A Dozen Skims Past The Post Trade Deadline Finish Line

1. Chris Drury didn't go Trade Deadline nuts this March; and he did right. Granted, the Rangers homestretch schedule is filled with potholes but he's got enough talent to surmount them.

2. Make no mistake, this IS a Rangers playoff team unless Peter Laviolette's coaching botches it up. He's got the players; and he's in a good position with the standings.  Now it's all on Lavvy to rectify a bad coaching season,

3. If Lavvy can't work out a successful power play by now then Chris Drury should run the darn thing.

4. Properly used, the Blueshirts fourth line can be a decisive game-breaker on any night.

5. That means that Matt Rempe has to stay sane and ubvert his urge to put every foe through the boards and out on the sidewalk. Nor does he have to fight.

6. This is tough to admit but the twin absences of Adam Fox and Chris Kreider could simply be addition by subtraction.

7. When Iggy Shesterkin is on his game – and he'd BETTER BE TODAY – New York has the best one-two goalie combo in the league. But when Shesty is off, forget-about-it!

8. Incredible as it would have seemed a month agol, the Devils could be caught by the Rangers before this marathon is through. (Gentle Reminder; the Islanders are not dead!)

9. I do not know – just asking, mind you – but I wonder what Vegas' odds are for the Rangers to win The Cup. (I'm gonna ask my silent pal Mike Cosby when he wakes up in Sheffield, Mass.

10. So the Bruins axed Jim Montgomery and look what it got them – a fire sale and a playoffs white-flag of surrender. Next time genius GM Don Sweeney should try hiring a real – not interim – coach.

11. Maven Prediction, 1: K'Andre Miller will enjoy a career best homestretch run. (Or, 1A: He darn well better!)

12. Maven Prediction, 2. Zac Jones will play so well that coach Laviolette will regret that he has treated his gifted defender as if Zac was a fugitive from Devil's Island.