Sports

Five questions for MSG’s Joe Micheletti

With the NHL dropping the puck on the preseason, MSG analyst Joe Micheletti talks Rangers, Islanders and Devils with The Post’s Justin Terranova.

Q: Are the Rangers better positioned to make a jump with Brad Richards than they were when they made their last free-agent splash with Marian Gaborik?

A: The Rangers have gotten so much deeper as an organization it’s going to take some of the pressure off these players. Now Gaborik came in and had such a wonderful year three years ago, but the team wasn’t as deep. I remember standing with the writers last year and we were saying it’s the quickest and most talented group we’ve seen with this organization in quite a few years. And this year has surpassed that.

Q: Would you play those two on the same line?

A: The thing about Richards is he’s one of the great passers in the game and Gaborik is one of the great skaters in the game. I think Gaborik is going to have a rebound year. Just watching them this morning — him and Richards on the same line, it will be interesting to see if they keep it that way — I think he’s going to have a much better year than he did a year ago.

Q: Seeing with what’s going on with Sidney Crosby, how concerned should the Rangers be with Marc Staal still struggl ing with concu ssion symp toms?

A: I don’t think Marc is going to come back unless he’s 100-percent ready to play. I don’t know when that’s going to be, but I don’t expect it to linger because he’s improved all summer.

Q: What has to happen for the Islanders to make the jump to playoff team this year?

A: They have to stay healthy. It’s not an organization with a great deal of depth, but they have some fabulous young players. And they have to get good goaltending. If Rick (DiPietro) is healthy and he’s the guy, or (Evgeni) Nabokov or (Al) Montoya they are going to have to get good goaltending because young teams make mistakes and that’s where goaltenders take care of business.

Q: Is it a quick fix for the Devils to get back to where they were before last year?

A: I think that last year they got off to such a horrible start and nearly did the impossible, which tells this is a team that still knows how to win. And it’s really difficult to appreciate the value of Zach Parise. Having Zach back is a huge benefit for them. They’ll be much more competitive right from the start. I like Pete DeBoer as a coach, he’ll push that team real hard and they’ll be more aggressive and competitive.