New York Rangers: Five questions going into training camp

There is not a lot known about how the New York Rangers 2018-2019 season will play out. The one thing that is known is the sheer number of question marks the team has.

After making the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons, missing out requires fundamental re-evaluation of hockey decisions. How could a team that was supposed to contend for the Stanley Cup finish eighth in the Metropolitan Division? How could a veteran coach with multiple President’s Trophies and Stanley Cup Final appearances lose touch with a locker room to the point that the players felt he was picking names out of a hat?

The 2017-2018 Rangers were a house of cards waiting to crumble. The team was built on a stagnant defense that could not move the puck and transition to offense. Through the team’s inability to transition to offense, the forwards and the goaltender were left standing when the music stopped. For most of Alain Vigneault’s tenure as head coach, Henrik Lundqvist was the equalizer.

However, a goaltender can only do so much when they are tasked with making 40 saves per game night after night.

Now, the questions and expectations around the team have done a total 180 degree flip. The Rangers’ new head coach, David Quinn, is a blank slate at the NHL level and has a five-year contract. This contracts implies at an implicit level that the front office understands that this is more than a one if not two year rebuild.

Going into training camp, Quinn and his new crop of players have to show some sign of direction. The Rangers will not be a good hockey team this season, but, there need to be some tangible steps taken forward.

Can Quinn establish a culture?

At least at the NCAA level, Quinn has shown an ability to develop quality NHL players. Under Quinn’s direction, Boston University sent Jack Eichel, Charlie McCavoy, Clayton Keller and others to the show. Now, player development at the college level and the professional level are two fundamentally different things.

In the college hockey world, raw skill can get teams through an entire season. There is not a ton of organization and systemic play from those teams during the regular season. At the NHL level, a team without a plan gets exposed in about five minutes. Ask the Rangers last season why they surrendered so many goals within the first five minutes of a game. It is because the players on the ice felt they were out there on their own and given no direction.

In Quinn’s brief time as Rangers’ coach he has emphasized the importance about having a drive to compete.

“We have to come to the rink every single day and want to get better,” Quinn said during a press conference on September 13. “Part of that is practicing with intensity.

From the very jump it seems as if Quinn is going to have a more hands on approach than Vigneault. The Rangers’ former coach is known for his hands-off CEO style of coaching in which the players are left to police themselves. Being that the Rangers were such a young team last season, they did not have the right level of guidance.

It’ll be interesting to see whether or not Quinn can get the established players like Kevin Hayes, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and others to buy into his more direct approach early on in the season.

Is Tony DeAngelo on borrowed time?

The Rangers acquiring Adam McQuaid from the Boston Bruins just days before the start of camp tells the hockey world a number of things. First, the team’s front office did not entirely believe in the team’s right-handed shooting defenseman. Second, the situation with Tony DeAngelo may be reaching a critical mass.

If the Rangers were confident in DeAngelo to play a full season at the NHL level, they would not have gone out and added another player to the mix. The team still has failed to figure out what exactly the Sewell, New Jersey native can be at the NHL level.

The offensive side to DeAngelo’s game is exquisite, but whenever he’s on the ice, it’s essentially playing with four forwards because of his non-existent defensive instincts. Even when his defensive partner points out where he should physically be during play, he fails to cover the open space.

Going into his age 23 season, DeAngelo is running out of time to stick with his third NHL organization. If the defenseman has a bad training camp, he’d have to clear waivers to be sent to the AHL, meaning another organization would be able to claim him for the cost of his contract.

Is it Skjei and Shattenkirk?

The Rangers defense last season was an outright abomination. The lack luster talent combined with no logical system adjustment combined for the worst team in the league in terms of percentage of shots per game. The team only created 44% of shots during the course of their games.

Part of that issue was the lack of a number one defenseman down the stretch. Of course, trading Ryan McDonagh with no clear cut replacement for him was a necessary step in a rebuild. However, the result was forcing Brady Skjei into a role he was not totally ready for. The former Minnesota Golden Gopher was thrown to the wolves and often with an outright terrible defensive partner for the final 25 games of the year.

In addition to Skjei being forced into a top pair role, the team did not have anyone else worthy of playing first pair minutes. In theory, Kevin Shattenkirk should be able to serve as the complimentary partner on a good first pair at the NHL level. However, it’ll be imperative that the New Rochelle native have a strong camp and get his legs under him.

Even so, rolling with a Skjei and Shattenkirk first pair for an entire season seems like a tall ask. That’d be one of the weaker pairs in the entire league and one dependent upon a 24-year-old making a tremendous jump. The real problem lies in the alternative, if not these two, then who?

Who’s a hard cut?

Every single year during a NHL training camp, a handful of players exceed their expectations. Whether they be a fringe NHL player posting points in preseason games against career minor leaguers or kids way too young to be at the top level making an impact, someone plays above their means.

For the Rangers, their camp is littered with players that are somewhere between AHL and NHL talent. Depending on what the team’s desired outcome for the 2018-2019 season is will determine which of these types the coaching staff will keep around. If this truly is a rebuilding season, players like Ty Ronning, Libor Hajek and Tim Gettinger will be hard cuts.

These are young and exciting pieces that are all probably at least one if not two years away from being ready for the bright lights of Madison Square Garden. But, do not be surprised by a strong camp from any of them.

Ronning set a handful of club records with his WHL team, the Vancouver Giants, this past season. As a seventh round pick, the outburst in goal scoring was unexpected and a decent jump from his prior level of play.

As far as defensive prospects go, Hajek is likely at the top of the list. The former 2^nd round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning played a strong season for the Regina Pats in the (SOMETHING league). There is an argument that the Rangers would be better off keeping Hajek in the AHL as a top pair defenseman for at least one year before he makes the jump. But again, a strong camp could make an argument for him to stay.

Lastly, Gettinger is a unique player in that his large frame 6’6 205 pounds still needs to fill out. It’ll likely take the former St. Marie Greyhound putting on another ten pounds to make it in the NHL. If he doesn’t, his frame will be too slight at his height. In the interim, Gettinger figures to get decent chances during a preseason in which the Rangers have broken up into three different teams.