New York Rangers: Thoughts on a rudderless season

Some Player Thoughts

There was certainly real concern for the future of Mika Zibanejad before he turned his season around at about the halfway point.  Second-half Mika is what the Rangers should consider when talking an extension with the top-line center this summer. Although you have to think that Chris Drury is going to want to take just a little off the table right?

Alexis Lafrenière will be as good as advertised.  No training camp, no preseason, just jump right in and the kid did just fine, his game grew plenty over the course of the season.  You have to just love the way he is always smiling, always hugging his teammates.

You can see he just really loves the game and to see a player like that on the Rangers is simply fantastic.  Let’s hope he rubs off on this guy…

Kaapo Kakko is a beast.  If you didn’t recognize that towards the end of this season then you clearly were not watching.  His work in the offensive zone is becoming Jagr-like.  Big, strong and tough to knock off the puck.  Next year will be something to see, mark it down. What would be great is if he showed the same enjoyment of the game that Lafrenière does.  Kakko always seems like he is angry.

The funny thing is, watching these two kids play together does seem strangely reminiscent of another pair of teammates in Chicago.  Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews came to the NHL one year apart as well.  Toews, a first round pick, number three overall in 2006, and Kane a first round pick, number one overall in 2007.  Toews is known as “Captain Serious”, Kane as more of character who enjoys playing the game.  The similarities are eerie, and Rangers fans can only hope that the pair in New York enjoys the same success as the duo in Chicago.

K’Andre Miller was nothing more than a revelation to Rangers fans.  His play did seem to tail-off a bit toward the end of the season but that is not unusual for a kid coming from the college ranks.  His ability to use his long reach and stick check in the defensive zone is impressive.  The only concern fans should have about Miller is whether or not Chris Drury needs to include the big D-Man in a deal to acquire the stud player the Ranger need.

The Stud Player

Dear God don’t let it be Jack Eichel.  While many seem sold on him being exactly what the Rangers need, he clearly is not.  The Rangers need a stud center who can play the game with reckless abandon and a willingness to stand tall against the opposition.

There are not many of these players out there, but the list should begin and end with the name Tkachuk.  If the Rangers are going to go all out to get the right player, they should be looking in Calgary or Ottawa.  That’s not to say that either of them is available, but Chris Drury should at the very least be making the call and asking what it would take to get one of them.  The Rangers have lots of toys to dangle, and can certainly afford to give up a few top draft picks, so shooting the moon here is the best course of action.