New York Rangers Mid-Season Evaluation

With 41 games now in the books, we have reached the mid-point of the 2009-10 season, meaning it is time to analyze the New York Rangers’ so far. The team, for the second straight year, was smoke in mirrors in the month of October. Their 7-2-1 start in the first ten games had the fans in New York buzzing about the revamped young team. I even remember doing a piece a while back explaining how this year’s start was different than that of 08/09. Well, according to the numbers it was, but a 7-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks on October 19th began a downfall that has stretched as far as this current day, about two and a half months later in the month of January.

As we know, there are multiple factors that have come into play in the Blueshirts decline from second place in the league to now a club that has been around the .500 mark for the last month or so. However, the main problem that continues to haunt the Rangers has been the lack of scoring. Bringing in Marian Gaborik, fans, bloggers, and even staff all felt that this year was going to be different in that they would be a threat on offense and a high-scoring team. As far as Gaborik goes, yes the production has been there, but for the rest of the team, well, there really isn’t a “team” beyond Gaborik on offense. In fact, the Slovakian star has accounted for over 25 percent of the Rangers offense; the most any one team in the National Hockey League relies on just one player for scoring.

For a while, Vinny Prospal (out due to knee surgery) was Gaborik’s partner in crime. The free agent acquisition was scoring goals and putting up assists nightly, but that, like the scoring of Michal Del Zotto and Brandon Dubinsky, began to fade off and that is when goal scoring clearly became a struggle for the Rangers yet again. In the first half of the season, the Rangers have found the back of the net two or less times in 24 of 41 games—more than half. In those 24 games, New York has a record of 6-14-4 which is eight games below a .500 record. In their 19 wins on the season, the Rangers have scored more than two goals in 13 of them, and when scoring three or more, the Blueshirts are 13-2-1.

Those statistics are the best way to show that lack of goal scoring is going to be the difference for this team in 2009-10. It was suspected that Tom Renney was the problem with this last season, but under Tortorella the team has not been any better, probably even worse. That leaves no one else at fault except for the personnel. Sure, there have been coaching decisions that we may not have agreed with and that have hurt this team in one way or another, but when you bring in an offensive system and they still cannot score, it is the General Manager’s job to introduce more offense. Unfortunately, some heavy contracts make up a majority of the salary cap, making it difficult to acquire another Gaborik-like player and remain under the cap at the same time.

What I do put on the coach is the, what I like to call, powerless powerplay. In order to have a successful powerplay, you need at least four of the five players moving with the puck. If a pass is made, players need to be shifting themselves to the open areas or to the net. The Rangers, instead, stand still and believe that openings will just magically appear. A penalty- killing unit’s main goal is to clog passing and shooting lanes. If your desire is to open up those lanes, you are not going to do so by just standing around. You need to move and create plays in a “bang-bang” fashion. You will not succeed with the man advantage by over-passing in a circle and eventually taking a shot that will be blocked. Special teams are a huge part of today’s low-scoring NHL, and it is no wonder the Rangers cannot score more than two goals in a game when they do not capitalize on the powerplay as often as they should.

The Blueshirts were fantastic on the powerplay in the beginning of the season when Mike Del Zotto and Ales Kotalik would run things from the point. Since teams have picked up on that and pressured those players, the point-play is no longer an option available to the powerplay unit, yet they try to force it at times which usually leads to turnovers. This is where Tortorella needs to take a stand and make a change.

When you get down to specifics, Gaborik, Anisimov, Prospal, and Callahan are the only players that are producing like they should, and Prospal, Anisimov and Callahan can do a lot better than what they have accomplished thus far. Otherwise, Higgins, Dubinsky, Drury, Kotalik, Avery, and Lisin should all be scoring much more frequently than they have. I do not even know what to say about players like Higgins and Drury at this point, but the rest have the ability to improve. I think it is time not only the coach sits down with these players, but the GM should as well, in attempt to address the expectations here and get the most out of these players, just as a reminder.

Now we shift the view to the defense, where the struggles are not as evident. First off, I have discussed here on the site that Tortorella has changed his view on the defensive approach on the team. What once was an extremely aggressive outlook, now has become a “in the middle” style which sees the defensemen pinching, but not as often as when they first began the season.

This change has not really been the problem, but what has is the limited physicality and “softness” on the back end for the Rangers. This team does not have a big-hitting, rough and tough blueline, but sometimes it is pathetic how they just allow players to walk in and crowd Henrik Lundqvist’s crease. At some point, learn how to take the body and get intruders the heck out of your all-star goaltender’s face. This was a problem in Saturday’s overtime loss to the Hurricanes. All four Blueshirts were collapsed to the net, yet somehow Ray Whitney sneaks his way right into the slot uncontested and roofs a backhander over Hank to win it in overtime.

Marc Staal and Dan Girardi probably got off to their worst start to a season in their career. However, both have turned things around as of late. Staal is best when he uses his body, something he is doing much more often. Girardi, I feel, is handed too high of expectations by the fans here in New York. Dan is more of a stay at home defenseman that is not expected to bring a lot of bang to the ice like Michael Del Zotto does. Speaking of Del Zotto, he was on a tear to begin the season, cooled off, but is now upping the ante from a physical perspective. Using the game against Carolina as an example again, the 19-year-old rookie threw multiple flattening hits, something I know the coaching staff will like to see.

Matt Gilroy landed himself with the Hartford Wolf Pack a few weeks back because of below-par battle level and toughness. Since being brought back, Gilroy’s battle level has increased, but he is still not using his body enough. Another thing he has become afraid to do is carry the puck in fear of making mistakes and being sent down again. That is where Gilroy is best, but he is afraid to put his offensive talent to use.

Rozsival and Redden, well, they are just two players that cannot get the job done. To start the season, Redden improved and Rozsival was worse, now things have done a 180 if you will. No, Rozsival is not playing well, but better than the way that saw him riding the pine in October. Redden has only gotten worse since his injury, which eventually saw Torts benching the veteran twice for.

Goaltending has not been an issue as far as Henrik Lundqvist goes. He went through that stretch where he was allowing soft goals, but he then refocused and has been red hot. Team Sweden’s starting netminder for the Olympics currently holds a 2.43 GAA and a .920 save percentage with his NHL club. Those are fantastic stats for a goalie on a somewhat failing team. The back-up position was worse when Valiquette was here than it is now. Although, Sather needs to bring in a capable veteran to fill in what was Valiquette’s former spot. With the Olympics coming up, Tortorella cannot ride Lundqvist as often as he has—the guy needs some rest.

So there is your evaluation of the Rangers’ season at the midpoint here in 2009-10. I still believe that the Blueshirts are a better team than what they have showed, solely based on the stats on goal scoring I have displayed above. If they can get players, who are proven goal scorers, producing more often, they will secure a playoff spot, but for now, it will be a fight the whole way there.

For a more specific look at the individual players at the midway point, check out Andrew Gross' Report Card on Ranger Rants.
(Images courtesy of AP Photo)