SO, WHERE to begin with a power play that was ranked 29th overall in the NHL and doesn’t appear to have appreciably improved thus far over the summer, unless you think Marian Gaborik will solve all ills all by himself?
“The power play starts with me,” Rangers coach John Tortorella told The Post during a phone conversation on Wednesday. “It’s on me to figure out how to make sure that the personnel on the power play succeeds; that falls on my shoulders.”
Well, then, Tortorella (with aid from new assistant coach Mike Sullivan) has much work to do if he’s going to improve a specialty unit that was a blight on the game last year in operating at 13.9 percent, a number that was essentially the same before and after Tom Renney’s dismissal with 20 games to go.
The Rangers couldn’t get the puck through; couldn’t make a crisp play from the point. Given the paucity of rebounds, sniffers around the net such as Chris Drury and Sean Avery were thus rendered useless. Beyond that, the entry was often as confused as the setup.
“A large part of my responsibility is figuring out who the guy is to make this work,” Tortorella said. “I think Gaborik can be dominant for us, but I want him to have the freedom to roam and use the entire offensive zone, so from that perspective, we need to identify the guy who will find him and deliver the puck.
“We need a quarterback. I’m talking about someone who has poise and creativity, can pass and shoot and get the puck through. And he has to be able to settle things down.
“There’s no question point-play was our biggest weakness last year. We have to figure it out. We have to find out whether we have a quarterback here. Right now, I’m not sure, but I’m not ruling out [Wade] Redden and I’m not ruling out [Michal] Rozsival, either.”
Ales Kotalik has a big shot, but doesn’t appear to have the other attributes necessary to play the point in Tortorella’s world. Kotalik could get some time there as an alternate on the second unit as the personnel sharpens into focus, but that’s not why the Rangers signed him . . . unlike, for instance, Matt Cullen a few summers ago, oh, never mind.
That’s not why Kotalik was signed last week, that’s really not why Rozsival was re-signed last July 1, but the belief that Redden could run the power play was a considerable factor in management’s regrettable decision last year to lavish a six-year, $39 million contract on the defenseman.
For despite getting a team-leading 293:20 of power-play ice, Redden recorded just eight points (2-6) with the man advantage, at one juncture going 39 straight games without a five-on-four point and 58 straight without a power-play goal.
“Wade has to be better; he knows it and I know it,” Tortorella said. “We’ve talked a few times this summer about what I expect from him right from Day One of training camp.
“He needs to take charge. I believe he has it in him. But if he can’t, or doesn’t, we’ll take a look at other options, because we cannot have a power play this year like the one we had last year.”