Evaluating The Rangers Through Twenty

With twenty games under their belts, the New York Rangers have already completed 1/4 of the 2009-10 regular season. Crazy isn't it? Starting the season off with a 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Mellon Arena on October 2nd, the Blueshirts came home to the Garden on October 3rd and defeated the Ottawa Senators to begin, what would become, a seven game winning streak which had them in second place in the Eastern Conference. For the second straight year, fans, including myself, were thrilled with the fantastic start to the season, but a dramatic loss to the San Jose Sharks killed the excitement and brought us back to reality.

Originally, I made a post in mid-October comparing the start of 08-09 to the start of 09-10, and elaborated on how the numbers this year were better than that of last year's. This was very true, as the Rangers defeated tough opponents in the Capitals, the Devils, and the Ducks all within regulation time. The Rangers were essentially the team to beat, but once the San Jose Sharks came in and handed New York's hats to them, they became the team that was "beaten".

Losses to the New York Islanders and the Minnesota Wild really displayed this club's true colors and made fans realize that there is not much of a team beyond certain players on the roster such as Gaborik and Lundqvist. A 7-1-0 record rapidly became 9-6-1, and now currently sits at 11-8-1 with the Rangers in fifth place in the East.

You may say to yourself that fifth place is not all that bad, and no, it isn't, but looking at the standings, the Rangers are only three points ahead of the ninth place Tampa Bay Lightning, and have been on the decline lately with a 4-5-1 record in their last ten games played.

So, with all this being said, what has caused the sudden losses? Well, I will start by picking apart the offense. First off, there has been too much under-achievement for my liking. Over the past few seasons, under-achievement has been common on this team, and continues to be a problem with this year's roster. Chris Drury, now out indefinitely with a concussion, Cristopher Higgins, and Ryan Callahan are the names that jump out at me when thinking of players not living up to their expectations.

Higgins has only five points in nineteen games, Drury has only six points in eighteen games, and Callahan just seven points in twenty games. All three of these individuals are counted upon to be a big part of this team, and other than intangibles, they have all come up empty. Cally, Higgins, and Dru are all expected to net at least twenty goals this season, and so far Callahan is on pace for the most out of the three with only sixteen. This is simply inexcusable, and these guys must start producing as secondary scorers to support Gaborik and Prospal, who seem like they are the team's entire offense.

Speaking of Gaborik and Prospal, they have been the few positives in the offensive lineup for the Blueshirts so far. Here is an interesting fact for you; Marian Gaborik (25 points in 18 games) and Vinny Prospal (21 points in 20 games) have accumulated about 40 percent of the points scored by the entire Rangers offense. That means just two players have been, pretty much, half of the Blueshirt offense which is made up of twelve individual players. That is nothing short of pathetic, but at the same time, I praise Marian and Vinny for their efforts. Also, Ales Kotalik has been a pleasant surprise as well, with 17 points in 20 games.

What does this prove to me? Well, it proves that there is very minimal secondary scoring on this team beyond our first line, and that is not at all how a playoff team should be built. So all of the under-achieving forwards I listed above, in addition to players like Brandon Dubinsky-out with broken hand-and Sean Avery need to get themselves into gear and start producing like they are supposed to.

On defense, I like to split it 50-50. By this I mean that Michael Del Zotto, Matt Gilroy, and Wade Redden have been excellent on the blueline, while Rozsival, Staal, and Girardi have not met expectations. In fact, Marc Staal has become one of this team's worse defensemen as of late. Does that mean he is not a solid player? By all means, no, but compared to what we have seen in prior years, Staal has gotten off to a rough start.

As for Giardi, I feel like too much is expected of the guy. He is a career third pairing d-man, but is being forced to be a first pairing blueliner on this team. Besides blocking shots, Girardi has struggled majorly. The same can be said of Michal Rozsival, but then again, did we expect anything other than negatives with Rozy heading into the season?

Matt Gilroy and Mike Del Zotto, on the other hand, have been tremendous so far in their rookie years. Del Zotto has made a huge splash in the NHL, leading all defensemen in points at one time, and being named as "Rookie of the Month" in October. This kid has been great in all areas of the ice, in addition to his magnificent ability to quarterback the powerplay and his accurate passing.

Gilroy has been a success in a more quiet way, as he has been most reliable in his own zone. The poise he shows as well as the stellar defensive plays that he makes to break up rushes and passes is quite impressive for a rookie. Now Matt just needs to gain his offensive confidence at the NHL level, and we will see two of the same player in Gilroy and Del Zotto tearing it up on both defense and offense. That starts with Tortorella using both Gilroy and Del Zotto in more situations than he has, something that has begun to bother me over the past few weeks.

Wade Redden has really done a 180 with his game, as he has turned himself around from the previous below-par season, playing some solid defense. While he may not be putting the points up that Tortorella may want him to, he has made steps toward regaining his game and has grabbed the attention of myself and many other fans among the Ranger faithful.

Lastly, goaltending proves really not to be an issue with this team as long as Henrik Lundqvist is in net. Lundqvist has been his usual self, stealing games for the club as well as standing on his head, while Valiquette has been shaky, but is 2-2-0 so far this season. Goatending is not particularly an issue of concern right now, and I do not intend on it becoming one. Vally may not be the best back-up in the league, but I think that he will be sent walking at the end of this season, and is decent when called on.

The second semester begins tomorrow night for the Rangers, as they will host the Washington Capitals at MSG, a game that I will be attending, I might add. This is usually about the time when teams begin to distance themselves from each other, and the real competitors begin to shine. With that being said, the Rangers must get back on the winning track which we saw them on in the month of October if they have opes of going anywhere this season.

Any questions or comments you would like to share about the Rangers so far, please do not hesitate to leave comments on this post so we can further continue the discussion. Today will most likely be a slow day in Rangerland as the team is off until tomorrow. Any Ranger Updates from practice will be posted on twitter at www.twitter.com/rangerstribune.

(Images courtesy of AP Photo)