The Rangers beat the Flyers 6-3 Monday in the front end of back-to-back preseason games against Philadelphia. While the end result is nice, it's just a preseason, but the underlying aspects behind the win is what should be and is being focused on. New York's "young" depth was front and center again Monday, which bodes well for the regular season.
Speed. Depth. Decisions. Those three words are what I take away from last night, continuing on a theme that began when camp started.
Speed kills. Coach Alain Vigneault likes a team that can quickly go from offense to defense. He wants a squad that takes advantages of turnovers and whose speed creates issues for the opponent. New York had a bit of it last year, but looking at this year's team, that speed looks to be up-and-down the lineup. In addition, that speed is a result of or causes the enviable depth that the Rangers now have.
Last year, Carl Hagelin and Chris Kreider were the main skaters who showed and used their speed. Martin St. Louis is more quick than fast, finding open spots. Similar to Mats Zuccarello. On the blue line, Ryan McDonagh and John Moore, especially the latter, displayed their skating wheels. This year, J.T. Miller has either gotten faster or he is more confident and getting to places on ice quicker. Anthony Duclair has wheels. Jesper Fast was challenged by the coaching staff to get bigger and faster and he has succeeded in both areas. Rick Nash has lost weight and looks markedly faster on the ice. That speed makes a huge difference, as it leads to more quality chances, likely resulting in more penalties. With Dan Boyle now in NY that should mean more pucks in the net on the man-advantage.
Depth. Coming into camp, much of the focus was on the additions of Matthew Lombardi, Lee Stempniak, Ryan Malone as well as Kevin Hayes. While Hayes has had his moments, it's been names like Fast, Miller, Duclair and Ryan Haggerty that have stood out, creating major battles for jobs. As I wrote on September 5 when I discussed my top-10 Rangers prospects, I view prospects in two prisms: 1) Elite Prospects and 2) Plug-in depth within the organization. While NY may have lacked that "elite" prospect, I felt they had a lot of plug-in depth. Right now though, looking at Duclair and Hayes and Haggert, that view of no elite prospect may have to be revisited. Even if those three fall between 1 and 2, then the Rangers are in an enviable position.
Decisions. Heading into camp, most of us felt Malone and Stempniak and Lombardi were likely to make the team. Miller was porbable as the third line center. Hayes was a pretty good bet and that was it. Now, AV and GM Glen Sather have some major decisions to make. I will get a separate blog up on Duclair going through his ELC permutations, which Pat Leonard discussed and others posted, but in short, given the way his ELC works and that Derek Stepan is out about a month, based upon what we have seen, he should break camp with the team. Granted, he and Hayes look lost defensively at times and Duclair clearly needs to get bigger and stronger, but I could see him opening the year with the team while Hayes may be the odd-man out. That rationale is based on Hayes being more comfortable at wing than center, which is where the Rangers have more depth.
Haggerty has shown that sitting and watching during the playoffs while also skating with the team down the stretch and in that post-season run helped him adjust to the NHL. His hands are better than I thought and he may force his way onto the team. Fast's body change is very evident and his ability to be effective in all three zones makes him a strong candidate for a bottom-six role.
Malone and Lombardi are both dealing with injuries. Both have to be exposed to waivers to get sent down, which adds another consideration in the mix. On the flip side, the lack of major interest in each this off-season could help NY send them down. However, if another team suffers some injuries late in camp that could create additional interest in each or at least give them a possible landing spot. That possibility of losing one or both, reducing the depth that NY built may play a huge role in the team's decision on how to handle each. Of course, the longer each are out, the greater the chance each open the year on IR, which would give the kids more time to show if they belong, buying the Rangers time.
One more thing, I admit I was very down on the Tanner Glass signing. But seeing how he responded yesterday, not many teams will take liberties with THE Rangers when he is on the ice. But please tell Ryan McDonagh, no more fighting, he is too valuable to risk an injury.