We all know that the Rangers have amassed a lot of young and promising pieces since they engaged in the Great Reconstruction until the 2018 trading deadline. However, it is still impossible to tell if the team is ahead, behind or in time, because, let’s face it, the appearance of the final image remains not only unfinished, but also a bit of a puzzle.
But we know for a fact that Rangers would not even be close to where it is today, if not for the general manager of transportation, Jeff Gorton, brought back from Boston in the February 25, 2018 agreement to rent the Rick Nash property, which he was able to raise it both four and nine months later.
The Forbidden Reconstruction by letters featured trades with Ryan McDonagh, Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Hayes and JT, Miller among the flagship players shipped from Broadway, but the reward received for Nash is the grand prize in this process.
Ryan Lindgren came from the Bruins during his second season at the University of Minnesota, after being selected in the second round in 2016. A first-round pick was included, as was Matt Beleskey, who lost his salary. and Ryan Spooner, who was not favorable. OK, it looks good, but maybe not so special.
But Gorton led the Bruins ‘first rounder and the Devils’ second round (obtained by the deadline for Michael Grabner) to Ottawa to go from 26 to 22 overall to select K’Andre Miller. And in November 2018, after a series of performances unleashed by Spooner, who never invested in David Quinn’s program, Gorton sent the striker to Edmonton in exchange for Ryan Strome.
So, in essence, Lindgren, Miller and Strome were all key ingredients in Friday’s Garden party, a 6-2 victory over the Bruins in front of about 1,800 fans who almost made it look like June 14th. 1994, all again in exchange for Nash and his expiring contract.
Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
The Blueshirts were even better than those in this game, playing with smarts, fanfare and a controlled rage against a Boston team that lost four of the last five. They did not give back and did not give back. On the contrary, the Rangers rose and held the battle zones. They owned the neutral zone. Simple, straight-edged games directly across the board have allowed the talent to thrive.
“No one came back tonight,” said Lindgren, who had four shots and a pair of assists tonight with three. “I am a physical team. They like to look for the whistle and, you know, do such things. We were not retiring. I was giving it back.
“And we were smart with our physicality. We don’t take stupid sanctions. It was a great team effort and we came to play tonight. ”
One of those four credited hits out of a total of 32 Rangers credits (17 in the first period) came with about 40 seconds left in the first period, when Lindgren lowered his shoulder and boomed on David Pastrnak, sending him on Boston ice as he tried to lift the boards to the right through the neutral zone. Hopa. I am sorry. Roadblock in the way. Pastrnak should have checked Waze.
“I mean you saw him go down the wall and I knew he was going to try to get red [line] and throw it inside “, said no. 55. “So I just tried to finish my hit and the fans loved it. So it felt good. ”
Lindgren was seen as a marginal prospect when Boston GM Don Sweeney sent him to the Rangers. Reading on it was “great leadership skills.” He seemed to be a “great personality,” the research report at the first meeting. Shortly after the deal, Lindgren dropped out of school after his sophomore year and joined the AHL Wolf Pack in an amateur event. He spent most of 2018-19 in the AHL before entering the stage at the beginning of last season.
He formed a perfect union with Adam Fox, with whom he was a teammate and often a defensive partner in the US U17 team in 2015 and in the 2016 U18 team and in the U20 team in 2017 and 2018 at the World Juniors. Lindgren is just as hard to play against any Jeff Beukeboom Rangers defender, but his game is more than that.
“My relationship with Ryan goes back to the national program and I was very familiar with him as a player and a lot of intangibles that he brought to the game,” Quinn said. “I thought he had a chance to be an NHL player, but this is a guy who wanted to be a good NHL player in a short time.
“The thing for which I give him a lot of credit is that he has adapted. He bent down, he’s faster, his hands are better. His skating has improved, as has his conditioning. It’s a great addition to Foxy, but I think it would be a great addition to anyone. ”
From there, congratulations to Gorton. For on the ice were Lindgren, Miller and Strome. Lettermen, by any other name.