New York Rangers Stock Market: risers and fallers from 3/3-3/10

After managing to string three wins together, the New York Rangers have fallen back to their old ways. The tank is officially back on.

The New York Rangers have reverted back to their old ways. After sweeping the Western Canada road trip, they were shutout on home ice against the Winnipeg Jets. In their next game, they were utterly demolished by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Against the Florida Panthers, the game was mostly a back and forth. But ultimately, they lost in the shootout.

With the end of the regular season just a few short weeks away, the best thing to do is tank. This draft is extremely deep with a good deal of players projected to have serviceable NHL careers. Ideally, the Rangers would somehow wind up with the first overall pick and select Rasmus Dahlin, the unanimous first overall selection. However, realistically, if the Rangers wind up with something within the 6-10 range, that would be a win in my book. Anything else would be the icing on the cake.

The good news is that the new acquisitions have been making their mark on the ailing Rangers. Ryan Spooner has 10 points in six games. While Vladislav Namestnikov may only have two points, he has been steady in his transition between teams. Hopefully, both of these players will continue to provide for the the Rangers in the coming seasons.

Up: The Tank

As demoralizing as constant losing can be, it’s great for the tank.

Tank talk has been in a frenzy as the Rangers play continues to decline. With the team in its current state and management looking to sell off nearly the entire team, there is no point in making the playoffs if they are just going to lose in the first round.

I heavily believe that the Rangers are not yet ready to give up their Cup contending identity. Honestly, I can’t really blame them. This is a team who haven’t missed the playoffs since 2010. It didn’t seem as though the Rangers would be rebuilding so soon after making the Stanley Cup Finals.

The problem with that line of thinking is that the Rangers never really had the qualities of actual perennial contenders. They have had incredibly skilled teams, yes. But they have always been lacking in star power up front. They have never had a star forward, nor have they ever had a star defenseman. Their only hope was in their star goalie, Henrik Lundqvist. Luckily, when Lundqvist was injured they had amazing backup goalies in Antti Raanta and Cam Talbot. But, with Lundqvist starting to look more human and Ondrej Pavelec nowhere near the caliber of Talbot or Raanta, the chink in the armor has been exposed.

The good news is is management has recognized the problem at the right time. Starting with this draft, the Rangers can start to stock up on star power. Soon, the kids will take over and restore the team to its contending status.

Down: Rob O’Gara and Tony DeAngelo

There is no other way to say it: the Rob O’Gara/ Tony DeAngelo pairing has been absolutely horrendous.

Whether you look at the fancy stats or use the good old eye test, O’Gara and DeAngelo should not be played with each other. Separately, they are both decent enough. Together, they are an absolute defensive liability.

Taking a look at the numbers, their corsi is not pretty. Corsi is a possession statistic used to measure how often the defense controls possession of the puck. Average/a good number to be at is around 50%. DeAngelo and O’Gara have an abysmal 42.07% corsi rating. While there is a small sample size of only seven games and 75 minutes of total ice time, it is still terrible.

Surprisingly, they have only been on the ice together for five goals against. It is extremely surprising as the pairing seems to constantly bleed shots against and seems to be constantly pinned in their own zone.

Luckily, after seven games of this, coach Alain Vigneault has finally separated the pair. DeAngelo is now paired with Brady Skjei and O’ Gara is currently paired with John Gilmour. As much as I think the new pairs are just as bad, at least one pair is broken up.

Down: Alain Vigneault

Alain Vigneault must go at the end of this season.

It almost seems like a cop out to talk about Vigneault’s coaching and developmental faults. This week, his line pairing atrocities are both detrimental to the team and the development of his young players.

His line combinations continue to make no sense. He has once again split up the KZB (Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, and Pavel Buchnevich) line in favor of putting Vladislav Namestnikov and Jesper Fast on the first line with Zibanejad. I am not too concerned about Namestnikov being on the first line as Kreider was not fully practicing due to precautionary reasons. However, Buchnevich being demoted to the fourth line is not only confusing, it is also infuriating. This isn’t tough love, this is Vigneault sabotaging his development and Buchnevich succeeding in spite of him.

One of my biggest concerns for the rebuild is that the Rangers will not fire Vigneault. There is absolutely no reason to go through with a full rebuild if you are not going to fire the coach. And, personally, I think the rebuild could have been avoided by firing Vigneault in the first place. My hope is that Jeff Gorton thought Vigneault would benefit the tank and would actually help the Rangers get a high draft pick due to his shortcomings. Hopefully, Gorton will make the correct decision this offseason and relieve Vigneault of his duties.

Up: Henrik Lundqvist

Completely ignoring the actual numbers, Henrik Lundqvist has 100% been an up this week.

Henrik Lundqvist, at 36 years old, is entering is entering the twilight of his NHL career. Typically, most goalies would start their decline in play, but not Lundqvist. His current .916 save percentage is just under his career save percentage of .919. Lundqvist has been facing upwards of 30 shots per game and, most recently, upwards of 50 per game. He has started 55 games so far this season and played in 57, a tolling workload for any goalie. To top it all off, he has held down the fort for a failing Rangers team and barely receives any credit for it.

Yes, you may look at the game against the Vancouver Canucks where there were five goals against and blame him. And probably rightfully so, but he still made 50 saves. Against the Winnipeg Jets, he only allowed two goals (the final one being an empty net goal) on 31 shots. It wasn’t his fault the Rangers offense didn’t do anything. Against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Rangers were outclassed in every single way and had virtually no chance of winning it. Against the Florida Panthers, he appeared extremely frustrated when putting on another show and losing in the shootout.

Henrik Lundqvist is probably going to go down as the best New York Ranger in history. Who knows if the next goalie will be able to fill his shoes in any way.

Down: Jesper Fast

Last week, Fast played extremely well. I also said that he didn’t have to put up points to be successful because he was a good, defensive, fourth line player.

This week, his defense has been atrocious, most notably in the game against the Winnipeg Jets. He was on the ice for all three goals against in that game. When has a player been on the ice for all goals against in recent memory?

Something that is less his fault and more the coach’s fault is that he has been moved up to the first line. Fast is much better suited to a fourth line role than a first, so why was he moved up? His play is already suffering on the fourth line and will only continue to suffer on the first.

Next: New York Rangers: Predicting week-by-week record going forward

The twilight of the 2017-2018 season is officially upon us. The Rangers last home game will be March 30th, with their last two games coming after on the road. Soon, we will see what management does with the team and if the rebuild is for real or not.