Skate, cycle, speed! A look at Alain Vigneault’s system and its implication on the Rangers defense.

[text_output]During this past off-season, many fans were absolutely thrilled by the remolding of the Rangers defense. With already incredible skaters on the team, we were to add a bit of bark and bite by re-signing Brendan Smith, as well as bringing in Kevin Shattenkirk, an offensive defenseman that could finally piggy back the powerplay. Despite the buzz and excitement, the team has arguably looked worse than they did last year; statistics also supporting this notion. It’s left many fans confused and frustrated.

I thought a lot about why this might be the case. While there are factors to consider, such as Ryan McDonagh being injured (and likely still hurt and recovering), Brendan Smith having a slow start to the season, or Brady Skjei being given tougher assignments, they aren’t the only pieces that can steer this ship around. This isn’t to disregard their importance – no, definitely not – but the issues with the team are much deeper than what I think these players can offer, no matter their talent and skill.

Where it’s left me is, I can’t help but wonder if it may be the fault of Alain Vigneault’s system. It’s not as though these sentiments haven’t been echoed before, but the last two losses against the Dallas Stars and Ottawa Senators were the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak.[/text_output][text_output]

The system.

[/text_output][text_output]Currently, much of AV’s game plan depends on generating speedy and/or high scoring opportunities. This may come in the form of trying to force pucks into areas where players can beat the opponent a la foot race. (All videos adapted from NHL.com)[/text_output] [text_output]Here, with a fantastic pass by Ryan McDonagh, J.T. Miller can speed through the offensive zone without hesitation. Weaving around the Bruins players, he scores on the powerplay. We have often seen these types of plays from the likes of Chris Kreider and Michael Grabner, too.[/text_output] [text_output]We also see players forcing turnovers at their own blue line to create plays. While it certainly happens during even strength plays, it can be best observed during a Rangers penalty kill; Nash, Zucc, and Grabner are guys that often pick pockets. Here, during a 6-5 against the Rangers, Grabner makes a fantastic read that results in a breakaway opportunity and eventual goal.[/text_output] [text_output]Or sometimes, holes are opened in front of the opponent’s net with a cycle or hard forecheck. This is done by grabbing loose pucks and popping them into areas where teammates can very quickly and aggressively pounce on it. The major advantage to this being that the opponent is not given enough time to recover. Here, Paul Carey fights for the puck with Boo Nieves, both of whom lure three Senators down quite low. This opens up the ice in front of the net, Senators are unable to recover, and the pass is eventually made. Fast goes in deep to take it; he shoots, he scores! We have also seen players like Grabner, Kreider, and Nash drive to the net (another foot race) when an opportunity like this presents itself.[/text_output][text_output]

The issue at hand.

[/text_output][text_output]AV’s system heavily leans on players that can skate well, make sharp crisp passes, win board battles, and push a cycle. Ultimately, this results in a high-octane offense that is definitely very exciting to watch! However, while these types of plays can work, and have worked, you wonder if it may also be at the demise of our defense.

There was a play that really stuck out to me in the last loss against either the Stars or Senators (unfortunately, I cannot seem to find the play to capture it), where the Rangers were hemmed in their own zone for an extended period of time. The Rangers finally got the puck to make a pass to a teammate at the blue line to clear the zone, but the teammate at the blue line was too quick to skate out, looking for a potential breakaway opportunity. Resultantly, the pass didn’t make it to him as the puck had been slowed down (maybe because of a deflection, tip, or weak pass), the opponent jumped on it, and it eventually led to a goal against. If that one player wasn’t too anxious to jump for a breakaway opportunity, we would have seen a very easy clear.

