Things in New York Rangers-land have been settling down since the NHL Trade Deadline. Vincent Trocheck is still a Ranger, Alexis Lafreniere has been on a scoring tear, and the Rangers are starting to re-find their identity. The vibes actually seem to be somewhat decent, making the rest of the season heading into an important offseason pretty interesting. Let’s talk some Rangers thoughts as this weekend comes to a close.
1. Alexis Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault are the two most important Rangers right now. Lafreniere and Perreault have been terrific since getting PP1 time and forming a trio with Mika Zibanejad. Mike Sullivan must keep them both on PP1 for the long haul, and should continue to play them with Zibanejad for the rest of the season, too.
Zibanejad seems to want to be a Ranger for the long-haul, so building a top line with great chemistry that just so happens to feature two of the younger, more highly touted prospects turned NHL’ers would be huge.
2. Conor Sheary has not played too poorly since returning from injury, but his lineup spot still confounds me. Rather than the Rangers providing run for a prospect or seeing what a tweener has and maybe capturing some lightning in a bottle, they are giving run to a player certain to be out of the NHL in a year or two. The only “logic” I could fathom is that the Rangers want to have a few vets in the lineup so it’s not all kids, but in a lost season, I don’t find it necessary.
3. Wow did the Rangers miss Igor Shesterkin, eh? Jonathan Quick has had a rough season, Spencer Martin is not an NHL goalie, and the Rangers do not seem to ever want to give Dylan Garand a chance. Igor’s health moving forward will essentially direct the franchise.
4. Count me among the group that doesn’t understand how Vincent Trocheck will bring back more for the Rangers in the offseason. I understand Chris Drury wanting to stick to his guns (especially after the Artemi Panarin trade debacle), but this surely felt like the wrong decision. Maybe more teams will be involved, but I don’t see the price going up.
5. The Rangers must do everything in their power to make Adam Fox happy. Recently I was talking to a friend about the Philadelphia Flyers and how despite rebuilding for over five years, they have no “franchise pillars.” While the Rangers have Igor Shesterkin and hopefully at least one of Gabe Perreault or Alexis Lafreniere (key word is hopefully), without Adam Fox, the Rangers don’t have anyone who would sniff that title on defense. Fox is the thread keeping the Rangers from completely falling apart on defense.
I don’t care what Mike Sullivan and Chris Drury have to do to ensure Fox is on board, but they have to do it. Losing the best defenseman who went through great trouble to become a Ranger in the first place would be disastrous.