10 things on the New York Rangers Christmas wishlist

It’s the most wonderful time of the year if the songs played across the continent in the month of December are to be believed. Christmas time means the gathering of family, a big dinner, and gifts for those you care about. For the New York Rangers, that is going to be very similar. All 23 players, the coaches, management, owners, and every prospect or player in the AHL will have the chance to do this same thing.

Unlike a lot of other entities in existence, the Rangers’ needs are becoming quite drastic if they are going to find success during the 2022-23 season. Despite a good win over the St Louis Blues, there are a ton of flaws with this hockey club right now. It looks like some of the players are only giving their all when they are threatened with a new coach or a teardown. Of the players that do give everything, there isn’t enough to give due to their lackluster talent levels.

Like a lot of businesses, families, and just people around the world, the current state of things around the team means that the Rangers do not have enough in the situation they are in. That doesn’t mean that they will not have a list of things that they will be wanting or actively looking for in order to try and get back into the playoff picture in the New Year and bring the cup back home to Manhattan where it belongs.

Out of fear I have made this a little too similar to the dire situation of the real world, it is time to just focus on the sport. For the Blueshirts, they will be looking for some nice presents this Christmas, but it is not going to be a short list after such an unstable start to the season. Whether the Rangers have been hot or cold, there has been a lot that needs improving and the festive season is the best chance for that.

A Captain’s turnaround

This has not been the best season of Jacob Trouba’s career. If you find this to be revolutionary or have a reason you want to debate this, I’m not exactly sure what to say. By almost everyone’s standards, the newest captain of the New York Rangers has struggled since the C was put on his chest. I’m not arguing that the reason he has struggled is that he is the captain, but he’s having issues.

For the Rangers leader, times have been tough. Although recently he has started to have more to offer, Trouba looks like he doesn’t know where to position himself without the puck and he looks slow. Being slow and not knowing where to be defensively is not a good combination for the fastest sport in the world. Trouba’s struggles have really hurt the Rangers. When Trouba is playing well, he’s a really good player to have on the roster.

If Trouba can get back to being a physical menace while at least providing some support in his own zone then the New York Rangers are quickly going to start to look a lot better. There’s no need to ask the captain to stop playing the way he does, but it’s starting to greatly hamper the team. According to the Athletic, Trouba was one of the few Rangers that is gravely underperforming his deal this season.

He’s only recently scored his first goal of the season on a netminder at the time of writing this so if he can continue to get better as the season goes along and improve defensively, he could really help this team. His leadership qualities are undoubted, but his diminishing on-ice play has been crippling early, despite the Rangers’ recent return to form with the winning streak they are on.

Right Wing help

Coming into the season the New York Rangers had some glaring weaknesses and one of them has not changed despite the success the Blueshirts have found recently. One of the major issues is an ever-changing array of who is where on the right wing for the Rangers. It’s been rotation after rotation on the right-hand side looking for a combination that seems to work anywhere in the lineup.

Recently, some of the young kids have started to grow and Jimmy Vesey just had his best game possibly ever as a New York Ranger, but there’s still no real threat on that right-hand side. It makes it very difficult for the Rangers to exploit any weaknesses on the left-hand side of a defense pairing. Having a terrifying threat on that right-wing would make this team much better.

Traditionally, the first name that will come to mind is Patrick Kane. The New York-born winger that is entering the final year of his deal is one of the best American players ever, if not the best. Truthfully, he’s not needed. If the Rangers can get a step up in production from someone like Kaapo Kakko or Vitali Kravtsov, it makes this team so much more threatening.

External help isn’t the answer to every question facing any team. In fact, it’s rarely ever deemed to be the answer. If the Rangers and Gerard Gallant can just find the right mix to make the team click into place and finally find a line with three threats when carrying the puck, they’d be able to lighten the load on their star netminder right now. It may not change the roster entirely, but it would help everything go a little smoother.

Backup aid

Jaroslav Halak has had his fun as a member of the New York Rangers picking up a couple of wins. That would have been acceptable when the Rangers were in the depths of a rebuild. He’s got a 2-6-1 record with a 3.04 goals-against average and a .890 save percentage. He’s struggled at points during this season. He’s admittedly gotten better as the year has progressed but the question has become is it enough?

Performances have gotten better but the Slovakian shot-stopper is still not truly earning the confidence of Gerard Gallant and the folks behind the bench. His lackluster performances cannot continue if the Rangers are serious about going to capture the Stanley Cup. There are going to have to be games where the Rangers turn to their backup and want a chance of winning and Halak has struggled to provide that.

