The New York Rangers are a hot mess, and we have to do this another 35 times this season. From roster construction at the macro level, to on-ice blunders at the micro level, they do very little right. The only thing this group of players collectively does is lose. They are not a team. They are a collection of individuals. When you watch other teams around the league, their players do not act like the Rangers players do. Leaders taking unsportsmanlike penalties instead of back checking, not skating hard to loose pucks with an empty net, and the overall mopey attitude once down a goal are all unique to the Rangers.
While fans have come to terms that this season is lost, that is clearly not evident in the coaching staff. Mike Sullivan has opted to load up his top six with every veteran on the team, with the youngest being Will Cuylle, who does not look like he fits in the top six at this point in his career. Meanwhile Gabe Perreault was on the third line with noted offensive powerhouses Taylor Raddysh and Jonny Brodzinski. At least the latter provides some good leadership on and off the ice.
In the last 5 games, Perreault has seen 15:08, 12:47, 12:23, 15:16, and 14:50 in time on ice. He may be a rookie, but it’s hard to see the plan. The majority of the veterans have not stepped up, so what’s the issue with putting Perreault in the top six? Is this about handling egos? Perreault needs to play in the top six and should be deployed in just about every scoring situation possible from now until the end of the season. Or at the very least with skill players in a sheltered third line role, like that Zuccarello-Brassard-Pouliot line back in the day.
Alexis Lafreniere went off in the Winter Classic, playing his best regular game in his now 425 game career. The Rangers needed more like that from him, and after scoring against Utah, it certainly looked like he was primed to go on a heater. But then last night happened. Down a goal with a 4 minute power play, Lafreniere committed a terrible turnover that led to the nail in the coffin. Jonathan Quick’s rare off night didn’t help, as Mattias Samuelsson’s shorthanded dagger was from a bad angle and one that he should have stopped. But this was on Lafreniere’s bad pass and turnover. It’s so Rangers that the consensus #1 overall pick they get isn’t a game breaker.
There is only one thing that can save the Rangers now: Kiefer Sherwood. The state of affairs with the Rangers is infuriating. Hopefully Chris Drury sees the writing on the wall and doesn’t go after rentals like Sherwood. This season is a total disaster, and Drury has played a significant role in this and appears to be ready to do more damage. James Dolan may have publicly backed Drury on a radio hit, but this can’t keep going on right? When does the selloff happen? And is Chris Drury truly fit to be the one to oversee that selloff?