The holiday roster freeze is just four days away, and the New York Rangers’ front office presumably has serious work to do following the turn of the new year.
Captain Jacob Trouba being dealt to Anaheim opened up a level of salary cap flexibility the Rangers haven’t had in what feels like a lifetime, and the season, while not totally lost, has practically come off the rails in the last 30 days. Deep down I believe that if this team can manage a strong, 60 minute win, it would snap most of the team out of this drought. The longer it goes on, it seems inevitable that more moves will be made.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t address the $8 million elephant that’s no longer in the room. Jacob Trouba was fighting an uphill battle for quite some time in New York. It certainly wasn’t his fault he was given a $56 million contract extension by the Rangers in 2019 following a 50 point season with Winnipeg. Chris Drury inherited that deal when he became GM during the summer of 2021. He had his best statistical season in New York in the 21-22 season and his play declined more and more each year. The extension, signed by the previous administration, aged like milk. Chris Drury did a great job of getting it off the books without giving up any assets.
I hate the way things ended for Trouba. If he was a $4 million per year player, he’d be a fan favorite for the duration of that deal. He brought an element that seemingly nobody on the Rangers current roster can replicate, his tendency to throw huge body checks that change the momentum of a game, or even a series. He plays on the edge, yes, and he certainly got away with some borderline, or even straight up dirty hits. If you don’t like it, you must not have a player like him on your team. This year was a disaster for him, and he never came close to being the 50 point guy he was paid to be in New York, but I’d be totally full of shit if I sat here and said it wasn’t a pleasure to watch him play when he was at his best as a Ranger. If I ever got the chance, I would thank him for all the good times and huge hits, and I’ll always wish I got to see him take the Stanley Cup out of the hands of the commissioner. Best of luck in Anaheim, Captain Troubs.
With that said, we have no choice but to live in the present, as dark as the present may be, and the Rangers continue to struggle to keep the puck out of their net. Nobody with a brain thought trading Trouba away for nothing would fix that problem. From the goaltending out, let’s assess what remains of the captain-less New York Rangers.
Igor Shesterkin
The perennial MVP of the franchise has officially been locked up for the foreseeable future, inking an 8 year, $92 million contract, making him the highest paid goaltender in league history. Rightfully so, if it wasn’t for him they certainly wouldn’t have taken the Panthers to six games in last year’s Eastern Conference Final, and while his numbers have dipped this season, it’s certainly a result of the Rangers giving up the most shots on goal per game over their current slump, and an unacceptable amount of high danger chances. If the play in front of Igor can improve, he will be back to his Vezina finalist form in no time. No notes for Igor.
Jonathan Quick
Quick has been able to turn back the clock, as he continues to impress in his second year as a Ranger, which also happens to be his age 39 season. His numbers have also declined during the Rangers current 3-10-0 stretch for the same reasons mentioned above. The Rangers have the luxury of an elite goaltending tandem, and they’re currently wasting what could be Quick’s last year of playing at this high of a level.
Adam Fox
Fox’s Norris trophy win seems so long ago. Fox has always been praised for his hockey IQ. It’s always most evident to me on the power play, Fox is never out of position, which allows him to keep the puck in the offensive zone and continue to pressure the penalty killers better than, for my money, anybody in the league. Even with the power play struggling, that hasn’t changed. He doesn’t have the skating ability that a Cale Makar or Quinn Hughes does. He’s a strong skater, but not an explosive one. Fox hasn’t scored a goal on a goalie this year, his lone goal came as an empty netter against the Sabres, but he has the most assists on the team with 24. Fox’s relatively lame duck season is a result of his teammates struggling around him, none so more responsible for that than his long time D partner.
Ryan Lindgren
Lindgren has been one of the “heart and soul” players on this team for years now, but his hard miles seem to be catching up to him already at only 26 years old, and his play this season is reminiscent of Dan Girardi at the end of his tenure in New York. However, it’s come to my attention by way of an analytics nerd by the name of JFresh that his play has long hampered Adam Fox, which actually makes sense in retrospect, because Lindgren returning from injury earlier this season and rejoining Fox on the top pair basically coincided with the beginning of the downturn that has yet to resolve itself. This graph plots data from the past two seasons at even strength.
