Examining The 2015 NY Rangers Blueline

Is this the best offensive defense that Glen Sather has Ever Assembled?

  At 17:02 in the first period, Dan Girardi picked up his 3rd goal of the season against a very good Detroit Red Wing penalty kill.  On its’ own, this isn’t article-worthy news.  Girardi’s points-per-game numbers look ordinary to those of his career, as do Ryan McDonagh’s and Marc Staal’s.  

  But at 17:02, Girardi scored the 33rd goal for a Ranger defenseman this season.  The last time that the Blueshirt rearguard had that many in the regular season was the 2007-08 season (36 that year, 13 on the power play).  

  Perhaps some rephrasing would clear things up: The NY Rangers defense is on pace to score 42 goals...

  ...Notwithstanding the fact that Keith Yandle has yet to pick up a point as a Ranger.

  Let’s take a look at all of the Rangers defensive production since the 2005 NHL Lockout - We know Glen Sather has been GM since 2000, but comparing the NHL before and after the introduction of the two-line pass can get complicated.  We’ll keep it to when the Rangers were playoff-competitive under Sather, so 2005-2015.

NYR Defensive Scoring 2006-2015

Two quick points:

1. Prior to Yandle, John Moore and Matt Hunwick had split the majority of the the season rotating in the 6th and final defensive roster spot (In fact: both were used to rearguard the 3rd pair for most the top-4’s 29 collective games injured this year). They collectively had 1 goal in 78 games before the addition of Yandle ended the John Moore experiment.  
2. The 2011-12 Broadway blueline patrol that surprisingly picked up 180 points (30-150) in the regular season was led by the remarkably unremarkable Michael Del Zotto.  He would only last one more full, albeit lockout-shortened season before packing for Nashville in one of Sather’s slickest moves, the straight-up swap for Kevin Klein.

  The emergence of Klein has given the Rangers a journeyman who can move around the line-up, and who seems to have a knack for the big-goals lately.  The unfortunately bloated contract of Dan Boyle shouldn’t overshadow his serviceable stats - 20:03 per game, +14, 8 goals and 7 assists in only 47 games.  

  Yandle is the wildcard in this analysis.  It’s been 3 games, and all he has to show for his efforts is a -1 and 7 shots on goal.  Not terrible for a guy who has adjust to a winning mentality after 9 seasons with a struggling franchise consistently on the brink of relocating (we’d love an Anthony Duclair Seattle jersey, but that’s just us).  But the potential is insane.  On any given night, he could be the best Rangers defenseman on the team, and did we mention his cap hit is only $2.625M this year and the next?  We’ll gloss over the loss of top prospect Duclair and yet another 1st round draft pick, but can you blame us?  The Rangers “only” need to win 11 of their 18 remaining regular-season games to match their 51 win total from 2011-12.

  Need we point out NYR are 2-0-1 in the James Sheppard Keith Yandle Era? How distant the rapture of Wade Redden seems to be.

  But we have to give it up to Sather here.  Each one of the Rangers’ top six defensemen have a different background that brought them to the team:

• Ryan McDonagh was an elite NCAA defenseman acquired in the steal of the century, eventually becoming NYR Captain.
• Dan Girardi, originally undrafted, fought through the ranks of the ECHL & AHL to ultimately embody the 1st-pair right-hand patrol.
• Marc Staal, 1st round pick, wasn’t even supposed to make the team in the 2007 NYR training camp, yet secured his roster position and never looked back.
• Dan Boyle, the eldest defensive veteran, literally took an open-market paycut to come to this Cup contender last July.
• Yandle (and Klein last year) have been important trade returns hoping to complement the present window of contention, not-so-coincidentally amplified since Alain Vigneault was hired as Head Coach.

  The current 2014-15 NY Rangers also have our vote for the strongest six ever assembled in New York by Glen Sather. And no, Don Cherry, it’s not because they’re all North American, that’s just a coincidence. The current crop of Rangers defensemen are as legitimate as a Top-6 can be in today’s NHL, and deserve all the praise and admiration they’ve collectively received, including this very article, for whatever that’s worth.

