The New York Rangers were the biggest gamblers in the NHL transfer window. The team added two former superstars and players who won almost everything.
Patrick Kane managed to win three Stanley Cups in Chicago and personally everything possible. Vladimir Tarasenko celebrate the 2019 championship with St. Louis.
And a defender also joined the team from St. Louis Niko Mikkola as well as a depth forward from Ottawa Tyler Motte.
Rangers’ active approach was not surprising. The team already had strong purchase pants on last season, when it was acquired Andrew Coppin, Frank Vatrano, by Justin Braun and the aforementioned Motte.
Then the flight was enough for the Eastern Conference finals. Now the stakes were raised significantly.
– You could expect something along these lines, because we were active last year as well. There were rumors about Kane, but Tarasenko and Mikkola came as a surprise to themselves. On the other hand, after Tarasenko, few believed that Kane would still be there. At least on paper, the bunch got stronger, Rangers’ Finnish striker Kaapo Kako says.
A threat or a possibility?
At the same time, when the Rangers have gained a huge amount of skill, decision-making power, experience and a culture of winning, it is probably fair to ask if this is related to big player deals in the middle of the season.
If Rangers are analyzed only on paper after the transfers made, the situation is delicious. The center forward department is a tough class, and on the wings, you can find attacking power with such a width that some opponents might be terrified.
But will the team that experienced such significant changes at the end of the straight have time to grow together in a way that would allow them to fight for the spur?
Of course it is possible, but history does not exactly support this view.
In the salary cap era (2006–), no championship team has made such significant changes to their team at the transfer deadline. Los Angeles added to its ranks in the spring of 2012 Jeff Carter’s and two years later Marian Gaborik too and won.
– There can be a challenge in that. It’s always great to have good players, but at the same time, the chains change, the dominant compositions change and someone might not be able to play anymore, Kakko spins.
– In our case, I believe that when there are fewer games, chains are found and this commotion calms down a bit, then the level of the game will rise. There are already playoff-level matches at hand here, the Finnish star reflects.
Kako’s playing time reduced – how to keep the players happy?
One challenge is definitely related to group dynamics through individuals. For example, Kakko played only 11 minutes in last week’s last match and didn’t even change with superiority.
How do you keep players happy with diminishing responsibilities?
– Of course, here you have to play with your own mind. A few more dudes and in the last game I didn’t play with superiority for a single second. However, I still consider myself a superior player. On the other hand, I’m not thinking about the end of the season anymore. If the superiority works, it doesn’t matter to me if I’m there or not, Kakko downloads.
Acting as JYP’s assistant coach Ville Nieminen was traded at the back three times in his NHL career, to Calgary, San Jose and St. Louis.
– When Kane comes to take ice time from a young player, the situation must be challenged and motivated to bring something else to the table. We should try to find the idea that I’m still a tough guy and I’m bringing new things to this, says Nieminen.
– I believe that in the case of Rangers, every player understands that this is no longer about self-interest, he continues.
Kakko echoes Nieminen’s views.
– When I get to play, I play as well as I can. The whole idea now is to go as far as possible. You would always like to play it, but now we have such a team that we will be ahead of the team for the rest of the season.
The new situation is not simple even for coaching. The competition in the Eastern Conference is shockingly tough, and there is only a month to bring a new team together.
– In this case, the good thing is that the leading players manage things very well with each other. The task of coaching is then to take care of the so-called suffering department, Nieminen states.
Urheilu’s ice hockey expert Ismo Lehkonen in my opinion, the role of the Rangers is at the center of everything.
– There is a hell of a rain of stars in the team now, and the coach is sure to be thinking about who will drive to the finish line, get stops from the hair-raising game, do the back hair-raising to their full potential, and so on. It’s about doing the dirty work. In good teams, everyone does all the work, Lehkonen reminds.
What is Kane’s health status, will there be a top hit in the spring?
Some kind of question mark is also related to the striking ability of the acquired players. There have been whispers in the NHL about Patrick Kane’s hip injury requiring surgery throughout the season.
In the last matches Kane played in a Chicago shirt, Kane scored a hard result on the scoreboard, but in terms of the entire season, the points average per game is the weakest of the Yankee striker’s career.
The regular season doesn’t matter, but is there a flight for spring?
Tarasenko, who suffered from serious injuries in recent years, but bounced back to the surface last season, was anything but an inspiring revelation in St. Louis. On Broadway, Tarasenko has produced 4+5=9 for 12 matches and thus got a new positive start to his season.
– Now it’s worth coaching carefully to keep an eye on the body language of each player and on the other hand to closely follow the curve of the game to see which direction it goes from here, Ville Nieminen emphasizes.
Kakko says that there is an enthusiastic atmosphere within the team.
– You notice it and noticed it actually even before anything happened. The new guys have been accepted well and expectations are high. If last year going far was a small surprise for someone, now it is clearly expected. You can see from Jätki that they want to do things on behalf of the team.