41 up, 41 down. Halfway through the 2021-22 season, the New York Rangers are 26-11-4, tied for first place in the Metropolitan division and fifth overall in the NHL with 56 points. If you had this team with that many points challenging for first place in late January you're a better person than me. Last night's disheartening loss to the Carolina Hurricanes notwithstanding, this season has been an unqualified success, so far.
I say so far, because while there are many things to be happy about, there are a few that continue to be a concern. Let's look at the record, shall we?
Against teams with losing records, the Rangers are 12-0-1. Against teams with winning records, their record is 14-11-3. However, against teams that are playoff contenders they're only 11-11-2, 1-5-1 against teams that are either in first place or tied for first.
What that means is that the Rangers are cleaning up against the bottom feeders in the league, as they should, but against the better teams, the results are more mixed. For instance, against teams that excel in the transition game like the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes, they've been outscored 15-28, including last night's 6-3 drubbing in Raleigh. However, against the rest of the league, they've outscored their opponents 107-77.
So what we can conclude from the above statistics? For starters, despite the acquisitions Chris Drury made during the offseason, the Rangers remain a work in progress. While they have shown themselves to be far more resilient than last year's squad, they are still learning how to play a full sixty minutes. The last two games are a microcosm for how the season has gone, so far. In both games, the Rangers fell behind by two goals early. Against the Toronto Maple Leafs, they recovered and won going away; against a more disciplined and better-coached Hurricanes team, they weren't quite as fortunate.
Is this something to be concerned about? Most definitely. Assuming they make the playoffs - and at this point, with a majority of their remaining games at home, anything else would be seriously frowned upon by ownership, i.e., James Dolan - how far the Rangers go will be determined by how willing they are to play a complete game. Teams like the aforementioned Hurricanes will make quick work of them if they play like they did last night. Think '06 against the Devils. Yeah, that bad.
Part of the problem is psychological. The core of this team - Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome and Chris Kreider - are far more comfortable playing an east-west style of play. Head coach Gerard Gallant has tried to get them to play a more conventional, north-south style of play, with some success. The 4-0 win they had against the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning was the most compete game they've played all season. Zibanejad scored a hat trick, while Kreider picked up three assists. If Gallant could somehow bottle that performance and get his players to drink from it on a consistent basis, this team would be a legitimate Cup contender.
But, alas, he hasn't. And that's why it's incumbent upon Drury to look outside the organization to acquire the missing pieces that will give this team a fighting chance in the postseason. But which pieces should Drury be looking for?
Contrary to what I may have written before, I think it would behoove him to trade for a player with some grit, someone who can drive to the net and knows what to do with the puck when he gets there. Someone like Jesper Fast, for instance. It pains me to admit this but it was a mistake for management to let him go after the '20 season, especially when the Hurricanes are only paying him $2 million a year. Last night, the right winger scored his ninth goal of the season. To put that in perspective, that's only three less than Kaapo Kakko, Dryden Hunt, Julien Gauthier and Ryan Reaves have scored collectively.
If you're as embarrassed about that as I am, you're not alone. The entire league knows the Rangers don't have a legit top six right winger. Kakko has been ineffective on either the Strome or Zibanejad line, to put it mildly. Apart from his two-goal performance against the Coyotes in Arizona on December 15, the third-year forward has been virtually invisible the last two months. Filip Chytil, with the exception of a handful of games at right wing, has been a bust. And neither Hunt nor Gauthier are sufficiently talented enough to warrant being anything more than what they are: fourth liners. As for Barclay Goodrow, the Swiss-army knife's talents are being wasted as Gallant keeps shuffling him around the lineup, desperately looking for some spark that can jumpstart this team's anemic 5v5 play. Last night, his physicality drew a penalty that the Blueshirts converted on. The Rangers need more of that if they intend on making a deep run in the postseason.
The top five players are pulling their weight, but the drop off from there is profound. Among playoff teams, only the Boston Bruins have a similar drop off. Not even the Maple Leafs are this shallow. If this lack of depth isn't addressed, it will threaten the second half of their season.
I'm guessing Drury already knows this, so look for him to make a move or two. The only question is cost. I don't expect him to part with any of the top prospects in the system, but the first round pick is definitely in play. Depending on how reasonable the other GMs are, help should be on the way soon. Fortunately, the Rangers will have an abundance of cap space at the trade deadline with which to accommodate salaries. That's what happens when you don't waste money on overpriced contracts just to appease the Twitter mob.
The bottom line is the Rangers, after 41 games, have exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. They are tied for first place in their division. They have some very exciting players, including Norris trophy winner Adam Fox and Vezina trophy candidate Igor Shesterkin. With the right additions they could surprise even the experts this spring. But if they do fall short of the Cup finals it will not be the end of the world.
After four long years in the wilderness, it's refreshing to have something to look forward to.
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