vic Hadfield. Hadfield set the franchise record with 50 goals that season; a record that stood until Adam Graves scored 52 in 1994.

But it was Ratelle who was the team's star. He was on pace to finish the season with 125 points when he took a slap shot to the ankle by Dale Rolfe. X-rays revealed a fracture. Ratelle would miss the final 15 games of the regular season and the first two rounds of the postseason. 

Against Boston, Ratelle gave it his best, but was nowhere near a hundred percent. He registered one assist in the six-game series, while Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr and Ken Hodge had their way with New York. The sight of Espo hoisting the Cup at Madison Square Garden was one that would haunt Rangers fans for years.

2. Ulf Nilsson - 1979: After a three-year rebuild by John Ferguson failed to bring results, Sonny Werblin fired Ferguson and hired Fred Shero from the Philadelphia Flyers to be the team's GM and head coach. One of the first things Shero did was sign Ulf Nilsson and Anders Herberg to two-year deals. Both players were stars with the Winnipeg Jets of the WHA, and they quickly became hits on Broadway.

The 1978-79 Rangers were the surprise team of the NHL that season, with Nilsson, Hedberg and a rejuvenated Phil Esposito leading the way. But in a game at the Garden against the hated Islanders, Nilsson got his skate caught in a rut on the ice when he was checked into the boards by Dennis Potvin. The result was a fractured ankle for Nilsson that sidelined the Swede the rest of the regular season and most of what would become the deepest playoff run in seven years.

After a stunning upset of their suburban rivals in the semifinals, the Rangers faced the Montreal Canadiens for the Cup. The Habs were looking to capture their fourth consecutive championship; the Blueshirts, their first since 1940. Nilsson gave it a go in the first two games at the Forum, but like Ratelle in '72, wasn't up to it. Shero benched him the rest of the way and Montreal, after dropping game one, would go on to take the next four. It was another bitter pill for a fanbase used to disappointments. 

3. Alex Kovalev - 1997: As I wrote in an earlier piece, the years following the Rangers 1994 Stanley Cup championship were difficult ones for Neil Smith. At times he didn't know which direction he wanted to go: retool or fortify the core. His signing of Wayne Gretzky in the summer of '96 signaled that Smith was going to run it back at least one more year.

The Rangers had a mostly up and down season in 1996-97. Gretzky and Mark Messier gave the Blueshirts a one-two punch down the middle. But it was a winger by the name of Alex Kovalev, who was having the best season of his career, that would go on to have the most consequential impact on the team's fortunes. On January 27, he tore his ACL and was lost for the remainder of the regular and postseason. 

After dispensing with the Florida Panthers in four and upsetting the New Jersey Devils in five, the Rangers went up against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals. After splitting the first two games at the Spectrum, the Rangers lost the final three. Messier would bolt for the Vancouver Canucks that summer. The core Smith had assembled had finally run its course. 

There's no way of knowing what difference a healthy Kovalev might've made against Philly. Maybe the Rangers still would've lost; or perhaps they've would've won. What is noteworthy is that two months after signing Gretzky, Smith was approached by Hartford Wailers GM Jim Rutherford who offered to trade Brendan Shanahan straight up for Kovalev. Smith turned him down. Imagine what Shanahan could've done playing alongside Gretzky. Who knows? Smith might've been the first Rangers GM since Lester Patrick to boast having two Stanley Cups on his resume. 

4. Mats Zuccarello - 2015: After going all the way to the finals in 2014, the Rangers won the Presidents' Trophy in the 2014-15 season. It was, by far, their best season, statistically, since the Cup year of '94. Rick Nash led the team in goals scored with 42, but the key to their success was their depth.

Mats Zuccarello may only have scored 15 goals, but his tenacity and grit made him a fan favorite. And his teammates could always rely on that tenacity and grit. 

In game five of the Rangers first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Zuccarello was struck in the head by a slap shot from Ryan McDonagh. The winger made it back to the bench but did not return. It was later learned that he suffered a fractured skull that affected his ability to talk. 

Obviously his season was over. While the Rangers didn't need him to prevail over the Pens, not having him against the Washington Capitals almost cost them the series, as the Blueshirts had to come from 3-1 down to advance. But against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they fell short, getting shut out in game seven at the Garden. 

