Keeping coach would have been bigger risk in long run

P HILADELPHIA — Alain Vigneault’s unprecedented, unsolicited and passionate defense of his entire NHL coaching career following the Rangers’ white-flag 5-0 defeat to the playoff-clinching Flyers in the finale of this miserable season, which sapped the organization’s spirit, can now be seen only as a defiant last word before he was out the door.

Vigneault must have known, that’s the most intelligent inference that can be drawn. Must have known he was about to be fired, as he in fact was by general manager Jeff Gorton after he and the team had arrived in New York. Fired after five seasons, the first four of which produced one trip to the Cup finals, one other visit to the conference finals, one Presidents’ Trophy and six playoff series victories.

His tenure, during which he won a franchise third-most 226 games to elevate his rank to tied for 10th in NHL victories with 648, was no doubt a success. He calmed down a team that had been frazzled at the end of John Tortorella’s largely successful run, and established a tone that flowed down through some strong willed veterans

But there had been noticeable slippage over the past three seasons — during which goaltenders Henrik Lundqvist, Antti Raanta and Ondrej Pavelec were under constant stress to produce magnificently in order to give the team a chance to win. Defensive zone play was relentlessly chaotic, whether the blue line featured six veterans or four neophytes. The front of the net was ceded long ago.

The same goal, from an uncovered opponent in front while both defensemen were chasing the same puck-carrier in the corner or behind the net, must have been scored 300 times the past three years. Under Vigneault’s system, which he insisted he always had adjusted according to a team’s personnel, the defensemen, though, were not always the soul or primary culprits.

Backchecking forwards’ presence in the defensive zone had largely become an optional operation beginning with 2015-16, a year that might soon fondly be remembered as the good old days.

So there was that dramatic decline in the Dzone and neutral zone. But the problem was larger than that. Over time, slowly but surely, the Rangers assumed a very passive nature. Easy to play against. Cast in Vigneault’s image, who remains a true believer in turning the other cheek rather than going eye for an eye. It’s not quite right that the Blueshirts were bullied, but they rarely sought vengeance when abused.

The night of Feb. 3 in Nashville, when both Marc Staal and Jimmy Vesey were targeted by head shots without a response, served as an example of the issues stirring since at least the 2015 conference finals, when Vigneault chastised Chris Kreider for stepping up for Ryan McDonagh (and picking up an extra minor) in Game 6 when the captain was run by Steven Stamkos. It was that way in Vancouver, too, in 2011 when the Canucks for the most part stood by and depended on their power play while the Bruins bullied them in the seven-game defeat in the Cup finals that haunts the coach to this day. But the Rangers hadn’t become only passive on the ice. That had become their nature. They have not come close to replacing the spiritual leadership and work ethic provided by and insisted upon by Martin St. Louis. Vigneault’s belief in leaving the room to the leaders works if the team has strong-willed veterans. It falls short, however, for a team filled with youngsters and veterans who are not necessarily natural born leaders.

Plus, of all the young players on this year’s team, Mika Zibanejad and Kevin Hayes were the only ones to progress. Too many key guys, notably Brady Skjei, Jimmy Vesey and, of course, J.T. Miller, regressed. Of the vets, Michael Grabner and Marc Staal are the only two guys to have met expectations, excepting Chis Kreider, who would be marked, incomplete. When this scenario develops, something else is going on.

The Rangers were in need of a new voice and new direction set from the top. They need a coach who can relate to young players and who understands how to cultivate them. That’s requirement one. This coach should embrace the use of analytics. This coach must set a tone and be more proactive in communicating the message.

This is not 1993, with Mike Keenan ready to save the day. It isn’t even mid 2008-09 when Tortorella was available as a fixer. There are no obvious front-runners, with many potential candidates — such as Denver’s Jim Montgomery, Union’s Rick Bennett and B.U.’s David Quinn coming from college. Of course there are former NHL coaches such as Dan Bylsma, Dave Tippett and Darryl Sutter looking for work. And Patrick Roy could be an interesting candidate.

This is a risk, just as the decision to tear down bore risks. But bringing back Vigneault represented more of a risk. Gorton knew that, and Vigneault almost certainly knew that Gorton knew.