It must be said that getting some help at the backup position does not mean explicitly looking outside of the options the Rangers already have. If Halak can continue to turn his results around and get to be even a league-average backup, it’ll look a lot better for the Rangers moving forward. Halak has proven during his long NHL career that he is capable. He needs to show it.

If Halak isn’t the answer, there are always options down in Hartford that could be tried and tested. It’s not an ideal situation but eventually, you’ll find a combination that works. Waivers could also be an option so trading for a new backup may not be the only way to fix this if it doesn’t correct itself. Hopefully, for Halak, he can continue to build on his recent success and become a solid backup in the blue of New York.

Youth development

For such a young team, the Rangers have made a statement with their ambitions of the Stanley Cup. With players like Kakko, Lafreniere, Kravtsov, Miller, Fox, and Schneider all far from the finished articles of players they are, it is very exciting to think about what each of these players could become. There is so much talent in the young on the roster that it is easy to see why this team has such a bright future.

For the Rangers, it is important that the organization keeps the development of the kids in mind during the season. Everyone wants to win, but the organization will be better in the long run if the kids are taking strides and fulfilling their great potential abilities. New York needs to try and walk that fine line between winning and developing the kids. It’s a difficult line to walk but it is needed for success.

Whether this means trying to find a spot on the top powerplay for someone like Alexis Lafreniere or trying to fit K’Andre Miller into the penalty kills on the top unit, it is going to help these players develop the skills to do these things when the elder statesmen of the roster are no longer around to do the things they are currently doing. Mika and Kreider are not going to be here forever, so allowing the youth to gradually take their place is a good thing.

This applies to more than just the young kids on the roster. Guys like Brennan Othmann down in Peterborough of the OHL need to keep developing. Stagnating prospects and young players are how you end up in the situation of an eternal rebuild. New York shouldn’t have that issue with the knowledge they can attract any major talent that they want. It’s still difficult to replace good players, in any sport.

Powerplay help

New York’s powerplay is very middling. While this is not a major weakness of the roster, being 13th in the NHL on the powerplay means that the man advantage isn’t the deadly weapon the Rangers used to perfection in their efforts to overcome the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes in the playoff last season. Firsthand, the Rangers got to see how important a powerplay can be with their new young team in the postseason.

Now not having a man advantage that puts fear into the opponents of taking a penalty is a step backward from last year. There is no shame in the current man advantage and how it is performing but during the holiday season, indulging in a little gluttony is not something to be ashamed of. Having the Rangers’ powerplay take that next step and get back to being one of the best in the NHL could make a world of difference.

Last season, the Rangers were a mediocre 5-on-5 team if the analytical crowd is to be believed. If it is to be believed, then the Blueshirts getting back to being so dominant with the extra man will be in its best interests. Despite clicking at just 23.3% at the time of writing this, the Blueshirts are a very middling team when faced with a powerplay. There have been a few tried and trusted strategies but it seems a little unlikely to succeed,

Getting someone that can get this unit from a middle-of-the-pack group to a team with a man advantage that puts a fear of taking penalties into their opponents. That fear of going to the box last year helped put the teams into that position and it handcuffed what they could do at 5-on-5 and when they did head to the box, the Rangers could truly put them to the sword.

Scoring depth

New York has a weird scoring situation. Panarin has 41 points. Mika has 38. Fox is a point per game 35. Then it drops off to Trocheck on 28 points followed by Kreider who has 26. That is a complete list of everyone who has more than 20 points. This is a roster that is incredibly top-heavy. While this hasn’t impacted the roster recently with how it has been playing, it could be a problem in the postseason.

One of the issues the team has suffered is that there is not a lot of cap space to go out and get players that could help their production issues. Guys like Sammy Blais are being paid $1.525 and are still looking for their first goals of the year. Replacing those players with someone that can score 10-15 goals a year on the bottom line could be a huge difference moving forward.

CapFriendly projects the Rangers to have $7,121,804 at the deadline. There is enough there to say that the Rangers could go and pick up someone to fix the scoring problems if the roster is in a situation where the big guns are starting to falter. If the Rangers were to go out and add someone like Frank Vatrano as they did just before the deadline last year, they could really make this team deep.

A theme you’ll notice is that this doesn’t have to be external help. If Gauthier, Kravtsov, Chytil, Kakko, Lafreniere, or anyone else can heat up and stay in the lineup consistently to score at a good rate and relieve some of the pressure of the big 5 to score everything the Rangers need, there is not going to be as much stress on the big boys heading down the stretch.

