The preseason is finally over, the final year with six games. Maybe when the games start to matter on Tuesday, the Rangers will put up a complete effort as well. A 2-3-1 record in the preseason is reflective of their efforts. When they were on, they looked great. When they lost, it was by embarrassing reasons. There are many difficult decisions coming in the next few days that probably will not make a lot of the fanbase happy for opening night, but at least things are not permanent from game one from a roster standpoint.
One of those difficult decisions is what to do with Noah Laba. If balling out in preseason is what gets you noticed and rewarded with a roster spot, Laba did exactly that with 6 points in 6 preseason games. He’s not a point per game player (yet?), but I do think that he’s a better option at 3C than Juuso Parssinen, who was up and down all preseason.
Laba in a small sample proved he has the makings of a good two-way center. He can score and make plays and is no slouch on defense. Not many 22 year olds have that kind of defensive instinct off the hop and Laba looks like he can handle it. There’s still a chance he doesn’t break camp with the Rangers as they figure out how to manage some other players, but if that happens he will be back in short order.
There are going to be some growing pains with the roster as they adjust to a very different type of coach and system. Expect a bit of a rough start, similar to how the 2013-2014 Rangers looked under Alain Vigneault before everything clicked. The first 10-15 games under Sullivan could get ugly at times, so patience is key.
Along these lines, there were many questionable plays over the course of the preseason by a defense group that makes me wonder if GM Chris Drury will be looking to add different personnel over the course of this season. Adam Fox, Vlad Gavrikov, and Will Borgen look to be adjusting the best early on, but Carson Soucy, Urho Vaakanainen, and Braden Schneider–back from injury–look like they are going to be adventures defensively to start the season.
From a pure hockey standpoint, I am curious to see how Artemi Panarin looks when the season starts Tuesday. He didn’t play in any of the preseason games due to injury, and has mostly skated on his own besides a few practices with the team. Is a slow start a possibility because he wasn’t able to shake the rust off prior to the regular season? He’s an incredible talent and that talent can buy him time as he adjusts to Sullivan’s system on the fly.
The same can honestly be said for JT Miller. He played for Sullivan at 4 Nations, and did get a goal in his one preseason appearance, but the mystery around his injury still makes me wonder how he will also look out of the gate.
I’m amped for some regular season hockey. The Rangers should be better this year, the bar is on the floor, but even if they aren’t Gavin McKenna could be a nice consolation prize.
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