Like the other injuries, this one is hard to quantify. Even if the Rangers had beaten the Bolts, the Chicago Blackhawks might have been a bridge too far, with or without Zuccarello. Still, there's no denying his loss was felt.

Rangers At the Break

Heading into the break, the New York Rangers record stands at 27-24-4. Their 58 points puts them just three behind the Detroit Red Wings for the final Wild Card spot. After a horrific December in which they went 3-10-0, the Rangers have gone 11-5-3 in 2025. The power play was 26.8 percent (7th best), while the penalty kill was 75.6 percent (tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Anaheim Dicks for 16th best). The team's save percentage was .897 (5th best).

Now before I get into what the Rangers need to do going forward, I wanted to take a moment or two to give a shout out to the NHL and the NHLPA. Regardless of what happens tonight in Boston, the Four Nations Face-Off Tournament has been an unqualified success. Not since 1996 have fans been treated to this kind of competitiveness within the sport in what basically amounts to an exhibition series. Kudos all around.

The only blemish has been Charlie McAvoy. The Boston Bruin and Team USA defenseman sustained an injury on a cross check in the game against Finland, which was apparently misdiagnosed by Team USA physicians. He subsequently developed an infection and was hospitalized in Boston. His presence will be sorely missed tonight against Team Canada.

Apart from that, though, if I were Gary Bettman and Marty Walsh, I would do everything in my power to make sure something like this becomes an annual event. You don't necessarily need a round robin like we saw in this tournament; but perhaps a best 2 out of 3 featuring a team from North America vs. a team from Europe would suffice.

Imagine what the lineups would look like:

Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Sam Reinhart, Branden Pointe, Mitch Marner, Cale Makar, Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, both Tkachuk brothers, Jake Guentzel, Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy and Connor Hellebuyck going up against Sebastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov, Mikko Rantanen, William Nylander, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Artemi Panarin, Filip Forsberg, Jesper Bratt, Mikael Granlund, Kirill Kaprizov, Andrei Svechnikov, Rasmus Dahlin and Andrei Vasilevskiy. I'll gladly take that any day over what the NHL laughingly calls an All-Star game.

Now back to the Rangers.

If this team is going to make the playoffs, they need to get serious. No more blown leads like they had against the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens, all of which became OT losses. No more sleepwalking against a Pittsburgh Penguins team that was missing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. And no more reckless cross-ice passes in the offensive zone with 30 seconds left in the third period of a tie game that directly led to a regulation loss to the Avs. All told, the Blueshirts have given up six points over the last six weeks; six points they can ill afford to give up. If they had just three of those points back, they'd be tied with the Red Wings right now.

Starting Saturday, the Rangers need to go on a win streak. They play the Sabres in Buffalo, the Penguins in Pittsburgh and the Islanders at UBS Arena. Anything less than 3-0 against those teams is inexcusable. Indeed, between now and the end of the regular season, they probably need to go 20-7. If that seems like a tall order, it is. But that's what happens when you dig a hole as deep as the Blueshirts have.

In order to accomplish this herculean feat, the big boys are going to have to come through. Assuming Chris Drury doesn't clean house at the trade deadline - unlikely - it's time for Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider to pull their respective heads out their asses and wake the fuck up. Since the arrival of J.T. Miller, Zibanejad has 2 goals and 6 assists over his last 5 games. He needs to keep that pace up if this team has any chance of making the postseason. Likewise for Kreider, whose shorthanded goal against the Bruins proved to be the game winner.

Adam Fox also needs to step it up. It is unacceptable for a player as gifted as he is to have only four goals on the season, and keep in mind two of those goals were empty netters. Though he was never a particularly fast skater, this season he's looked more like Carol Vadnais than the former Norris trophy winner we all know and love. Vincent Trocheck has filled the leadership void created after Jacob Trouba was sent packing admirably, but even he needs to step it up offensively.

But while the players must ultimately bear the lion's share of responsibility for this nightmare of a season, their head coach isn't without blame. The fact is Peter Laviolette has been way too patient with this group. Case in point: Alexis Lafreniere. Over the last few weeks, the young winger has looked lost; his failure to back check has led to several glaring goals against. It is high time Laviolette employed some tough love and sat him for a game or two, if not for his sake than to send a message loud and clear that lack of effort will not be tolerated. You don't have to be John Tortorella to get your team's attention. 

