The Rangers face the Golden Knights at MSG tonight. If you believe Larry Brooks, this could be coach Alain Vigneaukt’s last stand. As I wrote yesterday, if the team’s brass decision making process depends on the result of one game, then a call likely should have and probably was made already. If that’s the case, rip off the band aid and get it done rather than prolong the agony.
Much has rightly been made among the team’s slow starts. Those initial struggles have placed the way behind the eight-ball right off the get-go. Fixing those issues would go a long way to helping the squad put together wins rather than having an uphill battle nightly. The poor starts have largely been attributed to Vigneault, with the focus on his inability to get the team up to start the game. It’s hard not to feel that is the case. What I find interesting is the comments coming from Ryan McDonagh, which I pointed out yesterday, and Marc Staal. Both come to the defense of the coach and places the blame and burden on the players. Now, that may just be lip service. But if the team had truly tuned out the coach, why would either bother to defend the coach rather than just let him twist in the wind or be passive in their comments. I am not naive and realize the locker room will circle the wagons and try and resolve issues internally first. In addition, McD and Staal may not reflect what others think, but it is interesting that the captain and assistant captain are defending the coach, though that just may be the leadership quotient that could be coming through rather than their true beliefs.
McDonagh:
There’s good energy in here when we go through our meetings, and there’s good talk,… McDonagh said after Saturday’s game, when he was the team’s harshest critic in a locker room that had very few players willing to answer for another desultory performance. “We’ve had the same lines and same ‘D’ pairs here for a few games, so that’s not an excuse. There is no excuse.…Later, McDonagh added that it was “nothing about schemes and systems, that first period.… Instead, the captain tried to direct blame toward the players, using damning phrases like there was a lack of “compete… and “battle level.… Surely it reflects poorly on Vigneault that the team has had such awful starts to games, but the question is, what can the coach do when his players, from top to bottom, are almost universally underachieving?
Staal:
“It’s not a coaching issue. It’s everyone,… Staal told the Daily News. “Everyone needs to be better. We’re 3-7-2. We’ve got to find a way to win games together, and if you’re not gonna do that together, you’re not gonna turn it around. So we’re all on the same page in that regard of trying to turn this thing around.…We have the same pre-scout before every game. (Vigneault’s) done it the same way since he’s been here. It’s not anything new to us,… Staal said. “I don’t think it’s lost on anybody when we get on the ice. I think it’s just being in the right mental frame to have that intensity and emotion right at the start of the game. The Xs and Os stuff takes care of itself.…
It a change is to occur, it might be via trade. The Rangers dispatched president Glen Sather, assistant general manager Jim Schoenfeld, pro scout Gilles Leger and Doug Risebrough to Ottawa on Monday to check out the Canadiens-Senators match. Speculation as to whom New York is focused has ranged from Alex Galchenyuk (interest level may depend on the severity of his reported off-ice issues, which need first and foremost to be fixed for him as Pearson then hockey player) to Max Pacioretty to Andrew Shaw and then maybe Marc Crawford as an AV replacement. My guess is that a trade is the first attempt to salvage the season, which isn’t yet fully lost but possibly on early life support. We all believe the team has gotten too easy to face and there is no agitative spark. Obtaining Shaw, who plays on and at times well past the edge, would help resolve that problem. The question though is the cost to acquire. Names such as Chris Kreider and J.T. Miller have been bandied about in trade ideas, but I wouldn’t deal either for Shaw, as to me each are worth more than him. But Shaw would fix certain problems due to his willingness to get dirty, though that comes with the concern of him going over the line. In addition, with four more years at $3.9 mil per, that contract would be an albatross. New York wouldn’t have sent that contingent to see Shaw, so he might be the secondary focus with one of the above primary.
Despite the poor record and possibly bleak outlook, I am not yet ready to pull the plug on the season. Seventy games remain in the season. While the track record of teams with eight points through 12 games is far from good, putting it mildly, that also doesn’t mean the year is lost. If the view, though, is that the talent base on this team insufficient to make any form of run, then by all means, blow it up, as that’s the right call. But if you believe that Henrik Lundqvist will regain his form, the defense will finally solidify and the offense is better than it is has showed and it will all coalesce in the short term, then keep it together and try and win. If not, then Rick Nash should be the first to go and it wouldn’t shock me if McDonagh is shopped, as he has struggled to mesh with any other blue liner and maybe, crazy as it sounds, than Dan Girardi was the glue to that pairing and not vice versa.
For tonight, as the Post notes, it appears as if Vigneault is reuniting the Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich first line that was intact the first six games but produced only one even-strength goal. With the way Buch has played lately, this is the right move and one that should have been made a few games ago. Buchnevich, whose five-on-five average ice time of 9:49 per leads only Michael Grabner’s 9:18 among forwards who have been on the active roster since the season commenced, needs additional ice time to maximize his talent and provide New York the best chance to win. With the KZZ line back together, AV is also reassembling the Nash-Kevin Hayes-Mats Zuccarello and Jimmy Vesey-David Desharnais-Miller units that were together for the Oct. 13, 3-1 defeat in Columbus. Zucc needs to find his game, as his struggles have gone under the radar with all the spotlights on AV, Lundqvist, McDonagh etc. Plus, the argument he is weighted down by the A on his jersey is too easy of an excuse. Because, if he just acts that he did in the past even without the letter, he will live up to what the A represents on his jersey. With the line shuffle, the fourth line will be Grabner-Boo Nieves-Jesper Fast, which makes the most sense.
On the blue line, McDonagh will skate with Brendan Smith while Brady Skjei is paired with Shattenkirk, in an attempt to help Kirk find his game. The chatter before free agency that maybe Kirk wouldn’t be the right fit and his D-zone issues would rear its ugly head in New York has proven to be correct so far. Lots of time remains for that not to be the narrative, but 12 games in, that signing looks to be a misuse of cap space.
The showcasing of Nick Holden appears to be over. Holden, who regressed to his 2016-17 late-season state in Saturday night’s 5-4 defeat in Montreal, is in line to be scratched tonight. Steven Kampfer, paired in practice with Staal, would step in for the first time since Oct. 10 and for his third game overall. Who had Kampfer as the next man up in game 13? But with ADA at Hartford, Holden earning a spot in the press box and Neal Pionk also down in the minors, it’s Kampfer who gets the call. Staal has played fairly well this year but that pairing has to be sheltered.
Regardless of all of the above, the possibility of a turnaround starts and ends with Lundqvist. The team has done little to help Hank, but if he finds his game, the trickle down impact is huge. Lundqvist knows he has to be better and is working towards getting to that stage. Just because he recognizes the problems and is working towards remediation, doesn’t mean it will happen. If all of the above states issues are fixed and Lundqvist doesn’t find his game, New York still will struggle, because the goalie helps largely decide wins and losses. Plus, while the Rangers try and fix their own issues, a hot Lundqvist could help carry the team in the interim. At this time, this problems are from the outside in and the inside out but having better play between the pipes would help mask and resolve some of the team’s ills.
A potentially big game tonight. How big it is in the scheme of the organization remains to be determined. Needless to say, lots of eyes will be on MSG tonight, each one with a different agenda depending on your view of the direction this team should take.