New York Rangers: James Dolan and the front office have a plan

It’s hard to believe, but James Dolan, the owner of the New York Rangers, said all the right things in an interview with Larry Brooks of the New York Post.

As someone who is both a Knicks and Rangers fan, the name James Dolan is as close to a real-life Harvey Dent as there is. When it comes to the Knicks, the owner is the micromanaging antichrist who can’t get out of his own way. The Cablevision heir incessantly meddles and keeps his personal friends in positions of power long after it makes sense. Even after Isiah Thomas got Dolan’s MSG corporation sued for sexual harassment, he kept Thomas around.

Yet, when it comes to the Rangers, Dolan is hands off. This is one of the more bizarre dynamics because the owner is so night and day. It is also why the Rangers have been far more successful than the Knicks under Dolan. The owner stays out of the hockey business and has allowed Glen Sather to run the show. With Sather, the Rangers have had results on both ends of the spectrum. But, for the most part, they’ve been successful.

The biggest driving force for the Rangers to tear it all down this season was actually Dolan. Make no mistake about it, if it weren’t for the owner’s push to start with a new group next year, the Rangers would not have sold at the deadline. The organization will always have the financial commitment to invest in top-end talent. If Gorton felt that McDonagh was irreplaceable, he would’ve pushed to re-sign him.

Related Story: What went wrong: Overestimating its own talent

On Wednesday, the New York Post published an interview between Dolan and its Rangers columnist Larry Brooks. In the interview, Dolan said several things that should leave the fanbase at ease.

Alain is great, with the right team

When the Rangers brought on Alain Vigneault back in the summer of 2013, it was a slam dunk move. The team was centered around veteran talent and young players on the verge of budding over. Vigneault had the track record with the Vancouver Canucks of developing a high flying offense. The man he was replacing, John Tortorella, was a proponent of grinding out 2-1 wins.

At the time the coach and the roster were a good fit. However, that was more than four years ago now. Just four players, Henrik Lundqvist, Marc Staal, Mats Zuccarello and Jesper Fast remain from that team. This past season, the Rangers fully transitioned to being a young developing team. This was a problem for Vigneault because of his coaching style. The hands-off, players police themselves method works for proven guys.

“We’re looking for someone who can develop players and develop a team,” Dolan said. “We want someone who is going to be able to work with our younger players.”

The fact that both ownership and the front office recognized Vigneault’s shortcomings with player development is a positive sign. This also means that they’re fully committed to developing the organization the right way.

“I think Alain was a great coach, but a great coach for a developed team,” Dolan said. “Even though he probably didn’t mean to, he sort of affirmed that himself when he talked after the last game about how he didn’t have the players this year.”

This is the biggest indictment against Vigneault’s season and it’s why the team had no fight after January. The players in the dressing room all kind of knew that things were over for Vigneault.

What the new coach needs to do

The Rangers need a coach that can effectively teach young players. Dolan explained, “The next coach we hire has to be a developmental coach.” Being that the Rangers have so many draft picks this season, this is arguably the quickest way to turn the team around. If a new coach can develop this prospect pool, they can jump-start a new era of Rangers hockey.

There could be as many as ten potential candidates that interview for the coaching position. Of the open positions this summer, the Rangers are arguably the best landing spot. The coach will have a young roster, a fistful of draft picks and a financial commitment to building the best team possible.

Dolan did say that he can’t guarantee a timeline for the rebuild, but that he thinks the Rangers can “sneak into the playoffs next season.” This means that there are not going to be unrealistic expectations for next season.

Next: Ranking the team's moves at the deadline

Things are looking up for the Rangers and having ownership, as well as the front office on the same page, bodes well for the future.