Candice Ward – USA TODAY Sports
Weeks ago, I said the New York Rangers had yet to play their best hockey this season. Well, it turns out they did. Since then, every single flaw in the team’s game has been exposed. They have gone 2-6-2 in their last 10 games, falling to third place in the Metropolitan Division, and arguably all of the team’s best players have been invisible. It is now evident changes need to be made.
Minor changes have already occurred. Today, the Rangers waived underachieving forward Jarret Stoll, and despite nursing a minor knee injury, Dan Girardi, who along with defensive partner Ryan McDonagh were single-handedly responsible for the Rangers’ disturbing 7-5 loss to the Edmonton Oilers this past Friday night, will sit out tomorrow night’s rematch against the Oilers.
Every NHL team goes through slumps in an 82-game season. This is not just any slump for the Rangers. If not for Henrik Lundqvist being the league’s MVP for the season’s first quarter, it’s very possible the Rangers would be near the bottom of their division. This is a team trying to win a championship. Now, they have to start questioning their playoff chances.
Did Alain Vigneault understand all these flaws before the season? Is that why he challenged Lundqvist to get off to a red-hot start? Now that Lundqvist has cooled down, we see the problems that are coming to define the 2015-16 Rangers: Constant defensive breakdowns, little to no forecheck pressure, brain-dead puck management in both ends of the ice and, worst of all, their best players not playing to the back of their hockey cards.
The Rangers should still make the playoffs when this regular season is done, but if they want to win a Stanley Cup, major changes are necessary.
Holding the players accountable should be just the beginning. Vigneault needs to reduce playing time for McDonagh and Marc Staal, who have massively underachieved this season. Two of his best forwards, Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes, need to be healthy scratches in the coming games. Both have been big disappointments so far, and as pending restricted free agents, they are not earning their raises.
The Rangers need to give Dylan McIlrath more playing time, and bring up top prospect Brady Skjei for a look. And then, like Martin St. Louis and Keith Yandle the last two seasons, the Rangers will require another major trade deadline deal. Only this time, this trade will have to bring a greater impact than both aforementioned moves combined. Unfortunately, it means trading an important piece of the Rangers’ roster.
For new general manager Jeff Gorton, this is his first major test. The contracts of Girardi and Staal are a huge reason the Rangers’ salary cap situation is so poor. Both have certainly not helped the Rangers this season, and it is safe to say they may not in the future. Gorton needs to make an executive decision and ask Staal or Girardi to waive their no-trade clauses and trade them for draft picks and/or prospects.
Girardi and Staal are two of the most respected men in the Ranger locker room, so make no mistake, it will hurt the Rangers’ psyche to see one of them go. At the same time, the players understand this is a business, and in the salary cap era, difficult decisions like this need to be made.
It happened with former captain Ryan Callahan in the St. Louis deal two years ago, and there’s no reason it can’t happen again. Not only will a trade free up critical cap space for the Rangers to upgrade their roster with a top-six scorer and a physical fourth-line presence, but it is especially necessary if they want to make another deep run this season. These are not panic moves because of a prolonged slump. These are necessary moves for both now and for the future.
With three and a half months to go in the season, the Rangers still have time to right the ship and prove they don’t need major changes. If they don’t, a potential Girardi/Staal trade may only be the tip of the iceberg.
Matt Stillwell is a New York Rangers contributor for www.rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattNYR12!
