I was going to post the following yesterday and didn't, I think it's something close as I deleted it.
In my opinion, when AV got here, the Rangers were a couple of years past where they are today in the development of their draft picks and young players. That said, AV came in, and the Rangers were superbly structured, be it through luck or design. I am going with both because if it was by design you don't get rid of whom they did after 2014 and replace them with guys like Glass. Similarly, they did all 3 phases correct, drafting, FA signing and trades.
Anyway, neither here nor there, that team had defensive pairs that worked, essentially all 3 and their forward lines were fantastic, all 4 of them, especially the 3rd line, and they were freaking fast. They were good by any metric, specifically advanced stats. 2014 was the nadir of AV, his teams were never as good as that team in my opinion, even though they won the President's cup the next year. There were too many personnel downgrades. That's not what I am trying to debate, although I do believe if they made better decisions in 14' that in 15-17 they would have made another final.
To bring it into what we have today. The team isn't structured correctly yet, and certainly not like 2014. However, the bones are there for an excellent forward group with a few substitutions. On the back end, I think this team will be much better off than what they had in 2014 to deal with the rigors of the modern NHL. Again, all that is needed is time and or a correct evaluation or decision or two to set the defense up for the future. Goalie, Igor is great when he's healthy, does he have the constitution to be healthy enough for a playoff run, when the games get tighter, tougher and certainly fewer days off. One thing with Hank, he was rarely injured. This team isn't an advanced stats darling like back then, can it be? I am not sure as presently constituted.
Anyway, to tie this thesis together. I don't think the team is as far off from being a true contender. I think organically, many of the players needed to progress to being a top tier contending team are present. Obvious needs to me are, more speed they just play slow at times, a center or two, preferrably one to at least play the heavy game and be competent on face offs, a better 3rd pairing. They also need to spend more time in the other team's end and shoot more. I think that the last 2 coaches for some reason thought that getting the perfect pass rather than shooting more was the means to an end.
What I am happy with is I think this team is on the right tack, for some reason I think they are improving. With a few correct decisions, they can be really good.
That's my 2 sense, if you want change too bad.
