The New York Rangers’ off-season is upon us and that means that GM Jeff Gorton has some decisions to make. But don’t do this Jeff…
The weather is warming, the ice has melted, and the New York Rangers’ off season is in full bloom.But with he smell of fresh flowers and crisp summer air comes an uncertain future for the Broadway Blueshirts.
No movements clauses, bad contracts, and overpaid players have all but handcuffed New York Rangers’ General Manager Jeff Gorton.
In fact, the odds are pretty stacked up against the young GM this off season.
If Gorton makes a wrong move or two, Rangers’ fans could easily experience a dark age similar to what we saw from 1998-2004.
The current situation is similar to the blue pill/red pill scene from The Matrix, except there is a blue pill on one side and a rainbow of choices on the other.
So much could potentially go wrong if Gorton doesn’t make the correct moves.
By my calculations, Gorton made to right move by trading away Keith Yandle’s rights to the Florida Panthers.
The Rangers have overpaid their fair share of defenseman who are 30+ years old, and inking Yandle to a five to six year deal at that age would have been foolhardy at best.
Having said that, there are still plenty of pitfalls that Jeff Gorton could fall into this summer.
So without further ado, let’s discuss some mistakes that the Blueshirt GM cannot afford to make this summer.
Fail To Replace Yandle’s Skill Set
No, you’re not going to completely fill the void left by Yandle, but Gorton needs to make sure that he fills that skill set.
If you think about it, the Rangers weren’t taking full advantage of Yandle’s skill set until about January of this past season.
That’s when Alain Vigneault, Jeff Gorton, or whoever was making the boneheaded call of placing Yandle on the second power play unit, smartened up.
While you would never would have described the Rangers’ power play as dangerous, it certainly improved with Yandle on the first unit.
He also scored the clutch goal from time to time.
If Gorton doesn’t hatch a plan to fill Yandle’s offensive/defensive style, the Rangers would be in big trouble moving forward. While Brady Skjei has offensive upside, he has a tendency of being a bit behind the play.
A player like Dallas Stars defenseman Jason Demers could help to slow the bleeding on the blue line while not significantly impacting the Rangers’ cap situation.
Give In To Summit Fever
Every mountain climber experiences what is called summit fever at least once.
Summit fever is when a climber just won’t let go of the thought of summiting the mountain they are climbing, even when it could affect their well-being.
Folks, the Rangers’ Stanley Cup chances are nil, gone, zero.
If Gorton signs a high risk/high reward player such as Steven Stamkos, the Rangers will be moving in the entirely wrong direction.
The goal should be to rebuild and restock the Hartford Wolfpack/prospect pipeline, not bank on championship hopes and dreams.
Stamkos is also damaged goods, and I’ve covered why inking him would be a bad move.
If Gorton goes after a big-name player, it will clearly send the message that the New York Rangers’ organization has not let go of their Stanley Cup dreams.
The Rangers will then most likely end up with yet another bloated and unmovable contract which will make their situation even more dire.
Make Excuses/Bank On The Status Quo
Remember two years ago when the Chicago Blackhawks were making move after move throughout the off season while the rest of us sat around and wondered where all of that cap space was coming from?
That needs to be the New York Rangers this summer.
But all too often we have seen either Jeff Gorton or Glen Sather before him, sit around and do, well, nothing.
By doing nothin Gorton will basically be communicating that injuries (or some other lame excuse) are the reason(s) for his players’ poor performances the year prior.
Take Dan Girardi for example.
If the Rangers’ allow themselves to fall into the “Girardi didn’t play well because he had a cracked knee cap” trap, then it will be time to start running for the hills ladies and gentlemen.
Taking no action and staying with the status quo will simply not finish the job.
Hopefully the Yandle trade is a small glimpse into the future and not just a one time fluke.
Not Address The Defensive Issues
While the Rangers’ defensive woes from this past season are usually blamed on the defenseman themselves, the forwards were equally to blame.
If and when Gorton does make some moves, he needs to make sure he fills those voids with players who are capable of playing man-to-man coverage.
The Rangers were just too slow to cover their quicker and usually better positioned opponents this past season while Vigneault refused to change his approach.
The second option is a fundamental change in how AV approaches team defense. This would most likely mean more of a “zone” system where players are constantly in motion and changing their coverage on the fly.
This system takes perfect positioning and even better communication.
Or there is always the third option, which is to keep things as they current are and hope for the best.