So this is where the marathon begins — at a hotel in White Plains where the Rangers will convene for their first team meal and meeting Wednesday night, after completing physicals on the first day of training camp.
They will gather pretty much intact from the group that went home so bitterly disappointed in itself last spring upon a lopsided, five-game second-round playoff ouster by the Bruins. But when they do, the Blueshirts will be greeted by Alain Vigneault’s kinder, gentler voice — or so everyone thinks — in the wake of the coaching exchange that saw gruff John Tortorella hightail it to Vancouver after being fired in May.
This was general manager Glen Sather’s singular move in the offseason, during which the club possessed limited cap space to effect a meaningful change in personnel once the decision was made to bring back Brad Richards rather than use an amnesty buyout on No. 19’s contract that carries a $6.67 million cap charge.
Derek Stepan, the club’s putative first-line center who led the team in scoring last season with 44 points (18-26) over 48 games, is still enmeshed in a negotiating stalemate, and as such will not be in the audience to hear Vigneault’s opening remarks.
“A deal is not imminent,” Matt Oates, the restricted free agent’s representative, told The Post on Tuesday via email. “Obviously Derek will not report [to camp] without a contract.”
Henrik Lundqvist is on a contract that expires at the end of this season, and though the franchise goaltender’s representatives from Newport Sports have been in a steady dialogue with Rangers management, the parties are not close to an agreement for an extension, with both term and dollars at issue.
Still, The King has vowed not to allow these talks — which may be suspended at the end of camp if a significant gulf remains — to distract him from the mission at hand.
“I am totally focused on my job here,” Lundqvist said. “I feel great, I did my work over the summer, I am prepared to go and am excited about the season.
“It’s time.”
Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin (shoulder surgeries) are expected to miss most, if not all of the October schedule, during which the Blueshirts will play 12 matches, including the nine-game road trip that opens the season.
This will create opportunity for young forwards Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller, Danny Kristo, Oscar Lindberg and perhaps Jesper Fast to carve out spots on a team that otherwise seems to have limited job openings.
The defense seems to be set, with Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Del Zotto, Anton Stralman and John Moore ensconced as the top six and Justin Falk just behind as the seventh defenseman, while Aaron Johnson tries to crack the squad.
The Rangers will spend more time on the ice in Alberta during camp than they will in New York. The Blueshirts will skate here Thursday through Sunday before playing their first two exhibition games in New Jersey and Philadelphia on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
The club will then practice at home the following day before flying to Banff, where they will bivouac for a few days before playing in Calgary on Sept. 23 and Edmonton the following night. The Blueshirts then go to Vancouver for a match against the Canucks on Sept. 26 before completing the preseason the next night in Las Vegas against the Kings.
Vigneault has been charged with opening up the attack and resuscitating a power play that, to coin a phrase, stunk most of the time under Tortorella, finishing 23rd in the NHL each of the last two seasons. Improvement is expected despite the ongoing lack of a big shot from the point, an organizational black hole for at least a decade.
The Rangers have met individually with Vigneault over the last couple of weeks. Wednesday, the new coach addresses the group for the first time. They are very much the same ears, but they will be hearing a very different voice.