The Rangers are at a major crossroads and should be in crisis mode. I am not saying anything that shouldn't be well-known by now. But it's clear that this season and possibly the organization is taking on water.

You know I am not one to ring the panic button but if they are not there now, they are pretty close to it. A 16-3-2 mark masked a lot of the issues that exist on this team. Those issues have been on display and then some during the current 4-10-2 skid.

It's almost easier to point out those who have played well, since it's a shorter list. Dylan McIlrath, J.T. Miller and Tanner Glass as well as maybe Dan Boyle have brought their A-game - at least for them nightly - Jesper Fast the same, though he is what he is and that's a bottom-six forward. The remainder have for the most part been pure garbage. For a while, the mantra was this was a slump, well guess what, this has now become the norm while the beginning of the season is sure as heck looking like the aberration.

Many of the below points have been brought up by others, but here is the litany of issues:

- failure to posses the puck. We usually see the Rangers scrambling to block shots since most of the time, they fail to maintain possession. Whether you believe in advanced stats or not, as Pete and other said, you don't have to in order to realize NY is horrible in that part of the game. Under Torts, they were comfortable even without the puck, but that was because of the next issue below.

- the lack of a defensive structure. Under Torts, they were a zone D where each player knew what area to cover - both forwards and d-men. Under AV, they moved to a man-to-man style. That style works if you have the talent to play it and the forwards know who to and actually pick up their assigned men. This year, it's pretty clear that most of the defensemen, including Dan Girardi and Marc Staal, don't have the talent to stay with forwards in their own zone. When that happens, it creates further breakdowns and openings requiring the other skaters on the ice to fill those gaps. There is seemingly such a lack of knowledge amongst the Rangers, that no one knows how to do it. At worse, go to the front of the net and prevent the easy tap in goals, but even that has proven to be an anathema to this team.

As was said in the blog comments, "they are constantly chasing the other team around. The forwards don't back check the way they should, probably because the many of the young players are clueless about how to play without the puck, and the Rangers are incorporating too many of them at once. Watching a Rangers game right now, you get the feeling of inevitably that the other team will eventually open up the game, because they always have the puck, are getting most of the high quality scoring chances, and eventually the damn will break." I agree with just about all of it, save for the comment on the young forwards, because the top-six coming the season isn't that young and/or have been around a while. Plus Miller is solid defensively and Oscar Lindberg had the reputation of a three-zone player, so I think the young excuse is one that's not accurate. Regardless of the reason, this team is sieve-like in its own zone.

- loss of leadership and heart. Say what you want about Brandon Dubinsky or Ryan Callahan, but they would have ripped their right arm off to get a win. Who on this team fits that bill? Each went for different reasons, Dubi to bring in Nash and Cally for his desire of an NMC - how ironic is that seeing how many were doled out - and lack of a true fit in AV's style. But with them going, a vacuum of leadership was created in the locker room.

Martin St. Louis filled that void when he came to New York. In addition, you had Carl Hagelin, whose speed created forecheck chances, and his presence was hailed by al. Now, both of those two are gone. Ryan McDonagh may be doing his best but he can't do it alone and you wonder how much his messages are getting trough. There are no more vocal leaders. No one to stand up and say the current play and attitude is unacceptable. Because of the current poor play, the lack of leadership takes on an even stronger focus and importance. Zuccarello could be the person to fill that void and I hope that he gets the chance because he is one of the few that play with his heart on his sleeve.

- hot starts falling into cold stretches. Mats Zuccarello was hot for a long while and then he hit a cold stretch. At the same time, Oscar Lindberg turned back into what he was expected to be. The failure of those two to maintain their high production, which probably shouldn't have been a big shock, had a major trickle down effect to the rest of the lineup. Because their inability to step up, and I include Nash, Step An - before he was hurt - Brassard and others in that pronoun their, created major issues up and down the lineup.

- regression by the K and K boys, Kreider and Kevin Hayes. Two peas in a pod, each one worse than the other. Kreider was expected to take that next step and be the prototypical power forward while Hayes entered the season off a strong rookie year and playoff run. Each have regressed by an amount none of us could have predicted. Kreider is totally lost on the ice and you wonder if he is thinking too much rather than just reacting. He should be allowed to go straight up and down the wing, as Torts had him play rather than how he is now.

Hayes was going to be benched because of his indifferent play. A comment like this is more so for what he is now doing before games rather than in-game, which also has been pretty pitiful. I am not even sure anymore if center or wing is his best position. The only reason he hadn't been sent down is because he would have through waivers. The concept of million dollar arms, ten-cent heads seem to apply here.

- Lundqvist's struggles. Lundqvist carried the team earlier in the year and was a big reason why they started 16-3-1. He is 4-8-1 with a 3.62 GAA and .886 save percentage in his last 13 games, getting pulled in five of those contests. Just like we have lost confidence in the d-man, the same applies to Lundqvist. Each game we expect at least one weak goal or a failure to make save that he usually makes. Even if he does make several great saves, it's offset by a bad goal. You have to wonder if the need to be stellar nightly is impacting his play. But seeing how the team used to play under Torts, where three goals in a game was a miracle and everything was a one-goal game, that's too easy of an excuse. The organization has to hope this is just a slump and not a portend of the future. Because if it is, the tire fire that currently exists with become a five-alarm inferno.

- bloated contracts along with NMC/NTC. With Nash making a ton of cash, it may prove difficult to move him for more than pennies on the dollar if GM Jeff Gorton starts the tear down. The contacts to Nash and Lundqvist, whom you all know I feel is overpaid by 1mil a year, coupled with those awarded to Girardi and Staal have sucked up a ton of cap room. Then you add in the deals for Stepan, who lost of us were okay with, and Brassard, signed to a relatively reasonable contract, take away even more room.

Even worse are the NMC/NTC mistakenly awarded to G and Staal, as those tie the Rangers to both players, since they hold almost all the cards related to their future with the organization. Both have regressed tremendously and quicker than anticipated. At this point, it's unclear which has been worse. But having two players of that same skill set - or lack thereof - with each playing poorer and poorer, it's a recipe for disaster.

The lines tonight, presuming Hayes is out and the injured forward in should be:

Nash-Brass-Zucc
Kreider-Step-Miller
Stalberg-Lindberg-Fast
Etem-Moore-Glass

I am not about to start the trade speculation hype though I know it's begun. Deal Nash. Deal Yandle and Moore, though this one seems likely to occur, especially if things goes further south. Sign Stamkos, because having a $9-10 mil player who also doesn't always show up nightly makes a ton of sense (sarcasm dripping). Right now, the concern has to be righting the ship. If the team's play continues to regress, no one will be immune to change, that includes AV and several mentioned above.

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