Talbot vs Lundqvist? Introducing "The Ludas Rating", a BRAND NEW goaltending stat!

   Is it a bigger accomplishment to receive a (C+) in a very, very difficult class in school... or receive an (A-) in a trivially easier one? 

   In an effort to run some numbers on NYR goaltenders Henrik Lundqvist & Cam Talbot, we here at SatherOnWaivers have accidentally stumbled upon a whole new method of analyzing & evaluating an NHL goaltender’s performance in a season. Initially we wanted to judge Talbot’s performance in net this season versus Lundqvist, particularly this season since filling in full-time for Lundqvist since his injury. So here’s what we did:

• We went through each net minder’s seasonal game log, and noted the amount of ice time each goaltender logged against each NHL team.

• Then, we calculated each goalie's respective opponent’s # of NHL standings points, weighted in average of each goalie's specific icetimes against each opponent

• We took each goaltender’s Goals-Saved-Above-Average and divided it by number of hours of ice time. If you’ve never heard of this stat before, you can read about it here.

• In the name of relativity and perspective, we also found the same data for both goalies in the 2013-14 NHL season as well

• Finally, we procured a weighted average of how many standings points in an opponent each goalie was facing in the average-60 minute game.

   Still confused?

   Let’s say it’s the 2013-14 NHL Season, we want to compare a few goalies, and the NHL league-wide average standings points per team was 92.233. Goalie A played 60 minutes against the Buffalo Sabres, who were the worst team in the NHL (52 points). Let’s say in those 60 minutes, Goalie A had a GSAA of 3.00, meaning he theoretically stopped 3 more goals than the baseline-average NHL goalie would have stopped himself. Now Goalie B, on the other hand, also played 60 minutes that season, except played the Anaheim Ducks, who were the #1 team in the West (116 points). Yet in that game, Goalie B had a GSAA of 1.50.

   Goalie A stopped 3 goals-above-average against a terrible team, while Goalie B stopped 1.5 goals-above-average against an elite team. So which performance was empirically better?

   That was what we were trying to offer a remedy to, but instead created a brand new goaltending analytic: The Ludas Rating. The Ludas Rating offers itself as a measure of inflation/deflation for performance numbers, taking into account what quality of opponent those numbers were generated from in the first place. 

   In other words, the Ludas Rating attempts to tackle  “how many standings points was Hank or Cam facing in the average game? … And even then, how does one compare different performances against varying quality of opponent?”

   To solve this example...

   Goalie A: 

• 3.0 GSAA in 60 minutes
• Average NHL Standings points of Average Competition: 52
• Average NHL Standings points per NHL team: 92.233

52 / 92.233 = 0.5638

3.00 x 0.5638 = 1.691

1.691 “adjusted" GSAA per hour, or a “Ludas Rating” of 1.691

   Goalie B:

• 1.5 GSAA in 60 minutes
• Average NHL standings points of Average Competition: 116
• Average NHL Standings points per NHL team: 92.233

116/92.233 = 1.2577

1.50 x 1.2577 = 1.8865

1.8865 “adjusted” GSAA per hour, or a “Ludas Rating of 1.8865

   … So it would seem Goalie B has a higher/better Ludas Rating, as his traditional numbers were not as good as those of Goalie A, but his quality of competition was much higher, thus making his 1.5 GSAA/hr vs ANH adjustably better than the 3.00 GSAA/hr vs BUF. 

   So now that we’ve explained what the Ludas Rating is, let’s return to the original subjects of Cam Talbot & Henrik Lundqvist. Here’s their relative stats from last year, the 2013-14 NHL season:

   And just like the introductory example into the Ludas Rating, we see Talbot’s .7558 GSAA/hr seems vastly superior to Lundqvist’s .1963. But, taking into account Talbot was playing weaker competition (83.536 standings points/opponent) than Lundqvist (91.716 standings points/opponent), the Ludas Rating adjusts Talbot’s GSAA/hr to be a lower rate. While Lundqvist technically has his lowered too (playing opponents less than 1% below-average), not nearly as much as Talbot’s. 

