There has been one stated goal for Dan Boyle since he signed his two-year, $9 million contract with the Rangers on July 1, 2014.
Now at 39 years old, Boyle just wants another chance to win a Stanley Cup.
Turns out that after a year and a half and one trip to the conference final, the goal is still feasible and within reach. But the path to it has been wrought with potholes.
“I don’t know, we went to Stanley Cup semifinals last year, so as far as I’m concerned, that’s all I care about,” Boyle said after Monday’s practice, with him set to stay in the lineup for the second consecutive game in Tuesday’s Garden match against the Hurricanes.
“I don’t care about personal statistics or anything like that, I just care about giving myself the opportunity to hoist the Cup again. I had given myself a chance last year, and hopefully, I’ll give myself and my team a chance this year.”
In devising the best way to do that, coach Alain Vigneault has decided Boyle is going to be scratched every now and again for the likes of 23-year-old Dylan McIlrath. Boyle sat for Friday’s 2-1 win over the Avalanche in Denver, and then took McIlrath’s spot for the second leg of the back-to-back, Saturday’s 4-1 win against the Coyotes in Phoenix.
It helps the Rangers are 10-2-2, and although they aren’t playing flawless hockey — and have had a rather easy schedule to start the season — they’ve tied the mark for the best start in franchise history.
“I know that every player wants to play and every player wants to play big minutes and have an important role in a team,” Vigneault said. “Dan’s role is very important in our team. Might not be the minutes that he once had, but he’s also not the same player he once was. That’s just normal as you get older — the skills and the speed — it’s just human nature.
“But he is an important part of our team, and when we need him in the lineup, we expect him to play well and play to his strengths.”
Vigneault said it was about two weeks ago when, “I told him there was a possibility” of being scratched. The coach also said general manager Jeff Gorton spoke to Boyle’s agent about it.
“Obviously players don’t like hearing that,” Vigneault said. “I didn’t expect him to be happy about it and cheery about it. But human nature is that at 39, you probably need a little bit more rest. So I need to be smart with him, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Boyle denied ever having a powwow with Vigneault in discussing the long-term plan — and that could likely just be a difference in semantics — but the 16-year veteran was very matter-of-fact about his situation.
“I’ve changed, the game has changed,” Boyle said. “I just have to do the best that I can on that given night. I think all of us in here, it’s just confidence.”
It’s tough for a player to have an abundance of confidence when he’s in and out of the lineup, and Boyle even mentioned he understands what McIlrath is going through, having made the team but played in only three of the first 14 games. Boyle said he went through the same thing as a young player coming up with the Panthers.
But that was the late-1990s, and now Boyle is at a very different point in his career. He played better on Saturday, but the plan for him this season is now clearer than it once was — with still the same singular goal in mind.
“It’s one game at a time,” Boyle said. “When you’re playing 24 minutes a night and have a long leash, so to speak, you play a little bit different, you do things different. It’s a different environment, and you just have to try to do the best you can with what you got.
“If I play one good game and I don’t show up the next, it’s not going to matter.”