Last night was another forgettable night in a forgettable season for the New York Rangers, falling 8-5 to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Blueshirts managed to get up 4-3 halfway through the third period, but then surrendered three straight and allowed two empty netters in a wild third period. The season is lost, so results aren’t really the story anymore. Sam and JD were one story, but scratching Gabe Perreault became the big story leading up to the game. As per usual, I have thoughts.
1. Scratching Gabe Perreault was certainly a choice by Peter Laviolette on the heels of basically confirming he lost the locker room the other night. Under normal circumstances, a healthy scratch for a rookie is fine. Sometimes it helps to take a breather and watch from the press box to see the game and plays develop, and where he needs to be positionally. But this is not a normal circumstance. The Rangers burned a year on his ELC for him to play this season, plus they are essentially eliminated from playoff contention. Why sit the kid if the games aren’t important?
2. This goes back to accountability. Perreault, like every other Rangers skater, didn’t look good defensively in his first few games. He looked a bit lost in his own zone, but again, so does every other Ranger. He didn’t register a point in his first three games, though he left at least two primary assists on the table against Minnesota when his teammates couldn’t convert. That’s hockey, sometimes. But after two games, he was unceremoniously booted from the top-six to play fourth line minutes. Again, accountability for the wrong people.
3. Scratching Gabe Perreault after the Rangers lost two games by a combined score of 9-1, only to surrender eight goes to the lowly Flyers sure was a choice. Leading up to the game it made no sense, during the game it made no sense, and it’s clear he will have learned very little after watching the Flyers put up an octopus on a team that simply doesn’t care anymore. Perhaps he learned that accountability only comes to kids under 25 years old. It’s not like anyone else saw time as a healthy scratch.
4. But again, generally speaking, a healthy scratch here and there isn’t a bad thing for a kid. So the optics of scratching Gabe Perreault are obviously bad, but if we remove the postgame presser after losing to Tampa and whatever the whole season has been, in a vacuum it’s not a terrible decision. After all, Perreault did struggle defensively. That’s fine! He’s never really been asked to play true defense before, and he’s going to have to learn at some point.
Thing is, you can’t remove the postgame presser and where the Rangers stand this season. Not everything is in a vacuum. Scratching Gabe Perreault, when you factor everything else into the equation, was not a smart move.
Was scratching Gabe Perreault one last power move?
5. It was suggested that scratching Gabe Perreault could have been one last power move by Peter Laviolette. It’s all but guaranteed he won’t be back next year, even if this season is mostly on the players. At this point, given the lack of accountability among veterans and the overall feel of the locker room, he simply can’t return. He knows it.
So was this one last move by Laviolette to say that he’s going out on his own terms? It’s a possibility. I don’t know how much I buy it, but it’s certainly possible. He and Chris Drury are no longer on the same page, and sometimes self preservation outweighs logic.
6. Perhaps scratching Gabe Perreault was also a move by Laviolette, attempting to highlight what kind of GM Drury is. I highlighted this almost four years ago, as Drury’s management style has certainly come into question of late. This isn’t even about roster management, and more about people management. That trade memo is certainly another example of poor people management, and perhaps his past relationships with David Quinn, Gerard Gallant, and now Laviolette are other examples.
Gallant made head scratching moves. Laviolette made head scratching moves. At some point, you have to look at the only constant, which is Drury.
7. A lot of things stink with the Rangers this year, and there isn’t much to watch for in the remaining four games. The Sam and JD reunion last night was one such event to watch. Another is watching the kids, but if scratching Gabe Perreault becomes a constant for the next four games, then why are we watching an organization of quitters?
