Rangers Roundup: Zuccarello contract, Panarin watch, and preseason problems

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The Rangers were handed a convincing loss against the Islanders in their third preseason game. To be honest, even though this is a “getting to know you” period for coach Quinn, certainly he has some glaring issues to address.

Preseason Problems

The Rangers biggest issue right now are penalties. After three games, NY has amassed far too many penalty minutes. The issue is that the majority of those penalties are minor infractions with only two fighting majors (McLeod, O’Gara). The Rangers have given up 6 power play goals so far (2 each game) and 14 total. This can be attributed to many factors, but the majority are in the lazy category of hooks and slashes.

Another issue reared its head against the Flyers and continued against the Islanders is defensive zone coverage. Henrik Lundqvist was certainly rusty in his only preseason appearance, but he once again saw grade A chances and second chances.

David Quinn has moved away from AV’s failed hybrid man coverage to a zone coverage system. The good news is, some of the mistakes were caused by players like Gilmour and Crawley who will likely not be here on opening night.

Yes, it is preseason and these games don’t matter. That doesn’t mean that the issues coming forth on the ice in these game do not. So keep your eyes on these issue as the regular season draws near.

Mats Zuccarrello Talks

Mats Zuccarello had a beauty assist on Ryan Spooner’s PPG goal at the end of the second. The alternate captain and 8 year Rangers’ veteran will be a big part of the team this season but his future is unclear.

When asked about his current contract status, Zuccarrello said:

“Of course it’s something I’ve thought about, I’m only human, but there’s no point in worrying about something I can’t control. That doesn’t do me any good. I’d like to be here, everyone knows that, but if they don’t want me, I’m sure some other team will. But for now, my thoughts are all about doing the best I can to help this team succeed.” – Zuccarello via NYPOST

Panarin Watch

Panarin’s self imposed deadline for a contract extension with Columbus expired on September 13th. We wrote about why the Rangers should pursue Panarin hard this season. You can read that entire article here:

RANGERS SHOULD BE BULLISH ON PURSUING PANARIN

 

By Anthony Scultore

Anthony Scultore has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL since 2014. His work also appears at... More about Anthony Scultore

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