New York Rangers that are on the naughty list this Christmas
The New York Rangers have many players and personnel underperforming this season. Let’s take a look at who Santa Claus has on his naughty list this Christmas.
The New York Rangers are a really weird hockey team. Some days they look like Stanley Cup contenders and others they look like cellar dwellers. There is really no warning for which team is going to come out on a given night. A lot of this is due to consistently inconsistent performers up and down the lineup and behind the bench.
This year, Santa Claus took notice as to what was going on with the Blueshirts. As he was making his list and checking in twice, he noticed there were a lot of naughty people in the organization. Luckily for us, Santa gave us his list to share with all of our wonderful readers this Christmas.
John Williams- Rick Nash
I wanna start out by saying that Rick Nash is a solid NHLer. What he is not, however, is a top line forward. When your roster is built around a player in a goal-scoring role and he doesn’t score goals, said player deserves criticism and blame. That’s where I am at with Rick Nash.
At this point in his career, Nash is a guy who is gonna score close to 20 goals a season and play a stellar defensive game. That’s still good for a middle-six winger, but not for what Nash is supposed to be for this team.
Nash is so frustrating because he gets plenty of quality chances but yet, he always finds a way to shoot the puck right at the goalie’s chest. Always.
I’m getting tired of it and unless the team signs him to a contract worth $4 million or under in the offseason, I don’t want him anywhere near this roster going forward.
Harsh? Maybe. But this Christmas, Nash is getting 7.8 million pounds of coal in his stocking.
Nick Zararis- Nick Holden
Patrick Roy’s “best defenseman” is the gift that keeps on giving the whole year round.
Unfortunately, he gives the puck away more than he spreads Christmas cheer nice and loud for all to hear.
The Rangers have a dearth of quality defensive talent, Holden is talented, but he’s out of his element in the role the team has him in. The defenseman has played first pair minutes while partnered with Ryan McDonagh. Holden has held McDonagh back from reaching his true potential. McDonagh is an elite defenseman who has had to cover for poor defensive partners for years, Holden is no exception.
His turnover against the Florida Panthers on November 28th is Holden’s season in a single play. He fails to clear the zone on a pass and subsequently loses his man in the defensive zone. His man, Denis Malgin, scored the game-winning goal. Holden’s terrible play lands him on the naughty list and nets him a bus ticket to the AHL in his stocking.
Dan Carrozzi- Alain Vigneault
The New York Rangers head coach earns his spot on this list for many reasons.
His usual faults haven’t abated much, if at all. He continues to favor and play certain players over others despite their actions on-ice. On the forward side of things, Pavel Buchnevich is only averaging 14:43 minutes of total ice-time, despite being tied for second on the team in points with 24.
The defense is worse. Brendan Smith was scratched for Steven Kampfer. Kevin Shattenkirk was benched after a rough game in New Jersey. While each got what they deserved, Marc Staal and Nick Holden seemingly never face negative consequences for their own lapses. Ryan McDonagh has had a revolving door of partners before being saddled with Holden.
That doesn’t mean he hasn’t tried new tactics, such as deploying 11 forwards and seven defensemen when the team was floundering in October. Anthony DeAngelo has played on about every defensive pairing in both the NHL and AHL for the organization, including watching from the press box. David Desharnais has been deployed similarly bizarrely: going from nearly being scratched to playing all up and down the lineup.
One area of consistency, however, is how much the team plays catch-up. The team has trailed first in 19 of their 35 games (6-9-4 record), including five times within the first minute.
This style of play intensifies the burden on Henrik Lundqvist who has already started 30 out of 35 games. That pace would mean 70 starts if maintained, more than he’s had since 2009-10. Unfortunately, he also backstops a team that has one of the worst shot attempt differentials in the NHL.
Vigneault is entrusted with giving his players the best opportunities to succeed, yet continues to utilize them in ways contrary to this ideal.
Michael Delasandro- Steven Kampfer
With an already questionable defensive corp being fielded every game for the Rangers, Steven Kampfer certainly finds a way to be on the naughty list of many Rangers fans and analysts alike. Kampfer, possessing a harrowing 41 percent Corsi-for percentage, has also only produced one point in over 200 minutes of ice time this season.
Kampfer has been around the league for quite a while now, playing for Boston, Minnesota, Florida, and the Rangers. It really is not fair for Kampfer to be playing over the young defensive talent available in the Blueshirts’ system and beyond.
Things would be very different for the Rangers defenseman if he would perhaps be played in more suitable situations for his skill level and certainly have less playing time than some other more valuable prospective players. Kampfer might expect some coal in his #47 stocking this holiday season.
Jen Moglia- Marc Staal
For the past few years, Marc Staal hasn’t just been practically invisible, he has been a defensive liability. This is why he belongs on the team’s “naughty list.”
This one shouldn’t come as a shock to any New York Rangers fan.
