COWBOYS DRAFT THOUGHTS

By Mark Halpern

With less than 2 weeks before the NFL draft begins, the rumors are flying all over. The Dallas Cowboys are coming off a disappointing season that ended in the Wild Card round against the 49ers. The Cowboys didn’t do much of anything during the off-season because of salary cap issues. They have since corrected the salary cap issue by trading wide receiver Amari Cooper to Cleveland for basically nothing to dump his 20-million-dollar contract, reworked Demarcus Lawrence’s contract, Zack Martian’s contract to help free up money. They also didn’t resign a few players from last year that should have been here, such as Keanu Neal. However, you shouldn’t cry over spilled milk and move on.

     The question burning in everyone’s mind is what is going on in the minds of the Joneses. We have seen them have lousy luck with free agents in the past, and could that have something to do with it? Maybe but we have seen this erratic behavior from this family before. The Cowboys need to fill many holes on their team, especially in the offensive line market. The Cowboys have the 24th pick in the first round, and there are significant rumors that Dallas has been in contact with the New York Jets about their #10 pick. Trading up would be a gutsy move as it will cost them extra in the long run. The Jets are said to want a second-round pick and another second-round pick next year, and that’s a lot. If Jerry or Stephen can make a deal to do this, then the offensive lineman that they want will be there.

   If that were the only position Dallas needs to fill, that would be fine, but they need to replace holes on the defensive line that was left vacant by Randy Gregory when he went to Denver, Wide Reciever, and Line Backer. We can feel safe about our secondary because it’s just that good.

   Suppose I am Jones in this situation and haven’t been able to replace anything in free agency. In that case, this rumor of a trade with the Jets is exciting, and they would be targeting an Offensive Lineman if a trade can get done.

METS LINEUP FULL OF SURPRISES

By Mark Halpern

The New York Mets have had a great rotation to start the season (Please Read Mike Rifken’s recent post on our blogs that covers this), but the Mets lineup has been burning and turning. Usually throughout the first two weeks of the season you see lopsided stats cause some teams take longer to get going. So batting averages usually favor mostly all-stars, and then the rest of the team is everywhere. In the case of the New York Mets every player that has had a chance to start has produced.

    Last year the Mets made a massive splash by trading for Francisco Lindor and signing him to a vast 10-year contract. In his first year in New York, we saw a shell of the player he was in Cleveland. He dealt with injuries and other adjustment problems that caused his offensive output to be below subpar. However, this year you can see he is a much different player. He has started very hot, batting .273 with 3HR 7RBI’s and 2SB.  His defense last year was the one thing that was constant from when he came to the Mets. This year he seems to have more energy and looks healthier and is starting to look like the player Steve Cohen wanted in New York.

   Pete “Polar Bear” Alonso is off to the hottest starts of any Mets player. With Pete either playing first base (which he prefers) or he is the designated hitter, his bat is doing the talking. He currently leads the major leagues with 14RBI’s in the first two weeks. His glove has been impeccable and definitely improved from last year. Anytime the ball hits his bat, you can hear the polar bear growl.

   The Mets weren’t playing around in Free Agency and got one of the most coveted outfielders out there in Starling Marte. He has had no problem adjusting to New York Baseball as he has come out hot, batting .270 2HR and 10RBI’s. He is fearless in the outfield and has proved that no ball is uncatchable.

   One of the players I was pulling for has come out and has proved that last year’s injury is behind him, and that is Jeff McNeil. Currently, McNeil is batting .344 with 1HR and 4RBI’s. His start is far better than his out-put last year, and I understood the rumors to trade him over the offseason with an entire team, but I am so happy they decided to keep him, and he has been a pleasant surprise. My expectations for him are .285 15HR 65RBI’s would be beautiful. His play in the field, whether it is in the outfield or at second, is doing better than anticipated.

   Other players who have been a pleasant surprise to this powerful lineup are.

    Mark Canha, who is batting .381 with 3RBI but is currently on Covid protocols and they can’t wait his return.