   Like other analytical metrics into interpreting data, the Ludas Rating is not perfect. A franchise playing against Lundqvist in October may be a very different team than the NHL Standings will reflect 6 months later. Goalies must face 328 shots in an 82-game season to qualify, as their GSAA is not tabulated under a lesser sample size. This is a quality-of-competition adjustor for GSAA-per-hour, using relative NHL Standings Points as a measuring stick to judge opposition’s “quality.” 

   So what about their Ludas Ratings in the current 2014-15 NHL season?

   *Since the season is ongoing, and teams have not completed all their games, the metric of figuring the Average NHL Standings Points per Team is “projected”, unlike prior seasons fully in the books. That is to say, if a team has 60 Standings Points in 60 games so far, they will be treated as though they are an 82-Standings Points team as that is their current mathematical projection. 

   

   Once again we see Cam Talbot has faced overall-lower competition (avg 88.9 standings points per opponent) than King Henrik (avg 94.668 standings points per opponent). 

   In both seasons, the Ludas Rating has reduced Talbot’s impressive numbers to a more realistic amount, as he has not been facing quality competition. Yet it is worth reminding: Talbot, an undrafted net minder who played college hockey at University of Alabama-Huntsville, who stumbled into the NHL following an abrupt mid-season retirement from Martin Biron in 2013… has undeniably played above-average in his time in New York.

   Are we expecting Talbot to play as good, or better than, Lundqvist? Probably not. Are we expecting Talbot to play above-average in the NHL? Of course. These studies show that, while his sharp career numbers are impressive, a little zip comes off the fastball when we hold Talbot accountable for playing sub-average teams for the most part. Overall, it’s hard to truly feel Cam Talbot is not performing satisfactorily... just not as well as Lundqvist.

* Please note: The data required to calculate a goaltender's Ludas Rating is very obnoxious and tedious. We are working on an algorithm to run smooth tabulations of various goaltenders' Ludas Rating, as to expand upon the metric, and provide more relative insight into goaltending leaguewide and in seasons past. We will post new data as it comes in, we ask you to be patient as this is a new equation, and currently takes a long time to configure. We look forward to your feedback!

   

2 Quick Graphs: Stanley Cup Trends & How Good Is Henrik Lundqvist's Career?

   Last week, SatherOnWaivers wrote a piece about recent Stanley Cup winning teams having varying Faceoff % & Powerplay %. We thought we’d dig around a bit more, and so we graphed some stats of the past 6 Stanley Cup champions’ performances in respective playoffs (These stats are calculated per minute of given postseason, not counting minutes when team did not have a goalie in the net).

   Here they are:

Trend of "Real-Time" team statistics for past 6 Stanley Cup Champions

Observations?

• Blocked Shots is the only stat consistently trending down, none of the stats consistently trend up.

• “Hits” and “Takeaways” seem to be negatively inverse, as one will decrease as one increases, and vice versa.

• “Hits” and “Giveaways” seem to be inversely mirroring one another, both rising and dipping similarly.

• Last season, the LAK had the highest rate of Hits, Faceoff Wins, & Giveaways of any Championship postseason since 2009. However, they also had the lowest rates of Blocked Shots and Takeaways.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

   Henrik Lundqvist had the most Vezina voting in his 1st, 7th, or 8th full NHL season than either 3 Hall-of-Famer goalies. In fact, his 2012 Vezina Award was won at 80% (four-fifths of all votes), making it the most lopsided Vezina vote in NHL history!

   Of all the top NHL goaltenders to play since the 2004-05 lockout, Lundqvist stands out in terms of consistency & quality. Unlike Luongo, Rinne, Miller, Quick, Fleury or Price... Lundqvist has yet to have a below-average NHL season compared to league-average statistics.

