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Shesterkin's strong play gives Rangers license to take more risks |
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The New York Rangers were loose in their defensive coverage last season. They gave up 788 dangerous scoring chances against, according to NaturalStatrick.com. That's pushing toward 10 per game. They were the only team ranked in the bottom 10 in that category that qualified for the NHL playoffs.
You'd think the Rangers would scheme to clean up that deficiency. But maybe not.
Former New York Rangers defenseman Tom Laidlaw, a stay-at-home defender in his day, theorizes his former team can find more success playing this riskier style.
The reason: Acrobatic, Vezina trophy-winning goalie Igor Shesterkin can save them on the back end.
"Think about the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s with Grant Fuhr in net," Laidlaw said. "It was same way. They were run and gun. It was all offense.")
You can also compare the current Rangers' style to the Buffalo Sabres team in the 1990s. They reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1999 taking chances offensively because they had Dominik Hasek in net.
There is logic to a plan of taking advantage of Shesterkin's talent to give the Rangers' offense a boost. Even though they took some chances last season, the Rangers were a mediocre scoring team (ranked 17th out of 32 teams) last season. The offense needs to take chances to score enough.
The New York Islanders were committed to defense last season, but didn't make the playoffs. Today, Islanders fans are rooting for new coach Lane Lambert to give the green light to Mathew Barzal to be more of a risk-taker.
In New York, Coach Gerard Gallant thus far has given the Rangers enough freedom offensively.
"I never really looked Gallant's coaching style, but I loved how he got the most out of his players, especially in Vegas," Laidlaw said. "But I've seen him talk here in New York, he openly talks about not being a big structure guy. "
Laidlaw did notice the sloppiness of the Rangers' defensive play last season, but felt it didn't hurt the team often because Shesterkin is such a talent.
"There were times, especially in the playoffs, when you thought, "I wish they were more structured, but when they are coming back when they are down, scoring goals, creating things, not quitting and playing with passion and I'm thinking, "I really like the way he coaches."
The Rangers owned the seventh-best record in the NHL last season. Whatever they were doing, it worked more often than not.
The best guess is the Rangers will tweak their defensive scheme in training camp, but not so much that they slow down the team's offensive attack. They want to maintain their offensive tempo.
The Notebook:
2. When Nashville hosts the 2023 NHL draft, it will be 20 years after the last time the city was the site of the draft. The amazing aspect of that note is that there are still players in the NHL that were drafted that year. The list includes Marc-Andre Fleury, Eric Staal, Ryan Suter, Jeff Carter, Zach Parise, Brent Burns, Brian Boyle, Perry, Louie Eriksson and Joe Pavelski.
3. The Detroit Red Wings added three scoring forwards (Andrew Copp, David Perron and Dominik Kubalik), four defensemen (Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta, Mark Pysyk and Robert Hagg) and improved their goaltending (Ville Husso). But the NHL Network's team preview has them finishing the same or worse in the Atlantic Division. This is a hard league. Mike Johnson picks them seventh out of eight teams in the Atlantic.
4. Kiruna, Swedish club Borje Salming played for before arriving in the NHL, will wear a No. 21 sticker on this helmets this season to honor him. The former Toronto Maple Leafs great announced recently that he has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease.
5. Goaltender Jake Oettinger's three year, $12 million signing is within the normal range for a bridge deal. It feels a little team-friendly because I like his potential, but it's probably a good deal for both player and team. That leaves the Dallas Stars with $6.3 million to re-sign restricted free agent. That is enough for a bridge deal, but not enough for a long-term deal. Robertson's negotiation possesses an element of trickiness simply because he could be the face of the franchise. He's 23 and scored 41 goals last season. You want him tied up long-term.
6. Aleksander Barkov is the only active Finnish player among the top 10 leading NHL point producers for his country. The Florida Panthers' center ranks 10th with 553 points. He needs just 19 points to pass Jussi Jokinen and Kimmo Timonen to move into eighth place. He is 77 points behind seventh place Essa Tikkanen (630). Teemu Selanne is the leading Finnish-born NHL scorer with 1,457 points.
7. Twenty-three years ago today, Sept. 1, 1999, the NHL's Board of Governors approved Mario Lemieux’s application to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins. At the time, the Penguins were in serious financial trouble. This was the first time in North America sports history when a team was owned by one of its former players. Last year, Lemieux sold much of his ownership stake, but still owns a piece of the team.
8. One of the most underappreciated statistics from last season: Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor finishing second in the NHL with 36 even-strength goals. Only Auston Matthews (44) had more.
9. Pat Verbeek continues to do impressive work as Anaheim's GM. Bringing Dimitri Kulikov to Anaheim through a trade with Minnesota rounds out the Ducks' defense. Kulikov posted seven goals, plus more than 100 hits and blocked shots, while averaging 18+ minutes per game. His plus-minus was +23. Because the Wild were dumping a salary, the return was future considerations.
10. With two assists in the first two periods against Hungary Thursday, Hilary Knight became the top career scorer in Women's World Championships with 87 points. Knight picked up her 88th point with a third period goal. She had to climb over stars like Cammi Granato and Hayley Wickenheiser to claim that record.
11. Pittsburgh Penguins employee Amanda Kessel had five assists, including four primary helpers, in the first two periods. Kessel is the sister of NHL standout Phil Kessel. No question the Kessels are among the greatest sibling connections in American hockey history.
12. Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman has bought into the ownership group of Plymouth Argyle, an English soccer team that plays in League 1, the third tier of English soccer.
13. Kyle Turris, 33, announced his retirement from the NHL and will serve as special advisor to general manager, and player development coach, for Coquitlam of the British Columbia Hockey League. He was the No. 3 pick overall in the 2007 draft, but never able to live up to expectation. He played his best hockey for the Ottawa Senators, scoring 24, 26 and 27 goals in three separate seasons. He finished with 168 goals in 776 NHL games.
14. Retired Hall of Fame Chicago Blackhawks play by play man Pat Foley recently called a Chicago Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals MLB contest at Wrigley Field
15. Happy Birthday, Brian Bellows. He turns 58 today. In case you have forgotten, Bellows scored 485 career NHL goals in 1,188 games for the Minnesota North Stars, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Washington Capitals. He scored 40 or more goals four times, including 55 goals for the North Stars in 1988-89.
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