Yea, I’m piggybacking off Elliotte Friedman and our own Brandon Cohen. But this is a weekly thought post on Wednesday mornings going forward. I’d usually do these ad-hoc, but I like the idea of a mid-week thoughts post. Each Wednesday going forward, we are going to have seven Rangers thoughts for the week. This week, let’s focus on the Rangers process, and why it matters more than results and wins/losses.
1. There is a lot of focus on the results and the record. This isn’t the year for that. Too much dead cap space. Too much learning. This is the youngest team in the NHL by a wide margin. The Rangers have four, count them, four potentially elite level prospects at the NHL level. Adam Fox is already one of the best defensemen in the NHL. Igor Shesterkin, Kaapo Kakko, and Alexis Lafreniere have been dominant all year. Add that to what the team already has, plus what may be coming next season, and you have a winner. It’s about the 2021-2022 season, something we’ve been preaching for a few years now. Focus on the process, not the results. The results matter next year.
2. Speaking of Rangers process, what a complete 180 this team has taken. The next time you think an assistant coach doesn’t matter, just remember what the switch from Lindy Ruff to Jacques Martin did to this team. The PK is one of the best in the league. The defensive process has improved greatly. Adding K’Andre Miller certainly helped a lot, but it’s the process that changed.
On the PK, the Rangers don’t chase. No one crosses that center line unless needed. The defense don’t go past the faceoff dots. The forwards don’t come too low. It’s pristine.
At evens, there are no more back door chances with regularity. There are no odd-man rushes every other minute. This is a different team. And it will only get better once that third pair gets shored up. More Rangers process improvements.
3. On that third pair, the Rangers aren’t that far off. Let’s Assume Mika Zibanejad is back to himself next season, which may not be much of a stretch. This means the Rangers are really just a 4C and a third pair away from competing. It’s impossible to assume a Jack Eichel trade, which is fine. Even with the current roster, all three spots are possibly easily filled.
Morgan Barron is playing wing in Hartford, but he’s a capable center. Even if he’s not a center in the team’s eyes, a legit 4C is easy to add via free agency.
On defense, Nils Lundkvist is going to make waves in the NHL. The Rangers clearly love Matthew Robertson, who is headed for the pros next season as well. Lundkvist is likely NHL ready, and the Rangers haven’t been shy about throwing kids into the mix. Perhaps that bottom pair is set?
4. The powerplay is a problem. Yea they scored last night, but it was a fluke goal. The focus is mostly on Zibanejad’s inability to score. He’s snakebitten. And if he were shooting even 10%, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. The metrics are trending in his favor, which is great for actually getting the puck in the net.
That said, the Rangers process itself is still generating the same level of quality chances as it was last year. This suggests that we wouldn’t even be having this conversation if not for Zibanejad’s 3% shooting rate this season. The one thing that gets me is the four righties on PP1. Fix that, open up options on the other half of the ice, and this team will be an offensive juggernaut next season.
5. We need to address the elephant in the room, and that is Brett Howden. If only there were a league in between the WHL and the NHL that he could have developed in?
In all seriousness, the Rangers screwed the pooch on this one. They rushed Howden (and Libor Hajek) to try to show immediate dividends on the awful Ryan McDonagh trade. In their attempts to show something immediately they wound up messing up prospect development. It’s too late at this point, and Howden is what he is. Maybe he will find something at some point and be a serviceable bottom-six NHLer, but for now he’s not.
I get the arguments to keep him in the lineup. He takes faceoffs (with a losing FO%) while Filip Chytil can’t. The Rangers are thin at center to begin with. None of these become viable beyond this year. The Rangers have a hole at center that needs addressing. Howden is that hole. I wish it weren’t the case, but it is.
6. Speaking of centers, Filip Chytil is blossoming before our eyes. My preseason prediction was that Chytil would be the 2C before the season was out. He may actually be that 2C right now, but not in the manner we expected. He hasn’t surpassed Ryan Strome, but Zibanejad’s struggles have shown a brighter light on Chytil. He’s lived up to it. At this point he’s the 2C in terms of reliability and production.
Assuming this trio produces next season, the Rangers may actually have decent center depth next year. Adding another center would add insurance, especially if it’s someone like Jack Eichel. But if the Rangers run a normal Zibanejad, this year’s Strome, and this year’s Chytil as their top three centers, they’d be good to go. Remember when Derick Brassard was the Rangers 3C? That’s the depth you need to make a run. And that’s the kind of depth that the Rangers would have.
7. Speaking of Strome, it’s time for me to take the ‘L’ here. I did not think Strome would be able to flourish the way he has. There was nothing concrete to show that he was capable of driving play without Artemi Panarin. This year he is. He has been the Rangers best center this year.
I still have questions about sustainability and whether or not he’s someone the Rangers can count on beyond next season. He may not be. That’s fine. It means the Rangers got 2+ solid seasons out of him. If they think he is, then hopefully he can reproduce this season.
I have questions. But he’s silenced the critics for now. I’ll take the ‘L’ there.
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