10 things on the New York Rangers Christmas wishlist
By Conor Power
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.