We have just past the 20 game mark of the season and I am happy to say that watching the NY Rangers isn’t a form of torture anymore. The first 10 games were a horror show and we’re now in the middle of a win streak that no one thought was possible (8-1-1 if I’m remembering right).
Going from 3-7-1 to 11-8-2 for 24 points has jumped the Rangers into second place in the Eastern Conference, which is nuts. 1 point ahead of the Stanley Cup Champions, the Washington Capitals (first game against them is this Saturday). Other important numbers: 14th in the league, Nashville is 1st with 31 points. In last place, Los Angeles can be found with 15 points. Most of the league is bunched in the middle with 21-25 points.
Coach Quinn is amazing. I think that’s the best summary. After the team was playing like they were in high school, he cracked the whip to make the professional athletes remember that they are professional athletes. He’s the opposite of Alain Vigneault. He knows how to use younger players (and actually talk to them) and if you aren’t pulling your weight, you get benched to think about what you are doing. Vigneault let the veterans get away with murder and it stifled the team.
The rookies are starting to get comfortable and it’s a blast to see it happen. Jimmy Vesey is always getting work done. Neil Pionk is having a blast. Philip Chytil has broken the seal and scored once in each of the last 4 games. Brett Howden is getting better and better. The team is still in flux though. Zuccarello and Buchnevich (who was on a roll) are hurt. Skjei and Smith swing from good to garbage seemingly by the minute. It looks like Namestnikov has finally woken up and Shattenkirk is doing a fine job on defense (it’s clear why he was picked up last season and after his terrible injury it’s great to see him play). Lias Andersson hasn’t scored yet and is looking to get the breakthrough that Chytil just struck. Ryan Spooner was traded for Ryan Strome from Ottawa so we’ll see how that works out. Vinni Lettieri was sent back to Hartford to cook some more. Jesper Fast has no show stopper moments. In fact, he’s oddly cold with only 1 goal and 6 assists so far.
The internet scuttlebutt has raised this question from this new success streak: Where are we in the rebuilding process? This usually takes years and it’s awful in the beginning. Hayes and Kreider are playing very well (Hayes, at 25 is starting to hit his stride) and they will have targets on their back for other teams to trade for him. Hayes especially as he’s young and his contract ends this year. If they end up doing well, they get no more early draft selections for next year and that’ll affect the rebuild.
These two guys are what I’d consider the old guards of the Rangers. They are the players the rookies can follow as mentors in their new NHL careers. You need a core to build a team around, but will management jettison them (for something worthwhile instead of letting them go for nothing) in favor of looking for the future (which hasn’t been done in years, instead paying out the nose for quick “fixes”), or re-sign them to use as the team core to build around? Skjei was signed to a big contract and he’s not living up to expectations but I find it hard to believe they’ll give up on him.
If they can maintain this kind of success it’d be nuts to break up the team. But I have no idea if it’s possible. It’s so early in the season and a big factor when we get closer to the playoffs is how healthy the team is. Henrik is playing incredibly well but is he going to get burned out playing as much as he has? Georgiev has played a handful of games so far. He isn’t going to get better by sitting it out all the time and leaning on Henrik like he’s still 26 years old is dangerous.
This could break in any direction has each week passes. They could collapse again or they could make the playoffs. A cup run would be something for the history books. Or they skid somewhere to the middle of the league and another round of drastic trades are made come February.
Regardless of what happens, I’ll be watching it unfold.