NEW YORK, NY – The Yankees are not looking good right now. A lack of focus has led to silly mistakes. An ugly game Wednesday afternoon was followed by an even uglier game last night in Boston. They look lazy. All of the above begs the question: Are The Yankees Lacking Leadership?
Aaron Boone was hired to bring an analytical aspect to the team. But there’s more to baseball than shifts and WAR. The young Bombers need someone to lead them and crack the whip. And while they probably don’t need someone as overbearing and intense as the recently departed Joe Girardi, they could have done a bit better than Boone in terms of someone to light a fire under some of the Baby Bomber behinds. Things have gone off the rails a bit recently and I don’t think A-Booney is the guy that is going to get this promising young team back on track.
[CUE HOCKEY SEGUE]
As I sit here watching the Yankees get dismantled in Boston, I find myself looking to the upcoming NHL season.
There’s not much to look forward to this coming season if you’re a Rangers fan. Kevin Hayes signed a one year extension this week. Hayes and the Rangers avoided an arbitration hearing with the deal that will pay him a handsome sum of over $5 million for this season. Hayes will become an Unrestricted Free Agent next summer.
With the Rangers fully entrenched in a rebuild, one can only hope that the Hayes has a great season and the Rangers trade him at the deadline for prospects or early round draft picks. Mika Zibanejad may be trade fodder if he has a good year also. The only established Ranger who is safe from the trade rumors is Henrik Lundqvist, who has an $8.5 million cap hit through 2021.
I am excited to see what Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil will bring to the table with an extended run in the NHL. Meanwhile, young defenseman K’Andre Miller, whom the Blueshirts took with the 22nd pick in the draft, remains committed to playing out his college career for now. It’s probably a smart move on his part. The player the Rangers selected before Miller in the draft, Vitaly Kravtsov won’t be playing in the NHL this year either as he will head back to the KHL to hone his talents for another season. The comparisons to Evgeny Kuznetsov are encouraging, but there’s still a long road of development ahead of Kravtsov. Maybe we’ll see him in a Rangers sweater in 2019 or 2020.
Look for the Broadway Blues to make a strong playoff push… in 2023. Lundqvist will be retired by then, so hopefully they can work out a trade to get Henry on a contending team before he hanks up his pads. There is little to no chance of him winning a Stanley Cup with the Rangers before he retires. Then again, the Vegas Golden Knights weren’t expected to make the run they did to the Cup Finals this past season.
It will be interesting to see how Vegas does in their sophomore season. I’m predicting them to miss the playoffs entirely this coming season. Time will tell.
That’s all for me today. Come back tomorrow for the stylings of Junoir Blaber.
