New York Rangers: Patience is imperative going forward
After being perennial contenders for the past decade, the Rangers are back at the drawing board. Naming Boston University head coach David Quinn head coach is the first step in a long road back to the postseason.
Success in the National Hockey league breeds expectations. If a team makes the playoffs for seven seasons in a row, missing them is unacceptable. Furthermore, when intangible factors seem to bog down a team more than the talent, it is a failure on every level. On paper, the 2017-2018 New York Rangers could have made the postseason. However, failure to address systemic issues led to a lost season and starting over.
Like starting over at anything, starting over in the NHL takes time. At the very minimum, it usually takes one season to put a contender back together from the bones of an old group of players. The Colorado Avalanche went from worst team in hockey to the postseason because of one big trade. Yet, being that the Rangers lack the high end talent to make a Matt Duchene style trade, it will likely take more time.
Fixing the Rangers is unlikely to be a quick and orderly process. The current group under team control for next season lacks several key roles, including a number one defenseman. It is important to keep the rebuilding process in the proper context of the team and its recent history.
Related Story: A look at David Quinn's time at Boston University
The Rangers went all in several years in a row and are light in the talent pool. Now the talent pool needs time to develop.
The final act
Henrik Lundqvist has been the Rangers franchise lynchpin for more than a decade. The goaltender is one of the best players in the history of the organization, and a surefire hall of famer. For as long as Swede has been in between the pipes, New York was a contender. Until this past season when the team was just so terrible that Lundqvist could not save them.
For the first time in the goaltender’s career, the Rangers will have no expectations going into a season. Barring a franchise altering player in the draft or through some other means, next year will be a fruitless effort. With the talent on hand, New York would likely be returning to the draft lottery for a second straight season.
This is the greatest test in Lundqvist’s illustrious career. Can the greatest player in the history of the franchise shepherd along a young team until his replacement can arrive? The Rangers are in the mushy middle of the NHL which is a death knell for the long term health of a franchise. Teams like the Minnesota Wild and Anaheim Ducks that always make the postseason but are not serious contenders struggle to seriously improve because of the lack of high end talent available in the middle of the draft.
Growing Pains
On top of the talent needing time to grow, being a rookie head coach is a tall order. Quinn’s time at a marquee program like Boston University and the USA hockey development plan are both strong features on his resume. However, the frozen four and the World Junior Championships pale in comparison to the bright lights of the NHL.
Even established NHL coaches struggle to get acclimated when they get hired by another organization. During Alain Vigneault’s first season with the Rangers, the team started the season with only three wins in ten games. That was a coach that had proven to be good at the NHL level. For Quinn, the jump from the NCAA to the NHL will be a learning process.
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That will be the key to this entire rebuilding process. Accept the fact that it will not be an overnight success story. The Rangers have plenty of young talent and a bright head coach in the wings. The group will spend the 2018-2019 season growing as a unit and learning a new system. The 2019-2020 season will likely be the return to the playoffs if all goes well.