The New York Rangers went down meekly in three games, what do they need moving forward?
New York Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton knows what the team needs and he said it after the Blueshirts lost to Carolina. It’s simple, he said the Rangers need to “be a harder team to play against.” There is no doubt that Gorton and Team President John Davidson were perturbed by the way they lost in the Qualifier.
As the Rangers brain trust tackles this off-season, they acknowledged the way the team lost was significant and that will affect their thinking as they move forward. It’s significant that the team was missing two players who do make the team harder to play against in Brendan Lemieux and Jesper Fast. We all know that Lemieux plays the role of an agitator while Fast is consistently one of the team’s leaders in hits.
That could be good news for Lemieux, a restricted free agent looking for a new contract. It presents a big problem when it comes to Fast who is an unrestricted free agent. He will be looking for a multi-year deal and the team has to contend with the expansion draft in a year along with the flat salary cap.
It many not be good news for Ryan Strome who was ineffective in the series and it raised questions about Chris Kreider who was not the physical presence the Rangers need him to be.
What’s in the pipeline?
While being harder to play against doesn’t mean they need to load up with goons, it does mean that they need to play more physically, punishing the opposition when they take liberties. That didn’t happen too often in the series.
The simple fact is that the team, as constructed, is more of a finesse team and doesn’t have the balance needed to do deep in the playoffs. It’s less of an issue on the blueline where Jacob Trouba, Ryan Lindgren and even Brendan Smith can play a physical, punishing style.
Where there is a problem is at forward. The Rangers do not have a Brad Marchand or a Tom Wilson or a Brendan Gallagher or a Matthew Tkachuk. Brendan Lemieux tries his best, but is not as skilled as those players, some of the best at it in the NHL. Fast leads by example, but doesn’t have the sandpaper. Of course, with both of them out of the lineup, there was little grit left.
This is not an indictment of Artemi Panarin or Mika Zibanejad. Thieir job is to score, not to provide physical presence. Zibanejad can be a defensive, physical player, but when he is called upon to fulfill that role as in Game Three against Carolina, it costs the team his offensive.
The problem is the Rangers’ top young players are more finesse players. That includes Kaako Kappo, Vitali Kravtsov, Brett Howden and Filip Chytil. Julien Gauthier is a big body, but so far, he hasn’t shown the willingness to use it. The jury is out on two top prospects in Karl Henriksson and Lauri Pajuniemi, both on the smaller side.
Ironically, the very reason that the team went off the boards and drafted Lias Andersson seventh overall in 2017 was because of his reputation as a competitor and leader. The very qualities that they cited when drafting him are exactly what the team needs now.
On the positive side, Morgan Barron is a big body who has been a leader and team captain for Cornell. The Rangers also signed three collegiate free agents who are known for the character and defensive prowess in Patrick Khodorenko, Austin Rueschhoff and Justin Richards. While Barron has a good shot at an NHL career, the latter three don’t have the same potential. However, with the team’s need for grit, there may be a place for one of them.
Trade possibilities?
If Gorton is not willing to wait for prospects like Barron to make it to the big leagues, he has the assets to trade. With ten draft picks this year including a second first rounder along with a plethora of skilled young prospects, it’s very possible that he could put together a package for the kind of player the Rangers need.
Additionally with the flat salary cap coming, a number of teams are in worse cap shape than the Blueshirts and that is something that a savvy general manager can take advantage of. The Rangers are walking into the off-season with $13.5 million in cap space, a number that could go up depending on what Henrik Lundqvist decides to do. 15 teams in the NHL will have less available cap space than the Rangers. Let’s just say it’s an opportunity.
And that brings us to…
…Alexis Freniere. If there is any compelling reason that there is no doubt that the Blueshirts will pick him first at the draft it is that he possesses the very skills the team needs. Listen to NHL Central Scouting. “Lafreniere offers high-end puck skills and vision to create plays, has an impressive compete level every time he’s on the ice, and elevates his game in pressure situations while demonstrating leadership skills.” The Draft Analyst website weighed in…”What makes Lafreniere unique, however, is his insanely high compete level, tenacity on the puck, physicality, and selflessness.”
Cory Pronman of The Athletic (subscription required) had this to say about Lafreniere….”what excites scouts and coaches a lot about him is he is the most skilled player on the ice, and often one of the hardest working players as well. He is responsible defensively, competes for pucks, drives the net and throws his body around.”
Now we know why the Blueshirts have not named a captain yet, they’ve been waiting for Lafreniere. It’s not unheard of, Connor McDavid was named captain of the Oilers when he was 19. In the meantime, Gorton and Davidson will be doing their due diligence as they try to make the Rangers a harder team to play against.