While it may have just been poor decision making at the time, it certainly highlights how the mindset of this team has changed a lot throughout AV’s tenure. When I think back to the 2013-14 team, it doesn’t surprise me how well they did as they still likely had a very Torts-esque mindset when defending (if you need a fiery reminder – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biZlEtaXbw8), with AV eventually coming in to sprinkle in his offensive touch. Honestly, it was a good blend for most of the season. Contrasting that to now, where the team is very much of a “jump on an opportunity, quick!” mindset. This isn’t necessarily wrong, but issues do arise when a strong defensive plan isn’t in place in the Rangers own end. And here, is when you can’t help but wonder about the style the Rangers are playing.

When the concern of the players, both the forwards and defensemen, are to fulfill this high-speed offense – to skate the puck out, make clean passes to push the offense out, or capitalize on plays along the blue line – what does that say about the defensive plays in front of Hank? Are there defensive plays being made in front of Hank? In a way, I think it’s gotten to the point where the Rangers are playing with five forwards a night, with the only defenseman being the goalie.

Now, I think there is a distinction here worth making – is the Rangers’ inability to defend because AV doesn’t know how to employ a proper system? Or might it simply be a natural by-product of the system he’s running? That, I wish I knew.[/text_output][text_output]

The style of play is prone to inconsistencies, forcing the need to find a balance between defense and offense.

[/text_output][text_output]To AV’s credit, the offense has never been a huge problem during his tenure. Though there certainly have been slumps, the Rangers always seemed to find their way out of it. If we look at how the team started the season last year, there was a huge stretch of games where they were scoring an average of 5 goals a game.

The recent game against the Los Angeles kings is another one worth looking at again. Many raved at how well the Rangers played but I think there was a huge disconnect between the offense and the defense. Again, while we saw brilliant offensive play from the team, they were also hemmed in their own zone, resorting to turtling and blocking shots; an all too familiar territory when the team doesn’t know how to handle pressure.

I’ve mentioned already that we might be sacrificing our defense at the expense of a dynamic offense, however, I think the inverse could be said as well. We’ve seen many times with the team where when they are defending well, it results in a suffocated offense. Now, this can be said for any NHL team under any system, but given the aforementioned elements in the Rangers playing style, the disparity between offense/defense becomes a lot more obvious when there’s a shift in focus to one or the other. I believe it would be of great help if there could be a more structured system that begins with the back end (defense), before moving the system forwards.[/text_output][text_output]

LET’S READY THE PITCHFORKS…right?

[/text_output][text_output]I don’t think AV is completely at fault here either. True, he is the one that dictates these decisions and implements the system, however, for any coach, I think it would be incredibly difficult to re-work the system anew. If it was in fact that easy, you wouldn’t see such high turnover rates with coaches in the league. Maybe it’s less of the coach’s fault and rather, we’re dealing with a system that’s simply aged.

When AV came to the Rangers in 2013-14, he was tapping into a relatively new style of play; to have a fast, skating team, where further offense is generated with supporting defenseman. However, many other teams have caught on (see the 2015-17 Pittsburgh Penguins), with rosters becoming increasingly younger, faster, skating-type of teams. With that in mind, it’s very likely that coaches around the league have more plans to counteract such systems; much more than they did just three or so years ago.

As I said, it can be a very exciting style of play to watch, and it’s one that greatly benefits players like Brady Skjei and Kevin Shattenkirk. But with the inherent flaws, it’s possible that we’re beginning to see a “one trick pony” Rangers team. We have seen teams solve the Rangers’ system before, and when unable to generate those types of scoring opportunities, the team looks very lost.[/text_output][text_output]

Where do we go from here?

[/text_output][text_output]Difficult decisions lie within the future of this Rangers team for Gorton and Co., in evaluating what is feasible for this roster, deciding what style is valued first and foremost, and what might have to be sacrificed in order to get the other.

After nearly a decade, we have had the opportunity to witness two very polarizing styles; the defensively sound Torts team versus the high-paced offensive AV team. Now having gambled with both sides of the coin, like where the Rangers were four years ago, they find themselves at the cusp of another turning point.

But what might differ this time is, instead of completely vying for offense or defense, might there just be a balance out there?[/text_output][image src=”1332″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”aligncenter” style=””]