The New York Rangers kick off the 2018-2019 regular season tonight. Here’s part two of the conversation with Steve Valiquette about the state of the Rangers, the league and the sport as a whole.
As far as the rest of the NHL is concerned, there are just a handful of serious contenders. Unfortunately, the New York Rangers cannot realistically be considered one of them based on the team’s current state. While there are quality pieces, it is about building the right mix going forward.
A key component of roster construction is player development. When the rest of the league is taken into account, there are a clear few teams that rise above the rest in this department.
“I find player development fascinating,” Steve Valiquette said. “It’s obvious that Tampa Bay knows what they’re doing. Five players from the 2011 draft class are in the NHL now.”
Those five players are Vladislav Namestnikov, Nikita Kucherov, Nikita Nesterov, Matthew Peca and Ondrej Palat. Getting that kind of return on draft capital is something other teams can only hope to replicate. The Lightning is one of several contenders in Valiquette’s mind, but more on that later.
Going forward, the league is trending in a certain direction that some teams were more receptive to in recent years.
Where we’re going and who’s leading
The NHL has gotten progressively faster over the course of the last decade. The emphasis on speed has permeated every level of the game. In Valiquette’s opinion, it is not just the speed in which players skate anymore.
“The good teams are looking for players that can think faster too,” Valiquette said. “It’s about player intelligence now.”
There are players who start at the youth level with personal coaches and they come into the league leaps and bounds ahead of where players used to be.
“Think about guys like Auston Matthews and Conor McDavid and how good they were when they first came into the league,” Valiquette said. “When I was playing, there was about one percent of things I had never seen before, things that guys like Pavel Bure did.”
In Valiquette’s opinion, it is why the goaltenders are always adapting and have to learn as the game changes. “Goalies are playing their own sport, they do the most preparation and have the longest meetings for a reason.”
This is not specific to just former goaltenders like Valiquette. The analyst recalled a conversation he had with Henrik Lundqvist about just how good the young guys are now and that this generation is integrating that new one percent that goalies have never seen before.
When it comes to young Rangers’ players that exhibit this new style of quick processing players, Neal Pionk is a perfect example.
“Pionk can walk the puck and always be thinking about getting the puck north,” Valiquette said. “There’s no more of the defenseman to defenseman back to defenseman pass in their own end.
This is a direct allusion to the change in the style of defenseman in the league. One dimensional defenseman that struggle with the puck are slowly being phased out of the game. The expectation for young guys coming into the league is that they can move the puck forward and not get stuck in their own zone.
Contenders or pretenders in the east
There are seven serious contenders in Valiquette’s mind. Unsurprisingly, a majority of them come from the bloodbath that is the Eastern Conference. The league is trending in the direction of baseball in the sense that there are a handful of teams that have a totally complete team and a majority of the league is trying to just catch up.
According to Valiquette the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals are the five teams that seem most likely to make it.
Each team has a variety of drawbacks as to why they won’t just have a cakewalk season.
“The Lightning have the most balanced team, but that’s only on paper,” Valiquette said. “They had the same thing last year and ended up not making the cup final.
Valiquette agrees with the rest of the hockey universe that the Maple Leafs have all of the talent in the world up front, but they don’t have a ton on the back end.
As for the Metro, the former goaltender believes that the usual suspects in Washington and Pittsburgh will be in the mix and someone else will rise into that third spot.
“I think Columbus slides back because of the situation with both Panarin and Bobrovski,” Valiquette said. “New Jersey is going to need another MVP type season from Taylor Hall if they wanna get back this year.”
The not so wild west
Out in the Western Conference, it is a much different story. There is a clear disparity in the top two teams from the rest of the conference according to Valiquette.
“Nashville and Winnipeg are another level of hockey,” Valiquette said. “I’d be really surprised if it wasn’t one of those two teams coming out of the west.”
Now that Winnipeg has gotten a taste of the postseason, and Nashville added another scar to its recent playoff history, I could definitely understand that idea. Both roll out 12 forward lineups with six quality defenseman on a nightly basis.
Although the San Jose Sharks did win the Erik Karlsson sweepstakes, Valiquette did mention that the group is another year older. For the record, the Sharks are the second oldest team in the entire league with an average age of 29.
It’s a matter of pride
Getting back to the team that calls Madison Square Garden its home rink, the Rangers have accrued a certain type of talent for the first time in a while. Fixing the team’s culture is a multi-step process that cannot just be words or ideas. It takes tangible players on the ice that embrace the relentless mentality and exhibit for others to follow.
“The team has both Brendan Smith and Adam McQuaid to help establish a presence,” Valiquette said. “The Rangers are not going to get pushed around and they are going to get some respect.”
After years of the team being instructed to just skate away from after the whistle skirmishes, it seems that things are changing. If McQuaid and Smith are around to patrol the ice and are able to contribute their style and veteran experience, it’ll go a long way.
“Losing in the NHL is the worst,” Valiquette said. “Losing a lopsided game and getting beat up is not fun.”
Goalie on the goalies
As a former goaltender at the NHL level and still a developmental coach, Valiquette is excited to watch how Alexandar Georgiev handles his first full season.
“Georgiev’s work ethic is amazing, he came in and wants to get to it,” Valiquette said. “It’s important for a backup to understand that practice is their game.”
Being that backups can go weeks at a time without getting into a game, the ice time is absolutely invaluable. In addition to work on the ice, the backup needs to spend time watching video and working with the goaltending coach, Benoit Allaire.
” I worked with Benoit Allaire during the 2004-2005 lockout season because the Wolf Pack didn’t have a goalie coach,” Valiquette said.
The growth from having a specialized coach made a tremendous impact on Valiquette as a player. Part of Allaire’s method focuses on positive play during games through video in meetings.
“When he first started showing my tape, there were only 45 seconds or so,” Valiquette said. “By the end of the season, there was more than five minutes.”
The one worry that Valiquette does have for Georgiev is the Bulgarian’s lack of experience. The typical goalie plays 250 development games before making it to the NHL full time. Although players do skip the conventional cycle, there are only a handful of outliers that have bucked the conventional wisdom.
Be sure to watch the MSG network’s special one-hour pregame show prior to game time against the Predators. In addition, follow @Bluelinestation on twitter for live updates during the game.