New York Rangers: Is Jeff Gorton the right guy for the job?
By Steve Paulus
The Rangers record
For all of the kudos directed at Jeff Gorton, the results are mixed. On the major league level, the team has not taken any steps forward when it comes to their record. One year ago, the team had 49 points after 48 games. This year, it is 50 points. The year the rebuild was announced, 2017-18, they had 53 points.
Gone from last years’ team are Kevin Hayes, Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Shattenkirk and Neal Pionk. They were replaced by Artemi Panarin, Jacob Trouba, Kaapo Kakko and Adam Fox. There is no doubt that as one of the youngest teams in the NHL they will going through growing pains, but in the standings, the Rangers are treading water.
Organizationally, the Rangers have been recognized as having one of the top prospect pools in the NHL. In reality, it would be hard to not have a strong prospect pool if you consider that the Rangers have had 25 draft picks in the last three years, including six first rounders.
The reality is that the jury is out on those draft picks and the best prospects came via the lottery, trade or earlier drafts. There is a huge issue for that prospect pool as it is heavy with defensemen and top forwards are a scarcity. Gordie Clark has been running the personnel decisions for years and those choices are on him and his boss.
As encouraging as it is to see the Rangers get unexpected wins over Washington, Pittsburgh and Colorado, is it any different from the pre-All-Star break wins last season over playoff contenders like San Jose, Nashville and Boston?
The fact is that the Rangers are another also-ran team this season and will be a seller at the deadline and a lottery contender.