Since the Rangers have mainly had coal in their stocking this year, here’s hoping Kris Kringle left some great gifts under the Rangers tree last night.

Lets Find Some Ways To Fix The NY Rangers This Season

For the past month and a half NY Rangers fans have watched last years President Trophy winner and a supposed Stanley Cup contender this season just fall apart. The teams structure has been non-existent, their defense is a mess, and their scorers simply aren’t scoring. Having their third “new coach” in the last four years does not mean we should try and try again until they find the right bench boss.

Simply firing the head coach is the easy answer instead of firing 20 or more players. That being said, here is how I think the season can be turned around and possibly saved before The NY Rangers season implodes!

Here Are Some Suggestions I Think Could Help

  1. Don’t fire the head coach, fire the assistant!
    • I know I know everyone is disappointed right now with Head Coach Peter Laviolette. After an amazing first season getting all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, it seems like Laviolette has lost his grasp on the team. Critics will claim that in every city that Laviolette has coached he does extremely well in the first season, but in his second season his teams take a step back. However I refuse to believe that a coach who has brought 3 teams to a Stanley Cup Final, and had one team, The Carolina Hurricanes, win a Stanley Cup, has just “lost it.”
    • Having watched how poorly the Rangers defense has performed this year, it seems like this is the first area I would look to improve. Assistant coach Phil Housley was a wonderful player in his day, even being elected into the NHL Hall of Fame, but what was one thing Housley was not known for?….defense. Phil seems like a great guy, but I fire him ASAP and bring in an assistant coach who knows how to play tough defensive hockey. My suggestion…former NJ Devil and also a Hall of Fame Scott Stevens!
    • Now I know I know he’s a former Devil and Rangers fans would gasp at the though of the enemy coaching our team. But in case they forget, Laviolette and former NY Islander Brian Trottier have been Rangers coaches so lets not get all bent out of shape here with the former “enemy” crap.. Simply stated Stephens knows how to play defense and he played it tougher than most NHL blue liners! Thats who I want to coach this team and its defensemen.
  2. Start trading off the older players, especially ones with no move clauses in the contracts
    • Now I know the Ranger fans assumes this is impossible. Most players who sign big contracts with “no move” clauses are simply too hard if not impossible to deal. However that’s not necessarily the case. Take for example the case of former Ranger Barclay Goodrow. When Goodrow signed his big free agent deal a few years ago, of course the GM had to give him a “no move” clause. Oh my God I hate these contract stipulations! They are gonna be the death of the sport one day, but more on this in another column.
    • When the team tried to trade Goodrow this past Summer, originally he balked at any trade saying the team could not move him because of this no move clause in his deal. So what did Chris Drury do? (one of the few smart decisions he has made in my opinion)? He told Goodrow if he didn’t waive this clause and balk at being moved , he would be put on waivers so any team could claim him! What did Goodrow do?? he waived the clause so the team could trade him to a team of Goodrows liking, that being San Jose.
    • That being said, if any of the high priced Rangers who are not performing right now, Whether its Mika Zibanejad, or Chris Kreider, or dare I say Adam Fox, then threaten to put them on waivers and lets see what happens. Too many Rangers, especially older ones are just not performing good enough right now based on their salaries and where they fit on the team’s leadership structure. Its time to admit this season should be the time to trade your assets now and build for a younger stronger team for the future before its too late!
  3. Play the Kids!!
    • This is simple. If your team is fading fast and you have to decide whether to trade by the deadline or sell all your tradeable assets, you need to see what your current future can do. That doesn’t mean giving Zibanejad, Kreider, Vinny Trocheck and even Artemi Panarin top minutes, especially on the power play. Its time to see if the kids are alright! That means giving Philip Chitin, Alex Lafreniere, Will Cuylle, Zac Jones and maybe even Adam Edstrom first PP opportunity. Lets see what these young Rangers can bring to the table before its too late. Even if you lose more than you win now is the time to evaluate your potential future core.

So there you have it, those are the three things I hope we saw under the tree on Christmas. If any of these ideas fail, or the Rangers season just spirals out of control, just play out the season and blow it all up at the end of the year. Yes that now means firing Laviolette as well as GM Chris Drury.

At that point, there’s only one name left that can potentially fix this mess and bring the rangers back to the promised land! He did it once before as a player, and his jersey hangs under the spoked ceiling at Madison Square Garden. His name….Mark Messier! But that’s a different column as well for another day. Happy New Year Rangers fans!

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