Role of protector will be Brendan Lemieux’s alone in 2019-20
CALGARY, AB – MARCH 15: New York Rangers Left Wing Brendan Lemieux (48) warms up before an NHL game where the Calgary Flames hosted the New York Rangers on March 15, 2019, at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB. (Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
This has been an off-season full of jaw-dropping moves by the New York Rangers who will enter 2019-20 as a much improved hockey team in a number of areas.
Kaapo Kakko, Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba and Artemi Panarin are all shiny new toys for the New York Rangers to play with and, all of a sudden, this rebuild has entered full-on turbocharge mode with a return to the postseason now within reach, even if it doesn’t happen this year.
However, for all of the offensive prowess the Blueshirts now have in Panarin and Kakko, coupled with power play expertise and improved play on the blueline from Trouba and Fox, there is one weakness the front office hasn’t improved and that is toughness.
Set to ice one of the youngest rosters in the NHL for the second consecutive year, this Rangers team is high on skill, youthful exuberance and panache, but starved of grit, tenacity and a dollop of snarl.
I’ve written previously about the need to add a rugged enforcer in the ilk of Ryan Reaves or a battle-hardened veteran like Brian Boyle but, given the salary cap crunch the Blueshirts currently find themselves in, it is unlikely that they will have the funds to go out and add a bottom six grinder unless they clear more cap space by trading away all three of Chris Kreider, Vlad Namestnikov and Ryan Strome, which seems unlikely and it would only weaken the roster.
So, as a result, the role of protector and all-round slugger will almost certainly fall on the shoulders of Brendan Lemieux in 2019-20, who is a restricted free agent and is yet to sign a new contract, although that should now be a mere formality following the buyout of Kevin Shattenkirk‘s contract.
Granted, a healthy Jesper Fast can certainly lay the body on and inject some toughness into the lineup, while Kreider is known for his physical approach in both zones. But Lemieux appears to be the sure thing when it comes to taking on the roll of ‘tough guy’ for the Rangers this year.
It didn’t take long for Lemieux to stamp his authority on the roster after being acquired as part of the trade that sent Kevin Hayes to the Winnipeg Jets at the trade deadline last year. Joining a team that had slumped badly after the All-Star break and were living up to the harsh realities of being in the midst of a rebuild, Lemieux sent a jolt of energy through both the locker room and in and around Madison Square Garden.
He played with the same tenacity and snarl as his dad, Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion and well-known agitator, and brought a layer of grittiness to the team that was previously missing. Lemieux’s high-tempo, all-action approach sparked his team-mates into life and he wasn’t afraid to leave it all out on the ice night in and night out.
Lemieux finished fifth in the league in penalty minutes although he played many fewer minutes than the four who finished above him. He took six major penalties during the season, only one behind the three players led the league with seven.
The fisticuffs
And then there were the fights. Reminiscent of his famous dad, Lemieux junior showed a hell of an appetite for dropping the gloves when the time called for it, and he enjoyed a couple of slugfests during the second-half of last year, including a tilt with Edmonton Oilers forward Jujhar Khaira that completed a Gordie Howe Hat Trick for the Rangers slugger.
But, don’t be mistaken, Lemieux isn’t just a one-trick pony. No, he provided secondary scoring with six points (three goals, three assists) in 19 games for the Rangers with five of those points (two goals, three assists) coming in just eight games. He showed an ability to be played up and down the lineup too, although he will probably settle into a bottom-six role in 2019-20 given the influx of offensive talent the Rangers now boast.
Still only 23-years-old, Lemieux is developing into a two-way forward who can put up points and provide flashes of flair, but he’s at his best when he’s flying around the ice, hitting like an absolute train, playing hard in the dirty areas and doing whatever he can to swing the momentum pendulum back into his team’s favor.
New York Rangers fans have taken Brendan Lemieux to their hearts already and his stature could grow further this year if he fully embraces the role of protector for the franchise’s high-end skill guys like Artemi Panarin, Kaapo Kakko and Vitali Kravtsov. He is a modern-day throwback to the glory days of hustle-and-bustle style hockey and he could have a colossal role to play for the Blueshirts throughout 2019-20.