Bottom line: The Rangers have the horses to make the playoffs. Whether or not they do depends on how badly they want it.

Knicks At the Break

Going into the All-Star break, the New York Knicks record stands at 36-18. They are solidly in third place in the Eastern Conference, five and a half games ahead of the Indiana Pacers and two and a half games behind the Boston Celtics. Since November 15, they've gone 31-12, for a .721 winning percentage. Only the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers have a higher winning percentage over that span. Overall, this is the best start this franchise has had since the 1996-97 season when they went 39-15 over their first 54 games. They finished that season 57-25 and went to the ECF. This season, they are on pace to finish 55-27.

Objectively speaking, the Knicks are an outstanding team on the cusp of being elite. Their starting five is arguably the best in the NBA. I say arguably because, let's face it, when Kristaps Porziņģis is healthy, the Celtics starting five is better. Still, that's pretty damn impressive. Give Leon Rose props for putting this roster together over the last three years.

But for all the accolades the starters get - and deservedly so - it's the bench that remains this team's Achilles heal. Right now, Tom Thibodeau has maybe three players he can trust coming off the bench: Precious Achiuwa, Deuce McBride and Cam Payne. And with OG Anunoby missing the last five games due to an injured foot, Thibs was forced to start Achiuwa at the four. As a result, the Knicks starting five leads the league in minutes played per game, with Mikal Bridges (38.2) and Josh Hart (37.8) leading the way.

That might help explain why they ran out of gas against the Thunder in Oklahoma City in early January after leading for most of the game, or why they are 11-12 against teams that are .500 or better. And keep in mind, they still have three games against the Cavs, who are 20-6 against those very same teams. 

With the Knicks up against the second apron, Rose didn't have the cap space he needed to bring in reinforcements at the trade deadline. The return of Mitchell Robinson - now slated for late February - is pretty much it. The 7-0, 240 pound center should provide badly needed help for a team that is ranked near the bottom of the league in both rim and perimeter defense. But how much will Robinson be able to contribute to this team? Realistically, if Thibs can get 12-15 minutes per game out of him, that's still better than nothing.

Another question is whether the return of Robinson means Karl-Anthony Towns moves over to the four? When he was with the Minnesota Timberwolves last season, KAT played the four while Rudy Gobert played the five. That combo proved to be one of the most effective in the NBA, with the T-Wolves advancing to the Western Conference finals before eventually losing to the Dallas Mavericks. If Thibs elects to go that route, it means Anunoby switches back to the three where, frankly, he is more effective and Bridges becomes the two, with Hart coming off the bench. All of this, however, hinges on how durable Robinson is once he returns.

If I had to guess, I'd say Thibs will experiment with KAT at the four, but ultimately decide to keep him at the five. Doing that allows him to bring Robinson in off the bench where he will be the most useful. Besides, even when fully healthy, Robinson isn't much of a scorer, and against a team like the Celtics - their most likely opponent in the second round - the Knicks will need offensive production from their center position, and Towns is, without a doubt, the most prolific scoring center New York has had since Patrick Ewing.

To reiterate what I wrote above, and what I've been saying pretty much all season long, this is an outstanding team on the cusp of being elite. That Rose hasn't gotten consideration for Executive of the Year is nothing short of a crime, given the state this franchise was in prior to his arrival. There are still some holes left to fill, but I am confident they will be filled during the offseason.

Be patient, Knicks fans, the light you see at the end of the tunnel ISN'T a freight train. 

Time Was Always on the Mets Side

Well, it's finally done. The Polar Bear is coming back to Queens. After several months of intense negotiations, in which Steve Cohen verbally expressed his frustrations, Pete Alonso and his agent Scott Boras cried uncle.

To be clear, time was always on the Mets side. Boras thought he had a winning hand. He thought if he could just hold out a little longer, he would get Cohen to give in. As it turns out, though, Cohen and his GM David Stearns knew the market better than he did. So they gave Alonso two choices: a three-year deal for $71 million with no opt outs or a two-year deal for $54 million with an opt out after 2025. Alonso chose the latter. Which means we'll probably be back here again a year from now. But that's next year. 

