New York Rangers Need More Than Just A Faceoff Winning Center
When it comes to the New York Rangers, many say they are just one faceoff winning center away from getting back to the Stanley Cup Final. This however, couldn’t be any further from the truth.
Yes, the Rangers are in dire need of a center that can win faceoffs, since they are near the bottom of the league in faceoff winning percentage and really only have three natural centers in their starting lineup. But, after one again failing to beat their biggest rival, the New York Islanders, for a 3rd straight time this season, the Rangers are showing that they have many more glaring weaknesses that need to be addressed before even discussing about going on a deep playoff run.
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Before I get into these weaknesses, I would first just like to point out that this Rangers team is currently not better than last season’s. Their record this season may be better than at this point last year, however, you have to remember that last season was their first under head coach Alain Vigneault so it naturally took them a while to get his system down pat. But then when last season’s team started clicking, the Rangers developed arguably the best bottom six in the East last season, and one of the best overall in the entire league. This season though, the Rangers bottom six has not even been close to last year’s counterparts, and as a result, have failed to bail out their inconsistent top six, like last season.
It may be a harsh criticism, but I want to win, and I fully understand that this is a business. For this very reason is why I do not get attached to players.
I may have said earlier that my point above was before I was getting into the Rangers weakness but in my rant I basically told you what I believe the Rangers need to fix, without actually coming straight out and saying it. But now I will.
The Rangers need to revamp their bottom six forwards if they want to return to the Stanley Cup Final this season. This year’s Rangers may be good against teams in the West, but in order to get to a Western Conference team in the postseason, you need to go through the East and make it to the finals. And right now, with the way this team is currently structured, that is not going to happen.
There are not one, not two, but three teams in the Eastern Conference that the Rangers would not be able to beat in a best of 7 playoff series. The Tampa Bay Lightning, the Boston Bruins, and yes the New York Islanders. This season the Rangers are a combined 0-7 against these teams, which all share something in common. All three have a great mixture of size, physicality, and speed. This current Rangers team only has speed.
I know Rangers fans do not want to hear this but with the team’s needs and the way the salary cap is, it is time to part ways with players such as Mats Zuccarello and Carl Hagelin, both whom are free agents at the end of this season and have not done much of anything since the start of this season.
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Now for something Rangers fans will like, somehow the Blueshirts have to find a way to get rid of Tanner Glass, whether it is via trade or sending him down to the AHL and at least get some of his salary off of the cap.
Now Glass is a physical player, so some may say it is odd that I want him out of the starting lineup and off of the team but in today’s NHL you need physical players who also provide some sort of offense and contributes to a team winning games, and Glass does not do any of that.
All in all, the Rangers need to add a faceoff winning center and a couple of wingers with some size and physicality in order to compete with the top teams in the East this season. If they don’t, then we will most likely see an early playoff exit from the defending Eastern Conference Champion New York Rangers.