2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs: New York Rangers Downfall
The 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs have concluded for the New York Rangers, like 12 other NHL teams. How do the New York Rangers fix themselves to be better next season? What problem areas can be addressed?
The New York Rangers fell to the Ottawa Senators in six games in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This came after they defeated the Montreal Canadiens in six in round one. Clearly, the Rangers had some strengths, but they also had weaknesses.
Because the Rangers are no longer alive and kicking in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, let’s focus on the negative. The Rangers have problem areas to fix. They want to win Henrik Lundqvist a Cup, after all. Everybody in the NHL wants Lundqvist to win a Cup. It’s just a question of how to do that.
Defense, Defense, Defense
The New York Rangers defense must improve if the Rangers will win a Cup with Henrik. It can no longer be Lundqvist versus the world. The Rangers must surround him with talent, like Brady Skjei, if he’s bound for success. They can’t afford the likes of Dan Girardi and Marc Staal much longer.
In the regular season, the New York Rangers were in the bottom 10 in Corsi Against. That means they were allowing more shots on net, misses, and had to block more shots than twenty-four other teams. That’s a defensive problem, and it needs to be addressed. And it wasn’t in the playoffs.
While some defenseman were positives for the New York Rangers in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Brady Skjei, Ryan McDonagh, and Brendan Smith – some were negatives. Nick Holden, Girardi, and Staal are the Rangers biggest problems. They are no longer – or never were – starting caliber defensemen in the playoffs. They’d be great sevenths, but not a full bottom three.
The Rangers allowed 2.5 goals per game. That’s with Henrik Lundqvist posting the sixth-best starting save percentage. He had a .927, and that’s better than the likes of Craig Anderson and John Gibson. Both of those starters are still in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs and Lundqvist isn’t. You already know the reason – defense.
The Rangers killed their penalties, but they allowed the fifth most shots per game. Lundqvist had to be great, and if he let up the occasional goal, it killed the Rangers.
Power Play
The Rangers had the second-worst power play in the playoffs, just ahead of the St. Louis Blues. Those two teams were the only two in single digits in terms of power play conversion. That’s not good. It’s especially not good when your defense is the Rangers’ and you need to score.
Turns out the speed game that New York relies upon offensively doesn’t work in the playoffs. At least, it didn’t work in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs. They need a tougher, bigger offense for the playoffs. It’s why Tanner Glass had 4 points, after only playing 11 games in the regular season. Size matters in the playoffs.
And it’s something the Rangers are going to have to get, especially on the power play. Because one way or another, they’re going to have to fix that 7.7%. That’s not good enough, ever. Let alone in the playoffs. The Rangers need to be better to be more successful, and scoring those ugly goals is one way to convert more often.
That’s the one offensive need. Only one person didn’t score a single point on the Rangers – Marc Staal. The Rangers have plenty of ability there, they just have to be coached better. Especially in the area of the power play.
The Rangers waited until game 6 of the Montreal series to score a power play goal. They scored twice, none in the final two games, of the Senators series. Mats Zuccarello scored two power play points. Ryan McDonagh scored either an assist or the goal in all three cases. That’s a problem too – if it takes one certain defenseman on the Power Play to score, the opponent can focus their attention.
No Star Power
Alright, this clearly isn’t as big of an issue as the first two. Those first two need to be solved, this is just personal preference. I would like to see more from the Rangers top guys. The best scorer on the Rangers scored four goals in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. And that’s three guys: Mats Zuccarello, Michael Grabner, and Brady Skjei
When Evgeni Malkin has 18 points and Erik Karlsson has 13, the Rangers having no “top” guy strikes me as a problem. There’s nobody elite on this team. It’s a team of really really good players and it’s really deep. But nobody elite means nobody reliable in the playoffs.
But that might not be a fixable area. The Rangers need a reliable scorer, when the power play is failing, to light up the lamp. And they’re paying to have a guy like that in Rick Nash. But he only scored 3 goals in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. That’s not good enough. They need more.
Next: Ottawa Senators Looking Good in ECF So Far
There’s nobody available in free agency like that, so the Rangers should focus on defense. But if they have a chance at trading for John Tavares or a player like him, the Rangers should be alert and take it.