Forget all that nonsense about those "offers" from the Los Angeles Angels and the Toronto Blue Jays. The Angels are where ball players go to die. Think about it: they had Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani in 2023 and still managed to win only 73 games. Can you imagine Pete playing for them? Honestly, that was an easy bluff for Cohen to call. 

As for the Blue Jays, Toronto has been, and always will be, a hockey town. They live and die with their Maple Leafs. Seriously, Alonso could win the Triple Crown and all anyone would care about was whether Auston Matthews was going to lead the NHL in goals. Why do you think Vladimir Guerrero Jr gave the Jays a deadline of February 17 to present an acceptable long-term contract offer? He wants to be there as much as a nun wants to be at a frat party. 

Indeed, the silver lining in all this is that by giving Pete $30 million up front, it gives the Mets an excuse to pivot to Guerrero Jr should he decide to play hardball with them after the season. Ya gotta love the way Cohen operates.

So now that the Mets finally have their lineup in place for this coming season, the only question is who bats behind Francisco Lindor: Alonso or Juan Soto? Either way, this will be the most potent offense the Amazins have had since that 2006-08 team, which had Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and David Wright. To paraphrase Mr. T., "I pity the fool who has to pitch to that lineup."

After the Soto signing, I thought the Mets were good, but not quite good enough to beat out the Philadelphia Phillies or Atlanta Braves for the NL East. With Alonso back, and with the improvements Stearns has made to the bullpen, this might be the second best team in all of baseball.

The Flushing Faithful have waited a long time for this moment. It's finally here.

Five Worst Trades in Rangers History

Because the topic often comes up, I thought I'd give my two cents worth. As always, feel free to disagree with the order, or perhaps even add your own nominations.

1. Rick Middleton to the Boston Bruins for Ken Hodge: This trade has often been compared to the Mets sending Amos Otis to the Kansas City Royals for Joe Foy. But it's actually much worse. The Mets had won the World Series and had Tommie Agee in centerfield. Ed Charles had just retired and the Mets weren't sure if Wayne Garret could handle playing 3rd base full time, so you could almost forgive them for wanting to shore up what they perceived was a weakness on the infield. 

There is no such absolution for the Rangers. They were clearly in rebuild mode entering the 1976-77 season. John Ferguson was now in his second year as GM. Middleton was a young winger with enormous potential, while Hodge was a seasoned veteran whose best years were well behind him. Aside from the fact that Hodge had played with Phil Esposito during his Bruins days, there was simply no justification for making this trade. None.

2. J.T. Miller and Ryan McDonagh to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Libor Hajek, Brett Howden, Vlad Namestnikov, 2018 1st-Round Pick and 2019 2nd-Round Pick: The decision by Jeff Gorton to rebuild in the winter of 2018 was, in retrospect, the correct one. The window for this core was clearly closing, so it was time to break up the band. Where he fouled up was the return he got. Steve Yzerman clearly fleeced him on this deal. Of the three players who came over from the Lightning, only Howden - now a member of the Vegas Golden Knights - has had anything remotely resembling a successful NHL career. And the draft picks the Rangers received didn't amount to much either.

McDonagh, meanwhile, played an integral role in helping Tampa win two consecutive Stanley Cups, while Miller has become one of the NHL's premier centers, albeit playing for the Vancouver Canucks. By re-acquiring Miller last week, you could say Chris Drury has at least partially atoned for Gorton's mistake, though seven years after the fact.

3. Mike Ridley and Kelly Miller to the Washington Capitals for Bobby Carpenter: On paper, this trade made perfect sense. Phil Esposito had replaced Craig Patrick as Rangers GM and was looking to make his bones. Carpenter checked all the boxes: size, speed, you name it. It should've been a slam dunk. Except Carpenter was a flop on Broadway, registering a measly 10 points in 28 games before Espo dealt him to the LA Kings for Marcel Dionne. 

Ridley and Miller, on the other hand, would go on to have successful careers playing for the Caps, while Carpenter eventually finished his career with the New Jersey Devils, a shell of the player the Rangers thought they were getting when they traded for him. The moral of the story is quite simple: the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the street.

4. Sergei Zubov and Petr Nedved to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Ulf Samuelsson and Luc Robitaille: The post Stanley Cup years were very difficult ones for Neil Smith. At times, he didn't know which direction he wanted to take: retool or stay with the core. After the Rangers got swept by the Philadelphia Flyers in '95, he panicked and traded two of his more talented players for an admittedly physical defenseman and a veteran forward whose best years were behind him.

