The New York Rangers’ training camp officially opened on Thursday. Head Coach Alain Vigneault has made a few interesting comments regarding his mindset on the team thus far.
Most hockey players and coachs are well versed in how to answer questions without saying much of anything. The New York Rangers’ own Alain Vigneault is one such coach, usually giving cordial, albeit insubstantial answers in press conferences.
So, when the coach does say something that raises a few eyebrows, it is usually worth paying attention to.
We’ll take a look at some of Vigneault’s responses to the media so far and look at what the implications could be for the Rangers this season.
On Brady Skjei
“I’m expecting him to compete for a top-four spot.” - AV on @BradySkjei heading into 2017-18. #NYR
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 14, 2017
Like a few of his other comments, we can look at this statement regarding Brady Skjei from a few angles.
From the optimistic angle, he’s saying with a nudge and a wink, that Skjei will be in team’s top four. However, in hockey culture, nothing is a given or taken for granted and everything must be earned. Therefore, Vigneault won’t immediately anoint him a top-four defender.
The reasoning here is, if Skjei isn’t penciled into the top-four already then Vigneault might not have referenced it at all. He just as easily could have said that Skjei is an important piece of the defense without explicitly correlating him with a top-four spot.
On the other hand, Skjei will only be entering his second full NHL season. He is still a young player and Vigneault has the propensity for sitting the youngster in favor of some of his veteran defensemen.
The nightmare scenario is that Vigneault doesn’t see Skjei as a top-four defenseman still. This is despite him forming a formidable duo with newly re-signed Brendan Smith. If this is indeed the case, one of the following combinations would likely form second pairing:
- Marc Staal/Nick Holden and Brendan Smith
- Marc Staal AND Nick Holden (…again)
- Brendan Smith and Kevin Shattenkirk (one of Staal or Holden is with McDonagh)
The rubber will meet the road when the preseason games get underway. The groupings he deploys will go a long way into seeing what Vigneault’s mindset is regarding defense’s composition.
Related Story: How Alain Vigneault could jeopardize the Rangers season
On Marc Staal
AV says this will be the 1st time Marc Staal is in a legit fight for ice time and perhaps to even make the team b/c of competition in camp.
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) September 14, 2017
This was one of Vigneault’s more eyebrow-raising comments, where he put veteran defenseman Marc Staal on notice.
Given the optics of having Staal and his $5.7MM cap hit in the press box each night, I think Vigneault is paying lip service here. I expect Staal at the very least to have a starting spot, hopefully in a sheltered third pairing role.
Optimistically, his comment here is taken closer to face value. There is a lot of competition in camp, with Staal, Holden, Anthony DeAngelo, Alexei Bereglazov, Neal Pionk, Ryan Graves, and Sean Day potentially in the mix for the bottom defensive pairing.
In an ideal world, Vigneault realizes that he has better options than Staal and will set his lineup accordingly.
Again, Vigneault likes to rely on his veterans and at this point, it is difficult seeing him icing a defensive pairing where both players have little to no NHL experience.
Related Story: Comparing the current Rangers defense to recent champions
On Shattenkirk
Not all of Vigneault’s remarks are as ambiguous and able to be construed in such a negative light.
One positive takeaway came from the coach’s endorsement of Kevin Shattenkirk during his media session on Saturday. Vigneault said the following regarding the offensive-minded defenseman:
"“I’m not worried about him [Shattenkirk] understanding the defensive side of the game […] he knows what to do in his own end. […] I want him to bring his offensive instinct, his creativity with the puck, I want that to flow. […] When he gets the puck, the decisions he makes with the puck, I got a lot of confidence that he’s going to make the right one, in the right situation. So, I’m going to definitely give him some leeway there."
With Vigneault showing little confidence in offensive-minded defensemen’s defensive capabilities in the past, such as Keith Yandle and Adam Clendening, this is a positive sign. Also, hopefully, this comment indicates that Shattenkirk isn’t punished immediately for failing to complete a risky offensive play.
Both of these are positive signs that Vigneault will deploy Shattenkirk properly, which the team badly needs in order to be contenders.
Other tidbits
Another positive comment came in regards to the team’s starting goaltender. In a recent article by Dan Rosen on NHL.com, Vigneault had this to say about Henrik Lundqvist.
"Goalie Henrik Lundqvist, 35, is healthy and, according to Vigneault, looks lighter and younger.“In my mind, he’s still in the elite top-five goalies,” Vigneault said, “and he wants to prove that.”"
Vigneault isn’t shy in calling Lundqvist out when he feels he needs to be doing better. His endorsement of the goaltender is a welcome one as the team will need to rely on him for a long playoff run.
AV said Buchnevich has no health issues heading into camp. Followed plan this summer "to a letter." #NYR
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 14, 2017
Again, while Vigneault is pragmatic in his vocal criticism of players, he will call players out for poor conditioning. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have voiced his disappointment had Buchnevich not arrived in camp up to snuff, so this is also encouraging.
Next: This is an important season for Alain Vigneault
The head coach and the players both will provide plenty of more quotes in the days and weeks to come. We must take them all with a grain of salt, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t valuable information lurking there. However, Vigneault’s actions, compared to his words, will be more telling with regard to his plan for the team this season.