Under Quinn, The Rangers Kids Will Be Alright

 

Boston Bruins v New York Rangers

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With the news of David Quinn’s hiring all but confirmed, it’s time we take a look at just what this means for some of the young guys on the New York Rangers. After Alain Vigneault was fired, reports came out of just what went wrong and one of the main points was that some of the young guys on the team were playing scared. That absolutely cannot happen when the team is going through a pseudo-rebuild. The young guys need to play through their mistakes and be able to relax and know they won’t be glued to the bench. Here are a few guys who will benefit from the new bench boss’ style.

Pavel Buchnevich
Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke

Buchnevich was quoted by a russian media outlet as saying that at times he felt scared when he was playing and that Vigneault was extremely critical of young players and rookies. Buchnevich is one of the most talented players on the Rangers roster and he has an absolutely lethal shot. A player like him cannot afford to be scared when he’s on the ice. He needs to know that he can try to make that deke, try to hit that shot or try to make that tough play, and even if he fails, he’ll know that it won’t affect his ice time or role on the team.

With Quinn behind the bench, Buchnevich can afford to take some chances and we may end up seeing the breakout season we have been waiting for. We have seen flashes of how dominant he can be and it’ll nice seeing him play without him having to worry about “Big Brother” behind him.

Anthony DeAngelo
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Maybe even more so than Buchnevich, the Rangers would love to see DeAngelo breakout. He was the big piece acquired in the Derek Stepan trade last summer and big things were expected of the young blue-liner. DeAngelo spent time in the AHL as well as the NHL but didn’t quite live up to the expectations that people had. It goes without saying that blue-liners do sometimes take longer to develop, but after the news of Vigneault’s stern policy with young kids, I wouldn’t be shocked if DeAngelo was in the same boat as Buchnevich.

DeAngelo made some mistakes during this season, no doubt about it, but he is a creative offensive defenseman who thrives off driving the offense. At one point in time, the kid led the OHL in points by a defensemen. Quinn being behind the bench will allow DeAngelo to make the occasional mistake, see it as a teaching moment, then go back out there and not play in fear, but rather with the sense that he can play his game and not have to worry.

Filip Chytil and Lias Andersson
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Patrick E. McCarthy

Two key players in the Rangers rebuild, Filip Chytil and Lias Andersson, stand to greatly benefit from the hiring of David Quinn. They were both taken in the first round of last year’s draft and both had great minor league seasons. Toward the end of the season during their call-ups, they showed flashes of what they will mean to this team going forward.

Now, thankfully, Chytil and Andersson didn’t see much time under Vigneault. They never had that fear put into them although Chytil was benched by him very early in the season when he originally made the team out of training camp. Quinn can assure his two young center that it’s ok for them to play through their mistakes. Center is one of the hardest positions to play, considering that a center is expected to be a playmaker, and at times, a third defenseman. They need to win faceoffs to control possession from the moment the puck is dropped and they need to develop chemistry with their wingers.

With a developmental coach like Quinn behind the bench, Chytil and Andersson will have a coach who understands how to work with young talent and bring out the best in them. It will be an exciting time for these two come training camp.

Of course the rest of the team will generally benefit as well. The Rangers are a relatively young team and the teacher in Quinn is a much better fit than the stern, veteran-heavy coach in Vigneault. The fall can’t get here soon enough.

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