Zubov would go on to win another Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999, while Nedved enjoyed his best season playing on a line with Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. Oh, and by the way, the Pens beat the Rangers 4-1 in the second round of the '96 playoffs. Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make.

5. Jean Ratelle and Brad Park to the Boston Bruins for Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais: After the Islanders upset the Rangers in the 1975 preliminary round, it was clear this core was done. Emile Francis knew in his heart what he needed to do and that was rebuild. Instead, he swapped stars with the hated Bruins.

While Espo and Vadnais played an integral role in the Rangers getting to the finals in '79, there's no denying the fact that Boston got the better of this trade. Ratelle, Park and Middleton (see above) gave fans in Beantown years of excitement, while Rangers fans had to endure three seasons of misery until some of their younger players developed under a new front office regime.

It's Miller Time

Make no mistake about it, the New York Rangers were twenty minutes away from not only losing their fourth straight game, but from finding themselves on the exit ramp as far as the playoffs were concerned. After a crushing loss to the Colorado Avalanche in the final seconds of regulation, the Blueshirts followed that up with two uninspiring performances against the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins. The reason they were only trailing the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 going into the third period was because Jonathan Quick was keeping them in the game. Their postseason hopes were on the brink.

That's when the prodigal son came through. With the Rangers on the power play, J.T. Miller took a cross ice pass from Artemi Panarin and fired a shot towards Adin Hill that he was unable to handle. Mika Zibanejad pounced on the loose puck and deposited it in the back of the net to tie the game. A few minutes later, K'Andre Miller blasted a shot from the left point that beat Hill cleanly to give New York a 3-2 lead. And with under two minutes left in regulation, and the Rangers on another power play, Panarin scored the insurance goal to ice the game. J.T. Miller assisted on that goal as well.

In just two games since returning to the Rangers, Miller has two goals and two assists. He was the lone bright spot in Boston, scoring twice and leading the team with six shots on goal. Against Vegas, he was a plus 2 and was on the ice for three of the Rangers four goals. His presence has been felt both on the bench and on the ice. How significant has Miller been? Mika Zibanaejad had his best game of the season with a goal and two assists, playing on Miller's right side with Panarin on the left. The trio combined for two goals and six assists. It's no exaggeration to say that every time that line was on the ice they were creating scoring chances. 

Peter Laviolette has gotten a lot of criticism this season - most of it justified - for the way his team has played. But his decision to unite his three best offensive players is, for now at least, an unqualified success. Most coaches would've just buried Zibanajead on the third line given the way he's played, but Laviolette realized - correctly, I might add - that if this team is going to make a run at the playoffs, it will need contributions from number 93. Credit him for that much.

But it wasn't just the three points Zibanejad registered that was noteworthy. He looked like a man possessed out there. He battled all game long. He kept the puck in the zone on the Rangers first power play goal. Frankly, I haven't seen him play with this much intensity in well over a year. If Miller can motivate this guy, this might just go down as the most consequential Rangers trade since October of 1991. Yes, I went there. But before you get on my case, I'm not suggesting that J.T. Miller is Mark Messier. I may be old but I'm not senile. What I am suggesting is that Miller, like Messier before him, is a passionate player who can't stand losing. I'm positive that's what led to his "leave of absence" earlier in the year, which eventually led to his exit out of Vancouver. Sometimes you're the cancer; other times you're the cure. In this case, Chris Drury is hoping it's the latter.

And speaking of Drury, his detractors might end up eating crow before the season is out. Since last summer he has unloaded both Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba without retaining a cent of their respective salaries; acquired two stay at home defensemen in Urho Vaakanainen and Will Borgen who have solidified a blue line that was as leaky as the RMS Titanic; and landed a number one center in Miller for a player whose next shift might well be his last and a lottery protected first round draft pick. 

As a result of his wheeling and dealing, the Rangers currently have $9.3 million in available cap space, which translates to $16.5 million in deadline cap space, meaning if the Rangers actually do make a run at the postseason, Drury will have a boatload of cap space at his disposal to further tweak this roster. Maybe he isn't Mr. Congeniality, but the guy knows his shit. He's ten times the GM Glen Sather ever was. 

