ANAHEIM, Calif. — In his first comments since the Rangers retooling announcement, head coach Mike Sullivan assured that his team would continue to try to win every game.
That means the veteran bench boss plans to coach and make decisions that he thinks will put the Blueshirts in the best position on a game-to-game basis. There doesn’t appear to be any plan to hold players out of the lineup to protect against injury until a trade is imminent.
Amid the club’s current circumstances, however, the Rangers should be considering development and the long-term vision when making certain decisions going forward.
Asked how much he has to weigh coaching to win and development, given how the last couple of days have gone, Sullivan said he didn’t consider the two to be mutually exclusive.
“My outlook on it is that it tends to go hand-in-hand,” he said Sunday after practice at Honda Center. “I think when you look at the nature of the league and how it’s evolved, there was once a time when, really, development took place in the American League and the NHL was the NHL. I think with the salary cap and things of that nature, younger players are getting forced onto rosters, entry-level contracts, things like that to make the business side of it work. And as a result of that, development has to take place at the NHL level also. That’s probably been the last 20 years and that’s been my experience of being in the NHL.
“It’s an important element of what we do. I love that aspect of our job, but I also think it goes hand-in-hand with winning. I don’t know that it’s one at the expense of the other at our level. We’ve put a lot of young guys in prominent roles this year out of necessity, with guys being injured and guys get an opportunity to play up the lineup and in special teams situations. A lot of times, that’s how careers begin and develop, is with an opportunity with circumstances like this. Guys carve their way, they force their way onto a roster through their performance and their play. And that healthy competition is a positive thing for organizations. “We have a commitment to all of our players to help them continue to grow and develop, regardless of where they are in their career. Obviously, the young guys we pay particular attention to and we’ll continue to do that.”
The Rangers have already had an influx of youth in the lineup this season, beginning with Noah Laba seizing the third-line center role out of training camp. Matthew Robertson also made the Opening Night roster, but the rookie defenseman has since taken root on the Rangers back end.
Since then, Gabe Perreault, Brennan Othmann and Scott Morrow have essentially joined the fray full time. Brett Berard and Jaroslav Chmelar also got looks at different points this season as well.
It is telling that Dylan Garand is still in Hartford amid goalie Igor Shesterkin’s lower-body injury.
The Rangers evidently have more trust in Spencer Martin than their organizationally grown netminder, whom they drafted 103rd overall in 2020. Garand has yet to make his NHL debut, but he has served as backup before.
Carson Soucy is expected to join the Rangers in California ahead of their matchup with the Ducks on Monday night.
As a result, defenseman Connor Mackey was assigned back to Hartford.
The 31-year-old Soucy did not play in Philadelphia due to personal reasons.
The Rangers recalled forward Anton Blidh from Hartford.
