The Jagr problem.

Yes this may be controversial but I think it needs to be said. I don't mean to start out being this straight forward when I start this but I think it needs to be posted and I think it needs to be said to the masses, or at the very least the 6 people that may read this post.

Jagr is a great player and has amazing skills but the fact of the matter is I don't think he should get top line billing with these rangers. However he is the captain and by far the best skilled player on the team and Renney is looking for a center for him instead of trying to put together top lines that will work together. So this will most likely not happen. From what I saw in the preseason the Dawes-Gomez-Shanahan line was the best line I saw, and personally I think Prucha-Drury-Callahan would be an amazing line with the speed and skills that they possess. Problem with these lines are that Jagr does not have either of the top 2 centers that Rangers picked up in the offseason.

Of course this leads to other problems on the team, A: Dawes does not have a spot on the roster just yet, and B: Jagr has a rookie center. In my opinion however I think Jagr can and will still produce on the third line. Hear me out on this one to find out why. Who does Jagr see on a regular night? The opposing team's best defenseman on every shift. We take some scoring power away from Jagr's side lets say put Straka and Dubinsky on his line still some scoring or even Hossa and Dubinsky on his line he will still have support. Now where does the top defense pairing go? Jagr-Dubinski-Straka/Hossa? Prucha-Drury-Callahan? Straka/Dawes-Gomez-Shanahan? All of these have great potential for goal scoring, high skills and a mix of veterans and youngsters. This is all of course until Avery comes back, where Hossa and Dawes are taken out of this mix. Alright let's get back to reality real quick Dawes won't be called up anytime soon unless someone else goes down with an injury, which hopefully does not happen. Here should be the line combinations without Dawes in the mix:

Hossa-Dubinsky-Jagr
Straka-Gomez-Shanahan
Prucha-Drury-Callahan
Hollweg-Betts-Orr

I'll be honest with these 3 lines going up and rolling one after another getting even time on the ice the Rangers will be able to wear down the opposition every game. No team has enough defensemen to cover all these lines rolling... well maybe Anaheim; at the very least no one in the Eastern Conference. Side note here Blair Betts is a good center and a good team member on this team, but he should not be moved up in the lineup to the second or even third line. He is a good 4th line center and that's where I think he should remain without a question.

Since we are bringing Staal around a slow way and letting him play every game to learn I think we should do the same with Dubinsky let him play with Jagr and Hossa and see what he can do. He seems to play well on the ice with the time he gets and I think he can handle this upgrade. Although I left the Jagr line on the top this line is not the top line on this team most likely until Avery came back it would be 2 or 3. Once Avery comes back let him play with Shanny again and move Straka back to Jagr’s line.

So lets begin the demote Jagr to third line bandwagon to get this team and possibly even Jagr jump started since either he will see less of the top d pairing or the other top 2 centers will see less of the top d pairing opening them up for more offensive chances.

Alright that’s it for today unless something else awesome pops into my head.

Tune in tomorrow for the my opinion on why the Rangers are off to a slow start.