The playoff push and ice time

What’s to come

If Boston and Philadelphia  completely collapse and the Rangers sneak into the playoffs, any discussion of icetime will be moot.  The problem is that there are 20 games left in the season and David Quinn will not give up on his quest for the playoffs until the team is mathematically eliminated and that may take 10 or more games.

In the meantime, the future of the team will be watching most of the time, instead of getting meaningful minutes at important times in games down the stretch. This will be compounded by the addition of Vitali Kravtsov to the lineup and let’s not even thing about what happens when Brett Howden is back.  The way things are going there is no doubt that Kravtsov would be better off playing hockey in Hartford than watching it in New York.

Sure, playing Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad 25 minutes a game will ultimately give the Rangers a better chance of winning….today.   But depriving players like Chytil, Gauthier and Lafrenière the chance to get that experience in games that matter cannot be the best thing for their development or confidence.

Quinn supporters will point to Kaapo Kakko as a prime example of what his “earn your ice time” methods will do.  Kakko is playing better than he has in two years in New York, with confidence and force.  It’s no doubt due to the fact that he is playing with two talented linemates.   It only took him 30 games to get a permanent place on that line.

It’s easy for Quinn to resort to his “this is the National Hockey League” mantra.  He needs to remember that it will be the National Hockey League next year as well and lessons learned this year will only be a benefit next year.