Not only is that a massive indictment on the play of that pair when they’re together, but it’s an indictment on Lindgren regardless of who he plays with, and it’s an indictment on Laviolette for not playing Fox with literally anyone else. If I’m Chris Drury, Ryan Lindgren would be the next asset I move on from, and I wouldn’t be expecting much in return, Lindgren signed a one year pact this summer clocking in at $4.5 million, and he isn’t exactly playing up to that dollar figure as of late. If I’m Peter Laviolette, I certainly would be playing Lindgren on the bottom pair, perhaps with Mancini, and I wouldn’t hesitate to scratch him if he continues to stumble. The video below captures a piss poor effort against the rush resulting in a Blues goal last night.
K’Andre Miller
With K’andre Miller I have the opposite gripe with his deployment. If anyone should be playing with Fox, the numbers this year say it should undoubtedly be him. MoneyPuck has the pair of Miller and Fox ranked 16th this season in expected goals against per 60 minutes, and they also have the best expected goals percentage on the list below at 65.9%.
Miller without fox, which has been the majority of the season to date, looks simply lost. He doesn’t use his speed and strength to separate bodies from pucks, he pinches irresponsibly, and he’s a turnover machine. These tweaks to the D pairs seem like obvious ones to make, and the fact that Lindgren remains stapled to Fox this season when healthy when Miller complements his game so well continues to be the most frustrating Laviolette decision of the year for me.
Braden Schneider
Schneider is a guy I feel bad for, because it felt like he was on the cusp of having a breakout year when the whole team collapsed around him, and it seems to have dragged him down a peg. I still think he’s deserving of top 4 minutes at this juncture, and would like to see him get to play more with Zac Jones, as their styles should complement each other well. The pair appeared to have natural chemistry at times, and despite recent struggles, I’m not willing to separate them and waste the potential I see in that pairing. Schneider should eventually be the Trouba replacement. He likes to play a physical game, he has the frame to hit hard, and his game is rounding out at both ends of the ice more and more each year.
Zac Jones
As mentioned above, Jones’ puck moving ability on the left side complements Schneider’s game well. It’s a shame it’s taken this long to see him dress for a continuous stretch with the big club, I was a huge proponent of getting him in the lineup in the ECF when it became apparent Florida had more in the tank than us as early as game 1. Jones has been patiently waiting for years for his chance to be a main stay on this roster and to me that shows a desire to be a part of this team’s success. It’s unfortunate that this stretch has been anything but a success, but as Jones continues to develop into a regular NHL D-man, he will be a part of any success this team has as long as he’s in the organization. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has been involved in trade talks, and I want to clarify that trading him now would be a massive mistake.
Victor Mancini
Mancini is the ideal bottom pair defenseman for this team right now. He’s really just not noticeable most of the time, and I mean that in a good way. He’s struggled recently just like damn near every New York Ranger, but he was truly a low event player before the last 13 games from hell. In the preseason and early looks he got in the regular season, he even showed decent puck moving ability. There’s really no reason Chad Ruhwedel should be playing over him, I took serious issue with the decision to scratch Mancini in favor of Ruhwedel against St. Louis. Ruhwedel is an AHL defenseman at this point in his career and that’s all I have to say about that.
Connor Mackey
I find it curious why Matt Rempe became the immediate fan favorite that he did when Connor Mackey was basically Rempe before Rempe was a thing. It’s like everyone said he saved the season when he fought Brady Tkachuk back in January and then forgot he existed when Rempe came along. I like keeping Mackey as a seventh D, he doesn’t seem to be a total liability in a limited role, and is a presence on our bench that demands respect from opposing teams. I like the level of toughness that’s coming through the Hartford pipeline lately.
