It may be time for the Rangers to play the kids

With a short season and a tough division should the New York Rangers  play their young players?

With the Return to Play set and hockey due to begin on January 13, it’s worth looking ahead at the rosters and how the New York Rangers will deploy their players.  While we go into the season with dreams of playoff contention, the reality is it will be a very tough road ahead.

We’ll call it the “Northeast Division” and it is a beast.  The Rangers will be competing with some elite teams and the Devils are the only team that we can say is definitely worse than the Blueshirts with Buffalo a close second.   While it is impossible to predict what impact the COVID-19 pandemic will have on the upcoming season, realistically, how many times will the Rangers go into a game favored to win?

This eight team division includes five of the top eight NHL teams in points percentage last season.  It includes two division champions (Boston and Washington) and the Islanders who made it to the Conference Finals. The Rangers have a history of doing well against rivals, but eight games each against some of the best teams in hockey will be rough.

Dennis Bernstein of thefourthperiod.com was on NHL Radio and made an interesting point when discussing the L.A. Kings.  He said that considering the Kings situation this season, they would be smart to play their young players a lot, rather than send them to the AHL.

With no fans in the arenas and lowered expectations for the team, what would be the harm of letting their best prospects cut their teeth in the NHL against world class competition?   They won’t be subjected to boos from impatient fans and would be getting valuable experience.

Would this apply to the Rangers?   It’s worth considering.

The KHL roster issues

If you look at the KHL season, this may come about anyway because of the pandemic.  The number of roster changes throughout the KHL season has been startling. Scratches are numerous, but due to privacy concerns the reason is never revealed.  What has happened this season is over 90 players from the Russian development leagues have suited up for KHL teams.  They broke the record for the number of U20 players, set in 2010, just two months into the season.

There’s no reason to think that the NHL will be immune from the same problems.  That’s why the league is allowing teams to carry a “taxi squad” of four to six players who will travel and practice with the NHL teams.

Taxi squad considerations

The whole taxi squad concept is a little bizarre and seems motivated by salary cap issues.  Rosters subject to the $81.5 million cap ceiling will remain at 23 players.  Taxi squad players will get their full AHL salary.  If an NHL player is “demoted” to the taxi squad he will have to clear waivers.

Why the NHL didn’t just expand rosters to 28 players with 18 skaters and two goalies dressing for each game, makes no sense.   So long as the 20 players who are dressed don’t exceed the salary cap, what the problem?   It would have given the coaches a great deal of flexibility and they wouldn’t have to jump through hoops when dealing with  COVID-related roster moves.

At any rate, the Rangers will have to decide if the taxi squad should be made up of NHL and AHL veterans like Tony Bitetto, Tony Greco, Jonny Brodzinski, Darren Raddysh and Phil De Giuseppe or talented kids like K’Andre Miller, Matthew Robertson, Tarmo Reunanen, Morgan Barron, Patrick Khodorenko, Austin Rueschhoff  and Justin Richards?

All teams will have to include a goalie on the taxi squad. It raises an interesting question of whether it should be 31 year old Keith Kinkaid or youngsters like Adam Huska or Tyler Wall.

A good start

We need to wait to see if the Rangers get off to a good start.  If they are hot when the season starts, they could be in contention for a playoff spot. At that point, go for it.   If they drop out early, David Quinn should take advantage of the circumstances to give their young core a chance to strut their stuff.

If their chances of finishing in the top four in the toughest division in hockey are unlikely after 25-30 games, what’s the point of watching veterans like Jack Johnson, Kevin Rooney or even Ryan Strome get meaningful minutes at the expense of the kids.  Quinn has never coached that way and he may need to change his “win at all cost” philosophy this season.

Let’s make one thing clear.  We are not giving up on this season, despite all of the challenges.  But at a certain point, if the simple reality is that the Rangers are not playoff bound, the coaches need to adapt.

One thing is for certain. The idea of set lineups will go out the window as soon as there is any kind of COVID breakout.  The teams with the deepest pool of talent will be at an advantage.  That’s where a late season arrival of players like Vitali Kravtsov and Yegor Rykov from the KHL could be a real boost to the Blueshirts’ hopes for a playoff spot.  And if they are not in contention, it would be the perfect time to give the two Russians heavy NHL minutes to see how they react.

All NHL teams including the Rangers will need to be flexible and roll with any changes forced by the pandemic.  Games will be postponed, players will be scratched and lineups will change on a daily basis.  The real test will be for Coach David Quinn and his assistant coaches.

If the Rangers fall out of contention, it would be a shame to waste this opportunity for their young players to get valuable experience for when they are a true playoff and Cup contender in a year or two.