    Brandon Nimmo, whose smile and energy lights up Citi Field, is batting .333 2HR 2RBI, but his key stat is 4BB. I love watching him track pitches as they come in, and when he walks, he sprints to first.

    Eduardo Escobar, who has gotten off to a slow start but has been picking it up lately, has 5 doubles on the season and his speed on the base paths has been a significant upgrade for this Mets lineup.

    Travis Jankowski has proved that his glove is not the only reason they got him. He has only had 12 at-bats this year but has 5 hits. He runs well on the base paths, and if I were to compare him to a player, he reminds me of Juan Lagares a little, with his determination to take every chance given to him and make the best of it.

    I think this Mets lineup is not only scary but is the best lineup in baseball.  This Mets lineup is not going to break records but rather shatter them and that’s how the old man sees it.

Starting Strong

By: Mike Rifkin

On Sunday David Peterson gave the Mets 4.1 innings of shutout baseball. The 4.1 shutout innings lowered the Mets starters ERA to a staggering 1.07 through 10 games. Peterson was making the start for Taijuan Walker who got hurt in his last start and manager Buck Showalter said he expects Walker to make a rehab start sometime this week. 

The Mets have yet to receive a start from ace Jacob deGrom who is dealing with a stress reaction in his right scapula. deGrom said before Friday’s home opener that he expects to get an MRI in the next 10 days. In 2021 deGrom only made 15 starts due to various injuries to his back and forearm. Prior to the injury deGrom was dominating with a 1.08 ERA and in 92.0 innings deGrom had 146 strikeouts and 11 walks, which made his strikeout to walk ratio 13.3. 

In deGrom’s absence somebody had to step up and through two starts Tylor Megill has stepped up massively. Megill, who got the opening day start for the Mets and will start Monday against the Giants, has not given up a run in his first two starts. Megill made 18 starts last season and went 4-6 with a 4.52 ERA in 18 starts. Megill last year had 99 strikeouts and 27 walks in 89.2 innings. Through two starts this season Megill has 11 strikeouts through 10.1 innings and has not walked a single hitter yet. 

With deGrom’s health a question mark, Noah Syndergaard and Marcus Stroman leaving in free agency the Mets front office had to go out and get some starting pitching. The first move they made was signing three time CY Young award winner Max Scherzer to a three year contract. Scherzer is 2-0 so far on the season with a 3.27 ERA, which is the highest on the Mets staff so far. Scherzer has 13 strikeouts and four walks in 11 innings. 

The Mets also made a trade with the Athletics to acquire 2021 All Star Chris Bassitt for two minor leaguers. Bassitt so far is 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA. Bassitt has 14 strikeouts and three walks in 12.0 innings. But both Bassitt and Scherzer have been showed in the dugout showing other starters’ things on the IPad. But both also bring an old school mentality especially Scherzer who hasn’t had his best stuff in his first two starts but he knows how to pitch and that is what both of these guys have shown through two starts. 

But the most welcome surprise from the rotation has to be what the Mets have gotten so far from Carlos Carrasco. Carrasco, who was acquired in the Francisco Lindor trade, struggled in his first season in Flushing. Carrasco had a hamstring injury that kept him out most of the first half of the season,  Carrasco went 1-5 with a 6.04 ERA in 12 starts last season. He had work done on his Elbow and has really been good in his first two starts. In my opinion Carrasco is the key to this rotation. You expect Scherzer to be Scherzer and hope eventually deGrom can come back healthy. But to have a top four of deGrom, Scherzer, Bassitt and Carrasco would be something for a team with high expectations.

Do I think the Mets will pitch to a 1.07 starter’s ERA all season? No, but if they stay healthy they can give the Mets a chance to win any game. This staff will get better with the returns of deGrom and Walker but right now the Mets starting rotation has been sensational for a team that has some lofty expectations.