Artemi Panarin
The Breadman picked up where he left off last season. His 15 goals lead the team, his 36 points lead the team and he’s the only player humming at a pace greater than a point per game. He’s currently listed as day to day with an upper body issue, and he didn’t play last game against St. Louis, but that doesn’t seem to be a long term concern of any kind. No notes, still the Rangers’ most valuable forward.
Vincent Trocheck
While he isn’t looking nearly as impressive as he did last season, he’s one of the few players up front showing signs of life, with 8 points in the last 9 games. Trocheck centered one of the best forward lines in hockey last year, but when the 5 man unit is struggling the way they are this year, production obviously takes a hit. He had a slow start, struggled through the beginning of the 3-10-0 stretch, but you can tell he’s one of the guys in the room that’s trying to lead by example and drag the boys back into the fight. If Laviolette would just leave the Lafrenière-Trocheck-Panarin line together, Vinny will continue to be a bright spot.
Alexis Lafrenière
Another direct contrast is Lafrenière’s season compared to Trocheck’s. Laf started hot, signed his big boy extension, $52 million over 7 years, and since then has struggled to get his game back through the rough stretch. The lines being in a constant state of flux hasn’t helped, and a return to playing with his aforementioned line mates should get him his swagger back. I’m not worried about Laf at all, I love the extension he got, and he’ll be a face of this team in the future.
Chris Kreider
This one hurts. It’s been said a million times, but in a time where this group needs a leader to step up, the guy you’d expect the most has practically vanished. He has just 3 points over the last 13 games and his playing time has dwindled down to fourth line minutes. I hate to question his character, but I find it so hard to believe he wasn’t galvanized by his name being mentioned as someone Drury was taking calls on. It just seems like such a far cry from the “never say die” player that sent the Rangers to the conference final with a hat trick against Carolina half a year ago. I came to the realization recently that last year was Kreider’s fifth trip to the conference final. So many players go their whole careers without making a single one.
It’s no secret Kreider has never been a magician at even strength, and his net front ability on the power play was responsible for half of his goals when he had 52 in 21-22. His even strength play has hit a brick wall this year, and the power play has dried up. Perhaps the veteran power play ace has earned the right to be dealt to a contender if the Rangers are on the outside looking in come playoff time. I see Dallas as a great fit, they have cap space as a result of Tyler Seguin’s season ending injury, and they haven’t had a player to replace Joe Pavelski’s net front presence since he retired the way that Kreider can. Hopefully, it never comes to that and Kreider plays out his career where it started. If there’s any hope to save the season, Kreider needs to snap out of it.
Mika Zibanejad
If Kreider is the “bad,” Zibanejad is the “ugly.” Holy fuck, the Florida Panthers broke this guy. I think people forget that he was almost leading the playoffs in points coming out of round two. He’s shown such little resilience since the conference final. As soon as things aren’t going his way he shuts down, and I don’t think it’s a lack of effort, I think he gets so inside his own head that he can’t do anything right. Awful passes that become turnovers, brutal giveaways as he skates into coverage just trying to do too much, gripping the stick too tight and constantly missing the net wide. His 21 points in 30 games don’t tell the right story at all. Laviolette benched him for most of the third period against St. Louis last night, but decided for whatever reason to put him out with the extra attacker to try and get the game tied. Not sure what kind of message that’s supposed to send…
Mika needs to figure this thing out one way or another. Maybe he should watch a couple games from the press box. The reality is, he isn’t going anywhere. He makes $8.5 million against the cap until 2030. He has a full no move clause. He needs to decide if he’s going to be an anchor or a piece of the puzzle. What’s inexcusable is how little Laviolette has held him accountable.
Reilly Smith
He’s been alright. Basically exactly what everyone thought he would be. It probably hasn’t helped that his usual line mates are total black holes at even strength. He isn’t a liability, I certainly didn’t think he would score more than 20 goals, he’s really one of the few players that’s meeting expectations. Those expectations were low, but they’re being met… I guess. Maybe he can fetch us a 2nd round pick at the deadline if he keeps it up and we become sellers.
