When should you worry about the Rangers?

The Rangers have looked awful the last five games. There isn’t any bit of statistical or eye test scenario you can use to say otherwise. They’ve been slow to pucks, inconsistent on the forecheck, allowed speed through the neutral zone, haven’t sustained any offensive pressure, and just looked downright bad. Naturally, there’s a sense of panic around the team. So at what point should you worry about the Rangers?

Short answer: Don’t worry about the Rangers yet, but it’s close

Every team has slumps. Especially young teams. The Rangers are dealing with a new coach, and you’ve heard this from me before. That doesn’t excuse poor play. What it does do, hopefully, is back you off a ledge. The Rangers are banking points while playing like crap. Good teams do that. And yes, I still firmly believe the Rangers are not only a good team, but will surprise people in the playoffs.

That said, this is completely unsustainable. The Rangers cannot continue to play like this and expect to win games regularly. It would require a historic season from Igor Shesterkin. Shesterkin is certainly capable of stealing games, and we’ve seen him steal at least three or four already.

They need to fix things, and they need to do it relatively quickly. We’ve set Thanksgiving as the date when the Rangers should start to trend in the right direction. That doesn’t mean seeing season-long averages come back to normal by then. It means they should begin to put up consistent efforts and puck possession numbers. If not then, maybe you should worry about the Rangers.

Long answer: They need more time

The good news is the Rangers had four days off to let the stink dissipate. The other good news is that these starts under Gerard Gallant isn’t really unique to the Rangers. Both Vegas and Florida had similar, relatively rough, starts when he got there.

There are some striking similarities between all three teams. The first is the xGF/60 numbers, which are more or less anemic across the board. The other is the xGA numbers, which for the Rangers were solid and on par with Vegas and Florida, until the last five games. Those numbers really tank their season long numbers, since it is almost half their games.

Both Vegas and Florida figured things out, both in process and on the scoresheet. They both made the playoffs, and Vegas made a run. The Rangers have some serious talent on this team, talent that is too good to be playing this poorly for a full season. They will figure it out. When looking for reasons to not worry about the Rangers, this should be front and center.

If the big guns –Mika Zibanejad, Artemiy Panarin– don’t figure it out, then it doesn’t matter how anyone else plays. Those two need to get going. And I’m talking more than just powerplay points, which has driven both of their point totals.

There are still holes

Anyone can point out the Rangers still have roster holes. And yes, you should worry about the Rangers and how, or if, they plan on addressing them. There is no reason why the Rangers, if they truly want to complete, should have all this cap space if they don’t plan on using it. They need, at the very least another scoring center and another scoring RW. The 13F/14F duo of Julien Gauthier and Greg McKegg isn’t getting it done.

They need injury depth too. Perhaps addressing their center and RW needs address this. But you know why Sammy Blais is on the top line right now? Because Filip Chytil is injured, and only Barclay Goodrow can play center on the third line without a call up. That, in turn, forces one of Blais or Gauthier to the top line, since Kaapo Kakko isn’t getting moved from the Panarin-Ryan Strome duo any time soon.

The Rangers also need a legitimate 7D that can spell a clearly struggling Patrik Nemeth. Libor Hajek and Jarred Tinordi aren’t the answers. They need a Frederik Claesson type player. Or, dare I say, a Brendan Smith. They need guys who are used to being in the press box, but can do a replacement-level job when they play 20 or so games.

The Rangers are a skilled team with flaws, that we know. They are also performing worse than their record suggests. But there is cause for optimism. They are better than their performance on the ice, and are not a 35% xGF team.

Should you worry the Rangers? If you want to, then by all means go for it. I just simply don’t agree with you. Not yet.