Happy Festivus everyone! It’s time for the airing of Rangers grievances, something I think we all need. If your aluminum poles are up and decorated, then you’re ready to celebrate in style. We all have many Rangers grievances this year, since this team has given us so many reasons to pull our hair out. After 38 games, this team is 18-16-4 and has scored just 97 goals (2.55 goals per game) in that span. They are not very good, and there’s no help coming. So let’s air those Rangers grievances, shall we?
Grievance #1: There is no direction
The Rangers have no direction. They are not a good team, they are not a bad team, they are in the middle. No one wants to be in the middle, stuck in purgatory. It’s frustrating because we are closer to the 1998-2004 dark ages than we are to the 2012-2015 Cup runs. The Rangers either need to thread the needle perfectly, something not many believe is possible, or just tear it down, which isn’t happening.
Russ is in the tear it down camp, and his Rangers grievances stem from cutting the last rebuild short. Russ is not the only one either, as the Rangers certainly looked to cut some corners in the last rebuild by trading for Jacob Trouba and signing Artemi Panarin.
Do the Rangers even know how to rebuild? Or are we stuck in this purgatory forever?
Grievance #2: Too much north-south play
For years, we heard the Rangers were “too much east-west and not enough north-south.” Well folks, the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. One of the issues with the Rangers is they are all north-south with no east-west play, and that makes them equally predictable and unable to score. The team needs more skill in the lineup that can play east-west, making them less predictable on the ice.
This is one of those Rangers grievances that frustrates me in particular. Going 100% on anything is never a good idea in life, and it applies to hockey too. The reason why Florida has been so good is because they have a mix of dump and chase and east-west play, making them unpredictable. Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett can do both, Matthew Tkachuk can do both, their defense move the puck east-west and north-south. You need a mix or you’re dead in the water.
Grievance #3: So much overreaction
Perhaps this will get us into trouble, but one of the major Rangers grievances around these parts is the reactions to news as if it’s world ending. Take the recent reassignments of both Jaroslav Chmelar and Brett Berard to make room for Gabe Perreault and Brennan Othmann. So many comments complaining about it, but not enough actual reading of the article, which clearly stated why Chmelar and Berard were the only two that could be sent down to the AHL to make this happen quickly.
That’s my own personal grievance. Becky had her thoughts on some of this as well. The overreaction and doom and gloom gets tiresome fast.
Grievance #4: What is this leadership core?
Perhaps these Rangers grievances are getting repetitive, but what exactly is this leadership core? Did they all fall off a cliff at the same time? Why can’t they score anymore? It’s easy to explain 5v5 scoring as aging curves, but they still have the skill to score on the powerplay. They just..aren’t.
Speaking of the core, how about all those no-move and no-trade clauses? The only team in a worse position with these clauses is New Jersey, as they wanted Quinn Hughes but Vancouver wanted a quick deal and Jersey couldn’t navigate all their clauses.
Maybe the Rangers trade both Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck to get rid of two of those clauses. Who knows at this point.
Grievance #5: We don’t trust the front office
Of all the Rangers grievances, this is the one that hits the hardest. There is no trust. The Fire Drury chants have started. I’d say fix it, but I don’t trust Drury to make the right moves or to even have a plan. With no plan, there is no direction. With no plan or direction, we are at the dark ages.
Fun stuff, right?
What are your Rangers grievances? Today is the airing of grievances. Let them all out.