Filip Chytil
Above all, I’m just happy to see this guy playing hockey again, the fact that he’s been one of the better forwards is a bonus. You’re going to hear me say this a couple times in the next few paragraphs. He has not been rewarded enough for his performance. Centering a line of Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko, he was part of one of the best lines in hockey to start the season in terms of expected goals percentage. He’s a fast, big, skilled center that doesn’t throw his body around too much, but maybe it’s better that way with his concussion history. As long as he’s healthy, I have no worries about Fil. Keep him with Cuylle and Kakko.
Will Cuylle
It’s time to hurry up and sign this kid to an extension. Seriously, before he scores 30 this year and asks for Lafrenière money. This is the kind of middle six guy you need to lock up at a fair price in order to contend in this league. He’s a prick to play against. He can fight. He can run you through the boards. We knew all that. This season he decided he’s also a threat to score goals night in and night out. He’s found his nose for the net, and he’s lighting it up. The only player with more goals than his 11 is Artemi Panarin. The only forward with more points than his 23 is Artemi Panarin. Here’s the difference though, Cuylle has done 99% of his production at even strength, and only averages 14:49 TOI per game. It’s very reminiscent of Lafreniere’s production when he started to break out, but he was able to sneak under the radar of an otherwise very productive offensive group in the previous two seasons. So I’ll say this again. He has not been rewarded enough for his performance. Laviolette needs to play the players that are playing well.
Kaapo Kakko
First of all, everyone needs to accept that he is never going to be the game breaking star we all thought we drafted second overall. Everyone also needs to realize that that’s totally okay. Kaapo Kakko should be a cost controlled bottom nine option that can eat minutes with a lead, keeps the puck 200 feet from his goalie, and chips in 15-20 goals a season. He should be relied on to kill penalties as well, and I wouldn’t even hate if he was a main stay on the second power play unit. What he should absolutely not be at this point in time is a healthy scratch. He has played well. He’s done his job better than Zibanejad, Kreider, Lindgren, or Miller. He has not. Been rewarded enough. For his performance. I lost most of my faith in Laviolette for scratching him yesterday. This team is supposed to be in the business of winning games. If you want to win games, you play your players that are playing well. I don’t know why Kakko is in the press box to get “fresh legs in the lineup.” It’s a total joke.
Brett Berard
The last guy I’ll touch on is Berard, who has really been a pleasant surprise in a sea of shit. Berard at least will be an effective bottom six forward in a similar vein as Kakko, where the feet don’t stop moving, the puck is going 200 feet away from Igor, and he’s gonna do everything he can to chip one on goal, and that thing is gonna find it’s way in every now and then. His motor just never stops. Every one on the team should be putting in the same level of effort as Brett Berard.
The Fourth Line and Beyond
It is what it is. Carrick has been pretty effective. Vesey is either regressing or is just bogged down by the team’s struggles. Brodzinski should probably be leading the Wolf Pack in points right now. Edstrom is… big. Rempe is… Rempe. Othmann is injured, and I’m starting to think we should’ve tried to package him for Eichel or something. Maybe Adam Sykora can bring a spark? Probably not.
Times are tough. Some might even say times are really fucking shitty, but I’ll leave you with some nuggets of positivity, because I need to hear it just as much as you do.
It’s only December. Edmonton made the cup final last year after a nightmare start. The Blues were last in the league in January of 2019 and then they won the cup. Yeah, the East is tough and the Metro is even tougher, but the Rangers sit just one point back of a playoff spot right now. They’ll be playing in Nashville tomorrow and the Predators have struggled more than us. I bet you didn’t think that was possible. One sixty minute effort tomorrow. Score early. Score often. Go into their barn and win because we are the better team. The Rangers need to prove it to themselves just as much as they need to prove it to us. It could be a night that restores the confidence of a group that has seemingly lost it all. Let’s see where this goes…
The Morning Skate 