For better or worse — and let’s face it, there was far more better than worse the last couple of years — the Rangers had an identity playing for John Tortorella.
Now? Clean slate? No kidding. Not since 2005-06 when the Jaromir Jagr Czech-centric team emerged from training camp have the Rangers entered a season as such an unknown commodity.
Nearly everyone in uniform is back this time around, but it remains to be seen whether the change in voice and in philosophy behind the bench where Alain Vigneault replaces Tortorella will be beneficial to this group that cried out for new leadership.
A training camp that featured a counter-productive trek through western Canada answered no questions and produced little reason for confidence. Building blocks will have to be laid on the fly in the first month of the season during which the Blueshirts will play their first nine games on the road.
The Vigneault/Tortorella exchange should take the shackles off Rangers who believed their creativity was limited by the former coach’s strict tenets. But the switch also will eliminate crutches for Rangers who fail to produce.
If chemistry is the study of change, as Walter White once said, the Rangers will be a fascinating study of the chemistry generated by a changed dynamic between the coaching staff and the team with very little change in the personnel.
OFFENSE
Five-on-five the Rangers had the third-best differential in the NHL last year behind only Cup winner Chicago and Eastern top-seed Pittsburgh, but the abysmal power play that ranked 23rd overall and rarely scored in critical moments undermined the club from beginning to end.
The team didn’t acquire a cannon from the point, so the responsibility/opportunity to run the power play from the top likely will fall on Derek Stepan and Michael Del Zotto, with quick puck movement and a shoot-first, deliberate-later mindset combined with traffic in front as the primary objectives.
The Rangers will want to hunt down the puck on the forecheck and operate from there, but lack the size and physical strength to consistently punish opponents and wear down the defense below the hash marks. The season-starting absences of Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin, perhaps the club’s most effective forechecking wingers, will be challenging.
The corps of mobile defensemen should have more freedom not only to join the rush and the play in the offensive zone in order to create numbers-advantages, but also to be creative on the breakout rather than relying predominantly on chipping the puck out.
Hence, the Rangers should be a more diverse team with the puck, designed to generate off the rush as well as the forecheck.
Rick Nash, who dominated for stretches at a time during the regular season before fading in the playoffs, should be a consistent force with and without the puck. Stepan and Derick Brassard were creators as the season evolved. If Benoit Pouliot’s regular season resembles his exhibition season, the Rangers have themselves an essential size, speed and strength top-six winger, but the burden is on him to prove he’s more than a support player.
DEFENSE
It may take some time for the Rangers to adjust from more of the zone concept favored by Tortorella and the more aggressive outnumber-them philosophy preached by Vigneault, but the objective here is for the Blueshirts to spend less time in their own zone.
The club will still block shots, but won’t be as anal about it. As such, defensemen won’t habitually go down first and ask questions later. More upright players make for more crisp and timely first passes out of the zone.
It is critical for Marc Staal to remain healthy and play at the top-pair level he finally regained a month into last season just before suffering the grievous eye injury that ruined the remainder of the year. Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi will open as the shutdown pair while Staal skates with Del Zotto. John Moore and Anton Stralman will form the third tandem on a corps that may be too homogenous, lacking the physical force who forces opponents to keep their heads up.
GOALTENDING
Henrik Lundqvist is probably the most indispensable player to his team in the NHL, though John Tavares is right there with him. It is imperative for The King to come out of the gate strong — not always the case — in order to give the Rangers time to adapt to Vigneault’s system. Lundqvist, the most high-profile player to enter the walk year of his contract in the hard cap era, will also be in net for Team Sweden in the Olympics, so the Blueshirts need Martin Biron to win games in order to maintain a sensible workload for The King.
COACH
Vigneault has said he isn’t reinventing anything here, but the contrast in style and communication skills represents a dramatic departure from his predecessor. The Rangers won’t be as uptight under Vigneault, who isn’t about confrontation, but it remains to be seen whether they respond favorably to being granted expanded freedom.
KEYS TO THE SEASON:
Most important offensive player: Stepan. In each of the last two seasons, whatever line Stepan centered became the team’s top unit. If he can combine with Nash and a complementary left wing to form a legitimately powerful first line — and can run the power play to advantage — the Rangers will benefit enormously from the trickle-down effect.
Most important defensive player: Del Zotto. The Rangers are depending upon Staal, Girardi and McDonagh to form a minutes-eating top three but need Del Zotto to emerge as a reliable top-four defender who will afford Vigneault matchup confidence.
Most important rookie: Winger Jesper Fast is the only rookie on the opening roster, but Chris Kreider, who will start the season with the AHL Wolf Pack, has the highest offensive ceiling of the freshmen who are in line for a call during the season. J.T. Miller exceeded the 25-game rookie qualification by one game last year.
Key coaching decision: Vigneault already has decided to move Brad Richards to the wing on the unit with Stepan and Nash in order to accommodate the excess in the middle. Richards, seeking to reestablish himself after last season’s debacle, hasn’t played much at all on the flank in years.
ROSTER
Goalies: Henrik Lundqvist, Martin Biron.
Defensemen: Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Del Zotto, John Moore, Anton Stralman, Justin Falk.
Left Wings: Brad Richards, Benoit Pouliot, J.T, Miller, Taylor Pyatt, Carl Hagelin (LTI).
Centers: Derek Stepan, Derick Brassard, Brian Boyle, Dominic Moore.
Right Wings: Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello, Jesper Fast, Derek Dorsett, Arron Asham, Ryan Callahan (IR).
PREDICTION
The Rangers aren’t going to be burdened with the same kind of great expectations just about everybody had for them a year ago. They’re going to be a work in progress whose strong fundamental foundation and superiority in goal should carry them to a playoff spot.