Sather's Busy Summer - Part 1

Let’s pretend the salary cap doesn’t go up in 2016...

Since the NHL adopted a salary cap in 2005-06, growth has been an assumption for teams trying to plan out the future of their franchise.  The growth of a key player can be the m issing link that separates an elite roster from a middling team clinging to a playoff spot.  The growth of a fanbase can drive the success of a team, as increased ticket sales and TV deals lead to an uptick in spending to the cap.  But one factor that rarely changes is the expectation of an increased salary cap.  Unless Gary Bettman allows teams to amnesty more bloated contracts, this may be the year where cap-crunched teams are forced into decisions they would otherwise never make.

There are various factors (a weak Canadian dollar, contracted players voting in favor of not raising the cap) that contribute to the uncertainty surrounding this offseason for every team in the NHL.  This isn’t an article about why the cap may stay flat, but rather what that would mean for the New York Rangers.

The Rangers have a handful of cap-related issues to deal with this offseason:

CLICK to view full spreadsheet!

CLICK to view full spreadsheet!

Expiring Entry Level Deals (RFA w/out Arbitration Rights)

You’ll notice a lot of RFAs need to be signed by the Rangers this offseason, with Jesper Fast, J.T. Miller, and Oscar Lindberg headlining the team’s expiring entry level deals.  These players do not have arbitration rights, so unless they hold out, these forwards should see only a modest increase in their cap hit.  They’ve also become vital depth pieces to a cup-contending team that chose not to add much offensive help at the deadline.

MSL Needs to Accept Bonuses (UFA)

It’s hard to imagine the Rangers do not like what Martin St. Louis brings to the team, but he will have to play ball to stay in New York.  No team in the NHL can afford to sign a new contract with a player over 40 without the use of incentivized bonuses.  The Rangers have room next year to take on the kind of signing bonus St. Louis would command, and hopefully that can be enough to keep him in New York.  If not, that could free up cap room to find a suitable replacement on wing (Jaromir Jagr anyone?)

Where do the Rags put Hags? (RFA w/ Arbitration Rights)

After seeing the way the Rangers played vs Nashville on March 2nd, you can understand why Glen Sather signed Mats Zuccarello, and why he didn’t move any key roster players.  This is a close-knit team that wants to win together.  Now that the uncertainty of the trade deadline has passed, the team can rest easy in knowing their chemistry is intact going into the postseason. They may not have that luxury next season, as Carl Hagelin would likely go to arbitration (his qualifying offer is $2.4 million, probably more than the Rangers can stomach).  If he felt the Rangers weren’t paying him fairly (which is agent speak for “what my client would get on the market”).  A $69 million cap does not give the Rangers much wiggle room to resign Hagelin, especially when you consider the real off-season challenge for Sather.

How to Get Stepan Under the Cap? (RFA w/ Arbitration Rights)

Whether you want to admit it or not, Derek Stepan is becoming an elite pivot in the NHL (so long as success in the faceoff dots isn’t a prerequisite).  The whole Rangers cap crunch hinges on Stepan’s new contract.  Now that Dan Girardi and Marc Staal are locked up, the salary cap picture becomes a lot clearer.  Unfortunately, Stepan’s long-term future in New York may be a lot blurrier.

Smaller Roster = Less Depth

In looking at the charts above, it becomes easier to see that the Rangers are going to have to pinch every penny if they want to keep Stepan in the fold.  The second chart highlights how difficult it will be to keep Hagelin, St. Louis, and Stepan on the roster barring a large increase in the salary cap.  Is it worth giving up Hagelin, and signing 2 bottom 6 forwards in his place for $1M per?  Would you rather have a 26 year old who’s never topped 17 goals and plays less than 16 minutes a night, but seems to compliment the up-tempo style of the team? Or would you re-sign the 40-year old Martin St. Louis, who already has 18 on the season, but has seen his ice-time decrease for the second straight season?  Can Sather afford either if the cap doesn’t increase, while maintaining any semblance of depth?

