The Rangers aim to extend their win streak at home to nine games and overall win streak to five Tuesday against the Panthers. Florida comes in off a 3-2 win over New Jersey yesterday while New York defeated Vancouver 4-3 in a shootout Sunday. Following tonight's contest, the Rangers are off until Friday, when they complete their four-game homestand against the Hurricanes, then play back-to-back games on the road, Dec. 5 at Pittsburgh and Dec. 8 at Washington.
Thanksgiving is viewed a good point in time as a predictor for playoff teams. When the holiday arrived, New York was just outside the eighth spot and second wild card position in the East. Since that day, the Rangers have won two in a row to move up the ladder in the conference. Brett Cyrgalis must have read the comments to my blogs because his prediction mirrors what has been said in this venue. Now, the second part of his prediction might come true, but if the team is in or close to a playoff spot, I don’t foresee that happening. Many seem to hope that it does, but with the East open and in my opinion, no truly dominant team in the league, if New York is right there, expecting another tear down or sell off of assets is highly unlikely.
RangersSecond wild card, 13-9-2
What’s worked? During the 1-5-2 getaway, nothing worked. But since then, goalie Henrik Lundqvist has been sharp, the power play has been mostly humming and the defensive structure has drastically improved. Mika Zibanejad (11 goals, 22 points) has taken the role as a top center, Michael Grabner is having more early-season puck luck (10 goals) and Kevin Shattenkirk (five goals, 18 points) finally has settled in.
Will it last? The Rangers’ depth up-front is a big question, especially at center. They have some young pivots in the pipeline (Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil) who might not be ready for prime time just yet. They still heavily rely on Lundqvist, and if the defense comes in waves, they might not have the offensive firepower to win shootouts consistently.
Prediction: Could contend for playoff spot or choose to think ahead and sell off assets
New York has been relatively fortunate with injuries. Ryan McDonagh has missed the last three games with a mild ab strain; an injury be likely played through for a while. But besides McD and Boo Nieves missing the last game-plus with a hip injury, the team has been relatively healthy. The good news is that Nieves should be back tonight, replacing David Desharnais, who didn’t look particularly good Sunday.
What Nieves’s absence highlighted is the lack of depth down the middle, which has been an area of concern and one we have discussed often. Mika Zibanejad and Kevin Hayes, after a slow start, have been more than solid as the top-two centers, handling the additional Ice line adroitly when coach Alain Vigneauly shortens his bench. But that’s where the problems arise. Sunday was the fourth game in which J.T. Miller was back at center. Miller, as noted last week, believes he is better at wing, where his aggressiveness on the forecheck is evident, because at center, he needs to be defensively responsible and worry about setting up others rather than going deep in the offensive zone right away.
For now, Miller will fill that role. I know Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ name has come up, as Edmonton is rumored to be trying to move him. First, no way I would deal McD for him. Second, at $6 mil a year for the next three years after this season, I will pass on that salary. In addition, he might be the second center but Hayes has been fine there, and unless you are getting a known quantity, why would you move Hayes down. Also, on the salary front, Miller is a RFA, as is Hayes, Jimmy Vesey and Brady Skjei, so how are you playing RNH when those four will get substantial spikes?
When Nieves is healthy, he has shown he can be the team’s fourth center. The line of Jimmy Vesey-Nieves-Paul Carey has been more than acceptable as the final trio, with Vesey moved up to replace Jesper Fast on Sunday. Finding a 3C will be GM Jeff Gorton’s main goal approaching the deadline. I gave my view last week and it has not changed. Once Filip Chytil is back from the WJC, i do expect him in NY, especially if he dominates at the tournament and at Hartford before that. If that doesn’t come to fruition, Miller will likely remain in the role, due to minimal other options, until a deal is made. Vinny Lettieri could be an option, but I view him like Nieves, a better fit on the fourth line and exposed as the third center.