Alain Vigneault’s internal clock is ticking as the Rangers prepare to meet the Penguins at the Garden on Wednesday night.
“At this time, I’ve given myself the latitude, without sharing it with you, of a certain number of games to sort out here what I have,” the coach said following Tuesday’s practice. “I’ve only been to Hartford once, but I’ve talked [to management] on a regular basis to find out what would be the other options.”
This will be Game 15 for the Rangers, who are 6-8 and yet to distinguish themselves in any meaningful way. They have for the most part beaten clubs on their approximate level while losing to teams that seem a step up in class. The 11-4 Penguins would appear to belong to that latter group.
Vigneault’s comment was made in direct response to a question about J.T. Miller’s spot on the team, the 20-year-old having been a healthy scratch for Monday’s 2-1 defeat to the Ducks following a difficult night on Saturday against Carolina.
But the coach added the evaluation process applies to “the whole group.”
“It’s like Kreids, starting where he did, then getting an opportunity and jumping on the opportunity,” Vigneault said about Chris Kreider, who has grabbed onto a top-six forward spot since his Oct. 20 recall from the AHL and has refused to let go. “I’m really not making that decision; they’re making it for me by how they’re playing.”
The Rangers have scored two goals or fewer in nine of their 14 games and have scored only 13 goals all year playing five-on-five. Vigneault decried the lack of offense created by the defense in the defeat to Anaheim, which was odd considering the back line generated 11 shots on 24 attempts, but the fact is the coach is going to have to identify his top six forwards and get them top-six ice time, even if that means moving Brad Richards back to the wing.
The problem is without Rick Nash — and yes, it’s indisputably true, the Rangers are not unique in losing one of their best players for an extended period — the Blueshirts don’t have enough depth on the wing to accommodate three centers who have to play in offensive roles in order to be effective.
At the moment, Richards and Derek Stepan are at the top of the pecking order while Derick Brassard is the odd man out, dropped to the fourth line in Tuesday’s practice following a pair of games on the third line.
Brassard, who has only two goals and four assists, hasn’t exactly picked up where he left off last season when he recorded five goals and six assists in 13 matches and starred in the opening round of the playoffs against Washington after coming to the Rangers at the trade deadline. That’s on him, but it’s up to Vigneault to find the slot that most complements the 26-year-old’s skill-set.
“So far he has shown a little bit of inconsistency in his overall play,” Vigneault said. “At some moments you can see signs of his top-end skill and some other moments you see signs of top-end skill not executing the way it’s supposed to, like the first [Anaheim] goal [Tuesday] night.
“We need to get his game in order at both ends,” the coach said, after detailing Brassard’s blunders that allowed the Ducks to score. “If we do that, he’s a good skill player that in my estimation brings a lot to the table.”
Brassard acknowledged that he has been “looking for consistency.”
“The offense really hasn’t been there the last five or six games,” said No. 16. “I’m focusing on the little things, trying to win battles and playing with confidence.
“I’m at my best when I have the puck and can make plays. I have to be confident and patient,” he said. “I’m not OK with just being average on the ice. When we lose and I don’t produce, I take it personally because I think I could help make a difference.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself.”
The Rangers have decisions ahead as Vigneault sorts this out. There’s a decision regarding whether Miller is best served in New York in a support role or in Hartford as a leading man. There’s a decision about how best to deploy the talent, including Brassard.
The clock is tick, tick, ticking.