Coach Peter Laviolette and the New York Rangers haven’t figured it out.
One year ago this month, the Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy under Laviolette. This season, they don’t have answers on how to stop the rot after falling out of playoff position in December. It’s clear something has to change for next season.
The Rangers are fourth in the Metropolitan Division, six points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second Eastern Conference wild-card berth. They have only five games left in the regular season, so their destiny is out of their hands.
After getting blown out 5-1 by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, Laviolette didn’t have much to say about his message in the dressing room.
“I don’t have a message right now,” Laviolette told reporters after Monday’s loss. “I don’t go into the locker room after the game.”
If that didn’t sound like a coach who had run out of answers for what ails his team, consider Laviolette’s comments over the weekend, after the Rangers lost another crucial game, falling to the New Jersey Devils by a 4-0 score.
Laviolette was asked about whether his team’s spot in the standings surprised him.
“If you would’ve asked me this summer, I’d say ‘yes,’ ” Laviolette told the New York Post. “If you’re asking me on the daily, if you’re asking me from yesterday to today, the answer is ‘no. ’ We need to win more hockey games. It’s not something that I woke up this morning and was surprised by. We’ve been in this position all year. We’ve been outside the line, we’ve been just inside the line, and it doesn’t surprise me at this point.”
The Rangers being outscored 9-1 in two must-win games really says it all about where this team is now. There are no excuses.
Rangers GM Chris Drury must take accountability for this roster and the fall from first place in the NHL last season to being out of the playoffs this year.
Laviolette can’t be expected to build something positive next season if Drury gives him more or less the same lineup to work with. Given that the Rangers already have $85.8-million in salary cap space taken up next season – and that they’ll need to use much of their $9.6 million of space on RFA defenseman K’Andre Miller and the team’s other six RFAs – Drury must be creative on the trade front to change the makeup of his roster.
Even then, there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to rebound.
Even if Laviolette isn’t fired – which seems like a remote possibility, based on his lack of surprise or messaging about the team’s struggles – there must be some change to get this organization where it wants to be.
Time and again this season, the Rangers have been less than the sum of their parts. While Laviolette is responsible for part of that, Drury is ultimately accountable for the lineup he put together.
Even then, no message that Laviolette can deliver can make something out of this team, and that’s a fundamental problem of Drury’s making. If the Rangers could win even a handful of key games, they’d be safely in a playoff position.
Alas, they aren’t that resilient or determined, and nothing the coach can do at this stage will change that.
Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.