Random Rangers rumblings (and grumblings)

The spanking the New York Rangers received in the playoff qualifying round should help the team’s decision-makers this off-season

First, three positives regarding the Carolina Hurricanes’ three-game sweep of the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Qualifying Round.

Positive No. 1: Eleven Rangers made their NHL “playoff” debuts. The Blueshirts and Columbus Blue Jackets are the youngest teams in the league with an average age of 26.2.  The experience should benefit kids like Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil, Igor Shesterkin, and Ryan Lindgren (among others). It’s one thing to watch the NHL playoffs on TV and hear playoff battle stories from veterans; it’s quite another to personally experience the significant escalation of intensity, physicality, and courage that’s required for success.

Positive No. 2: Phase 2 of the draft lottery is on Monday. The Rangers have a 12.5 percent shot at winning the first crack at drafting the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s top points earner in winger Alexis Lafreniere. Lafreniere, who led the QMJHL in points (112), assists (77), and playoff apples (35) is the consensus top pick. In 173 regular-season games for the Rimouski Oceanic, the  6-foot-1, 194-pound winger posted 114 goals and 183 assists for 297 points. In 20 postseason contests, he recorded 13 goals and 17 assists, including three game-winners. The Entry Draft is scheduled for Oct. 9.

Positive No. 3: Decisions regarding the immediate futures of several Rangers, ones set to become unrestricted and restricted free agents this off-season, probably became a bit clearer (if not easier) for team president John Davidson, general manager Jeff Gordon, assistant GM Chris Drury, and head coach David Quinn.

Re-sign Jesper — and Fast

If there ever was any doubt about Jesper Fast’s value to the Rangers, it was erased after he was lost for the series after getting nailed by former Blueshirt Brady Skjei in the first minute of Game One.

Fast, who will turn 29 on December 2, is New York’s most versatile forward. He can play on both special teams, move up to the top line in a pinch, and hold his own as a solid top-six forward.

The team’s sixth-round draft choice (157th overall) in 2010 Entry Draft has recorded 100 or more hits five times, reached double-digits in goals thrice (12 this season), averaged 28.7 points per season, and has a solid Defensive Point Shares rating of 6.8 since joining the Rangers in 2014.

The Swedish winger is also beloved by teammates.

Prior to the start of the qualifiers, he received the team’s Players’ Player Award for the fifth straight season. It’s easy to understand why: It’s hard to find players willing to play anywhere, anytime, and without ego in any pro sport, let alone one who also has the utmost respect of his teammates.

Fast is set to become an unrestricted free agent this off-season after making $1.85 million last season.

I’d rather the Rangers give him between $3 and $4 million than go shopping on the free-agent market or give big money and long-term deals to Ryan Strome or Tony DeAngelo. Every legitimate Stanley Cup contender has a guy like Fast — one who’s able to play physically, consistently tend to responsibilities in all areas of the ice, and chip in on the scoresheet.

Is Strome worth what it’ll co$t to keep him?

Center Ryan Strome put up consecutive 18-goals seasons and in 2019-20 set career highs in assists (41) and points (59) as one of Artemi Panarin‘s linemates. However, he mustered just two assists in the qualifying round and is an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent.

His playoff letdown aside, you can be sure his agent will remind Rangers’ brass of his strong regular season campaigns on Broadway as to why his player deserves a sizeable raise from the $3.1 million he made last season. The Rangers can’t afford to overpay for Strome despite his being their No. 2 center.

Following the 2020-21 season, forwards Pavel Buchnevich, Filip Chytil, Brett Howden, and Julien Gauthier, as well as defenseman Ryan Lindgren and goalie Igor Shesterkin are scheduled to become RFA’s. And after the 2021-22 campaign, New York’s No. 1 center, Mika Zibanejad, is set to become a UFA, while forward Kaapo Kakko and blueliner Adam Fox are slated to hit the RFA market.

