Happy week until Christmas everyone! (And Hanukkah to those who celebrate!) Just wanted to check in today with a pretty in-depth story I wrote with new colleague Shayna Goldman examining the scoring woes that have dominated the conversation around the Rangers lately.

We divided and conquered, with Shayna combing through stats and video clips (many of which are included in the story) while I reported it all out through conversations with Mike Sullivan and several players. The idea was to take a deep look at the "hybrid" system Sullivan has implemented, explain what he's trying to accomplish with visuals to back it up, and examine how the Rangers are doing with it all. We'll do something on the defense soon, which has been much more encouraging, but this first part focuses on the different ways Sullivan is trying to help them create offense — as well as the personnel issues that are standing in the way. You can read it all here.

I also had Shayna on a jam-packed episode of "The Flying V" podcast this week to discuss how the story came together, plus my thoughts on the Mika Zibanejad scratch, the MSG returns of Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba, the recalls of Brennan Othmann and Gabe Perreault, the outlook for Chris Drury and more! Here are the links on Apple and Spotify.

Enjoy — and we'll talk again soon!

12 comments

  1. Yeah I’ve tried to stay optimistic but tbh we’re kind of cooked for the rest of the decade tbh.

  4. Vince, I’ve been reading about this team for a long time and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen any detailed breakdowns of how the team’s tactics work. This is really good. From a fellow journalist, much respect to you and your writing.

    I also really appreciate that you’re writing about analytics, something Drury seems to be allergic to. I’d love a deep dive into the Rangers’ analytics department in comparison to other teams. Perhaps with some insight from Valliquette. I don’t know who asked that question of Krieder at his media scrum, but I thought the anecdote about him seeking out Vally’s advice was really good. I wonder why the Rangers don’t just buy his company and have him run their analytics department.

  7. Let Perrault and Othman play min in the nhl and develop someone into something for once

  8. Great article, Vince. A question if I may: Your description of the Gabe and Otter recall as “Drury pushing the panic button” caught my attention. Do you get a sense around the team that the front office is losing/has lost patience and that more (bigger?) changes are imminent?

  10. “That’s when we get in a lot of trouble (except for me; I can never get in trouble because I am married to the head coach’s niece),” said Sheary.

  11. >*Sullivan wants the Rangers to do both, depending on what the situation calls for, in an effort to diversify an offensive attack that’s hit a wall the last year and a half. But recognizing the right play in real time remains a work in progress.*

    This is the part that sticks out to me. This team lacks either the hockey IQ or the speed of mind to make the correct decision. They’re just not good.

    >
    *New York has gone from 29th in the NHL with 12.2 high-danger scoring chances allowed per 60 minutes at five-on-five last season to first with only 9.33 HDCA/60 through the first 35 games of 2025-26, according to Natural Stat Trick. But its offensive production has fallen into a ditch.*

    Now imagine how good that defensive stat would be if this team could actually dominate possession in the offensive zone. Goddamn.

  12. I enjoyed the article. Very well written. The article highlights that we are lacking the right pieces to be offensively productive. We are going to be in a rebuild process for a couple of years it seems.

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