A couple of things :
The mantra of Quinn and Gorton after the lottery was "we did everything right and got good karma". Meaning the team worked hard, we're a pain in the rear to play against and yet got lucky with the overtime points and such, when a lot of people were crying about ruining their draft opportunity. They beat the odds in that respect maybe it was a little good karma coming our way for once in a blue moon.
Quinn especially looked like the right coach. He held the players, especially the young ones accountable and made them work hard. He also didn't willy nilly bench people. It looked like any benching was a teaching moment and pretty much all of the players came out of the benching improved in the aspect that led to it in the first place. From the outside looking in, it looked like he was a fantastic communicator. I think he makes it a big point to meet with all the players and give constant feedback.
Anyhow, that hard work, taking /keeping accountability mentality and the good communication about expectations and job performance isn't going away. It was reinforced and certainly going to be a big part of the culture going forward.
A tenet I also heard in several interviews with respect to Gorton, both pre and post draft, was you win up the middle, goaltending, defense and centers.
Putting those two thoughts together, the Rangers won't tank but will still be pretty bad.
If you take the idea you win up the middle 3 of the 4 parts are either in transition or are just not up to snuff:
Goaltending- is in transition, we're going from a sure first ballot Hall of Fame player on the down swing to Georgiev a player that kept them in games they had no business being in but was pretty bad in the beginning of the season. Which goalie is he? Is he going to be that guy in the second half or more of the first half guy. Plus they have, Shesty (you guys can fight over the proper spelling of his name) who has yet to step for in an NHL game. What do we have here? I don't think it is a worry and we will ultimately get something similar to last year. Really good goaltending at times and some stinkers.
RHD- This was vastly improved this off season. I can see this mix RHD on a good team. Trouba is a definite top pairing RD. Fox, ADA I still think they're are a year or two away but it's still a damn site better than last year at this time. Hopefully, Shatty can improve over last year when he was coming off a major knee injury and was not in shape nor exactly ready for the season, in my opinion.
LHD- It's not good. Skjei, the top pairing guy is really a 3 or 4 or less on a contending team. It's he a nightmare, no, but he's not good as a #1/2. Speaking of nightmares, Staal is not going anywhere. Then there's a mix of Hajek, Smith and someone else I am probably forgetting.
Centers - Mika was fantastic last year. I think he can be a number one center on a good/contending team. Speaking of number two, that's what Strome is as a number two center. Then you have the assortment of Chytil, Andersson, Howden, Nieves. That's nowhere near what a contending team should have in place.
Anyway, looking at "win up the middle" theory, the Rangers have RHD at a satisfactory level, it's still very young but very talented and then probably goaltending. After that, they're pretty terrible and in fact worse than last year.
I can't see this team as very good, I don't think the influx of highly talented wingers are going to make a difference just yet.
I think we will see something similar to last season. The team made improvements in many areas but not LHD and Center, I think you can make a case they're worse off than last year at this time. It's still early time will tell.
