Wendell Cruz-Imagn ImagesThe Rangers will sink or swim this season depending on how the following questions -- prepared by my new sidekick Aiden Saavedra -- are answered. Without further ado, here we go:
QUESTION ONE: WHO WILL BE THE BLUESHIRTS' BACKUP GOALIE? Jon Quick went bye-bye – and just in time, I might add. That leaves The Mave's fave, Dylan Garand – he had a grand Garand end-of-season audition – as Quick's deserving replacement. But since Chris Drury traded for Joonas Korpisalo, you know what that means: Garand can star in training camp but Dru's boy will get the back-up gig!
QUESTION TWO: WHAT WILL IT MEAN IF – MIRACULOUSLY – ADAM FOX STAYS HEALTHY? When Fox is good, he's very-very good but when he's bad he's horrid. We've seen both sides of Adam; the Norris Trophy-winner and the crippled-by-injury fella. If Fox stays A-1, the Blueshirts will have the best power play in the East! (They should be so lucky.)
QUESTION THREE: WHY DID THE RANGERS STRUGGLE AT HOME LAST SEASON? The easy answer: they were a mousy-lousy team. A shrink's reply: They were choked by the big New York stage. (A lotta new faces could change that this term.)
QUESTION FOUR: WHAT IMPACT WILL OLIVER BJORKSTRAND AND PAVEL DOROFEYEV HAVE ON THE RANGERS OFFENSE? Since the Rangers no longer have a No. 1 center the trickle-down effect will be a less-than-super-season for both.
QUESTION FIVE: WHO WILL REPLACE VINNIE TROCHECK AS ALTERNATE CAPTAIN? It doesn't matter, Trocheck is irreplaceable. Period! (Frankly, it will be painful to know what a season he could have had in 2026-2027 in a Blueshirt!)
QUESTION SIX: What's one major adjustment Mike Sullivan should make as coach? How about forcing Sully to watch Rod Brind'Amour lead his Canes to the Cup. THAT is how you coach a hockey team my friend.
