Alain Vigneault Deserves Blame for New York Rangers’ First-Half Struggles

The New York Rangers finally appear to be getting back on track to being the Cup-contending team they are supposed to be at the halfway point of the season. The question is, how did it get so difficult? How did it get to the point where the Rangers have struggled as much as they have, and why are their chances at a playoff spot suddenly in question?

We can spend all day talking about how many Rangers players have underachieved this season, and there is a long list. But no one seems to be talking about the job head coach Alain Vigneault has done so far, and let’s be honest: it hasn’t been very good at all.

Vigneault has been an excellent coach in the NHL for a long time. He led the Rangers to a Stanley Cup Final in his first season, and to within one win of a return trip to the Final last season. This is not a call for his firing in any way whatsoever, but he deserves a fair share of criticism for the Rangers’ struggles.

First off, he has completely mishandled  Keith Yandle, one of the best puck-moving defensemen in the league. This appears to have upset Yandle to the point where he may not negotiate a contract extension prior to the trade deadline, or this offseason. Yandle may be traded regardless of his feelings due to cap issues, but nonetheless, the fact that he is not being utilized on the power play enough and has the least ice time out of all the Rangers’ defensemen is extremely disappointing.

Second of all, he appears to be playing favorites with the veteran players on his roster. He has not held his supposed top-three defensemen, Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi or Marc Staal, accountable for their poor performances. Yes, Girardi has been playing hurt most of the season, but it does not excuse the myriad of mental mistakes he has made all season (see Alex Ovechkin’s late goal in the first period of last Saturday’s game. As a result, Dylan McIlrath, who has proven to be a valuable sparkplug in the Rangers’ lineup and in the locker room, continues to rot away in the press box while the aforementioned “top three” continue to make mind-boggling mistakes in coverage, with the puck and in one-on-one battles. What did McIlrath do to deserve this?

Finally, he has held Kevin Hayes accountable for his shortcomings, but what about Chris Kreider? He deserved benchings in the last two months just as much as Hayes did. Why one and not both? How did Kreider get a pass? Recently, he benched rookie Oscar Lindberg for his poor play. This decision is not a bad one, but Vigneault’s logic that other struggling players in the lineup make the team better is totally incorrect.

In a nutshell, Vigneault seems to be utilizing a policy of selective accountability. This type of policy never works. It creates dissension among teammates and factions within the organization, the type of shortfalls that nine times out of ten, tear teams apart. That is not to say that Vigneault has lost his team, or that there is tension within the clubhouse. Still, one has to wonder if these decisions have hurt the team, and if it will lead to even more tension going forward.

Vigneault is an excellent coach, and as of right now, is the absolute best man for the Rangers coaching job. He can and will make the Rangers better before the season ends.

In order for the Rangers to return to a championship level, though, he needs to hold the team as a whole accountable for their shortcomings, not just a handful of players.