The New York Rangers are off to a sluggish start, something most of us expected. They are dealing with their first real systems change since Alain Vigneault coached the 2013-2014 Rangers, taking over for John Tortorella. For all intents and purposes, there were minimal systems changes from Vigneault to David Quinn, from Quinn to Gerard Gallant, and from Gallant to Peter Laviolette. All ran a hybrid man/zone defensive zone system, something current coach Mike Sullivan does not use. That alone is a major change and requires additional patience.

For those that are saying this is an excuse and the Rangers should be blown up, you’re wrong on both accounts. It’s been 10 games and just one of those games has been with a fully healthy team. There are many positives with this club, specifically they are a pretty good 5v5 team in terms of controlling play. At least at the macro level. Naturally digging deeper shows some significant flaws with the club that good process cannot overcome on its own, but good process is good process.

The 2013-2014 Rangers, the best comparison at this point due to similar major systems changes, also got off to a slow start. Losing to the lowly Phoenix Coyotes on opening night, the Rangers proceeded to go 2-6-0 to start the season, including a two-game stretch in San Jose and Anaheim where they lost by a combined score of 15-2, prompting their backup goalie to retire after a 9-2 loss in San Jose. The 2013-2014 Rangers would continue to struggle but show flashes of what was to come.

After that 2-6-0 start, the 2013-2014 Rangers started a fun stretch where they went 8-3-0 with a pair of three-game win streaks. That 10-9-0 start, one game over .500, took the Rangers through the middle of November. They went 5-5-0 in their next 10 games, taking us to December 5 with a 15-14-0 record. Then the 2013-2014 Rangers turned it around, right?

Nope, those Rangers lost four in a row and six of eight games, leaving then with a record of 16-18-2 on December 20, 36 games into the season. The 2013-2014 Rangers hit the halfway point of the season, following Game 41, with a 20-19-2 record, having spun off a nice little holiday win streak.

The 2013-2014 Rangers finished the regular season with a record of 45-31-6. They went 25-12-4 in the second half of the season, once everything clicked.

The 2013-2014 Rangers showed patience is needed with a huge adjustment

This isn’t an exercise to say the current iteration of the New York Rangers will have the same success as the 2013-2014 Rangers. It’s to say it’s way too early in the season to see what this team truly is. They have not been fully healthy since Game 1, they are adjusting to a new system, and their top-six is in what can only be called an epic shooting slump.

That’s not to say there aren’t major concerns with this team. Will Cuylle and Alexis Lafreniere look lost. Artemi Panarin has bene invisible outside of his four point game. Taylor Raddysh is on the top line and leads the team in goals. The shooting slump in the top-six is mostly due to suspected injury (JT Miller) or an odd unwillingness to get to high danger areas in the offensive zone.

Instead, this is perhaps a reminder that patience is a virtue. We live in a world of instant gratification, where ads can be skipped, TV can be paused, everyone is always available, and past lessons and contributions are forgotten.

There are differences, of course. The current iteration of the Rangers has far more skill in the top-six and perhaps a comparable fourth line. But the 2013-2014 Rangers had far better scoring and defense depth, notably with the best third line in hockey that year and Anton Stralman as a second pair defenseman.

Is there a cause for concern? Absolutely. There were causes for concern with the 2013-2014 Rangers as well. We shouldn’t ignore the concerns, this is obviously a flawed team with some clear needs on defense and scoring. This is the time of the season when we note concerns, discuss concerns, but try not to miss the forest for the trees. This may (and in my opinion, probably will) get better. But it also may not. It’s simply too early to tell.

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