The New York Rangers are off to a slow start this season. Head coach Alain Vigneault is proving yet again that his coaching can be a detriment to his young, talented roster.
Early indicators are that New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault has not changed. His inability to get the most out of a young roster is already on display again this season. Despite a roster filled with talent, Vigneault continues to make questionable decisions with his personnel.
Through the season’s first four games Vigneault usage of players has been erratic at best. His deployment of Kevin Hayes continues to be among the biggest mismanagements on his resume. Meanwhile, rookie Filip Chytil was never given a chance to see meaningful minutes in the NHL this season.
These decisions factor into why the Rangers have had a slow start to the 2017-18 season. Hayes, Chytil, and other key players are being hindered by their coach. Let’s take a look at the situation a little closer.
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Special Teams
One of the biggest storylines thus far for the Rangers has been their success with the man advantage. The power play has been fueled by newcomer Kevin Shattenkirk and a healthy Mika Zibanejad.
While it is promising that the team’s top unit is producing, the second unit has not. That unit is without Kevin Hayes, one of the Rangers’ top offensive weapons. Hayes is instead being used as a defense-first option for the second consecutive season.
Through the team’s first four games, the special teams split among their first two centers is drastic. Zibanejad leads all forwards with 19:16 TOI spent on the power-play prior to Friday night’s game, while Kevin Hayes has only seen 1:58 with the man advantage. That number is easily the lowest out of the Rangers skill group.
Conversely, at the other end of the game, Alain Vigneault has been generous with his minutes for Kevin Hayes and stingy with Zibanejad. While playing on the penalty kill, Hayes (8:11TOI) has acted as the first option alongside Michael Grabner (9:15TOI). Meanwhile, Paul Carey (5:13 TOI) has outpaced Zibanejad (3:15TOI) with the Rangers down a man.
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Lineup mismanagement
Outside of the special teams’ units, the Rangers’ bench coach has begun his lineup tinkering early. As seen in the past, Vigneault has a tendency for lacking trust in his younger players. At the first sign of wrong-doing, he will opt for a more familiar, less attractive option.
So far this season, we have seen multiple shortcomings by the head coaches lineup decisions. A prime example would be how Filip Chytil’s role and spot on the roster was completely spoiled. His usage during his two games with the team, 12:39 of total ice time, made the decision to bring the rookie to New York a head-scratcher.
Vigneault’s lone coaching bright spot was shaping up to be his usage of defenseman Anthony DeAngelo. In an uncharacteristically efficient way, Vigneault has deployed DeAngelo only for offensive zone stats. This help DeAngelo’s to a 57.7 corsi-for%, which is second highest on the team.
However, in a much more characteristic manner, Vigneault has already pulled the hook on the offensive defenseman. DeAngelo, along with Brendan Smith, spent Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues in the press-box in favor of Nick Holden and Steven Kampfer.
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Looking forward
The good news for the New York Rangers is that the season is still young. Everybody expected this new group to require a feeling out period. However, the bad news is that this is nothing new coming from their head coach.
Alain Vigneault has been awarded talented rosters every season during his tenure with New York. This year, despite the youth, the story is no different. In spite of this, he continues to be the team’s biggest opponent.
Kevin Hayes needs to see more ice-time on the offensive side of the rink and less on the penalty kill. Anthony DeAngelo and Brendan Smith must be in the lineup in place of Nick Holden and Steven Kampfer. These are two statements that every Rangers fan is in agreeance with.
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Unfortunately, the Rangers head coach feels differently about the situation. If this team has any hope, either Alain Vigneault’s coaching must change or his job must be on the hot-seat.