-------------

In the interest in saving Mr. Sather some time - we’re sure you’re very busy, Glen - we humbly present our multi-part plan in the hopes that the Rangers can find enough cap space to maintain this roster we have all grown so fond of.

Cap Savings:

Trade Talbot - Sign $700,000 Backup Goalie - Projected Savings: $750,000

The Rangers may have been hasty to offer Cam Talbot such a lofty raise ($1.45M), and a $69 million cap may force the Rangers to move him.  A stagnant cap may affect the ability of other teams to take on this contract, but Sather will have to find a way.  Luckily, it’s a one-year contract, so that should alleviate some concerns from other teams.

Bury Tanner Glass/Sign Player for $575,000 - Projected Savings: $375,000

Vigneault seems to have realized that Tanner Glass has minimal use in an era where wasted cap space can be lethal to a teams ability to roll four lines.  They can bury Glass in Hartford for a cap savings of $950,000, but that spot would need to be filled by a minimum wage player.  Not ideal for depth either.  The Rangers could also buy out Glass in the offseason, giving a savings of an additional $100,000, though a portion of his cap hit would be on the books until 2019.

Trade Stepan for 2-3 roster players - Projected Savings: Neutral

This is certainly the least appealing option, but it might be Sather’s only one.  Stepan is a valuable commodity, and whether it’s a sign and trade, or Sather allowing teams to talk to his agent, the Rangers may need to part ways with their number one center.  Surely the return package would include roster-ready players, something the Rangers desperately would need in his absence.  Any picks the Rangers pick up could be swapped in the offseason for a one-season rental or two.   

Try to Move Dan Boyle/Sign Player for $575,000 - Projected Savings: $3,925,000

It won’t be easy to get Dan Boyle to trade his no-movement clause, as he intentionally took less money to come to New York.  Before the Yandle trade, Boyle was a necessity.  Now, he’s expendable.  Maybe a reduced role, especially on the power-play, will convince Boyle that his services would best be utilized by a team who cares a little bit less about defense.  If Sather can sweet-talk Boyle into changing sweaters, the savings would be huge.

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This is the price of competing for a championship in today’s NHL.  The Canadian dollar could recover, and that might raise the ceiling high enough to resign Stepan, St. Louis, and Hagelin.  Or the cap could raise a modest amount (say, $72 million), and the Rangers would still be faced with tough choices to fill out their roster.  Once the 2015-16 salary cap is announced in June, the future will be much more certain for Sather.  But don’t think for a second that he hasn’t considered the fragility with which he must approach this offseason.

A.V., Rangers Continue To Roll Lines, Is Zuccarello Contract "Fair?", Rick Nash in Gretzky/Lemieux Camp!

   Despite losing 2-1 in overtime against the Detroit Red Wings tonight, NY played their 2nd consecutive ‘solid’ game since the trade deadline. Detroit is a worth adversary in the polarized Eastern Conference, and it was The Jimmy Howard Show for most of the time (stopping 39 of 40 propelled pucks). Cam Talbot was also in top form, as only 2 goals total were scored in 60 minutes of regulation. James Sheppard made his Rangers debut, playing a team-low 9:58, and going 1-0 in the faceoff circle

• The NY Rangers have now gone 18 consecutive games (12-3-3) without losing a game by more than 1 goal, excluding empty-netters. The streak dates back to the 4-1 loss while visiting The New York Islanders on January 27th. The dozen-and-a-half games since have all been wins, or close losses.
• Coach Alaign Vigneault continues to roll his lines very evenly, which has been helpful to New York offensive surges in the 3rd periods all season long, and could be likewise effective in the postseason. Think about it. The game remains tied for 60, 70, 80 minutes, forcing teams to literally exhaust their benches to the bone. Yet Vigneault's Top 2 lines have been more rested than any of the teams listed below. This is a strength we're not hearing many people talk about specifically, so we created the chart below. 

NY with arguably the most interchangeable forward lines in the Conference playoff picture? Yes, please.

