While the moves fly under the radar, Jeff Gorton has transitioned the New York Rangers for both the present and future.
I’m not the typical hockey fan. I’ve said it plenty of times. My belief is that a player like Rick Nash being the best two way forward on the New York Rangers is just as impressive as if he scored 50 goals a year.
I believe that being able to block a shot and finish a check are some of the most important elements of hockey. I believe that a penalty kill in a big moment is just as exciting as the game-tying goal of the game. I even dare to believe that plus/minus is an important statistic.
So where am I going with this? Why am I starting this article with this background information? Simple, it is because I
like
love the moves that were made this season by Jeff Gorton.
I have yet to see a New York Rangers Stanley Cup, I was born two months shy of end of the 1940 curse. It is safe to say that being a Rangers fan as of late has been rather frustrating. Especially for someone like me.
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The Keith Yandle debacle of a trade was one I despised from the second it was made, and both the Martin St. Louis trade and the Eric Staal trade were also losses on the Blueshirts side.
This year it seemed like the New York Rangers were in constant discussion on big name players. Whether it was via trade or via free agency it was rumored that there was interest.
One could argue that the only major move was the Derick Brassard trade. Which in retrospect is more of a move for the future than the present.
Also to squash the whole “he also got Vesey” argument, let’s relax on that. Articles have already been submitted by the Bluelinestation team on the impact Vesey could have, in a realistic way.
Why are these moves so promising to me? Well simple, the team lacked depth last season. Now they arguably have the deepest group of forwards of recent memory.
They signed role players like Nathan Gerbe and Michael Grabner to help with the abysmal penalty kill. Getting Nick Holden can be a nice 6th/7th defenseman move for this season.
Most importantly, though, the team got younger. In a few short months, the team went from being old and on the decline to being a promising team now and for the future. With the oldest player now being Henrik Lundqvist (34), the team was able to get two draft picks and sign depth for both the NHL and AHL.
The moves did not fully address the problems on the blueline nor did it answer the terrible face-off percentage that the team has had, yet when it comes down to it, the New York Rangers have retooled and now have a roster ready to strike this season, as well as many more to come in the future.
Next: New York Rangers: A Trade is Brewing...
The team may not be perfect, but the on-the-fly remodel done by Gorton has been a work of genius. Regardless of the outcome, in Gorton I Trust.