An Offseason Of Changes For The New York Rangers: This Is A Good Thing.

This offseason will see many changes in the New York Rangers organization.  The Rangers seemed to wake up after a coaching change and came together under the tutelage of head coach John Tortorella to earn a playoff spot and then pushing the Washington Capitals to seven games in the first round.  Last season the Rangers’ offense was awful before the change.  It was 25th in the league in scoring and their power-play offense was even worse, it was 29th in NHL.  No forward scored at least 30 goals and they traded away their best player centerman Scott Gomez to the Montreal Canadiens.  Left wing Markus Naslund has retired, and disappointing LW Nikolai Zherdev might not be re-signed, this in an offense that needs a major overhaul.

The Rangers will be bringing back forward Ryan Callahan, as they came to terms with the restricted free agent on a multi-year deal.  This will help, last season the 24-year-old right winger set career highs with 22 goals and 40 points in 81 games.  They also signed winger Ales Kotalik to a three-year contract worth $9 million.  Kotalik had 20 goals and 43 points in 75 games with the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers last season, the fourth time in six seasons he reached the 20-goal mark.

The big move that the Rangers have made so far is signing free agent forward Marian Gaborik formerly of the Minnesota Wild.  The star winger has agreed to a five-year, $37.5 million contract.  Gaborik is now at the forefront of the Rangers’ offense.  He already proved he could score under the defensive-style system run by former Wild coach Jacques Lemaire so it’s going to be very interesting to watch to see how he does with head coach John Tortorella’s uptempo, attack-oriented system.  Tortorella took over for Tom Renney in February and attempted to jolt the team out of a defense-first style in the final months of the regular season and postseason.   The Rangers desperately need the scoring a healthy Gabork can provide.  He has 219 goals and 437 points in 502 career games and had a career-high 42 goals and 83 points in 77 games as recent as two seasons ago.  Gaborik was the third overall selection out of Slovakia in 2000 NHL draft and is a two-time All-Star.  The Rangers also added 20-goal scorer Christopher Higgins in the Gomez deal and will have a full season from late-season addition Sean Avery.  The Rangers signed enforcer Donald Brashear away from the Washington Capitals.  Brashear led the Capitals with 119 penalty minutes, and had one goal and four points in 63 games.

Last season, the Rangers had an excruciatingly thin defence corps, that was part of the reason for their breakdown in the playoffs.  The first move to address the defense came when the Rangers inked Hobey Baker winner Matt Gilroy out of Boston University.  Gilroy, who will be a 25-year-old rookie and they’re looking for him to come in and make a difference.

For all their question marks, the Rangers at least have a strong backbone in goal.  Henrik Lundqvist has played at least 70 games, winning 37 or more, for three straight seasons.  He can go through occasional bouts of inconsistency, but Lundqvist should be the least of the Rangers’ worries.  Their backup situation is covered by Steven Valliquette.

With their first round draft pick the Rangers selected 18 year old center Chris Kreider.  Kreider is an excellent skater with explosive speed and acceleration. His short-distance speed is exceptional.  He sees the play ahead of time and knows what he’s going to do with the puck as soon as he gets it.  He is an excellent passer and playmaker.  His foot speed, combined with his anticipation and quick stick, gives him the ability to create turnovers and gain puck possession.  He is a constant threat to develop breakaways on the penalty-killing unit.  He has both an excellent wrist and slap shot, which he disguises well and releases quickly.  He can score goals in a number of ways. New York is hoping that he can come in and contribute right away.

Now that New York’s GM is giving Tortorella what he needs in personnel, expect the Rangers to be competitive in the Eastern Conference.  It’s always a good situation for Hockey when New York is amongst it’s leaders.  The largest television market in both Canada and the U.S. has to be exploited for hockey to be able to bring in huge multi-million television contracts.  More money for teams leads to better players being  acquired and the level of play increasing and that;s a win-win situation for everyone.