• Coach Alaign Vigneault continues to roll his lines very evenly, which has been helpful to New York offensive surges in the 3rd periods all season long, and could be likewise effective in the postseason. Think about it. The game remains tied for 60, 70, 80 minutes, forcing teams to literally exhaust their benches to the bone. Yet Vigneault's Top 2 lines have been more rested than any of the teams listed below. This is a strength we're not hearing many people talk about specifically, so we created the chart below. 

• Now that Mats Zuccarello's contract has been signed, and been allowed to sink into our thoughts for a few days... do you have any? At first, I didn't know what to make of it. Was it a "good" signing, or was it "relatively costly?" So I eyeballed 10 signings (into UFA years) the past 5 seasons for which I'll submit as "arguably comparable" predecessor contracts to Zucc:

This survey suggest Zuccarello's contract was close to "arguably comparative", which is to say NOT a bad thing. 

• Rick Nash, who registered an assist in tonight's overtime loss, continues to simultaneously lead the NHL in Even-Strength Goals & Shorthanded-Goals. This hasn't been accomplished since 22-year-old Mario Lemieux did it in 1987-88. Only Lemieux, and Wayne Gretzky ('82, '84, '85 & '87) have accomplished it in the past 35 years. Nash would also break Reggie Leach's record as the oldest player to lead both categories, as Leach was 29 when he did it in 1979-80. Nash turns 31 in June. 

• Bob McKenzie seems to think Lundqvist could healthily return to the NY Rangers lineup in 10-14 days. Lundqvist has been doing cardio & doing drills in full equipment, but still has yet to take shots or participate in full practice. 

CHECK OUT OUR NYR SALARY CHART HERE

CHECK OUT OUR NYR SALARY CHART HERE

NYR Salary Chart is Updated, Expanded

  NY Rangers SALARY CHART

( CLICK TO VIEW FULL SPREADSHEET! )

   I've finally updated the NY Rangers' salary chart after the deadline deals were calculated. Click here to view the salary chart.

   This summer the NY Rangers are going to end up giving Stepan at least $6 million per year (via either salary arbitration, extension, or trade-and-sign). This means MSL / Hagelin / Miller / Fast / Sheppard / Hunwick are going to need new contracts for the remaining $6.5 million. That's a tad over $1 million per player for 6 roster spots... and this assuming the salary cap rises from 69 to 72 million, which is probably an optimistic estimate given Canadian dollar's strength.

   For those unhappy about the "Win Now" mentality reflected in Glen Sather's trades, look at the year 2019 on the salary chart. NY Rangers will be spending one-third of their projected salary cap on 6 players, all of them above the age of 30. I point this out not to slight the players for being bad-value at the end of a long-term contract, nor to disagree with the General Manager for constructing moves akin to "win now, hangover later", as it's the logical cliff to jump from.

   The team NOW is a finely constructed hockey machine. With a healthily rested Henrik Lundqvist returning just in time for the postseason, if injuries can be avoided... trading premium draft picks and premium prospects (Good luck in Arizona, Mr. Duclair) for further depth and skill-per-defenseman is something I won't criticize. With most NHL players typically playing their best hockey prior to, rather than after, their 33rd birthday. If Lundqvist is truly the King, the logical blueprints to the franchise are to revolve around him: how many honest seasons of Cup Contention will feature Henrik between the pipes, putting up high-quality goaltending performances which have spoiled Broadway for the decade.

   Rangers are on overdrive. It may hurt in a few years, but it could seriously be worth it if 16 postseason games can be won this spring. It's seriously not out of the question at this point...

Also...

