The New York team started this season very strongly, placing itself in the leading group in the east after a third of the championship. The Blueshirts have not lost more than two games in a row, have the best power play percentage in the league (31.3%) and are among the best players in small play. In general, Rangers present themselves as a team in which, if there are weaknesses, they do not become an obstacle, but rather allow them to grow and develop. What happened to the team in the offseason?
To answer this question you have to go back a little, specifically to the second half of last season. At the deadline, New York general manager Chris Drury felt like the Florentino Pérez of hockey and brought Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane to Madison Square Garden with almost no funds under the salary cap, thus declaring big ambitions for the Cup. Pundits and fans also blindly believed in Rangers, predicting a long cup season or even a trophy for them. But all this was destined to be destroyed by a whirlwind of circumstances. The helmsman of the New Yorkers, Gerard Galland, like an inexperienced dealer in a casino, endlessly shuffled this brilliant deck of cards, almost every 2 or 3 games placing new combinations in the top 6 of the attack. But already in the first round of the playoffs, the deck simply collapsed: the team ignominiously lost in the seventh game to the young and daring “devils” and went on vacation.
The joy of the Rangers hockey players.
Photo: AP/TASS
Off-season changes
After such a resounding failure, urgent action was necessary, and Drury did not wait out the time in the stormy sea, sending Gallan to retreat. Kane and Tarasenko, regardless of the outcome of the playoffs, could not stay in New York, so they also said goodbye to the Rangers. Called in to fix the temporarily broken mechanism was Peter Laviolette, who last season left the Capitals without the playoffs for the first time in a long time, and also drove Evgeny Kuznetsov into desperate apathy.
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The Rangers’ major offseason acquisition was the signing of Blake Wheeler, whose contract Winnipeg had terminated shortly before. A potential top-6 forward cost just $800,000, Shesterkin’s backup was the experienced Jonathan Quick, and the remaining minor holes in the lineup were filled by Gustafsson, Bonino and Pitlik. The direction is clear: the team needs to add experience, because all the newcomers are already over 30 years old. With such replacements, the Rangers headed into the new season.
What has changed in the new season?
The first matches of the season did not inspire bright prospects: the team not only played boringly, but played as boringly as possible; Instead of games with the Rangers, I wanted to include online embroidery courses, because there would definitely be more motivation there. . But this did not stop the blue shirts from earning points regularly. Only a Korkin nugget brightened this gray at first, but more on that below. But then, either Laviolette let the team “breathe,” or the players listened to the demands of her mentor.
Peter Laviolette
Photo: AP/TASS
Let me note right away: the simplicity of the team’s game has not disappeared, forwards and defenders have no qualms about shooting at goal from any position, while creating traffic on the spot and in the slot. But the Rangers began to combine plowing with a measured measure of creativity, which began to produce games that were quite attractive to the average fan. These changes did not negatively affect the result, they only improved it.
The defensive game has also undergone changes. Let’s briefly go back in time (not again, but again): Under Galland, the Rangers also played stingily, even allowing Shesterkin to take the Vezina the second-to-last season. But Laviolette has built an even more solid game system on his own field, which is confirmed by the negligible number of “deliveries” and the densely saturated penny, which is not easy to pull off. The team plays much smarter: where necessary, it falls without hesitation, where there is a chance to run towards the counterattack, in a couple of passes it overcomes its own and the middle zone, creating chances in the opponent’s goal. This balance is the quintessence of the game, both in defense and attack. On the other hand, I would like to mention Jonathan Quick, who towards the end of his career decided to show everyone the level of goalkeeper that he has. He not only painlessly replaced Shesterkin, who suffered a minor injury at the beginning, but also surpasses his young colleague in basic goalkeeping indicators.
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Most of the Rangers were already superficially mentioned above, but here it is necessary to go into more detail, because this is precisely what allows the team to reach the top of the standings. Then you look at the first special brigade and ask yourself: after all, there are the same people in it, what has changed? And it is precisely the variability of these jokes that has changed. What did we see last season? Generally, there are two options: set up Kreider on a dime or catch Zibanejad from the left faceoff circle. Now, when the first special team appears on the ice, the opponent begins to get confused: who to keep, who poses more danger? Added to the above, a lot of danger began to come from Panarin, who is no longer tied to a place and is no longer focused only on passing. Also, it’s amazing how Trocheck has opened up, playing on the other side and under the goal. The blue line controller, always played by Adam Fox, found an alternative: while Fox was injured, he was brilliantly replaced by Gustafsson, through whom the puck moved as quickly as with the American defenseman. Now it turns out that when playing with an additional player, anyone can complete the attack. Therefore, the four or three defenders have a hard time, as the statistics confirm.
Blooming Panarin
Artemy received a lot of criticism after the last playoffs and, let’s face it, he deservedly received it. Panarin looked like a mediocre version of himself, he created almost nothing offensively in seven games with New Jersey and didn’t take advantage of a single opportunity he had. I even had to learn the ropes of the game on the third line.
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What is Panarin doing?! Artemy once again created a masterpiece and approached the great album.
But this season Panarin, leaving aside, in addition to her beautiful hair, the weight of last season, began to shine. It was as if they said to Artemy: create, dear, we entrust you with the role of a free artist. And Khlebushek started doing this. This season’s Panarin is not tied to his wing: he is constantly moving, looking for where to put the puck to develop the attack. But the entrenched role of dispatcher is now not enough for him: he began to throw a lot and do it from completely different positions. This is how Panarin commented about the match with San Jose, where he scored a hat-trick, scoring two dime goals: “I ran towards the goal twice in my life, it worked both times. It’s probably time to start listening to the coaches.”
Interesting statistical note: Panarin scored 18 shots against Boston and Toronto! shots on target. Are we sure we’re not talking about Ovechkin?
Artemy Panarin
Photo: Darcy Finley/Getty Images
What is the team aiming for this season?
Everyone knows how difficult it is to predict what will happen in the playoffs. We have great examples from last year with two opposing cliffhangers: Boston and Florida. Therefore, let the question remain rhetorical.
But we can say that Rangers will appear as a combat-ready team in the knockout matches. The style of play is adapted to tough cup battles, there are players, most of them perform well, there are two great goalkeepers in the squad. The only thing is that we must draw conclusions on how to strengthen the squad before the deadline. Don’t grab what shines, accurately close a fallen position. And it’s as if there was only one position: right back on the front line. Kakko, Wheeler and Brodzinski already tried during the season, but none of them got this spot on their own.
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