TWIW – This Week In Wrestling (4/11/22 – 4/15/22)

By : Jeff Knapp

WWE – RAW

Cody had his 1st match on Raw in 6 years. It was against The Miz. Now before the match, Cody was a guest on MizTV. I’m not sure if the Miz was told to correct Cody when he used the terms “Wrestler” and Championship “Belt” or if that was Miz thinking on his feet as a heel and having to correct him. I applaud the Miz if he corrected Cody due to being a heel and thinking on his feet like that. 

That segment also leads us into finding out that Backlash will give us Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins 2, which will be another amazing match

Bianca Belair found out that her next opponent will be WWE “official” Sonya Deville. I’m a huge fan of Sonya and with this power trip she’s on, I’m curious to where this goes. Bianca is one of the greatest athletes, male or female the WWE has and think this could be a great match.

We learned that former NXT Champion, Tommaso Ciampa is now an official member of Raw. I’m happy that his name hasn’t changed like the last few NXT wrestler’s name have IE: “Butch”. I’ve been a fan of his since his ROH days, and since we all know how things can go on the Raw and Smackdown rosters, I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop. His official introduction to Raw with Ezekial and Owens, was kind of a comedy bit, so we will see.

We also learned the reason why MVP turned on The Almighty Bobby Lashley, and it seems like there will be a rematch between Lashley and Omos at Backlash.

Austin Theory will now be known as Theory. 

Finally, after the Usos defeated the Street Profits, that they will take on RK-Bro (at Backlash I would guess) to unify the 2 Tag Team titles. It also sounds like the main championship will be called the WWE unified universal title, or something like that. 

NXT 2.0

It appears that after Grimes defeated solo to retain the NXT North American Championship that Carmelo Hayes has his sights set on regaining the title. When that happens will Grimes take it to the moon or willHayes not miss when he takes his shot?

We see that Gacy is continuing to goat Breakker and burn his father’s HOF ring. Gacy seems to change his character a little. Going from a “woke” style of character to more of a cult leader type. I’m actually interested in the transformation and where it’s going.

Von Wagner and Ikemen Jiro had a match and I could care less. Von threw Ikemen into the crowd, but Bam Bam did it better in ECW to Spike Dudley. 

We see an escalation in the feud between Nakkita Lyons and Lash Legend. Not sure how this will go, but when Lyons is on the screen, she has my full attention. 

Mandy Rose had another successful title defense against Dakota Kai. Toxic Attraction is doing anything they can to keep the gold. Mandy has been getting better than ever since going to NXT. It’s just a matter of time before she goes back to Raw or Smackdown and becomes another Finn Balor.

Finally, the night ended with a NXT Tag Team Championship Gauntlet Match featuring Grayson Waller & Sanga vs Legado Del Fantasma vs the Creed Brothers vs Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen vs Pretty Deadly, who just arrived from NXT-UK. The titles were on the line due to MSK having to vacate the championship. The newly arrived Pretty Deadly picked up the victory when Prince pinned Brutus.

AEW – DYNAMITE

Once again AEW starts the show off with a great match. This week was CM Punk vs Penta Oscuro (spanish for dark). Solid match that saw Punk connect with the GTS for the 1-2-3.

After seeing 2pointO getting taken out on sight by Eddie Kingston, we go back to the ring for an amazing tag team title match between reDRagon and Jurrasic Express. Although Perry got the pin on Fish, RD attacked them from behind with chairs and left until FTR came out and showed off their gold. Will we see FTR vs reDRagon or J.E. ?

Although the brackets for the Owen Hart Foundation tournament hasn’t been formed yet, we do find out that Jamie Hayter will face Toni Storm in the opening round.

I just can’t go a week without saying how much I appreciate MJF

During MJF’s match Wardlow comes out and is attacked by every member of the security staff, but during this MJF is counted out and loses to Shawn Dean again.

Maliki Black has a cryptic message for the AEW

We got the 1st in ring confrontation between Ediie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz vs the JAS which saw Daniel Garcia get the pin on Kingston after Jericho nailed Kingston in the back with a pipe.