In case anyone is wondering... here are NYR's remaining draft picks the next few years:

2015 NHL Entry Draft

0 --- 1st Round Picks

1 --- 2nd Round Picks (Tampa's via Callahan trade) 

1 --- 3rd Round Picks 

1 --- 4th Round Picks 

0 --- 5th Round Picks 

1 --- 6th Round Picks 

0 --- 7th Round Picks 

2016 NHL Entry Draft

0 --- 1st Round Picks* 

1 --- 2nd Round Picks 

1 --- 3rd Round Picks 

1 --- 4th Round Picks (Arizona's via Yandle trade) 

1 --- 5th Round Picks 

1 --- 6th Round Picks 

1 --- 7th Round Picks 

* If NY Rangers fail to make playoffs in 2016, NYR will keep their 2016 1st round pick, and Arizona would instead receive NYR's 1st round pick in the 2017 Draft

Tough to Criticize Vigneault Administration... Benefit to Lundqvist's Injury?... Rick "Pay That Man His Cash" Nash...

   If Rick Nash scores 11 more Even-Strength goals in the 23 remaining NYR regular season games, he will be the oldest NHL player to score 39 ESG’s since Phil Esposito’s 1973-74 season. If Nash continues his pace, he’s set to lead the league in not only ESG’s, but #1 in Shorthanded Goals, Game-Opening-Goals, & Home Goals. Oh yeah, all this while playing only 17:36 per game. Yup. Rick Nash is scoring 2.175 goals-per-hour, an unprecedented amount considering it would also be an NHL record should Nash sustain his trajectory and win the Maurice Richard trophy.

   Last year’s Rick Nash has left the building. This year’s Rick Nash continues to own the joint. 

*     *     *     *    *

   I am certainly no “runner,” but I imagine the strategical basics for winning a marathon involve a large element of sustainable-pace running, with bits of sprinting at the final stretch. Well folks, winning a Stanley Cup is a lot like winning a marathon. It involves a minimum 82 regular season games, followed by 16-28 playoff games, any of which could go as long as 12 hours in theory. All the while, it is one of the most hazardous and physically-grueling professional sports leagues in North America. Teams will start hot in October, only to be skydiving in fretful by February (I’m talking to you, Toronto). So why make this point when it comes to coaching?

   John Tortorella was a fine coach for New York in my opinion, but he was a coach who relied (perhaps sub-optimally too much, in fact) on sprinting. There was too much of an unsustainable-pace in play to leave the roster anything but winded by May. To be fair, Tortorella probably needed to overwork certain quality players of others, because simply the team wasn’t good enough to win rolling 4 lines smoothly. If not total oblivion to the detriment of sprinting too much to win a marathon, Tortorella perhaps figured a winded 2nd round exit could keep him from getting canned. But Glen Sather walked out to the mound and took the ball from Torts nearly 2 years ago.

   Alain Vigneault, released from Vancouver following a 1st-round sweep to San Jose, was hired by New York shortly after. Vigneault was a staunch contrast to Tortorella in several ways: Tortorella was not a ‘player’s coach.’ Vigneault embodies a ‘player’s coach.’ One is stand-offish and has some wonderful press-conference YouTubes highlighting his temper, the other has vids of him laughing uncontrollably at Vernon Fiddler  impression of Kevin Bieksa. Night and day in aura, both demonstrating successful coaching is found all over the spectrum… but a few other key items also changed under the AV administration.

     ATOI                                                                                                                     

NHL RANK  GIRARDI   McDONAGH     STAAL    Top ATOI/GP Forward     

   2011-12:           4th                 15th           110th          Callahan (T-92nd)

   2012-13:           8th                 22nd           19th           Callahan (71st)

   2013-14:           38th               12th          T-101st        Richards (T-198th)

   2014-15:         T-38th              30th            73rd            Stepan (T-212th)

   Last season and this season, Vigneault has had a balance rotation of attack. He’s called upon, coached, seemingly been uniformly obliged by his cadets, and exercised every bit of supposed “depth” out of the rosters he’s been handed… all while coming through with magnificent results. That’s why both of AV’s seasons as NYR coach, they are also the only two seasons the NY Rangers have not had a forward average 19+ minutes per/game (since its tracking began in 1997). In fact, the only other time a Rangers forward has not averaged 20 minutes a game in any season was the 1999-2000 Rangers, where Petr Nedved averaged 19:54/game. Vigneault’s pine-piloting has been a revelation, totally unseen in Madison Square Garden’s home bench approach.

