Rangers Recap: It’s bleak

It is a chore to watch the Rangers this season. The game was over a minute into the game as Macklin Celebrini scored a power play goal after Mika Zibanejad took a rare penalty in the opening minute. It was a rare misstep by Zibanejad this season, as he’s still the best Rangers forward this season. After carrying the entire offense in January, an off night is ok, but the rest of the team continued to take game nights off. Sam Carrick, another bright spot, scored the only goal for the Blueshirts as they lost 3-1 and never really made it a challenge for the Sharks. BS in NY, indeed.

Given how bad they are, the Rangers really can’t be taking bad penalties and putting themselves behind the proverbial 8-ball so fast. San Jose scored three times in the first, twice on the powerplay, and that was all she wrote. The even strength goal, though, might be the worst of them all.

JT Miller’s controller didn’t just unplug, he threw it across the room. Spencer Martin aside, this is not captain material. He quit. Period. End of story. Yet he’s going to be on Team USA, so make it make sense.

There are still 30 games left in this horrible season. The team is a terrible product that is only going to get worse. There’s no urgency to give the young players chances to shine. The goaltending is showing why Igor Shesterkin makes $11.5 million. Tank commander Spencer Martin will be remembered for his services if the Rangers get some lottery luck this coming draft. Though this organization is such a mess they might mess that up too.

It’s pretty damning when you have a first overall pick in your lineup playing in a top-6 role, and he has 28 points in 52 games, meanwhile a 19 year-old Macklin Celebrini has completely turned the Sharks franchise around and is probably going to be in the Hart conversation. The pick was the right pick and anyone telling you otherwise is lying. The Rangers need to get serious about player development, and with the deep pockets they have, there is no excuse for their disastrous track record to continue. Invest in the foundation of the team, the rest follows.

With the selloff looming large, nothing is about wins and losses anymore. It’s just how the young guys look each game. If done right, the Sharks are a real example of how you build a young core and supplement them with veterans, hopefully this time the Rangers will actually get this right after they sell off their planned assets.

Good thing we are going to get a long break in February from having to watch this slop night in and night out. There is a lot of work ahead of the hockey operations department, and we are going to find out if they are going to actually learn from their past blunders or not.