New York kicks off 2020 in Calgary, taking on the Flames. The Rangers are still kicking their wounds and bemoaning their slow start in their 7-5 loss to the Oilers on New Year’s Eve. Following tonight’s game, the Blueshirts finish their four-game Canada trip in Vancouver on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday evening.
Game preview:
#NYR Preview - Jan. 2 at Calgary pic.twitter.com/WP4xPW6LPH
— NYR Stats & Info (@NYRStatsInfo) January 2, 2020
The NY Post summarized the loss to Edmonton well: “They are the youngest team in the league, and it often shows. They gave the Oilers all the space in front of the net, they never pressured the point, and they were soft along the walls.… Here’s one of my concerns with that view: you are almost halfway through the season, being a young team matters solely if the squad is hitting a wall and fatigue causes these issues. Since that doesn’t appear the case, highlighting the youth on the team masks the true problems that continually repeat. Now youth may result in a player making the same mistake until he learns from his prior errors, but how long do you give a pass to that behavior?
Player, system or coach? Which one is the true problem? If all three, which I think it is, are each one equally culpable? Regardless of your answer or mine, the same errors and mistakes keep repeating. I am tired of writing about and am fairly certain like me , you are tired of watching it as well as reading about it. But until a fix is put in place or at least identified, which could be player, system or coach or all three, this will continue to be the main focus.
In 2020, beyond seeing what direction New York goes in relation to their RFA and UFA, including Ryan Strome, Tony DeAngelo, Alexandar Georgiev, Chris Kreider and Jesper Fast, as well as someone like Pavel Buchnevich, continued growth is the main focus. Watching Kappo Kakko to see if he finds his stride the balance of the season. Does Vitali Kravtsov build on what he has shown in stint #2 at Hartford and end up in New York just before or after the trade deadline? Can Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren continue their chemistry and blossom into a pairing that can be counted on for the future?
I think we all would love a second half run to a possible playoff berth. In lieu of one occurring, growth from the players above setting the team up for success in 2020-21 and beyond to me may be even more important. One does not preclude the other, and in fact, a run this year, build off of the success of the kids, may drive a possible run to the postseason. Though I would not sacrifice any part of the future to help facilitate that kind of a run. Stay the course, identify who is key for that future and go in that direction.