    Why are the NY Rangers such a successful team this year? Why are they so equipped to protect 3rd period leads under Vigneault’s approach? Simple: The NY Rangers are one of the most well-rounded teams in the NHL when it comes to burning all parts of the candle. When the 3rd frame is underway, players like Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh & Dan Girardi will have exerted several minutes’ less worth of ice time, and will have simply been more rested than their opponents. NYR, along with the Boston Bruins & Florida Panthers, are the only NHL teams with no forward averaging 19+ minutes per game. 

*    *    *    *    *

   There’s some sentiment floating around (and becoming less guilty to think about with more updates of Henrik Lundqvist’s rehab cardio drills) supposing Lundqvist returning for the playoffs with a long rest could be a serendipitous weapon of mass reduction come late April. Incredibly, the NY Rangers are in no need to rush his return, as the team’s parts have come together to stopgap sloppy wins with Cam Talbot suddenly taking the wheel. 

   My thoughts on it?

   Lundqvist won the 2012 Vezina Award, and carried the NY Rangers to the Eastern Conference Finals for the 1st time in 18 years. It was certainly his best season at that time, and perhaps arguably his best overall year of hockey in the NHL. It was also the 1st season Lundqvist was rested more than a dozen games in a single season since he took the starting job from Kevin Weekes in early 2006. Last season, en route to the Cup Finals, Lundqvist was rested 19 games (though some form injury), and had his most impressive postseason campaign to date. 

   Lundqvist rested is probably good news for the NY Rangers winning a marathon. The players being administered Vigneault’s soft, diluted, apportioned icetime-per-game is better for a marathon than Tortorella’s strong, fiery, bitter straight shots of 25-minutes-per-game. But that’s not an overwhelming reason why I’m genuinely getting ‘excited’ about this year’s Broadway Blueshirts…

   It’s the adversity. The results from that adversity. When given no room to breathe, this team has held its breath, gone to war, and constantly been able to fight their way out of corners. 

   On a team with a bare-bone crop of 4 or 5 needed centers, losing Derek Stepan the 1st dozen games of the season was supposed to cripple the team’s expectations to start the year. They went 6-4-2 while juggling Derrick Brassard, Martin St. Louis, Dominic Moore, J.T. Miller & Chris Mueller in various pivot placements. Remember Ryan McDonagh’s ugly-looking injury in November, causing him to miss 4 weeks, coupled with Brian Boyle’s broken hand? While deploying fill-ins like Matt Hunwick, Mike Kostka, Conor Allen, & Dylan McIlrath to defend work assignments of superior pedigree, the team still managed to go a respectable 4-4-3 while the shallowness of depth on the blueline was exposed during the turkey season.

   The come-from-behind comebacks early on against the NJ Devils & Minnesota Wild, as well as the memorable 3rd period rally over the NY Islanders a few weeks ago. These are amazing results. These are efficient hockey players executing a winning system, not without its occasional sloppiness, but assuredly above expectations, even in the mere months following last June’s drive to the Finals.

   Of course the NY Rangers are undoubtedly scavenging the trade deadline rental market, imaginably keen on improving depth, perhaps in center's or defenseman’s position. There is a tight leash as to NYR's financial liberties under the $69-million salary cap, so there’s unlikely a mesmerizing trade to be made. More likely a few additional pieces, to protect a team looking to make a run from a wave of untimely injuries. But, akin to the 2012 trade deadline where the NYR remained neutral, and pursued the playoffs with the same squad that had won the East in the regular season… Is this a team that can go the distance without any significant upgrades, transactions or contractual-outsourcing?

   If they are, it’s of certain thanks to coach Alain Vigneault, the riveting assortment of skill, smart & speed deployed with impressive balance night-in, night-out, fetching continually remarkable results. If this NY Rangers team is for real, the gentle hum of a balanced, hard-working engine sure can be a sweet soundtrack for a taking a drive at hockey’s highest of hardware hoists.