Except for winning the Stanley Cup, the New York Rangers did everything right last season.
Last year, the Rangers finished first in the Metropolitan Division, first in the Eastern Conference, and first in the entire league to win the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s best team in the regular season. They finished the year with a record of 55-23-4 for 114 points.
The team got production up and down the lineup, they played hard every night, they played tight defensively, they had great special teams, and they got excellent goaltending from both Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick. Again, they did not win hockey’s Holy Grail, but they certainly put themselves in a great position to give themselves the best shot to accomplish that goal.
The same cannot be said of the team this season. For a team that was as close to perfect as the Blueshirts were last season, this year’s version of the Rangers is far from it.
As of this writing (Saturday night, March 29), the Rangers find themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to a playoff spot. They are fifth in the Metropolitan Division, 10th in the Eastern Conference, and 21st in the league with a record of 34-32-7 for 75 points.
While the team still has a chance to make the playoffs and make some noise if they manage to get in, the Rangers do not deserve to play for the Cup this season. For starters, the effort has not been there on a nightly basis.
There were two examples of this during the week of March 17. In a 2-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, March 18, the Rangers were outshot 35-13 and were only in the game because of the great play of Shesterkin.
Four days later when the Rangers organization honored the great Sam Rosen for his 40 years of broadcasting games for their franchise, the team got badly outplayed by the Vancouver Canucks despite winning 5-3. They were outshot 39-12 and it was Shesterkin who once again came to the team’s rescue.
Secondly, not enough players have stepped up for the team this season. Players like Mika Zibanejad (50 points), Vincent Trocheck (49 points), Alexis Lafreniere (43 points), and Chris Kreider (23 points) have all struggled mightily this year after being terrific for the team last season.
Lafreniere’s play this year has been particularly worrisome. After having a career year last season (57 points) and then signing a 7-year $52.15 million contract with the team back in late October, he has been highly inconsistent this season and has even looked disinterested at times.
No one is quite sure what to make of Zibanejad. He has a lot of skill and can produce, but he has not been the same player this season and has looked like a player who is lacking confidence.
Not only has the team struggled offensively this season, but their play without the puck has been even worse. As of this writing (Saturday night, March 29), the team is 28th in the league in shots allowed per game as they give up around 30 shots per game (30.2).
One player who has struggled significantly for the Rangers when it comes to the defensive side of the game is defenseman K’Andre Miller. He often looks lost in his own zone, has a penchant for giving up the puck, and no longer looks like an NHL-calibre defenseman.
The blame for the team’s defensive struggles cannot solely be placed on Miller, however. The whole team has been careless with the puck, has struggled with coverage in their own end, and has not done enough to protect their goaltenders on a consistent basis.
A good example of their poor defensive play could be seen in their 5-4 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night, March 28th. The team was all over the place on both the game-tying goal and overtime goal and had they been smarter, they should have been able to escape with a big two points.
Lastly, this team does not seem to want to make the playoffs. The teams around them who are fighting for a playoff spot continue to leave the door open for the Blueshirts to grab a spot and yet, here we are heading into April and the Rangers may not be in a playoff spot (they are playing the San Jose Sharks in San Jose on Saturday night, March 29).
The Rangers have had a lot of different issues plaguing their team this season that have led to where they are right now in the standings. They deserve to be where they are, and when you think about it, this is a team that does not deserve to play for the Cup this year.
Something needs to change within the franchise for the Rangers to take that next step. General Manager Chris Drury tried to do that by moving out some players and bringing some in and yet, nothing has really changed.
It is time for the Rangers to miss the playoffs so that real changes can be made for the better of the franchise moving forward. Luckily for the Blueshirts, if they keep playing the way they are right now, they will be putting away their equipment for the rest of the year come mid-April.
ITR 32: The Final Countdown – Inside The Rink
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