We also get MJF to use Wardlow’s contract to set up a match between him and the Butcher for next week.

I’m excited to see when and where Marina Shafir gets her hands on the undefeated Jade Gargill after her quick match against Skye Blue

In what was a great tag team match between Swerve & Keith Lee and Starks & Hobbs, Team Taz picks up the win when Taz gets involved allowing Hobbs to pin Lee. I still can’t get over how big Hobbs is, but when Lee gets in there, you see just how massive Keith Lee really is. 

We also see the set up for Thunder Rosa vs Nyla Rose at Battle of the Belts. I’m a huge Thunder Rosa fan, so I’m hoping she retain the championship and keeps it for a long time.

The main event gave us Minoru Suzuki defending is ROH Television title vs Samoa Joe. After 20 minutes of chops, they get things going and give us the best match of the week so far. Joe nails the Muscle Buster and get the 1-2-3 and is the NEW ROH television champion, but the celebration doesn’t last when Satnam Singh attacked him from behind. Satnam was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2015 draft.

IMPACT

From the 2300 Arena in Philly, aka the ECW Arena, W. Morrisey comes out and thanks everybody for their support during his hard times and is clean and sober.

The major players get involved and take out Morrisey. The major players consist on Brian Myers, Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green. The one thing that baffles me is that Impact makes no mention that Matt is the NWA Worlds Champion but talk about the digital media champion, which is the oddest title in my opinion. 

Deonna Purrazzo has another challenge and is answered by Willow Nightingale. She is fairly new to the scene and has been on Impact, AEW and the 1st ROH ppv after the hiatus. She is young and has a good amount of upside. 

Speaking of young, Tasha Steelz will be defending her Knockouts title against Rosemary at Rebellion. I really hope Rosemary wins this, but for some reason Impact pushes Tasha. There has to be something that I don’t see.

Once again ROH Champion Jonathan Greshman gets a win over Rocky Romero. Over the past few years, I haven’t seen a match that he’s been in that I wasn’t entertained. Who else need Gresham vs Danielson very soon?

Impact gave an extremely impressive Josh Alexander promo for his match against Moose at Rebellion for the world title. Moose has been great as champion, but it’s time for Josh to get his comeuppance.

Honor no more came out and gave us some insight into their future and it seems like they are at Impact to stay. I’m really hoping that is true since Impact needs wrestlers like them. Bullet Club comes out and cuts them off leading to mass brawl, which I hope we see BC vs HNM in a 8 man tag in the near future.

WWE – SMACKDOWN

The show starts off with an in-ring showdown between the Usos and RK-Bro. The Usos gave us a 5 star promo during that exchange. 

Setting up the WWE Women’s tag team match this coming Monday, Rhea Ripley goes 1 on 1 vs Naomi. Rhea’s power was just too much for Naomi’s athleticism 

Drew Gulak is now getting the chance to be a backstage interviewer? I remember how much I loved his cruiserweight classic matches. Very talented. I’m happy to see he still has a job. Maybe Impact, AEW/ROH in his future if it doesn’t work out.

We are now in a post madcap Moss / Happy Corbin era, and Moss started things off right with a win over Humberto, who might have also lost his last name as well.

After running from Drew multiple times, Sami Zayn will now face Mcintyire in a Lumberjack match

We are given another reintroduction promo of Lacey Evans. I love her stories and how they come across. This feels so real, and possibly is. It brings us closer to the wrestler. I love these stories and hope to hear a few more before she comes back to the ring. 

Setting up the for the team team unification match at Backlash, Riddle defeated Jimmy Uso. Solid match from both these men.

AEW – Rampage

The real works starts tonight for Wheeler Yuta and he and Danielson & Mox tag against the Gunn Club. and Yuta gets the pinfall over Billy Gunn.

Dustin Rhodes challenges CM Punk to a bucket list match of his for next week on Dynamite. Will he accept? I’m sure he will

It was great to see Ruby Soho back on TV again in a Owen Hart qualifying match against Robyn something??

