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When it comes to hockey, the goings-on between front office and coaching staff personnel is usually very tight lipped. There is never a leak. There is never any sort of inkling that something could be wrong. There is speculation based off reasonable assumptions, but that’s the best we can do. It’s one of the more challenging aspects of not just hockey, but all professional sports. Insight into front office workings just doesn’t exist regularly.

Which is why when it comes to the Rangers, it comes as a little bit of a surprise that there appears to be a disconnect between the front office and the coaching staff. This is 100% speculation on my end, and I wholly admit that. That said, this isn’t wild speculation, it’s educated guessing. There are clear signs that something is not right in Rangers town.

For the past two years, Jeff Gorton has spent each offseason putting together a roster that fits the mold of a speed and skill team. Out went some slower players and some fan favorites, in came puck movers and skill guys, both big name and low key. On paper, the Rangers could have the best top-four in the Eastern Conference, and a top-nine to match it.

But then we look at the roster decisions made by Alain Vigneault the past four games, and they all seem to go against what Gorton has been putting together. Remember that scene in Moneyball when Philip Seymour Hoffman said, “I own the lineup card” to Brad Pitt? Same concept.

Vigneault did it Gorton’s way in the first two games, and the Rangers lost. He then did it his way, benching two of the three biggest acquisitions of this summer (DeAngelo, Smith) and lowering the minutes of the biggest acquisition (Shattenkirk) in favor of his guys (Staal, Kampfer, Holden). He even went as far as benching the talented and still being evaluated Filip Chytil after just 12 minutes of even strength time, and no time on the powerplay. Chytil is now in the AHL.

The issue isn’t so much what AV is doing, or what Gorton wants him to do. Whichever side of the fence you fall on, that’s fine. The issue is that there is a very clear disconnect on what the team’s direction is. Gorton wants speed and skill and new faces. AV wants his guys that have always been there.

When coach and GM aren’t in sync, the team suffers. This isn’t Moneyball. There is no happy ending until they both realize they are trying to accomplish the same thing. This is 100% speculation on my end, but reading into the roster construction and the subsequent roster decisions, something appears to be amiss.

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