Here was coach David Quinn on a practice day in California a few weeks ago, declaring the intentions of his young Rangers:
“Part of developing is learning how to win. I think it’s very important for us to make the playoffs.”
And here is Quinn again, speaking about his team’s game in Philadelphia on the day Monday, the club’s final game before the league’s three-day Christmas break:
“We can’t hide from how big this game is. We want to make the playoffs.”
The Rangers lost that game, 5-1, and went into the break with a bit of a sour taste in their mouths. As a matter of fact, since the 2-1-1 road trip out West, the Rangers are 1-3-0, and if they look at the standings, the hope of the postseason is starting to seem glum. In the NHL of three-point games, the Blueshirts have an aesthetically pleasing record of 17-15-4, and yet their 38 points are fourth worst in the Eastern Conference.
When the Hurricanes come into the Garden on Friday, the Rangers will be eight points out of the second wild card. They’ve played just 36 games, but it’s a lot of ground to make up.
None of this is news to general manager Jeff Gorton, who is constantly evaluating his team’s situation as the Feb. 24 trade deadline quickly approaches. Another sell-off as in the previous two seasons — and another nosedive — can be expected. With attractive trade chips in Chris Kreider, Jesper Fast, Ryan Strome and possibly goalie Alexandar Georgiev, who knows what the roster will look like on the other side of the deadline.
Actually, who knows how the Rangers will play leading up to it, with the rumors becoming unavoidable and Gorton required to do his due diligence to see what type of returns could come back. For the times that it seemed like the rebuild was accelerating, it is still a rebuild. It is still about the future more than it is about the present.
Sometimes that makes the present hard to get excited about.
After Carolina comes in, the Rangers immediately leave for their annual New Year’s trip. This year, the Blueshirts go to Toronto on Saturday night for the second leg of a back-to-back before heading west, where 2020 will be rung in with a game in Edmonton, followed by stops in Calgary and Vancouver. January is a rather quiet month, with only a trip to St. Louis, and no games for the eight days (Jan. 22-30) surrounding the All-Star break.
By the time February hits, there will be a better picture of whom these Rangers are, and they will have a better idea whether the playoffs are a realistic possibility. Unless they go into utter free fall, odds are Quinn will continue talking about the postseason as the goal, just as the players will continue talking about it as a goal. What else can they do?
But even now, the Rangers situation looks to be leading to another quiet spring on Broadway. Because to make the playoffs, the Rangers have to prove they’re better than quite a few teams. If the Capitals and Bruins are in a different category, closely followed by the Islanders, whom in the East are the Rangers actually better than?
Are they better?
The Rangers come out of the Christmas break eight points out of a playoff spot. Outside of the East’s big three (Capitals, Bruins, Islanders), where do the Rangers stand?
Top contenders
Flyers: Deep up-front, dynamic on the blue line, and goalie Carter Hart is the real deal.
Maple Leafs: So talented and awakened by Mike Babcock’s firing.
Penguins: Maintaining without Sidney Crosby, who returns soon.
Hurricanes: Same work ethic as 2019 conference finalists, with a possible Justin Williams return looming.
Lightning: Rope-a-dope regular season. They’ll turn it on.
Middle
Panthers: Proving tough for Sergei Bobrovsky to play with all that tax-free money in his pockets.
Sabres: So much better under Ralph Krueger, but still so young and inconsistent.
Blue Jackets: Can’t lose that much talent and not feel a big dip.
Senators: Better than expected, but can’t win outside Ottawa.
Dregs
Devils: Can’t imagine it gets any better with Taylor Hall gone.
Red Wings: Shaping up for an all-time bad season in Detroit.