But all that may be irrelevant if the Rangers don't make the postseason. After last night's win, they're currently five points out. Between now and the NHL trade deadline on March 7, the Blueshirts play eleven games. All but three are against teams that are currently in the playoffs. Conservatively speaking, New York will have to win at least eight of those games in order to get within striking distance of a wildcard spot; no small feat given how erratic they've been. 

Indeed, for the Rangers to avoid being only the third team in NHL history to miss the playoffs after winning the Presidents trophy the season before, they will likely have to go 21-8-1 over their last 30 games. They would then finish with a record of 46-31-5 for 97 points. And even that might not be enough to get in. That's how tight the playoff race is in the Eastern Conference this year.

The problem with digging a hole halfway to China is that sometimes you wind up closer to downtown Beijing than you do to midtown Manhattan.

The Randle Injury - One Year Later

It was Saturday, January 27, 2024, and the New York Knicks were in the process of routing the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden for their 6th win in a row. Julius Randle was driving to the basket when he was fouled by Jamie Jaquez with 4:27 left in the fourth quarter. The power forward tumbled to the floor, grabbing his right shoulder; the first sign that something was very wrong. You could've heard a pin drop in the building as his teammates helped him up and he raced to the locker room, hunched over in obvious pain. 

The preliminary reports said that Randle had suffered a dislocated right shoulder and that he would be out approximately 2-3 weeks. As it turned out, 2-3 weeks was extremely optimistic. Randle wound up missing the rest of the season, including the playoffs. He would eventually undergo surgery. 

The Knicks, even without Randle, finished with a record of 50-32, good for second place in the Eastern Conference. But depleted by injuries to other players, including O.G. Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson, they simply ran out of gas against the Indiana Pacers in the second round, and lost the series in seven games, leaving their fans to wonder what might've been.

Imagine for a moment that Tom Thibodeau had pulled Randle out of the game with 5:29 left and the score 112-96? The Heat, for all intents and purposes, looked cooked that night - pardon the pun. Of all the criticisms Thibs has faced over the years, the one that has stuck is that he tends to ride his starters like a bronco bull.

Imagine a season in which Randle is healthy. Instead of winning 50 games, the Knicks win 55, maybe more. They go into the playoffs with a starting rotation of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Anunoby, Randle and Isaiah Hartenstein, with Donte DiVincenzo, Precious Achiuwa, Deuce McBride, Bojan Bogdanović and Robinson coming off the bench. They most certainly would've beaten the Pacers, and they likely would've extended the Boston Celtics to a seventh game before losing.

Of course the real question is whether, given that "what if" scenario, Leon Rose would've pulled the trigger on the KAT deal? There's no doubt that since his arrival from the Minnesota Timberwolves, Karl-Anthony Towns has been a tremendous addition to this lineup. And with Hartenstein signing with the Oklahoma City Thunder over the summer, he has given the Knicks something they haven't had since the days of Patrick Ewing. A center that can score AND rebound.

Maybe it wouldn't have made any difference at all. Maybe once Hartenstein bolted, the die was already cast. It's no secret that the Knicks had been pursuing Towns for well over a year. And with Robinson's return date still up in the air, I seriously doubt Rose would have entrusted the center position to a rotation of Randle, Achiuwa and Jericho Sims.

But given the lack of production from the bench, it's fair to say that a roster that included DiVincenzo would've been deeper, even if it was weaker overall, if that makes any sense. And let's be honest, some of the losses the Knicks have suffered this season were a direct result of a non-productive bench and an overworked starting rotation. This is unsustainable. Either Thibs starts trusting his bench more, or Rose has to make a trade to strengthen it. 

With the Knicks up against the second apron, it's going to have to be the former. Fortunately, Thibs appears to have gotten the memo - finally. Against the Memphis Grizzlies, he went to his bench early and often. The result was a season-high 52 points from the bench. Of course, the Knicks blew out the Grizzlies, but the point is the starters didn't have to play 38 - 40 minutes, like they've been doing most games. Brunson actually sat out the entire fourth quarter. 

The goal for the Knicks in the second half of the season should be to have the starters average no more than 34 minutes per game. To do that, the bench has to produce when they're on the court. The more they contribute, the more Thibs will trust them. But the reverse is also true: the more Thibs trust his bench, the more productive they will likely be. It cuts both ways.