We get a barn burner in the main event. Texas Death Match Adam Page vs Adam Cole for the AEW world Title. Page wrapped barbed wire around Cole’s head and some people got upset due to something about Christmas.

Great match. These two men have such great matches together.

Quest For Perfection

By : Mike Rifkin

Wednesday afternoon future Hall Of Famer Clayton Kershaw was pulled from his first start of the season after seven perfect innings and only threw 80 pitches against the Minnesota Twins. There have been 23 perfect games in the history of Major League Baseball with the last one by Felix Hernandez of the Mariners in August of 2012. 

Kershaw said after the game “ Those are selfish goals. We’re trying to win. That’s really all we’re here for. I would have loved to have stayed, but bigger things, man, bigger things.” Kershaw also said it was the right decision to pull him. Kershaw isn’t wrong for calling a perfect game a selfish goal, but it would be another feather on his plaque when he goes to Cooperstown after his career. Kershaw did miss last season’s playoffs due to left forearm discomfort. 

Now I understand both parts of the argument. On one hand he missed the playoffs with a forearm issue and this is his first start of the season, but on the other hand it is a perfect game, how can you pull a guy from a perfect game? If it was a no hitter fine Kershaw has one of those on his resume, but a perfect game is so rare that you have to let him finish what he started and if he gives up a hit or walk pull him then. The other thing is the game being in Minnesota Dave Roberts pulling him in the dugout prevents the fans from showing their appreciation for what is occurring. 

But this just shows how much the game has changed. If we go back even a decade ago Kershaw is still throwing until the perfect game is gone. I understand that the end game is that the Dodgers goal is to win the World Series, but to not let a guy continue with a perfect game seems wrong. 

Tom Terrific

By : Mike Rifkin

On Friday prior to the Mets home opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks the Mets will unveil a statue of “The Franchise” Tom Seaver in front of Citi Field. Seaver was a member of the 1969 World Series Champion and 1973 National League Champion Mets teams. Seaver is the Mets all time leader in Wins ( 198), Innings pitched (3,045.2), Games started ( 395), Complete Games (171), Shutouts (44) and won three CY Youngs as a Met. After his playing career Seaver worked as an analyst for Mets and Yankee games on WPIX.  He also worked Nationally on NBC and ABC. In 1992 Seaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame with 98.4 percent of the vote, which at the time was the highest percent for a player to receive. Seaver threw the ceremonial last pitch at Shea Stadium in 2008 and threw out the first pitch at Citi Field in 2009.  Seaver passed away in 2020 due to Lewy body dementia and complications of Covid 19, but on Friday the man dubbed the Franchise will have be immortalized with a statue in front of Citi Field. 

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER MASTERS CHAMPION

By Ross Mazin

Scottie Scheffler is you’re 2022 Masters champion. In the second round, he took the lead over Sun Jay Im and could not be caught. Before the Master’s, I didn’t think that Scheffler would win with the talented field that was in front of him. During the final round, I honestly thought Rory McElroy would catch him. This was a well-deserved victory for Scheffler and his first Major PGA win.

This year’s Master’s was nothing short of incredible. When playing on this course in Augusta, Georgia, the weather is usually the most significant factor, especially the wind. For the first three days, the weather was windy and cool, making for tough plays on already one of the most challenging courses in the world. However, Scheffler was so focused that he didn’t let it bother him, or he didn’t show his disgust at it either.

Scottie Scheffler has been one of the more exciting golfers on this year’s tour field. He is not a very flamboyant golfer or a showboat. Scheffler is a very reserved golfer and shows it on the course. He tries to block everything out that is going on around him to focus on his round. There were a ton of distractions during the Master, from weather to fans, and he did not let that bother him one bit. Scheffler’s run to the masters is nothing short of incredible. He has quietly been climbing up the ranks in the golf world and will be at the top for a long time. I can’t imagine how he must’ve felt after winning the Masters

Scottie Scheffler grew up in Texas, and he is only the third most famous athlete to come out of Highland Park High school in Texas. The other two athletes that went there were Matthew Stafford and Clayton Kershaw. His first amateur win was in the 2011 Legends Junior Match Play Championship. His second win came in the US Junior Amateur in 2013. The third came at the Junior Innovational in 2014. His last amateur win came in 2015 at the Annual Western Intercollegiate tournament. He has been climbing the ladder fast on tour, and we expect him to be at the top for a long time.

