2019-20 Rangers' Team Identity

I've seen in several GDT and elsewhere questions about what the Rangers' team identity is under Quinn. I'm encouraging those thoughts to be shared in this thread.

 

Rangers are allowing 2nd most goals per game (behind only Detroit)

 

http://www.nhl.com/stats/team?reportType=season&seasonFrom=20192020&seasonTo=20192020&gameType=2&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=goalsAgainstPerGame

 

Lundqvist is 30th in save percentage, Georgiev 39th in save percentage.

http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?report=goaliesummary&reportType=season&seasonFrom=20192020&seasonTo=20192020&gameType=2&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=savePctg

 

Let's say we can get to league-average in goaltending with a combination of Lundqvist, Georgiev, and Shesterkin. That means some nights they'll pitch a shutout, but some nights we might still give up 4 or 5 goals a game.

 

I see at least 3 approaches.

 

1. The Florida Panthers approach-emphasis on scoring and the power play. Defensemen pinch in offensive zone and emphasis is on attack. Cons: odd man rushes against, give up more goals.

 

2. The Ottawa Senators approach- emphasis on grit, hard work, and fulfilling your role - outworking opponent. Cons: difficult to maintain intensity for a 82 game regular season and postseason.

 

3. The Rangers Tortorella approach-emphasis on lock-down defense and shot blocking. Defensemen better not pinch in offensive zone and not make a play. Cons: sacrifice offense, physical grind on players.

 

I don't see this team making the playoffs without better play from our defensemen and goalies. But given the 3 approaches, I think our roster is best suited to the Florida Panthers approach. We would need to continue to improve our power play. More and more of the players on our roster are offensive-oriented, and haven't shown the inclination to work in the defensive zone.

 

There are many other approaches, so feel free to share alternative team philosophies that would suit our roster.

Fast, Physical, Relentless.

 

2018 training camp shirt

It looks to me that the Rangers approach is a combination of all three. I don't know if it's Quinns intention to have this mixed defensive system. I'm hoping Shesty gets the call up before Christmas and he can bring some stability in their net. The defense should, at some point, settle in and be more consistent. This string of games to finish out Nov. should help.

There are more than 3 ways to win games.

 

That said, the Rangers don't have an identity yet. That's something that comes with time. They know they're skilled enough to score 4+ goals a game the problem is, they often forget they have to play team defense. There are a lot of young players trying to figure out what their own career paths and team roles will look like so it's not surprising the team is inconsistent. If DeAngelo isn't scoring, what is he doing? Is Georgiev an actual starting goalie in this league? Is Buchnevich capable of 60 minutes without one major fuck up? For the 7 players who are 21 and under, they're just trying to figure out what the NHL is let alone their place in it.

 

I think as players begin to show more and more confidence and begin to play more consistently, we'll see a team identity begin to show. Can Lemieux continue to play at this level? Fox? Lindgren? Chytil? Saw some signs of life from Howden this trip. Only time will tell

There are more than 3 ways to win games.

 

That said, the Rangers don't have an identity yet. That's something that comes with time. They know they're skilled enough to score 4+ goals a game the problem is, they often forget they have to play team defense. There are a lot of young players trying to figure out what their own career paths and team roles will look like so it's not surprising the team is inconsistent. If DeAngelo isn't scoring, what is he doing? Is Georgiev an actual starting goalie in this league? Is Buchnevich capable of 60 minutes without one major fuck up? For the 7 players who are 21 and under, they're just trying to figure out what the NHL is let alone their place in it.

 

I think as players begin to show more and more confidence and begin to play more consistently, we'll see a team identity begin to show. Can Lemieux continue to play at this level? Fox? Lindgren? Chytil? Saw some signs of life from Howden this trip. Only time will tell

 

Yup. Pretty much right on. Consistency is a huge part of establishing an identity, unless you want the identity to be "inconsistent". Once they play a consistent game, then it will be a lot easier to give their identity a label.

So long as the Rangers are among the leaders in allowing high danger scoring chances, their goalies' save percentages will be among the lowest in the league. I don't see the goalies play as part of the problem, but we do have to decide what to do about Sheshty.

Their identity to date is inconsistency and often times to extremes.

 

That said I think that it can be expected at this time, their identity will continue to evolve - hopefully.

There are more than 3 ways to win games.

 

That said, the Rangers don't have an identity yet. That's something that comes with time. They know they're skilled enough to score 4+ goals a game the problem is, they often forget they have to play team defense. There are a lot of young players trying to figure out what their own career paths and team roles will look like so it's not surprising the team is inconsistent. If DeAngelo isn't scoring, what is he doing? Is Georgiev an actual starting goalie in this league? Is Buchnevich capable of 60 minutes without one major fuck up? For the 7 players who are 21 and under, they're just trying to figure out what the NHL is let alone their place in it.

 

I think as players begin to show more and more confidence and begin to play more consistently, we'll see a team identity begin to show. Can Lemieux continue to play at this level? Fox? Lindgren? Chytil? Saw some signs of life from Howden this trip. Only time will tell

 

Good post.

 

Right, I agree that especially with a young team, a team identity will develop during the course of a season. With the Blues last year, they fired their coach, found Binnington, and developed their philosophy on-the-fly.

 

But I'm also thinking about longer term success (Devils with their neutral zone trap, Red Wings in their heyday, etc) - where the organization knows team identity/culture, picks players that will fit into the system, and develops talent to fit into specific roles on the team.

 

The Penguins seem like a counterargument (Crosby, Malkin, Letang, etc) that simply having one of the most talented teams leads to Cups. I would suggest that although the talent was critical to their success, when Pittsburgh lacked structure/organization/grit, those were the years they got bounced from the playoffs early. If this was pond hockey the more talented team would win 95% of the time. But given all the one goal games in a seven game series, talent isn't enough.