The New York Rangers have a void behind the bench and there could be perfect candidate
When Lindy Ruff took the head coaching job for the New Jersey Devils it opened up an important role behind the bench for the New York Rangers. The team is looking for an assistant coach to run the defense and the penalty kill. When the Washington Capitals fired Coach Todd Reirden, they may have given the Rangers an excellent candidate.
Reirden is regarded as one of the best defensive coaches in the game and he and Barry Trotz molded the Washington Capitals into a Stanley Cup winner. But how does he fit in to the Rangers?
A major need
Lindy Ruff was the only holdover from the Alain Vigneault regime. He was retained to provide a veteran coaching presence when the Rangers hired David Quinn, a rookie NHL coach who had some assistant coach experience as a professional, but made his name in the collegiate ranks.
On a rebuilding team, Ruff was tasked with coaching a defense that wasn’t very good, mostly due to a combination of inexperience and aging blueliners. Many believe that he was a failure as the team finished every year of his tenure in the bottom third of the NHL in goals allowed, penalty killing percentage and shots allowed.
So, the Rangers need a defensive coach who can teach and connect with a team of early 20-somethings and turn them into a disciplined group with structure and smarts. By 2021-22 when Brendan Smith and Marc Staal have departed, the Rangers defense may feature 28 year old Jacob Trouba as the senior citizen in a blueline squad that will have six other defenders under the age of 25.
There’s another need that became glaringly obvious in the Stanley Cup Qualifier loss. There is a definite lack of Stanley Cup championship experience on the roster and behind the bench. From the team president to the general manager to the coaches to the players, the only man who has held the Stanley Cup as a champion is Assistant GM Chris Drury who won a Cup with Colorado in 2001.
In fact, most of the coaches and players have minimal postseason experience. Not having anyone on the ice or in leadership without the knowledge of what it takes to win it all is a key missing link.