For now, though, the Knicks are 31-16, pending the outcome of tonight's game against the Denver Nuggets. That's good for 5th best in the NBA, even with a low-scoring bench. When / if Robinson comes back, they will be even better and deeper. 

How the Rantanen Deal Impacts Drury's Pursuit of J.T. Miller

In the first blockbuster trade of the 2024-25 NHL season, the Colorado Avalanche sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Martin Necas, Jack Drury and two draft picks - a 2025 second rounder and a '26 fourth rounder. The Chicago Blackhawks, as part of the deal, agreed to retain 50 percent of Rantanen's salary and sent Taylor Hall to the Hurricanes in exchange for a '25 third round pick. 

Leaving aside for the moment that Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson is a shoo-in for the patsy of the year award for getting a lousy third rounder in exchange for eating half of $9.2 million and relinquishing a still serviceable forward, the Avs are the clear winners here. They get an outstanding young winger under contract next season who is having a career year and a solid checking center for a pending UFA they likely weren't going to be able to re-sign. 

While Rantanen is a better player than Necas, he's not that much better. The fact is this trade does nothing to address Carolina's two biggest needs: elite goaltending and depth at center. Two years after losing Vincent Trocheck to the New York Rangers, the Hurricanes still haven't found a replacement for him. Jesperi Kotkaniemi is at best a 3C. Not only aren't the Canes a better team, you could make the argument they're worse off now than they were before the trade. And if it turns out they can't re-sign Rantanen, this will go down as the most expensive rental in league history. 

Now for the main course: How does this trade impact Chris Drury's pursuit of J.T. Miller? In a word, it improves his chances. With Carolina now seemingly out of the picture and the Vancouver Canucks stuck in a corner, Drury's leverage to land the former Ranger has gone up considerably. Word has it that Miller is pulling a Patrick Kane by informing Jim Rutherford that he will only accept a trade to an Eastern Conference team, preferably the Rangers. If that's so, Drury can wait out his counterpart. 

Stat Boy Steven thinks an acceptable trade would be Filip Chytil, Adam Sykora and a first round pick for Miller (25 percent retained). I would go further and make the first rounder conditional on the Rangers making it to the conference finals. Otherwise, it's a second rounder only. 

Why trade Chytil, especially when he's under contract for the next two seasons at $4.43 million? The reason should be obvious enough. For all his talent, Chytil is a disaster waiting to happen. He missed all but ten games last season after sustaining a concussion in what looked like a rather routine collision with Sebastian Aho of the Hurricanes. Let's face it: every time he gets checked, it's a potential career ender. If Drury can move him for a two-way player that wins face-offs and who scored 103 points last season, he'd be a fool not to.

I know what you're saying - I read your posts on Twitter. Another 31 year old center who's under contract through the 2029-30 season. What on Earth could Drury be thinking saddling the organization with that much term? At least Neil Smith had a Stanley Cup to show for his eleven years in the front office. All Drury has to show for his efforts is two trips to the Eastern Conference finals. But ask yourself this question: if Chytil had been healthy during last year's playoff run, how many more games would the Rangers have won? Maybe it wouldn't have made any difference against a team like the Florida Panthers, or maybe it would've made all the difference in the world. The point is we'll never know. 

What we do know is this: betting on Chytil not to get injured again is like playing Russian Roulette with a loaded chamber. Aside from his leave of absence earlier this year, Miller has missed a grand total of five games over the last four seasons. That's about as durable as it gets in today's NHL. On his first day back in a Rangers uniform he'd be the team's number one center.

Bottom line, unless Vancouver is unreasonable, Drury needs to pull the trigger and make the deal. After going through a hellish December, the Rangers have turned their season around this month. The playoffs are now very much in sight. But making the playoffs is not the goal; winning the Cup is. If J.T. Miller can get them closer to that goal, it's worth taking a shot.

Cohen and Stearns Are Taking a Huge Risk

"The hard part about playing chicken is knowing when to flinch." 

