BLENDING TOGETHER
Blueshirts will need to develop chemistry with new additions
It was a regular and relatively quiet day for the Rangers, who — aside from a minor exchange of prospects — had finished the meaningful portion of their trade-deadline moves in the three weeks leading up to the 3 p.m. cutoff on Friday.
On paper, there’s no question that president and general manager Chris Drury improved the Rangers’ roster. When you add two players to the top six who are among the most recognizable names in the NHL, that’s a given. Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane are not just blue-chip rentals, they’re established players who look strange in the same lineup after being Western Conference rivals for years.
The deals were made as far in advance of the deadline as possible. That might have been just how it came together, but Drury likely knew it would be an added bonus to begin integrating such unique skaters sooner rather than later. The more time the Rangers have to mesh before the playoffs, the better.
This is like adding two overpowering ingredients to a recipe. They have to be worked in. Otherwise, it ends up tasting no good. It has to all come together cohesively. That could take some time, some trial and error. But it’s all worth it when the finished product resembles a masterpiece.
Individually, Tarasenko, Kane, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck, Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin are game-changing players. The question now, is how can they change the game as a team?
“Everyone knows in hockey names don’t matter,” Panarin told The Post after the Rangers’ 5-3 loss to the Senators on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. “You need to picture the offensive zone, defensive zone, neutral zone. Like a team, a line, some chemistry. You have to have [it] so you can play with all players, but if you feel each other pretty well, I think that’s more important. It’s hard to not see names, not look at it.
“But to be honest, it means nothing. It doesn’t give us some better chance or something. We have to start to feel for each other, play like a team, find the chemistry with the guys on your line.”
The Rangers, who traveled to Boston for their Saturday matinee against the NHL-leading Bruins, were able to acquire Tarasenko
and Kane without sacrificing their immediate future. In evaluating what came in versus what went out, Drury may have a headache from the salary cap acrobatics needed to make it all happen, but acquiring those two stars this season won’t seem like a mistake down the line.
Adding Tarasenko and Kane in the top six and Niko Mikkola on the third defensive pair, and with another prospect, Cooper Zech, in the cabinet, the Ranger lost at most two first-round picks, a third-rounder, two fourth-rounders, Sammy Blais and Hunter Skinner.
They gave up Vitali Kravtsov, but it just wasn’t going to work out withhim. They also picked up another prospect, Will Lockwood, and a 2026 seventhround selection. Plus, Tyler Motte is a Ranger once again in exchange for Julien Gauthier, who may or may not have continued on an upward trajectory, and a 2023 seventh-rounder.
Drury did his part bolstering the lineup on paper. It’s now up to head coach Gerard Gallant and the rest of the team to put it all together.
“Obviously, it’s exciting,” Kreider said of the Rangers’ new lineup. “But it’s up to the players now to get it to mesh. We’ve got to work together, communicate. Even me, Mika and Vladi are still getting better I feel like every shift and getting more comfortable with each other from the first couple times we played together. It’s rare where you can just throw a bunch of guys on a team, throw a line together and expect instant chemistry.
“There needs to be that adjustment period, so it’s up to us to shorten that adjustment period.”