Fansided

New York Rangers post-deadline: Last year versus this year

By Steve Paulus |
PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 07: Oskar Lindblom #54 and Nolan Patrick #19 of the Philadelphia Flyers battle on a scoring opportunity against Henrik Lundqvist #30, Pavel Buchnevich #89, John Gilmour #58, Vladislav Namestniko #90 and Rob O'Gara #46 of the New York Rangers on April 7, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 07: Oskar Lindblom #54 and Nolan Patrick #19 of the Philadelphia Flyers battle on a scoring opportunity against Henrik Lundqvist #30, Pavel Buchnevich #89, John Gilmour #58, Vladislav Namestniko #90 and Rob O'Gara #46 of the New York Rangers on April 7, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – MARCH 22: Jesper Fast #17 of the New York Rangers(center) celebrates his third period goal against the Philadelphia Flyers with Rob O’Gara #46, Chris Kreider #20, Mika Zibanejad #93, and John Gilmour #58 on March 22, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Flyers went on to defeat the Rangers 4-3. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – MARCH 22: Jesper Fast #17 of the New York Rangers(center) celebrates his third period goal against the Philadelphia Flyers with Rob O’Gara #46, Chris Kreider #20, Mika Zibanejad #93, and John Gilmour #58 on March 22, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Flyers went on to defeat the Rangers 4-3. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The New York Rangers have won only one game since the trade deadline. While that sounds bad, what the team is playing for differs depending on who you listen to.

For the coach it is a time for teaching and assessing the desire and ability of a roster that could be very different next fall. David Quinn is using this time to see how players respond to the current  situation and his efforts to motivate them.

For the general manager, it is a time to assess the current talent as we head into what could be a busy off-season.  There are decisions to be made about who will be extended, who will be traded and which prospects have the best chance of sticking with the team.

For the veteran players it is a time to teach the younger players how to win. Henrik Lundqvist and Mika Zibanejad will play their hearts out and hope that it rubs off on the kids so that they will know how to win when it really matters.

For the kids, it is a time to show what they are capable of so next fall they will be seen as important cogs in a rebuilding team. For some, like Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil, it is a last opportunity this season to display the promise they held when they were drafted.

Finally, for the fans, it is a time to be entertained by a strong effort, but above all, for fans it is a time for the Rangers to optimize their position in the Entry Draft Lottery standings.

This season versus last season

In today’s New York Post, Larry Brooks points out that the Rangers of last season had a better record than this year’s team, post deadline:
“Despite playing for a coach in Alain Vigneault who was not terribly invested by that point and putting out a lineup that included defensemen Ryan Sproul, Rob O’Gara and John Gilmour and forwards David Desharnais and Paul Carey — a quintet that has not played a second of NHL hockey this season since Carey was sent to the AHL by Ottawa after five games — the Rangers went 7-9-3 after tearing the team asunder a year ago.This year, with David Quinn coaching as if it were the first half of November with his team occupying a playoff position, the Blueshirts have gone 1-2-4 since both Kevin Hayes and Mats Zuccarello were sent away.”

I have to dispute the assertion that this year’s team is performing at a lower level than last season’s team.  Looking at the records over the two years bears that out.

First, let’s include the two games prior to this year’s deadline since Hayes, Zuccarello and McQuaid were held out of those games in anticipation of being traded.  If you look at those nine games, the Rangers’ record is 2-2-5.  Optimistically, but for a bounce in overtime they could have won seven of those nine games.  At any rate, they have gotten points in seven out of the nine games they have played since the team was “broken up.”  Here’s how they have fared against teams in and out of the playoff race.

Playoff teams:  0-2-3 (five games)
Non-playoff teams:  2-0-2 (four games)

Compare this to last season.  After the trade deadline last year they played 19 games.  Ten games were against teams that made the playoffs while nine were against non-playoff teams. Get a load of their record against those teams:

Playoff teams:   1-8-1 (10 games)
Non-playoff teams:  5-2-2 (nine games)

What is obvious is that  last season they beat up on teams out of the playoffs and vying (tanking?) for a lottery position with 12 out of 18 points.  When it came to teams tuning up for the playoffs, they got three of a possible 20 points.  This season, they have three out of ten possible points against playoff teams and six of eight points against the bad teams.

The rest of this season

Of the remaining 13 games this season,  nine are against teams still in the playoff hunt and four versus teams out of the running.

That doesn’t bode well for the Rangers the rest of this season when it comes to wins and losses, but if we are to believe the eye test, the team will continue to play hard and contend.

I have nothing against David Desharnais, Ryan Sproul, Paul Carey, John Gilmour or Rob O’Gara, but I would definitely prefer to see Brendan Lemieux, Brett Howden, Ryan Strome, Libor Hajek and Tony DeAngelo in their Broadway Blueshirts.

Next. The lottery race gets tighter. dark

And if there is anyone out there who believes that the team that was playing out the string last season is better than  the 2018-19 Rangers, let me know.

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