The New York Rangers will raise a banner to start the season on Thursday. No, it’s not the banner that includes a ring ceremony and a day with Lord Stanley, but one that says they were the second best team in the NHL last season. The Eastern Conference Champion banner has all of the fanfare of the “sad trombone” sound as it stands as a reminder of what almost was, but like a bad actor was chewed up and spit out by LA. People love to talk about the champs having a massive target on their backs because “to be the best you have to beat the best” and “we know everyone is out there gunning for us” or “apparently beating the champs is worth two extra points because otherwise shouldn’t you throw your ‘best punch’ at all your opponents?” Okay that last one I made up but really, if you only throw your “best punch” to beat the Kings (or the Rangers if you’re in the East), you’ll probably lose a lot of games and wind up in the basement. Knowing that Wednesday is going to bring about 400 replays of the Alec Martinez goal, plus the 20 they toss in before the Rangers begin playing, lets try to wash that stink off preemptively and give a few things to watch for the first nine or ten games of the season. You know, unless you break your TV watching that Alec Martinez goal.
New York Rangers Storylines to Watch
1. Can Anthony Duclair translate preseason success into a long term job in New York?
19 year old Anthony Duclair spent the preseason giving Ranger fans hope. After losing many of the depth players that earned the Eastern Conference Championship, the Rangers didn’t make a big free agent splash on the offensive end. Cap space dictated that it is now put up or shut up time for the Rangers prospects and nobody was more impressive than Duclair who posted three goals and two assists in five preseason games. He was a long shot to make it out of training camp, not for lack of pedigree or promise (he had 50 goals and 49 assists last season in 59 games for the Quebec Ramparts) but because he is 19 and was expected to still be a raw at the NHL level. He has without a doubt surpassed even the most generous expectation given to him at the start of camp, but now comes the tough part. Duclair has nine games to prove to the Rangers staff that he belongs in the NHL or he gets sent back down to the Ramparts for another season. His speed and skill would be great assets to a group of Ranger forwards that might already be the fastest in the NHL. This team found their identity last year as a team that will blow you away with speed, and Duclair, when in the lineup, is right up there with Carl Hagelin and Chris Kreider for fastest on the team.
Side note: all week Alain Vigneault has said Duclair has to prove that he fits into the Rangers top nine. I love that sentiment because it pulls away from the conventional “top six bottom six” way of thinking and means Vigneault wants his third line to be as effective and dangerous as his first two. The scoring third line was what gave the Rangers life last season, and Vigneault wants to repeat that again this season.
2. How will the Rangers fare with Derek Stepan out?
I almost titled this part “how will the Marty St. Louis at center experiment go?” but I don’t expect him to be at center for very long. Stepan is out for at least ten games, having been put on IR. That’s a damaging blow to a team already unproven up the middle. A lot of people have been calling the Rangers “weak” up the middle, and I don’t necessarily disagree, but I think they are more unproven than they are bad. They might be bad though, and without Stepan that could put them in a similar position to last season. Everyone loves to talk about the Rangers overcoming the early season struggles and making it all the way to the Cup Final, but people seem to forget that they only finished six points ahead of Washington, who missed the playoffs. With Washington, New Jersey, and the Islanders all upgrading their teams this year, a start like last seasons might put the Rangers too far behind the eight ball to secure another postseason spot. As I previously mentioned, the St. Louis experiment seems like a bad idea. St. Louis is obviously a great player but is he going to fill the role of a traditional center? The best case scenario is he plays some kind of hybrid wing/center in the offensive zone, and limits mistakes in the defensive zone. Once again, the onus will fall to the second and third lines to pick up the slack Stepan’s absence will provide.
3. How will the Rangers replace possession lost to Free Agency?
The Rangers lost three of their top possession players from last season. Anton Stralman (even strength corsi close of 58%), Brad Richards (even strength corsi close of 55%) and Benoit Pouliot (even strength corsi close of 55%). Replacing all of these players with weaker possession players, Dan Boyle (even strength corsi close: 52%), Derick Brassard (even strength corsi close: 53%) and Anthony Duclair (no professional possession stats) means that the Rangers will be chasing a few more pucks than usual. The fourth line isn’t as strong as it once was replacing the average Derrick Dorsett (even strength corsi close: 50%) with Tanner Glass (even strength corsi close: 39%). This team will be relying on Jesper Fast, JT Miller, Kevin Hayes and Anthony Duclair to respond and offset a lot of what’s left. If those four can put up positive possession numbers it will make the transition a lot smoother for the Rangers.
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