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New York Rangers: Ramifications of a leadership shift in the locker room

By John Williams

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 08: Rick Nash of the New York Rangers looks on during the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Press Conference at Citi Field on September 8, 2017 in Queens, New York. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 08: Rick Nash of the New York Rangers looks on during the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Press Conference at Citi Field on September 8, 2017 in Queens, New York. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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With some of the wholesale changes the New York Rangers made this offseason, they affected the leadership dynamic on the roster. Will this be good for them going forward, or will it handicap them in 17-18?

The New York Rangers have had the same core leadership group, more or less, for the last five or six years. While they had quite a bit of success in that time frame, including three Eastern Conference Final appearances and one trip to the Stanley Cup Final, the organization decided to make some changes within that core.

Veteran defenseman Dan Girardi was bought out of the remaining three years of his contract. Veteran center Derek Stepan was traded to the Arizona Coyotes for two young prospects. With those two moves, the team rid themselves of two of their longest tenured players, both alternate captains.

On a team that has become drastically younger in the last year and a half, some may worry about the amount of veteran leadership on this team. With that said though, the team still has plenty of players who have shown the ability to lead before whether they had a letter or not.

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Obviously, you still have Ryan McDonagh wearing the “C” and Marc Staal (for now), along with Rick Nash dousing “A’s” on their sweaters. Guys like Mats Zuccarello and Brendan Smith also have shown the propensity to be leaders in the past as well and will be counted upon to continue to do so this year.

At the Winter Classic media day last Friday, Rick Nash made an interesting comment about the leadership group of the future.

"“Guys like Miller, Hayes, Kreider, it’s their time to step up and take the room over. They are not young guys any more and it will be fun to watch.”"

Nash is right. Those three are key to the new budding core of Rangers. They have each grown a lot over the last few seasons, on the ice and off, and they will be counted on to lead the team for years to come.

All in all though, the Rangers will be fine in the leadership department even after the offseason changes. They have played more playoff games over the last five years than any other team in the NHL. They have guys throughout the roster who have played in big games time after time.

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And of course, the leader of this team, regardless of letters, is Henrik Lundqvist. As long as he is in the locker room, the team will be fine. But after a few years of losing earlier than they would have liked, a shift in locker room dynamic was the right move.

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