Thoughts following the Rangers/Isles preseason game

The Rangers kicked off their preseason with a bit of a sloppy showing against the Isles. They got down early, then were playing with 11 forwards for the majority of the game. It wasn’t pretty. There were some highlights, such as Alexis Lafreniere and Dryden Hunt. But there were also some lows, such as Barclay Goodrow getting ejected and a clear hole in defensive depth.

But it was also just one game, in the preseason. It’s a new coach with a bunch of new faces. This will take time. The Rangers will be inconsistent until at least November as they learn the new system. Let’s not overreact to one preseason game.

• Dryden Hunt made a good offensive play early on, but then made a bad clear and line change that led to the first goal. It’s tough to gauge goal breakdowns in preseason, but it wasn’t really a good look for him there. Jarred Tinordi was one of the two defensemen  back on the first goal, which certainly didn’t help matters.
• Barclay Goodrow took a penalty in the first period of the first preseason game. I expected many more overreactions than I saw on Twitter…so progress? I don’t know why he was ejected for the hit from behind though. The ref changed the call when he saw blood.
• Isles seem to be able to get that first pass across from circle to circle with ease, which may be a product of a systems adjustment. Obviously we will better gauge this when it’s the normal roster and not a preseason game, but something to watch for.
• Alexis Lafreniere looks different already. Taking more chances, letting the creativity flow. It didn’t lead to a goal, but he had a nice entry and move to get a chance to open the second period.
• Laf was also on the top powerplay unit as an off-wing one timer option. Finally.
• It’s really hard to judge the Rangers on anything when Anthony Bitetto-Jarred Tinordi is a pairing, but if anything, it highlights the lack of depth outside the top-six and the kids. That middle ground of dependable depth is ugly.
• Adam Huska looked a little shaky to start his turn in net. Probably just jitters though.
• Nils Lundkvist wasn’t necessarily sharp, but again, one game in a new league. He’s very skilled, and we saw some crisp passes from him. He will get more comfortable as time goes on.
• On that fourth goal, Tinordi challenged at the blue line and got caught with it. Sorry, but this Tinordi-Bitetto pairing was lit up all night.
• Sloppiness was the theme of the night, again expected. It is worth noting that the Rangers have three of the worst offenders in penalty difference on their team in Kreider, Strome, and Goodrow.
• From a systems standpoint, it looks to be a strong side overload in the defensive zone. The forecheck/neutral zone play were both inconsistent. It looked like a 2-1-2, but it could have just been a poorly executed 1-2-2. That will fix itself over time.

Again, there isn’t much cause for concern after one preseason game. There won’t even be much cause for concern after the sixth preseason game. It’s a new coach and some decent roster turnover. They will be inconsistent. The top guys should be able to carry them while they figure it out in October and November. For now, let’s take the positives.