1. The Rangers are too soft. That's the gist and jest of it and remedies must be delivered by Chris Drury, not later than training camp.
2. Easily the best player to solve the Blueshirts' 98-pound weakling image would be Sam Bennett of the defending champion Florida Panthers.
3. "Every team needs a guy like Bennett," says my Panthers correspondent Big Al Greenberg, "especially at playoff time. He plays on edge which is standard operating procedure in the playoffs."
The Really Scary Similarities Between The Rangers and Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs are the richest team in the NHL and the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers" target="_blank">Rangers</a> are second richest. (Can you guess what's coming next?)
4. Panthers coach Paul Maurice on Bennett: "He can change a series with a hit. He's very physical and also very skilled."
5. We'll see firsthand tomorrow night when the Eastern Conference Final begins at Lenovo Center in Raleigh. The Cats vs. The Canes is a scriptwriter's dream come true.
6. The Maven is rooting for Florida because I'm a bigger fan of Cats' coach Paul Maurice than the Canes' Rod Brind'Amour. (Lemme just say this goes back a long way with me and Brind'Amour and, for now, we'll leave it at that!)
7. My Pittsburgh correspondent Vince Comunale tells me that Mike Sullivan's Core Four in Pitt – led by Sidney Crosby and Geno Malkin – "were mostly free from coaching criticism and reprimand. Which also makes it difficult for a head coach."
8. Fair enough, but does that mean that the Ranger Core Four – led by Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad – will be "free of coaching criticism and reprimand" now that Sully is coaching in New York?
9. Defense was a major Rangers flaw last season so you have to wonder which "defensive coach" will replace the fired Phil Housley.
10. The best defensive coach I ever knew is not available. That would beHall of Famer Larry Robinson.