New York Rangers stock market: The pre-draft edition
The 2017-2018 hockey season has come to a close, putting the off season into full swing. The New York Rangers have already completed their most important off season move, and hired David Quinn as their new head coach.
The New York Rangers look like they’ve found the perfect fit. David Quinn is a coach who exhibits tough love, holds players accountable, and loves playing talented young forwards. This is a stark contrast the the veteran-favoring Alain Vigneault.
In the history of the Rangers’ stock markets, there have been a number of times in which the player’s stock was down through factors outside of their control. For instance, a young player who has two bad games would have his minutes docked greatly.
It looks like these days are gone, however. With Quinn putting such an emphasis on player accountability, it looks like unfit players will no longer play undeservedly. It also appears that young players will no longer be held as scapegoats for a minor mistakes.
This leads us to this week’s stock market. With this new system in place, player’s stocks are in need of adjustment. Luckily, with this adjustment in the team’s hierarchy, success will come to New York sooner rather than later.
Up: Pavel Buchnevich
Pavel Buchnevich’s stock just keeps rising.
Buchnevich is an incredibly gifted player. He has fantastic hockey sense along with being a great puck handler and smooth skater, not to mention his lethal shot.
Unfortunately, Buchnevich has only been able to showcase his abilities in spurts. Former coach Alain Vigneault frequently relegated him to the fourth line with line mates who were nowhere near as gifted as he. What made matters worse is these incompetent players would fill Buchnevich’s position when he was benched or scratched.
Luckily, David Quinn seems to be the polar opposite of this. Quinn’s emphasis on player development will let Buchnevich soar. He will no longer have to worry about being benched for one mistake, or scratched for an off game.
His talents will be fostered. Buchnevich has only gotten better as he has played in the NHL. His first NHL season was plagued by injuries and a trip down to the AHL. Though he only played 41 games, he managed to record eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points. His second and most recent season went significantly better, and he played in 74 games. He nearly doubled his goal total with 14 and more than doubled his assist total with 29, and had a total of 43 points.
Buchnevich is incredibly close to breaking out. If his talents are developed properly, Buchnevich could very well become a borderline, if not elite, player in this league.
Down: Marc Staal
Marc Staal’s days as a top pairing defenseman are coming to an end.
Staal has been in decline for quite a few seasons now. His defensive abilities are lacking and he has next to zero offensive upside. Even though his abilities have diminished, he has still been treated as a defenseman who can handle top line minutes by both Vigneault and the rest of the coaching staff.
During the 2016 playoffs, Staal and then Ranger Nick Holden were given top line minutes and responsibilities. Though neither had the ability to keep up with the competition, this didn’t stop them from being played as if they could. Inevitably, their poor play led to the Rangers’ demise in 6 games.Since these playoffs, Staal has remained in a steady decline. While he managed to play semi decently at the start of the year, it wasn’t exactly good enough to be the Rangers’ saving grace.
David Quinn’s accountability comes back into play with Staal. If his caliber of play is not up to par, he will probably not play. If he even makes it to next season that is. The possibility of buying out Staal’s contract is looming, and would probably be the best possible outcome in the situation. This would fre up a roster spot and a bit of cap space, and would make it so that Quinn would not have to bench or scratch the long tenured Ranger.
Whatever happens, it’s not looking good for Staal’s stock. However, it will hopefully be a step in the right direction for the Rangers as a whole.
Up: Kevin Shattenkirk
Kevin Shattenkirk may wind up being the player whose stock has gone up the most.
Shattenkirk’s stock has gone up for multiple reasons. First and foremost, he will be completely healthy next year. Shattenkirk was out for the majority of the second half of the season with a torn meniscus, an injury that plagued him for most of the season. This both took him out of the lineup for a significant amount of time and impacted his play when he was in the lineup. Though he was forced into playing only 43 games, he recorded a respectable five goals and 18 assists for 23 points. Imagine what he would be able to do while in the lineup completely healthy for a full season?