He has a total of six points (one goal and five assists) so far this season. That makes him third-to-last on the team and the second-to-last defenseman. Out of the players who have appeared in all 35 games this season, he has the fewest points.
As for assists, Staal has more than just four players, two of them being fellow defensemen. When it comes to goals, he is tied for second-to-last on the team with Boo Nieves. Just three players (Ryan McDonagh, Brendan Smith, and Steven Kampfer) trail them, each with no goals.
He is on pace for one of the worst seasons of his career, projecting about 14 points (12 assists and two goals). But, that prediction is only valid if he plays in all 82 games, which he hasn’t done since the 2009-2010 season. His Corsi stats don’t bail him out either.
The 30-year-old’s Corsi-For percentage has only reached 50 or above when playing with five different players this season, two of them no longer with the team (Tony DeAngelo and Adam Cracknell). The other three are Kevin Hayes, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Nick Holden.
Out of the 24 players Staal has played with, 15 of them are statistically better without Staal (that’s about 63 percent). All of these signs, from making other players worse to less-than-ideal offensive production, point to Marc Staal receiving coal in his stocking on Christmas morning.
Alexandra Russo-Kevin Shattenkirk
Kevin Shattenkirk, the young Rangers’ fan from New Rochelle, New York, was the most anticipated addition to the roster this season. However, as difficult as it is to write down these words, the truth needs to be said. He has not lived up to that anticipation.
At the start of the season, he seemed amazing, quarterbacking the power play and earning many assists. But during the beginning of the season, the Rangers weren’t doing well. And as odd as it is (and this was mere coincidence) once the power play started slipping, they began doing better. But that also meant Shattenkirk started showing who he is beyond the power play. And it wasn’t exactly pretty. Numerous giveaways and untimely penalties have caused the Rangers stress in games they were either tied or leading.
Now, I do believe that Shattenkirk has the ability to turn this around because he has had some solid games sprinkled in so far this season. However, he better turn it around fast because as it stands now, he’s on the naughty list.
Sam Prevot-Nick Holden
One player that most certainly deserves to be on the naughty list this Christmas is Nick Holden.
Holden plays with Ryan McDonagh in the Rangers’ top pairing. In the game on December 21st against the Devils, he had over 23 minutes of ice time. Alain Vigneault clearly believes in Holden, but the way he is playing does not justify top-line treatment.
His Corsi isn’t too far from the team average at 46, but the rest of the team’s top four defensemen are much better. Kevin Shattenkirk is two points ahead at 48, and people have questioned in the past why he is not in the top slot with McDonagh.
Costly turnovers and, at times, just blatantly not doing his job is becoming a staple of Holden’s play. Yet, he is still on the ice against opposing teams’ best players.
The main reason why this makes Holden my pick for the naughty list is that other defensemen are not getting an opportunity because of him. Holden was mentioned in trade rumors over the summer.
If he was actually traded, not only would he not be in the Rangers top pairing, other prospects could be getting their shot. Neal Pionk had a solid preseason, but there is no room for him on the roster with players like Holden and even Kampfer in the mix.
Jack Milewski- The power play
It’s not one person that will be getting coal this holiday season for the New York Rangers. No, it is an entire unit. The Rangers power play is on the naughty list for giving us all hope that maybe this year was different. Though the unit is still operating in the top 10 of the league, in actuality, the Rangers have been pretty bad this last month on the man advantage.
The team is just 6 for their last 44, meaning New York’s power play is sputtering along at around 13% since November 19th. Some of that is due to the loss of Mika Zibanejad for nine games, but a lot has to do with the way the power play has been run. The quick movement that we saw to begin the season is gone. The team is trying to get too cute with passes instead of shooting and the zone entries have been abysmal.
All in all, the Rangers have not been able to use the power play as an advantage in the past month. If anything it has acted as a deterrent. New York will need to clean up the man advantage soon if they want to continue the good play. It won them games when they weren’t playing well. Now it may lose them games when they are playing better hockey. For now, it has been no good. Coal for the man advantage unit it is.
Victoria Ranieri- Brendan Smith
Sadly, Brendan Smith is on the naughty list this year.
While he was a very strong candidate for the nice list as of the playoffs last year, his play has been abysmal as of late. He does not quite look like the player that was on the best defensive pairing all throughout the playoffs. He has yet to live up to the expectations set by his 4-year, $4.35 million contract he signed this summer for the Rangers.
With that said, I still think there is hope!
One of the worries surrounding Brendan Smith was that he did not come into training camp in shape. Most people speculated that this was the reason surrounding his poor play. As we get further into the season, he has been training with the Rangers and is looking better and better as the season goes on.
Next: Five Rangers that would be in the Olympics
Another thing that could aid in Brendan Smith becoming the player he was last season is pairing him back with Brady Skjei. Trying to reignite their chemistry could be just the thing that Smith needs. My recommended gift for Smith? Re-gift him his old defense partner, Brady Skjei.