Rangers Notes: Patience is Important; Got to Give to Get; Don’t be Fooled by Fake News

The Rangers have needs this summer — one specific need, really. They need scoring. It was a struggle at times for the Rangers to score during the playoffs, and you can’t count on Henrik Lundqvist to shut out the other team every game. He is human, after all.

But so far the Rangers haven’t signed anyone nor made a trade. Zach Parise went to Minnesota, though the Rangers weren’t expected to be a player in the sweepstakes (side note: if you want to see a bitter fanbase, talk to some Devils fans).

But the Rangers have done things. They’ve signed some third and fourth line players in guys like Arron Asham, Taylor Pyatt and Jeff Halpern. They had to sign them with the departure of Brandon Prust, John Mitchell and Ruslan Fedotenko. Prust took the money and ran for the border. It sounds like Fedotenko leaving for the Flyers was expected. And I’m not crying over losing John Mitchell.

And they’re not bad moves to replace those three. The Rangers replace 53 points with 51, so the difference is negligible. I think Pyatt is a significant upgrade, as is Halpern. Halpern can help with faceoffs, which has been a weakness for the Rangers.

But if you listen to fans, these moves don’t matter and the Rangers and Glen Sather aren’t doing their jobs. They want instant gratification and need the big move now now now.

There have been variables in why things haven’t been done yet. First, rumors are the Rangers want Shane Doan. Doan wasn’t going to decide if he would leave the Coyotes and test the market until July 9, which was Monday. The Rangers allegedly are big into the Rick Nash sweepstakes, which is taking time. Apparently the Blue Jackets are dragging their feet. And who knows if the Rangers have expressed interest in Bobby Ryan, who apparently is available.

One thing is needed this summer: Patience. The Rangers know what they need to do this summer. They’ve talked about it since the end of the season. There’s no need to panic.

Meanwhile, look at the teams in the Atlantic Division. No one has gotten significantly better this summer. If anything, the Devils took a step back in losing Parise. If the Rangers were doing nothing while everyone around them got significantly better, I’d be more concerned.

You’ve got to give to get

I’ve read a lot of “don’t trade this player” type of comments since the trade deadline. Don’t trade Brandon Dubinsky. Don’t trade Carl Hagelin. Don’t trade Chris Kreider. Don’t trade Ryan McDonagh. Don’t trade Derek Stepan.

Some of those statements I agree with. No way would I trade Kreider or McDonagh. Others it would matter the deal, though it would still be painful to let the player go.

But I haven’t heard much about who people would trade to get someone like Nash or Ryan. Remember, you have to give to get the pieces you want in a trade, especially when you’re getting a star like one of those two players.

If you say don’t trade one player, suggest who you would trade. You can’t keep everyone and will need to give up someone significant.

I don’t want to trade Derek Stepan, for example, but I would do it to get the important piece the Rangers need. I feel like Stepan is what he’s going to be, though he’ll get more consistent. Whereas I feel like Artem Anisimov has room to grow still.

Don’t get fooled on social media

There was an incident on Twitter today that I’d rather not hash out the details because it was so ridiculous. But basically a “freelance” hockey writer’s “report” that Nash to Rangers was a done deal spread like wildfire. Unfortunately he was intentionally making up news and there was no actual trade done.

As someone who has been in journalism professionally for more than a decade, the whole thing angered me, though I never believed the report from the beginning. I was angered even more by fans and bloggers who patted the guy on the back for his “prank.” The guy would have been fired if he pulled something like that while working at a major news organization.

Why wasn’t I fooled by this? Because I know the signals of something that’s fake. I check out my sources and there are sources I trust on social media. It’s a process I use foreverything whether it’s for my professional world or just as a fan or news consumer.

First off, check the source on this information. Is there a link to a major news source? And when I say major news source, I don’t mean the Bleacher Report. I’m talking a reporter from TSN or another reputable news outlet.

I also look at who is reporting the news on social media. How many followers does this person have? What other things have they reported? Who follows them? A reputable source is going to have a significant number of followers, will be reporting a lot of different things and will be followed by other reputable sources.

And be wary of terms like “breaking” and “exclusive.” People who want to fool you or are lying will try to mimic the terms they think professional journalists use. We rarely use words like “breaking news” or “exclusive” on Twitter. We just report it.

We have a bit of a cliche in journalism: “Even if your mom tells you that she loves you, check it out.” Despite it being a cliche, it’s good advice. Trust no one and check out everything before you trust it.