While there are some similarities between David Quinn and Alain Vigneault, Quinn is completely different and that helps the New York Rangers.
From the naked eye, it looks the New York Rangers hired a similar coach when they moved on from Alain Vigneault to David Quinn.
Both coaches believe in using the healthy scratch as a way to punish or correct a player who is not performing up to the standards the coach sets for the entire team. They both are not afraid to use their backup netminder to start games over the veteran and future Hall of Famer, Henrik Lundqvist. But while it might look like they are one and the same, their styles are in fact completely different.
To start, you have to look back at Vigneault’s time with the Blueshirts, especially the last year and a half. He was extremely harsh on his younger players especially J.T. Miller. While Miller flourished at times under Vigneault, one mistake meant sitting on the bench as he did for two whole periods against the Anaheim Ducks in Jan. 24, 2018 game out West. It meant falling in his dog house, and once you were in there it took too long to get out.
Here we are, a year later and while Quinn uses some of the same methods as Vigneault did, there’s a difference between the two.
Quinn will bench a player for a period, just as he did with Chris Kreider, but he’ll reward a guy if deserving. The most recent example is Pavel Buchnevich.
For the better part of this season, Buchnevich has played on the Rangers fourth line while sitting the occasional game out. Quinn continually talked to the 23-year-old winger, explaining what he needed to do to get back in the lineup and move up. A few weeks after that conversation showcases a consistent Buchnevich skating on the second line.
The major difference between the two head coaches is that communication line created. Vigneault relied heavily on his leadership group to take players under their wing. While that strategy was effective throughout his first three years, it took away all accountability by the time Vigneault’s time ended with the Blueshirts.
Quinn, on the other hand, from the getgo, established a relationship with all of his players, especially his younger players. He is a very vocal coach and will work on something in practice until every player understands it so the bad habit does not translate over into a game.
When he scratches a player, he makes sure the player completely understands why they are coming out of the lineup and makes sure they are still on the same page. Just look at the two quotes below.
DQ on Chytil: "I think Fil’s play has slipped a little bit. One of the things all young players have to learn is how to consistently compete and be hard on pucks, and give an effort in all three zones… (cont'd)''
— Colin Stephenson (@ColinASteph) February 15, 2019
DQ on Chytil, cont'd: "… Fil was doing a real good job of that, I think that slipped a little bit – you know, again, it’s all part of development; learning lessons.''
— Colin Stephenson (@ColinASteph) February 15, 2019
Clearly, the communication is there. He relays that very same message over to Chytil who sat out his first game since Dec. 31 Friday night in Buffalo.
Quinn has to be careful to not compare to his predecessor involving the same mistake he made with Lias Andersson. While the times are a bit different, and Chytil is producing more than Andersson did when he was up here, Quinn cannot fall into the trap of leaving Chytil primarily on the fourth line. He must learn from the mistakes he made with Andersson and not stump the development of an extremely skilled player.
While the rest of this season continues, wanting younger players to play minutes and gain valuable experience against the best players the game of hockey offers is a tremendous plight. But if part of developing a player the proper way means having them sit out every once in a while to learn and understand why certain things are happening, then, by all means, do it.
We won’t really know how effective Quinn’s coaching methods are until these players are developed to the fullest, and Quinn might not be here when that happens. But if this season taught us anything so far, it is that Quinn is actually the complete opposite from his predecessor.