For a team fighting for its playoff lives, the New York Rangers had the worst possible weekend that may have cost them the playoffs this year. Playing both teams directly ahead of them in the standings, the Rangers may not have no-showed, but they certainly looked horrible, netting a single point in the standings. They needed four points, preferably in regulation, and instead blew a third period lead before getting humiliated on home ice. The wave has crashed.
The Rangers entered the 2024-2025 season with questions on defense. Now as we sit here after the deadline, I think there are even bigger questions than before regarding the defense. While they are improved, which isn’t saying much given the unit to start the season, this group can’t be the one that starts next season. They can’t defend east/west play, they can’t defend the rush, they can’t play man-to-man, and they can’t move the puck. Some of this is system related, but even with Adam Fox, does this group of 6-7 guys really give you confidence?
It looks like Chris Drury wants the blue line to rely on size and one-dimensional defense only. The problem is, this archetype has been tried so many times elsewhere and fails miserably. A modern defense moves the puck first and defends second. If you are acquiring pieces solely for defending, you are sacrificing the biggest goal of hockey which is to be an offensive threat. In 2025, defensemen need to be an option offensively, and outside of Fox and Zac Jones, they don’t have it.
Part of the issue is the hybrid man/zone system that Peter Laviolette deploys. It simply doesn’t fit the roster, and a better coach would have adjusted. Laviolette is a good coach, but like most other NHL coaches, he forces players into the system instead of forcing the system to the players. Add in the too many men on the ice blunders and the players are simply not being held accountable anymore.
Making things more frustrating is this is essentially the same team that won the President’s Trophy last season. Perhaps last year was just a product of a new coach bump and riding that high the entire year, but something changed this season. It seems the players quit on the team for 8 weeks in November and December, which set the stage for where they sit now. What a failure on the macro level this entire ordeal has been. It’s not the sole reason, and there are many, but the Rangers may be paying the piper for accelerating their rebuild back. Maybe more patience was needed, but hindsight is 20/20.
What an absolutely dejecting weekend. With 18 games left, even after all the roster changes, this team is the same they’ve been the entire year. They will continue to be that kind of team the remainder of the year. This will be a summer of change for the Rangers, something long overdue. Well at least I’ll have Yankee baseball to enj–oh Gerrit Cole might need Tommy John? Sigh…
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