MEGILL LOOKING LIKE DEGROM

By Mark Halpern

When the New York Mets started the limited spring training, Taylor Megill was not even a thought for the starting lineup, let alone the MLB roster. The thought was he was going to go down to triple-A ball and would probably be called up in the summer when they would possibly need that extra starter due to heat and wear and tear on a pitcher’s body. However, a week and a half before opening day, the Mets learned that DeGrom would miss at least a month with shoulder discomfort.

      Buck Showalter, the Mets manager, wasted no time and told Taylor Megill that he was getting the ball for opening day. Showalter knows what Megill did last season and said, “He deserves a shot.” Megill performed beautifully during his time with the Mets last season. He was a great surprise from his first start and was greatly cheered during his last start.

      On Thursday, April 7th Megill took the ball for the Mets during the National’s home opener. The expectations were that he would go at least four innings and possibly give up a run. That didn’t happen as he pitched five shutout innings, giving up three hits and striking out five. The Mets won that game 5-1, and Megill got the rotation off on the right foot.

    Last night Megill took the mound against the Phillies, and from his first pitch till his last, he was excellent. His fastball was topping out at 99mph. For those of you who don’t know, that is the same top speed as Scherzer and DeGrom (DeGrom can and had hit 102mph constantly.) Megill Pitched yet another brilliant game. He went again for five innings giving up three hits and struck out five batters. He also received the win making him 2-0 on the season with an ERA of 0.

   Megill has been spectacular these first two games, and we all can’t wait to see more. We know that DeGrom will be back around May, and Taylor Megill has made his case why he belongs in the current rotation. With Walker leaving with a shoulder problem, I expect Megill to be staying, and David Peterson will be kept up to help the rotation, and that is how the old man sees it.

Frank Vogel : Easy Scapegoat

By: Mike Rifkin

The Lakers fired Frank Vogel on Monday after three seasons. The Lakers missed the playoffs and playin tournament  this season with a record of 33-49. Vogel in his three seasons as the Lakers coach went 127-98 and won an NBA Championship in 2019-2020. Now Vogel was the easiest person to blame for the lack of success the Lakers achieved this season, but was it really his fault? There are a few people to blame for the lack of success of the Lakers for arguably one of the biggest disappointing seasons in NBA history. It doesn’t have to do with coaching, it has to do with roster construction.  

A lot of people deserve blame for the Lakers terrible season. Let’s start with General Manager Rob Pelinka. Pelinka put together an awful roster. The Lakers traded Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell -Pope, Montrezl Harrell and a 2021 first round pick for former MVP Russell Westbrook. Westbrook averaged 18.5 points per game, his lowest since 2009-10 his second season in the league. With the money owed to Westbrook, Lebron James and Anthony Davis Pelinka couldn’t put together a great roster. Once the NBA offseason begins people will watch what happens with Westbrook. Westbrook has a player option at 47 million dollars and not a lot of teams are going to be interested. The Lakers would have to probably sweeten the deal with a draft pick that the Lakers have a limited amount of based on another trade. 

Another trade Pelinka and then advisor Laker legend Magic Johnson deserve some heat for is the trade that the Lakers got star forward Anthony Davis. Everyone knew that Davis wanted to go from the Pelicans to the Lakers and the Pelicans made them pay a heavy price. The Pelicans acquired point guard Lonzo Ball who has since gone to the Bulls, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first round picks. Davis was a beast when the Lakers won the NBA title in the bubble. In the 2020 playoffs Davis averaged 27.7 points per game, 9.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Davis was limited to 40 games this season due to injury. When healthy Davis is an elite player but the Lakers may want to focus more on the long term than the short term which might mean to consider trading Davis. 

