New York Rangers: The lineup begins to take shape

While the New York Rangers are likely not a serious playoff contender, the team’s roster is slowly beginning to take shape.

After a month and a half behind the bench, head coach David Quinn is starting to find his groove. The New York Rangers have picked up points in seven straight games and done so against decent opposition. After massive roster juggling to start, things have started to take their shape and its enabled better performance.

Mostly, it’s the entrenchment of the young forwards in the same spots with the same linemates and the defensive pairs being consistent. These two commonalities have allowed the team to develop some consistency in the team’s approach and style of play. While on paper it doesn’t look like a playoff team, somehow the group on the ice has forced its way into the mix.

The injury to Pavel Buchnevich does throw a monkey wrench into this, but the greater truth remains constant: The forwards complement each other well and most notably, the defense is starting to look competent. No one is going to mistake this group for the 2002 New Jersey Devils, but there are at least signs of hope.

There are still going to be hiccups in the development of a young team. That’s what to keep in mind when nitpicking every single decision over the course of an 82 game season. Quinn’s expectation is to try as hard as possible to win every night but do so with a team playing above its means.

Both Tony DeAngelo and Neal Pionk have found stable defensive partners, but both have yet to prove their worth over the course of an entire season. This is ultimately where the Rangers’ biggest issues are going to stem from.

Sure, the team has managed to stay afloat and rattle off six wins in seven games, but this may just be a positive regression after such a terrible start. The lineup choices definitely help the cause, but it needs to be proven over a longer sample size.

Right now, Brett Howden, Jesper Fast and Jimmy Vesey are working out quite well together as a line. Fast and Vesey have managed to complement the 20-year-old rookie well and made him a viable contributor to the team’s scoring depth.

Fixing the Rangers in the long-term is going to require lots of tinkering and player development. While the lineup isn’t totally designed around getting the most out of the young players, it is centered around a meritocracy. The idea being, if a player is performing well, they get moved to a better spot in the lineup.

Now that Filip Chytil finally found the back of the net, the center can probably work his way up the lineup and get away from Cody McLeod.

There will be more tinkering with the lineup, that’s just the way hockey is as a sport. The team will hit a dry spell offensively and Quinn will need to juggle to try and get it going again. That’s ultimately what found this set of forwards and defensemen that have fueled the team’s recent success.

At least for now, the positives of the lineup are finding a way to counter balance all of the negatives. It’ll be up the coaching staff to keep ushering the team in the right direction.