New York Rangers: Eight steps to fixing the Rangers
The New York Rangers are nothing short of a mess. They have three regulation wins in their last 19 games, are currently out of a playoff spot, and the team is flat out unwatchable. But fear not, downtrodden Ranger fans. With a few savvy moves and decisions, this team can be right back in contention.
It is the end of an era for the New York Rangers. After six years of playoff runs, including three Conference Finals appearances and a Stanley Cup Final appearance, it is time to blow it up. The team has grown stale, as has the message of the coaching staff.
It is time to rebuild. The Rangers will almost assuredly be sellers at the trade deadline, and rightfully so. They need to recoup draft picks and prospects that they have traded away in past years, in an effort to bring home a Stanley Cup.
Now that Henrik Lundqvist has given his blessing to a rebuild, the focus of the front office needs to be acquiring as many draft picks and prospects as possible. But, this miserable season could prove to be a blessing in disguise. Rather than making another ill-advised “kick at the can”, management is almost being forced to approach the deadline with an eye on the future.
If Jeff Gorton and Co. do this right, this team could become a contender again, and soon. If they follow the eight steps included here, they could find themselves on the path to contention sooner rather than later.
Step 1: Trade veterans on expiring contracts
The first step that the Rangers must take is to trade their veterans on expiring contracts. The four players that immediately come to mind are Rick Nash, Michael Grabner, Nick Holden, and David Desharnais.
Nash has been a Rangers for six years now, and while some argue that he has underperformed in his time here, the case can be made that he is the Rangers’ best all-around forward. He is still an absolute beast with the puck on his stick and is very good in the defensive zone.
As it stands right now, Nash figures to be one of the hottest rental commodities on the trade market. Contending teams would kill for a big-bodied forward like him in their top-six. Some teams that figure to be interested are Dallas, St. Louis, and Nashville.
The return for Nash figures to be a first-round pick, a high-end prospect, and another lower level pick or prospect. Some possible returns could be a first-rounder, as well as a player like Riley Tufte (Dallas) or Klim Kostin (St. Louis). Either one of these would be a good move for the Rangers, as it would build them up for the future.
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Grabner also figures to be an attractive trade piece. Teams should be intrigued by his outstanding speed, penalty-killing prowess, goal scoring ability, and cheap contract. Grabner should be able to fetch at least a first-rounder, maybe a prospect as well. Somebody like Taylor Raddysh (Tampa Bay) or a package including a first-round pick could be a possible return.
Holden and Desharnais won’t fetch as much. Holden should bring back either a third or fourth-round pick and Desharnais a fifth-rounder.
While some of these moves may be painful, they will be beneficial, as they will set the Rangers up well for the long-term.
2. Call up the kids
After the Rangers make these trades, there will, of course, be holes to fill. The way the Rangers should remedy this is by calling up some young players from Hartford. Some of these players that come to mind are Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson, Neal Pionk, and Ryan Graves.
Chytil and Andersson are special cases. They were both first-round picks of the Rangers this past summer, and both figure to be a large part of the future.
Chytil already played two games in New York, at the beginning of the season, while Andersson hasn’t played any games here. If they play more than 10 games this season, they burn a year of their entry-level contracts. Obviously, nobody wants that, so they should only be called up to play the last few games of the season.
Pionk and Graves are both defensemen. Pionk was signed out of the University of Minnesota-Duluth back in May and Graves has been in the system for a few years. While neither player has exactly torn up the AHL, the Rangers need to see what they have in these guys.
The trick to this is that they can’t JUST call up these guys; they need to actually give them significant minutes. They also need to play guys like Vinni Lettieri and Tony DeAngelo, both of whom are already up with the Rangers.
Calling up the young guys gives the Rangers an opportunity to see what the future of their team looks like and if these players are viable options for the future.
3. Entertain offers for McDonagh and Zuccarello
This step could wind up being a very important one. These are two players who are integral to the Rangers, but who could also wind up bringing back a lot in a trade.
Ryan McDonagh
Ryan McDonagh isn’t only the captain of the Rangers, he’s also their best defenseman and one of their best players. But, McDonagh is going to be 29 years old and his extremely team friendly contract expires at the end of the 2019 season. He is most likely going to want a big contract, which is deserved, somewhere in the seven-year, $7 million average annual value range.
While McDonagh is a very good player, giving an almost 30-year-old a seven-year deal is how you wind up with a Dan Girardi-type situation, and the Rangers would be wise to not tie themselves up in that situation again. So, the Rangers should examine trading him. Contending teams would most likely be willing to pay a huge haul for the Rangers’ captain.
At the very least, the Rangers should be asking for a blue-chip young player and a 1st round pick. Or, they could ask for a first rounder and two top prospects. Maybe something like William Nylander and a 1st rounder from Toronto or Erik Brannstrom, Nick Suzuki, and a 1st round pick from Vegas.
Mats Zuccarello
Aside from Henrik Lundqvist, Mats Zuccarello is the heart and soul of the Rangers. He is a fan favorite and would be a logical choice to be captain if the Rangers moved McDonagh. But, he’s 30 years old and his contract also expires at the end of the 2019 season. The Rangers would be wise to examine what they could get for him.
But, Zuccarello also shouldn’t be traded just to be traded. The Rangers should be looking to get either a blue-chip young player or a 1st round pick and a good prospect.
If Gorton feels he isn’t getting proper value for either of them, he should keep them for the rest of the season and revisit the idea at the draft.