Lebron James also draws some blame here, not for his play Lebron was the only reason the Lakers had a shot at the playoffs. Lebron deserves blame for the fact that he has to sign off on any move Pelinka and the front office make. Whoever becomes the coach will have their work cut out for them but the Lakers offseason will definitely be intriguing. But to be among the elite not just in the NBA but in the Western Conference the Lakers definitely need to reconstruct their roster. One thing is for sure Frank Vogel was an easy scapegoat.

Back In The Playoffs

By : Mike Rifkin

With their 5-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators the New York Rangers have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017. On February 8th 2018 the Rangers front office wrote a letter to the fan base explaining that the team was going to go through a full rebuild. 

Now a lot of the credit belongs to former General Manager Jeff Gorton who put a lot of this roster together. Gorton was able to acquire star center Mika Zibanejad who the Rangers signed earlier this season to a eight year extension for Derrick Brassard. Ryan Strome who has been a big part of this team was acquired for Ryan Spooner. Defensemen Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren and Jacob Trouba were all acquired via trade by Gorton. Fox, the reigning Norris trophy winner was traded from the Hurricanes for two second round picks. Ryan Lindgren was acquired in the trade that sent Rick Nash to the Bruins. Jacob Trouba was acquired from the Winnipeg Jets for Neal Pionk and a 2019 first round pick which the Rangers acquired when they traded Kevin Hayes to the Jets. Gorton also made a big free agent splash when he signed Artemi Panarin to a seven year 81.5 million dollar contract. Since signing with the Rangers Panarin has 69 goals and 238 points so far.  Gorton also did a great job drafting now part of that was luck in drafting Kappo Kakko second overall in 2019 and drafted Alexis Lafeniere first overall in 2020. Gorton also moved up in the draft to get defensemen K’Andre Miller and Braden Schneider.  Gorton was fired along with team President John Davidson after the 2021 season. For more on that we did a podcast on it.

https://anchor.fm/noah-trombley/episodes/Rangers-and-Capitals-Drama-e10elol?fbclid=IwAR0RiWfDjtYuJkbsJ3ykPNF2rECWkaWrmX_fle4o1aNYR2qj9LdqMjq6DbI

The Rangers hired Chris Drury to be the President and General Manager of the team. Drury brought in Gerard Gallant to coach the team. Gallant who saw success as the head coach of the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights became the coach. The Rangers wanted to get tougher and they brought in not only tough guys but guys who could help the team win. The first move was trading for Barclay Goodrow from the back to back Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning and signed him to a six year 21.8 million dollar contract. Goodrow has already set a career high with 13 goals and 26 points. Goodrow has also been a massive part of the penalty kill and his leadership has been huge. They also traded for Ryan Reaves from Vegas Golden Knights. Reaves has three goals and 11 points in 61 games. Reaves played for Gerard Gallant in Vegas. Reaves and Goodrow both have a ton of playoff experience. 

The Rangers got off to a great start and at the trade deadline the Rangers had the most cap space of any team vying for a playoff spot. The first move was trading for Frank Vatrano from the Florida Panthers in exchange for a fourth round pick. In 13 games Vatrano has six goals and nine points. The big move Drury made was trading for Andrew Copp of the Winnipeg Jets for prospect Morgan Barron and draft picks. Copp has four goals and 11 points in 10 games as a Ranger. Other trade deadline acquisitions, defenseman Justin Braun has a goal and two points in four games and winger Tyler Motte has not recorded a point but has brought speed to the fourth line and been a spark on the penalty kill. 

For the first time since 2016-17 the Rangers have reached the 100 point mark. But the patience the Rangers showed after the letter have now paid off. No matter what happens in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs Jeff Gorton deserves a lot of credit for putting the roster together. But both he and Chris Drury deserve a ton of credit because neither one was willing to spend a ton on one superstar. The Rangers are in the playoffs and their future is still very bright.