The transformation from old to new accelerated this summer following the Old Guard’s Last Ride second-round elimination by the Senators. The Rangers sent away 1,791 games of institutional memory in buying out Dan Girardi and trading Derek Stepan while Kevin Klein retired from the NHL.
Change was necessary. The core of the deep runs from 2014 and 2015 needed to be split. But as a result of the aforementioned moves and the loss of Oscar Lindberg to Vegas in the expansion draft, the Rangers open camp Friday as more of an unknown quantity than at any time since Alain Vigneault’s 2013-14 debut behind the bench.
The addition of Kevin Shattenkirk, the anticipated development of sophomore Brady Skjei and the potential for young puck-movers such as Anthony DeAngelo and Neal Pionk to make the squad should translate into the Blueshirts being crisper and more effective on breakouts. That in turn should mean less time defending and more time on the attack, an imbalance the other way that was a sore spot throughout 2016-17 even if Vigneault disputed that perception in his opening remarks Thursday.
But while addressing the blue-line mobility issue and buttressing the pipeline of prospects, the Rangers either created or were unable to address what appears to be their most pressing concern. And that, in a 180 whip-around from last season, is a lack of depth up front.
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The glaring hole(s), of course, are at center, pending looks at teenage first-round picks Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil, on both of whom the coach employed his accurate “talent has no age” bromide. But as the Rangers try and replace Stepan and Lindberg — the former a dependable and productive top-sixer for a half-decade and the latter coming off a very impressive postseason — their first move is moving J.T. Miller off the wing and into the middle.
First. Miller, still just 24 years old and by definition a work in progress, may have been drafted as a center 15th overall in 2011, but he has played only 20 games in the middle — 10 last year, five in 2014-15 and five in 2013-14 — as an emergency fill-in during his NHL career. So this transition back to his “natural” position is likely not to be organic.
Miller’s biggest challenges have come away from the puck and in his decision-making with it. Of course, there are more demands defensively on centers than on wings.
But this regarding the finger-in-a-dike approach (that is understandable given that David Desharnais and walk-on Andrew Desjardins are the veteran alternatives in the middle behind Mika Zibanejad and Kevin Hayes) means the Rangers become infinitely weaker on the flank, where Miller was the team’s best forward through the first 60 games before his late-season skid.
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The Rangers shot off to their 13-5 getaway last season on the strength of their uncommon depth and balance up front. Now, without Stepan and Lindberg in the middle, and without the departed Brandon Pirri (who provided a booster shot the first couple of months), the Rangers seem to have about 4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire.
If Miller, whose physical edge is likely to be dampened in the middle, does begin the season at center, then the Rangers’ depth chart on the wings will feature Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider, Pavel Buchnevich, Jimmy Vesey and Michael Grabner. With Jesper Fast expected to be sidelined for at least the first couple of weeks, that means Matt Puempel may have a top-nine role.
Look, the Rangers won’t even scrimmage until Saturday, so it is a bit premature to panic. Buchnevich and Vesey may make major leaps as sophomores. Nash may stay healthy for the first time in three years and reproduce the kind of effort he put forth in his Hart-consideration 2014-15. Kreider may evolve into the Ottawa third-period-Game-6 player for which everyone yearns.
But entering camp, last year’s great strength appears to be this year’s looming weakness. And that is regardless of whether Miller can make the demanding switch back to the middle.