But, if teams jump at the chance at acquiring them (which they should), and they offer the right deal, Gorton should absolutely take it. It’ll simultaneously signal a clear rebuild, and add an infusion of young talent for the long run.
4. Tank for a top five pick
After selling at the deadline, the Rangers will obviously have some holes. This may not be a bad thing, though.
Because of this, the Rangers may be able to lose their way into a top-five draft pick. This year’s draft class is absolutely stacked and is incredibly deep. If the Rangers were able to get a top five pick, they would be drafting an absolute game-changer, provided they don’t pull a 2010 (see McIlrath, Dylan).
The top five prospects they could possibly land are Rasmus Dahlin, Andrei Svechnikov, Filip Zadina, Adam Boqvist, and Brady Tkachuk.
Dahlin is the consensus number one pick, a defenseman from Sweden who plays for Frolunda. He was outstanding at the World Junior Championship for Team Sweden. His passing is immaculate, his vision is incredible, and his skating looks absolutely effortless. The team who lucks into drafting Dahlin will be getting a player who will most likely start his NHL career next season. He’s a player who has all the potential to be a franchise talent.
The rest of these players are all outstanding in their own right, and the Rangers would be incredibly lucky to land one of them.
5. Buyout Marc Staal’s contract
Marc Staal has been a fixture on the Rangers’ blue line for years. In recent years, he has been criticized for being an absolute liability. His contract has also been criticized. He is set to make $5.7 million per year until 2021.
While Staal has been markedly improved this season, it is still time to move on. The Rangers would be very wise to buy out Marc Staal. If the team truly is rebuilding and trying to get younger, Staal doesn’t fit.
If the Rangers buy him out of his contract, they will almost completely have purged themselves of the core of their team from 2012-18. The only players that will remain are Henrik Lundqvist, Chris Kreider, and Ryan McDonagh (provided he isn’t traded).
Jeff Gorton needs to make up for his predecessor’s mistakes in giving long-term extensions to Dan Girardi and Marc Staal. He has already taken care of Girardi, now it’s time to cut ties with Staal.
6. Fire the entire coaching staff, except for Benoit Allaire
The next step that the Rangers must take to fix their franchise is to gut themselves of the entire coaching staff. The one exception to this is Benoit Allaire, who has proven to be the best goaltending coach in the league. He’s a guy that Henrik Lundqvist swears by.
Alain Vigneault, Lindy Ruff, Scott Arniel, and Daryl Williams have to go. Vigneault, Arniel, and Williams have been here since 2013-14, and Ruff was hired during the 2017 offseason.
Vigneault has been under fire since last year, and rightfully so. He is unable to adjust and continuously plays underachieving veterans over talented, high-upside youngsters. His selective accountability is maddening.
His distrust of young players makes him just about the worst option to coach a rebuilding team. If the Rangers do this sell-off right, there is going to be a lot of young talent on the roster next year. Vigneault can’t be around to stunt it.
Arniel and Williams both also need to go, as they very much are on board with Vigneault’s style of coaching, and they need a fresh start. The defense that Ruff is coaching has been absolutely porous, which isn’t surprising. Ruff was fired from the Dallas Stars last year and didn’t do a good job of coaching. His hiring in New York was puzzling.
Gorton needs to make this a priority. If Vigneault is still here next season, then everything that the Rangers do from now until then means absolutely nothing.
7. Hire Sheldon Keefe and Filip Pesan
Next, Jeff Gorton needs to hire a coaching staff. Two perfect fits would be Sheldon Keefe and Filip Pesan.
Keefe is currently the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate, the Marlies. He has done an outstanding job of developing young talent. The question is whether or not he would leave Toronto, considering they may view him as the eventual successor to Mike Babcock. But, if the Rangers could somehow pry him from Toronto, he would be the perfect option to coach a rebuilder, and develop the young talent.
Filip Pesan would be a great option for an assistant coach. He coached the Czech team at the World Junior Championship, so he already has experience working with Filip Chytil. The Rangers were also reportedly interested him this past offseason, as they invited him to training camp.
Gorton has to hire the right coaching staff for this rebuild to work. These two coaches would be great hires, and would most likely help accelerate the rebuild
8. Sign James van Riemsdyk
The Rangers are going to have a lot of money to spend in free agency with the contracts of Nash, Grabner, Holden, and (hopefully) Staal coming off the books. While the dream would obviously be to sign John Tavares on July 1st, it doesn’t seem likely. It would certainly be financially feasible, but Tavares leaving the Islanders and coming to the Rangers just seems like a pipe dream.
Another way for them to smartly spend some cap space would be on James van Riemsdyk. He is currently 28 years old and will be a free agent at season’s end. It doesn’t seem as though Toronto is very interested in keeping him. The Rangers would be wise to take advantage.
Van Riemsdyk isn’t a superstar, but he is a lock to put up around 50-60 points, which is a bona fide top six player in today’s NHL. Plus, van Riemsdyk grew up a Rangers fan, so maybe he could be persuaded to take a hometown discount, a la Kevin Shattenkirk.
Van Riemsdyk would be a good option for the top-six, especially if Rick Nash doesn’t come back. He would be a wise option to play on a line with possibly Filip Chytil and J.T. Miller.
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Jeff Gorton has his work cut out for him. The trade deadline is fast approaching, and this is a critical time for the New York Rangers. If he does this right, the path to contention will be accelerated. If he gets it wrong, it will set them back for years.
Will he get it right? Only time will tell.