Short-handed help

Currently, the Rangers’ kill is ranked 10th in the NHL. There is nothing wrong with that. It is more than good enough to serve the team through the regular season. However, when the postseason comes around, would it be good enough to slow down some of the more deadly man advantages around the NHL? That’s a question the Rangers need to be asking themselves and perhaps considering some help to the killers.

New York is currently killing 80.6% of the penalties they take which is not awful at all. What it does mean is that the penalty kill cannot be depended on reliably to kill penalties in critical situations. Whether that is in the regular season or not, it does prove to be a situation that could be an Achilles heel for the roster. If they can improve on that, there shouldn’t be a situation where the Rangers are unwilling to get better.

Averaging 8.3 penalty infraction minutes per game, the Rangers’ 80% penalty kill is allowing roughly a powerplay goal every other game. That’s not bad, but it is also not exactly helpful. Obviously, there is more than enough on the penalty kill now to not warrant any fear in the performances short-handed, but if it could be better, why not indulge yourself at Christmas time?

If someone that doesn’t kill penalties could figure out how to fill in on one of the units and perhaps improve the unit, the Rangers could improve with some of the young players on the roster and find a solution to replace the elder statesmen on the units with some young blood. It’s a lot better in the long term and it could significantly improve the Blueshirts chances of figuring it out in the long term.

If they do opt to look elsewhere, they could go and pick up someone like Tyler Motte who the Rangers added from the Vancouver Canucks at the trade deadline last season to strengthen the bottom six and the penalty kills ahead of their deep playoff run to the Eastern Conference Finals. No one wants to see the penalty kill be the reason the Rangers do not win the Stanley Cup this season.

Defensive structure

Currently, 11th in the NHL in goals against, the Rangers have had some issues keeping the puck out of their own net. They’ve given up 96 goals. It’s not awful, but the team that has given up the fewest is the 71 of the Boston Bruins. It’s not an issue, but the Rangers suspect blueline has been a problem for a few years now. Despite the best efforts of Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers’ backend still has some flaws.

With a lot of the blueline still quite young, the roster is still developing on the backend but the lack of a solid defense is concerning. Production from the backend is not a problem, with the Rangers among the best teams in the NHL to see their blueliners contributing. The backend led by the aforementioned Adam Fox score a ton from the backend and that is far from the issue for the New York roster.

Defensively, the Rangers have struggled. Teams have been able to get past the Rangers far too easily as the team has the 10th-lowest shots against them. It’s not bad, but it highlights some of the issues the Rangers have defensively. It needs to get better than the 1,133 shots the Rangers have conceded. This isn’t to say they are one of the worst teams in the NHL defensively, but questions have risen about the ability to contain other teams’ top talents.

If Gerard Gallant and the coaching staff can figure out a way to bring the team into the playoffs with a solid defensive setup, even if it is at the cost of the production from some of the stars, it could help the team win those tight playoff games that they couldn’t seem to edge against the Tampa Bay Lightning last season in May.

The Stanley Cup

In their history, the New York Rangers have won the Stanley Cup on 4 occasions. 1928, 1933, 1940, and 1994. The four Stanley Cup wins the Rangers have. For the entire fan base, it would be perfect to add 2022 to that list and be able to say that for the first time since 1982, no team in New York has as many or more Stanley Cup victories as the New York Rangers do.

For the Blueshirts on broadway, there is one thing that they will want and that is the Stanley Cup. Although the famous mug is not awarded or won in December, it can be lost by a poor performance in the month. Thankfully, the Rangers’ arch of redemption has gotten them closer to contention for the most difficult trophy to win in North America. They are a lot closer to recapturing the goblet than they were in November.

Moving forward, the Rangers will be looking to do whatever it takes to grab the organization’s fifth Stanley Cup Championship. New York has the longest gap between cups in NHL history and although that unfortunate record will change when the Toronto Maple Leafs win their next cup (if it ever happens) the Rangers would love to correct the record by winning a fifth with this young group of players.

There will be a long time for this team to contend with the bright future and the strong players this roster has. There will be a long time for the players to chase the cup and a lot of players will win rings with the famous New York team. Winning the cup is one of the few things this Rangers roster undoubtedly has the ability to do. They may not be sure to defend a lead or score a big goal. But there is an undeniable chance they could win the cup.

Hopefully, Banner number 5 is raised this year. Merry Christmas, everyone.