We will be spending plenty of time over the next five years (or less, or more) to break down David Quinn’s style of hockey, how he handles line-up decisions, who he decides to hire as assistant coaches, etc. The amount of time we spend on David Quinn on future podcasts is not quantifiable, so I’m not going to jump down that rabbit hole this time.
For me, here’s where I’m at with Quinn:
First and foremost, it’s refreshing to see the Rangers attempt something different. It’s easy for NHL franchises to go down the road with coaches with NHL experience; someone people throughout the league have already seen and have familiarity with. Someone who comes with preset expectations.
Jeff Gorton and Company are taking a big swing, and that’s awesome. There’s no guarantee it works, but it is a huge step up from the tried and true. In order for an organization to take that imperative next step forward, you have to jump out of your comfort zone. You have to take chances. There’s no bigger chance the Rangers could’ve taken than hiring David Quinn.
Was Quinn my first choice as coach? No. I have no problem admitting that. If you’ve read my previous posts or listened to any of the last few podcasts, you know I’ve been riding for Sheldon Keefe since before Vigneault was fired.
WITH THAT SAID, that does not mean I’m angry or disappointed in the Quinn appointment. On the contrary, I’m still extremely excited.
Like Keefe, Quinn comes with a great player development reputation. In fact, it’s probably the one trait everyone universally agrees Quinn is best at. With the young roster the Rangers have and will likely have for the next handful of years, you need someone behind the bench willing to nurture young talent and willing to let players make mistakes.
For whatever reason, the Rangers looked at Keefe’s resume and decided to go a different direction. There’s no say that if they brought him in for an interview, Keefe would’ve been able to sway the front office from Quinn. It’s a little disappointing that they didn’t bring him in for an interview, but when you feel like you found your guy, go with your guy. I have no problem with that.
Expectations for Quinn’s first season should be completely independent from the Rangers win-loss record. This is a rebuild. We don’t know how long this rebuild is going to take, and it’s completely possible the team fields a playoff-caliber roster next season. The measure we need to use to evaluate Quinn on is how players develop under him. How is he using the team’s younger rostered players? Are players who were sheltered under Alain Vigneault getting a chance to breathe? Are more opportunities being created for players who have more long-term value to the organization?
It’s also impossible to tell how Quinn is going to use his roster as it is right now, because we simply have no idea who the hell is going to be on this roster on opening night. We have an idea about some of the pieces he’s going to be able to use. Defensively, he’s going to have Shattenkirk, Pionk and DeAngelo. We assume he’s going to have Brady Skjei. Offensively, it would be a surprising turn of events if he didn’t have Mika Zibanejad, Pavel Buchnevich and Chris Kreider. He’s definitely going to have the kids Filip Chytil and Lias Andersson. We assume Kevin Hayes is going to be here.
Outside of that, complete mystery.
How can we begin to assume how he’s going to use certain pieces when we don’t know who’s going to surround those pieces?
The good news now is we at least know who will be in charge of leading whatever roster the Rangers assemble. It gives us an idea, but that’s all it’s giving us for now. It’ll be fun when people shit on Quinn for literally no reason, or critique something he says in an interview, or any other number of dumb little things a fan or a mouthpiece could jump on Quinn for.
All this is for us right now is excitement. And we just need to figure out where the hell we’re going.[/text_output]
Author: Greg Kaplan
Greg Kaplan is a man of mystery. Did he write this? No. Was he asked to write this? Yes. But did he write this article? Maybe, do you like it?