- The Hunt for Red October

If the reports we're hearing are to be believed, the New York Mets have decided they're not going to flinch at all. Their "final" offer of three years, $70 million to Pete Alonso was rejected by his agent, Scott Boras. They have now pivoted to Plan B. Part One of Plan B was the re-signing of Jesse Winker yesterday to a one year, $7.5 million contract. Winker hit .253 with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs last season. He will platoon for the DH spot with Starling Marte. The second part of Plan B is addressing the bullpen. With the signing of A. J. Minter to a two-year, $22 million contract, pending a physical, they appear to have done that. Minter was 5-4 with one save and a 2.62 ERA. He should make an ideal set up man for Edwin Diaz. 

Look, do I think Boras overplayed his hand here? Without question. He gambled that the demand for Alonso would be so great that the Mets would have no choice but to acquiesce to his demands. Obviously that didn't happen. And now with pitchers and catchers only a few weeks away, Alonso appears to be on a desert island with few, if any suitors.

That's not the Mets fault. It's not their responsibility to manage the financial affairs of one of their own free agents, even if he is an overall good guy who's popular with his fellow teammates. And it's not the obligation of Steve Cohen to overpay for an asset that the market has already determined isn't as valuable as the player's agent thinks it is. How do you think Cohen got to be so rich in the first place?

But that doesn't mean that Cohen and his GM David Stearns aren't taking a huge risk here. Let's face it, while Juan Soto is a much better hitter than Alonso, without the Polar Bear in this lineup, the Mets are ostensibly repeating the same mistake the Yankees made last season when Soto and Aaron Judge were the primary run producers on the team. That worked out so well that Soto couldn't wait to get the hell out of the Bronx.

Mark Vientos had an outstanding 2024 season. In his first full year in the majors, he batted .266 with 27 HRs and 71 RBIs playing third base for the Mets. There's no guarantee he'll be as productive in his second full year; there's also no guarantee he'll be able to make the transition to first base. Alonso may have had his shortcomings but he was a good first baseman who could be counted on to hit 40 plus home runs per season. Even in a down year, he still managed to hit 35 dingers. His production will be missed.

Maybe all this is just a ploy to get Alonso to reconsider. Get him to realize that the ship is leaving port with or without him, and maybe he'll come to his senses. With Boras as his agent that isn't likely to happen. The only thing old Scott thinks about is his wallet. If he could get $500 million for Alonso to play on the moon he'd do it in a heart beat. That's the problem with choosing agents like Boras. They never consider the interests of their clients; only their own bottom line.

Then there's the rumor - and let's be polite and call it a rumor - that Stearns is pursuing a trade for Vladimir Guerrero, Jr from the Toronto Blue Jays. The 26 year old first baseman batted .323 with 30 home runs and 103 RBIs. He signed a one-year, $28.5 million deal to avoid arbitration. Forget for a moment that any team looking to land him would pay a king's ransom in prospects, he's a pending free agent after this season. And while he probably won't command the same money Soto did, he's not going to be cheap. Think $500 million over 12 years. And keep in mind, before Soto hit the market, I thought his contract would come in around $600 million. I was off by $165 million. To paraphrase Bill Murray in Ghost Busters, "No salary is too high" when it comes to baseball.

For now, this is the Mets projected lineup for the 2025 season:

Francisco Lindor - SS
Soto - RF
Vientos - 1B
Brandon Nimmo - LF
Winker / Marte - DH
Jeff McNeil / Luisangel Acuna - 2B
Francisco Alvarez - C
Tyrone Taylor / Jose Siri - CF
Brett Baty - 3B

Not bad, but hardly the 1927 Yankees. And if the starting rotation doesn't pan out, or if Soto struggles in his first season with the team just like Lindor did in his first season, the Mets will have a tough time competing for a Wild Card spot, much less the division.

Far be it for me to tell Steve Cohen how to spend his money, but I think he should reconsider his offer to Alonso. Maybe Pete isn't worth what he's asking for, but let's be honest, was Soto really worth $765 million? You and I both know the answer to that. If Boras rejected $70 million over three years, try upping the ante to, say, $90 million over three, with an opt out after the first year. We're talking about a home grown player who's third in team history with 226 home runs. That has to count for something, even in these cut throat times.

Bottom line, the Mets lineup is stronger with Alonso hitting behind Soto than Vientos. Cohen knows it, Stearns knows it, Boras knows it, Carlos Mendoza knows it, and Pete knows it.

Re-sign the Polar Bear. It's the right thing to do.