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Remain Calm, All Is Still Mostly Well

October 1, 2013, 2:42 PM ET [106 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Take a deep breath everyone. Inhale, hold it, exhale slowly. Feel better? Yes, the Rangers did not look good this pre-season going 1-5. Yes, Ryan Callahan, at least for a few more games, and Carl Hagelin are not in the lineup. Yes, Henrik Lundqvist is not signed long-term, setting him up to potentially be a UFA. Yes, the zone strategy and style of play is a work-in-progress. With all that being said, to quote and paraphrase Kevin Bacon, remain calm, all is mostly well.

It's way, way, way too early to panic. It's called the pre-season for a reason, the record doesn't count. Would I have liked the Rangers to play better, of course. Do I wish Callahan and Hagelin were here for Thursday, of course. Should Lundqvist have been signed long-term already, yes. At this point, feel free to add your own questions and answers on Kreider, line combinations, defensive pairings, but at the end of all that, you will end up in the same place I am. While there are concerns, can we at least let the season start before jumping off the ledge? I won't do that until 10 games in, since it will take time for the system to become second nature and for the players to get used to trusting each other, both in terms of where to go on the ice and how to cover for each other. Yes, I understand a really poor start could doom the Rangers' playoff chances, and the hope has to be that the back end and goaltending - sound familiar - carry the team early on until the offense catches up. Is it ideal, no, but that's where we are.

Much of the focus lately has been on the move of Brad Richards to left wing. Aecliptic, xcheckmajor, jimbo, Pete etc all commented on the positives and negatives of such a shift. Included within are: he gets less defensive responsibility, we don't have to watch him lose face-offs, he can focus on using his passing skills to feed Nash and Stepan all game long. Plus when the team gets healthy, you can move him back to C and spread it out. Richards biggest problem is, he isn't as quick anymore, looks to be a step slow in creating space. On wing, he doesn't need to backcheck as deep, will start offense higher up in our zone or even a step into the neutral zone, it should give him a few seconds more time to create. It's a testament to the depth at center the team has. I understand the move based on the depth and current roster construction. Is he an ideal wing? No. Do I question his ability to really shoot and snipe like a true scoring winger? Yes, despite the view that he was shooting a lot and decisively in the preseason and he benefits from playing with Stepan and Nash.

All the above said, two more thoughts stand out to me. 1) Can we stop the buyout talk for the time being? We almost unanimously agree it should have happened this offseason, regardless on if the money was used to sign anyone else. In addition, we almost all believe it will happen this upcoming offseason even if Richards reverts back to prior form. With both of those the case, why bother rehashing it again and again? Yes, I understand the injury concern, which was a given the moment they decided to bring him back and one we can take the team to task for if he does in fact suffer a major injury. Other than that, has anything really changed? Hopefully, as others said, he provides some scoring or at worst, is a better depth option than what the team currently has or really could have had in case other struggles. 2) What happens if he struggles at wing? Do we now say, like we are with MDZ, that the move adversely impacted and he would be better at center, even if Stepan and Brassard play well there? It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't dilemma and one that may change completely once Callahan and definitely, he and Hagelin are back. The best case is that Richards plays so well there he can't be moved and the team's depth all over puts them in an enviable position throughout the league. I am sure Richards and Lundqvist's status will be the two things most talked about if the team gets off to a slow start; I am just hoping that those get pushed to the back burner so we don't rehash it daily.

Per Pat Leonard, the NYR power play in practice, since Callahan is not ready yet: Staal-Richards, Miller-Stepan-Nash. Interesting that AV is going with the four forwards and one defenseman. I guess Callahan would replace Miller, but a bit surprised by a few things. 1) Staal and not McDonagh or MDZ is on the point. 2) Richards is used at a point again - because last year worked out so well - rather a second D-man. 3) AV loves a right-handed shot, yet he has two lefties at the points. 4) Zuccarello showed last year he has the creativity to play on the PP, especially given the extra room behind the net, yet he is not on the top line to start.

In summary, as comments on the prior blog said, I guess I now need to be a counselor and walk everyone off the edge. I may need to set up shop like Lucy and have a sign the doctor is in .05 on each blog. Since that's not my main role here, as I said above," Take a deep breath everyone. Inhale, hold it, exhale slowly." Fell better? Good, puck drops Thursday, by later that night, feel free to rip up what I wrote and say I am an idiot or be happy I walked you somewhat off the ledge.
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