Actually, it all seems random in it's broken English glory. With that said, yes, Paul Ranger is on his way to being a very good defensemen (if he isn't considered that already) and I'm sure he's under-rated by many here on HF due to the fact many haven't seen him play for a long stretch of games. Hopefully he can stay healthy this upcoming season because he is definitely in Tampa's top pairing I would think.
Tampa currently has awful back end. Ranger is probably a #3 or #4 on a really good team. If he's your #1 you are in big trouble. Tampa is in big trouble again this year.
Ranger averaged a little over 25 minutes a night last year, and did a good job taking over while boyle was injured. He is better defensively than boyle and should do a good job this year puting up points too. Not sure if hes our #1 yet and still young, but he will be on the top line.
I think I recall the name, because he got hit by a cheap shot or something, but other than that, I can't place him.
And he's gonna be Tampa's #1?
Eric Boulton destroyed his jaw with an absolutely BRUTAL elbow in Ranger's rookie year. Boulton was suspended 2-4 games for it. I remember it because so many posters were on his ass for the next two seasons about it every time there was Thrasher controversy even though he has played a squeaky-clean game since then.
But back on topic, Ranger is a solid young defenseman that has good speed and looks to be a lock to rack up 20+ points a season the rest of his career. His positioning will get better as he gets older, but hopefully TB has an excellent D coach, as there really is nobody there for him to learn from by example.
Ranger is a great player and improving all the time, still young, but he got talent and he got many aspect that can make him even better, but as someone wrote, in most teams he would be third or fourth man or such, but I think this core can suprise people, they are young and will just get better. To get rid of Boyle, was as it turned out, a good move.
That they just gave him a couple of months earlier?
That contract was executed under a different ownership group. Now there is a new ownership group, a bunch of new coaches and a new team strategy (Torts was fired, remember?).
