New York Rangers Rant Week: Understand and like are two different things

After a disappointing 2018-19 New York Rangers season we gave our contributors an opportunity to vent. Today, Understanding a rebuild and liking it are different things.

Welcome to New York Rangers Rant Week. It’s something I started at another FanSided site for our contributors to blow off some steam once the season ends. In other words, let the frustration out, so we can move on. The Blueshirts finished 2018-19 with a record of 32-36-14, good for 78 points and a 26th best finish out of 31 teams.

Let me start by saying I’m a positive guy. Unfortunately, there is plenty to be upset about at the end of a long disappointing 2018-19. The New York Rangers pushed me over the edge this season. Somewhere buried deep within the First Amendment is the “Right to Complain.” To set the record straight, it makes someone no less of a fan than someone who will never say an unkind word about the team. There is however a difference when it comes to being destructive with one’s words.

I fully understand the team is rebuilding. I understand why they are rebuilding. That doesn’t mean because I understand rebuilding, that I like the way it played out over the course of 82 games.

On far too many nights the Blueshirts looked like they didn’t belong on the ice with their opponents. The talent gap was glaring. Again, in a rebuilding situation that will happen. As someone who invested time and money to watch the team I love, it’s exceedingly frustrating.

Usually, when teams rebuild, fans can look forward to young players developing their respective games. I saw very little of it. Filip Chytil and Lias Andersson, the two players Rangers management want to build around, gave far too little to encourage a bright future. They scored 23 points and six points respectively.

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Andersson showed for the most part he needed to spend the entire season at Hartford learning to play on North American ice. Every now and then he showed a flash of talent in his 25 games as a Rangers player. The stuff which made him the 7th overall draft selection in 2017.

Chytil, goes into a category with two other members of the team, Pavel Buchnevich, and Tony DeAngelo. It’s called ‘grow up and be a professional.” How many times was one of the three benched by coach David Quinn for either lackluster play or an off-ice issue? The three all possess high-quality talent, but don’t use it to its potential. It’s not all their fault, part of the blame goes to management.

Even before general manager Jeff Gorton further gutted the team at the most recent trade deadline, there was no team captain and little in the way of locker room leadership. Someone has to teach the young players what it means to be professionals. I exempt Henrik Lundqvist because goalies usually don’t interact with skaters the same way they do with other goalies.

It’s even more imperative to have a strong voice among the players to keep everyone in line and focused. Without an on-ice leader, the Rangers got what we all saw play out this season, disorganization, uneven play, and at times, lackluster effort. One of the three are expected in a rebuild, young players can be inconsistent and uneven.

The other two, lack of organization and at times effort are unacceptable and make me question where this New York Rangers ship is heading. Again, I understand the rebuild, but I don’t like the way it played out in 2018-19