Secondly, Shattenkirk has a good history with David Quinn. Quinn was the assistant coach during Shattenkirk’s time with Boston University. Eventually, he left Boston to become the head coach with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters. Soon after, Shattenkirk followed, as Erie was an affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, the team he was drafted by.
Shattenkirk was hung out to dry most of the season. Luckily, his history with Quinn should lead to him being played in a role more suited to him in this upcoming year. Hopefully leading to him finding his footing within the roster.
Down: Steven Kampfer
Steven Kampfer’s days with the New York Rangers are numbered.
Steven Kampfer has never exactly been an NHL caliber defenseman. In his short time with the Rangers, he has been in a constant struggle. However, when most of the defense squad went down with injuries, Kampfer somehow found his way into the lineup.
While Kampfer in the lineup in and of itself wasn’t terrible, his deployment was a major issue. On numerous occasions, Kampfer found himself on the top line. A role in which he did not fit in whatsoever. On an NHL level, Kampfer is best utilized as the seventh defenseman or on the bottom pairing. Truly, his best fit is in a veteran role on the Rangers’ AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
While Kampfer’s stock was never truly high to begin with, it managed to further deteriorate this off season. With the defense core becoming healthy again and with the possibility of defensive prospects graduating to the NHL level, there isn’t much room for Kampfer in the line up.
Taking Kampfer out of the line up will be the best thing for the defensive core. Aside from his intense struggles defensively, Kampfer has zero offensive upside. In his 22 games played this season, he contributed only one assist. With the current state of the Rangers, it is best to bring up a young player and have them develop than keep a struggling Kampfer.
Up: Kevin Hayes
Kevin Hayes’ stock has just kept rising all season.
Early in the year, Kevin Hayes struggled. However, as the season progressed, he began to become more and more comfortable in his defensive center role. Eventually, he hit his stride offensively and went on a hot streak, that was unfortunately ended by the end of the Rangers’ season.
Next to Pavel Buchnevich, Hayes may be the most exciting player going into next season. His incredible rookie season that was followed by a lackluster sophomore slump, has transformed him as a center. Not only does he have spectacular hockey sense and is an amazingly creative play maker, but by being forced into a more defensive role, developed a sense of defensive prowess.
Even through Vigneault’s misuse of Hayes, he managed to find a way to prosper and make the best of his situation. Imagine Hayes playing under a coach that fosters his offensive abilities?
Hayes is also entering his prime. He is coming off of the best season of his career and only just turned 26. He is prime material for the rebuild and it looks like he will have a breakout season this upcoming year. In addition to his skill, Hayes manages to also hold some intangibles, including his leadership abilities. Hayes was a part of the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals run and the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals run and is therefore able to offer some insight to the incoming rookies. Next year, I expect Hayes to truly fly.
Down: Cody McLeod
There is zero room for Cody McLeod on this roster next season.
Cody McLeod has never had a good stock in his time with the Rangers. He offers no offensive upside, has very little skill defensive wise, and doesn’t exactly contribute anything other than “grit.”
McLeod was acquired because he filled a role that Vigneault loved. While he didn’t contribute much points wise, he offered intangibles such as leadership abilities and added toughness to the lineup.
However, McLeod succeeded in none of these roles. He didn’t exactly protect his line mates and wound up in more unnecessary fights than necessary ones. While I can’t speak on what he added to the locker room in his short time in New York, it clearly wasn’t enough to turn their season around.
With the David Quinn hiring, McLeod really has no place on the roster. Quinn has been stressing a youth centered line up from the beginning, a place where he doesn’t exactly fit. If he is even re-signed by the Rangers for next season.
Next: New York Rangers: The tragedy of Henrik Lundqvist
Most of the players’ stock positions, good or bad, come in relation to the hiring of David Quinn. The first time NHL head coach has the ability to reinvent the lineup, play to the players’ strengths, and bring the Rangers back to the top of the standings. So long as he does this, it won’t be too long before we see the Rangers become successful again.