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New York Rangers: Thoughts on a rudderless season

By Curtis Jetter |
May 8, 2021; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New York Rangers right wing Vitali Kravtsov (74) smiles at teammates after scoring against the Boston Bruins during the third period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
May 8, 2021; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New York Rangers right wing Vitali Kravtsov (74) smiles at teammates after scoring against the Boston Bruins during the third period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
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The New York Rangers will once again be sitting on the sidelines when the NHL playoffs begin this weekend.  That makes four years in a row that the Ranger faithful will have to find rooting interest in some other team to make the most of the best sports tournament in the world.  But what can be taken away from the 2021 season that many see as a major disappointment?

First off, in order to consider the recently completed season a disappointment, one must have set some unrealistic expectations for the team.  They entered the season as the youngest squad in the league.  They were placed in what many considered to be the toughest “COVID” division as well.  And while it was completely acceptable to expect the team to be better, a playoff birth just seemed to be a bit of stretch.

The term rudderless is usually used as an expression to indicate that there was no leadership, no captain or crew to steer a ship safely though it’s passage.  That is not the case with the 2021 Rangers.  In this case, the term rudderless is used to indicate that the damn rudder just fell off the boat.

It started with Tony DeAngelo and the cryptic start to the season by Mika Zibanejad. Then came the off-the-wall Artemi Panarin “scandal”.  Mix in all the COVID-19 issues that took their toll on numerous players and the coaching staff, then top it all off with the leadership bloodbath that began with James Dolan and ended with Chris Drury.

It was a year like no other in team history.

Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

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.

Head coach Rick Tocchet of the Arizona Coyotes (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Head coach Rick Tocchet of the Arizona Coyotes (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

The Next Coach

Let’s just start with who should not be the next Rangers head coach and that is John Tortorella.  There is a lot of fan support out there to bring Torts back to Broadway but that would be a colossal mistake.  He is not the guy for this job.  Besides, why would any Ranger fan want the guy who tossed aside the teams most skilled, elite goal scorer in the midst of the teams’ most recent Stanley Cup window.

Tortorella’s inability to abide Marian Gaborik still mystifies to this day and quite frankly probably cost the Rangers a Stanley Cup.  Is anyone willing to take the chance on what player he simply can’t tolerate this time around.  Hard pass.

Patrick Roy is certainly an interesting candidate until you think about the possibility of him trying to impose his will upon the whole organization and not just coach.  Wait, you don’t think he will try to enforce his will upon the whole organization?  Ask someone in Montreal about that.

Mark Messier would love the opportunity to coach but this just doesn’t seem like the right time, not with a new GM and management team.  Perhaps he joins the management team.

Pass on Babcock, pass on Julien, pass on Boudreau.

Rick Tocchet was a one hell of a player.  Most of the time he just went about his business playing a hard nosed brand of hockey, he played it tough but clean.  If an opposing player happened to make the mistake of thinking he could handle Tocchet in a scrap…well that player usually learned a hard lesson…Tocchet could throw ’em with the best of them and he took on the leagues toughest back when the that really meant something.

Kind of feels like the the right influence for this team at this time.

Next time we will offer some opinions on the fourth line players and take a look at how we did with preseason predictions and who will eventually win the Cup.

light. More. A Norris Trophy for Fox?

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