Sorry, but I wouldn’t re-sign Strome long term. The Rangers should see if Chytil can’t step up, especially with Morgan Barron lurking in the shadows.

Or they could hit the unrestricted market for a cheaper alternative like Buffalo’s Zemgus Girgensons, who posted 12 goals and made $1.6 million with the Sabres last season. His 19 points aren’t much to gawk at, but then, neither are the Sabres. And he’s only 26.

If the Blueshirts prefer a veteran, why not Jason Spezza who posted 25 points in 58 contests for the Toronto Maple Leafs for a modest $700,000? At 37, he owns a ton of playoff experience, including a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals with the Ottawa Senators in 2007.

There’s also Edmonton’s Tyler Ennis (age 30) who recorded 16 goals and 21 assists for the Oilers and made $1.2 million in 2019-20.

Tony DeAngelo

The 24-year-old exploded in 2019-20 as one of the league’s best offensive defensemen, finishing tied for fourth in points among blueliners (53) and knotted two others for third in goals (15). He’s a smooth, swift skater with good vision who can move the puck 200 feet in seemingly effortless fashion.

The downside is he’s a defensive liability. That much was evident in the qualifying round in which he managed just one assist and a team-worst minus-6 rating. His turnover in Game Two directly led to a Carolina goal and in Game Three he was burned badly by Sebastian Aho, who deked the defender to his knees and beat Shesterkin all alone, top-shelf.

Last season, DeAngelo had 17 takeaways and 65 giveaways. In his regular-season career, he’s turned over the puck 143 more times than he’s swiped it. To be fair, he doesn’t shy from physical play and is quick to defend teammates. But his defensive struggles include trying to thread the needle for that perfect pass, getting burned after pinching or missing coverage assignments. Both the coaching staff and DeAngelo, himself, have acknowledged he needs to get better.

There’s also the matter of money. How much it will take the Rangers to sign him to a longterm deal? Ballpark: probably between $4.5-$6.5 million per. That might seem outrageous for a young player with only two strong NHL seasons on his hockey card, but that’s the going rate for young, productive blueliners.

Torey Krug is a perfect example — and comparison.

The Boston Bruins gave him a four-year deal worth $21 million in June 2016 when the RFA was 24 years old, after leading the team’s blueliners in points (44) and assists (40), and logging an average of 21:36 of ice time per game, second only to Hall of Fame-bound Zdeno Chara. When Krug signed, he’d already posted 125 points in 241 games.

DeAngelo is right there with Krug, putting up 105 points in 200 NHL games, including 91 in 161 matches with the Rangers.

Do the Rangers want to pay him like Krug was by Boston?

I’m not so sure they should.

He’s young and productive offensively, but the Rangers’ Achilles’ heel is defense (and has been over the past few years). Jacob Trouba and Adam Fox are capable of providing offense, as might prospect K’Andre Miller.

The Blueshirts need to add jam to their backline, more players like Ryan Lindgren who is better than DeAngelo in terms of tending to defensive responsibilities and coverages. Perhaps Libor Hajek makes the jump to New York and sticks. Or maybe prospect Nils Lundkvist signs after finishing the 2020-21 season in Sweden.

Quinn’s rookie blunder

I don’t know what it’s like to be an NHL coach, but I do hate losing, so I can understand David Quinn’s frustration following Tuesday’s loss.

However, he was publicly (and unfairly) harsh on his team of mostly young players who had never been to the NHL “postseason.” Make no mistake, the Blueshirts were horrendous in the first two games and in the last 30 minutes of the finale. But in the big picture, this Ranger team is young and filled with promise.

And frankly, it’s disconcerting that a rookie NHL head coach would be so publicly critical of his players, especially the veterans who got his team to Toronto (Panarin, Kreider, and Zibanejad had just one goal and an assist apiece this series). They might have stunk up Scotiabank Arena, but they were the players who got them there. They deserved better from their bench boss.