NHL Insights: New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, Los Angeles Kings

Welcome to another edition of NHL Insights as we look at some teams seeking to find their game as the quarter mark of the season passes. Those teams include the New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, and Los Angeles Kings.

A new season means NHL Insights has returned. The quarter mark of the season has just passed, and there are some teams still looking to find their game. They have more questions than answers at this point. As we have seen, it is never too late for a team to find its game. However, with the season slowing ticking away, those changes and consistency must happen quickly. The Toronto Maple Leafs are a perfect example of that. However, it is now are never before the point margins become too much to overcome. In this edition of NHL Insights, we look at the New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, and Los Angeles — all of whom need to find consistency quickly.

Time to dive into some NHL Insights for the past week.

NHL Insights: Rangers, Flames, and Kings

New York Rangers

The Rangers started off the season on fire. It appeared they were using last year’s failure in the Eastern Conference Final as motivation. But after the fast start, the Rangers have cooled down. There are questions swirling around about the coach as we saw in Vancouver. However, if you really dive deep into the Rangers, they have a completely different makeup than last year. And while some of this is on coaching for not allowing the kids to develop — i.e. Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko — the roster is different. Head coach Gerard Gallant, a finalist for the Jack Adams Trophy, didn’t forget how to coach. He is just working with new tools in a toolbox.

And while the Rangers needed help at the center position with Vincent Trocheck, they lost something when Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano were not re-signed. Now, Trocheck has lived up to his signing, but the chemistry between Artemi Panarin and Strome was something special. Say what you want about Strome’s faceoff percentage, but those guys clicked. Vatrano was a great fit on the first line. Jimmy Vesey isn’t a top-six player. Andrew Copp was a solid center for them, as well, not to mention Tyler Motte was a solid addition. Those players, along with Ryan Reaves, made this team tougher to play against.

The Rangers have a different makeup this year. It was hard to expect the kids to fill those roles as they are still developing in the league. An example is a player like Vitali Kravtsov, who is experiencing NHL hockey on a regular basis for the first time. Let’s also look at goaltending. Igor Shesterkin was not going to put up those ridiculous numbers again. He hid a lot of the Rangers defensive deficiencies, but he has to play better. Along with that fact, Chris Kreider isn’t a 50-goal scorer. The bounces are just not going his way now, but it’s time to turn it around.

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Calgary Flames

Almost everyone expected more from the Calgary Flames in 2022-23. Similar to the Rangers, the Flames have a different makeup. Most expected the Flames to dominate with the changes that happened in the offseason. Out were Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk; in are Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, and Nazem Kadri. Most expected the Flames to pick up where they left off, making them the Canadian favourites to win the Stanley Cup.

However, maybe it wasn’t that easy for the Flames to just flip the switch with a new team makeup. Think about last year under head coach Darryl Sutter; they played fast and with skill. It also helped that Andrew Mangiapane scored 21 goals through the first quarter mark of the season. His pace is down from last year, but he is starting to find his way again after Sutter mentioned his name in the media.

This year’s team is a little slower with a more physical edge to it. Huberdeau has fit in nicely with the Flames, finding his game after an injury and a slow start. Kadri was the perfect fit for the Flames; so was Weegar to help that defence.

Goaltending has not been good since a disastrous playoff for Jacob Markstrom. Markstrom knows he can be better. No Oliver Kylington hurts this team defensively, but Markstrom has to come up with the big timely save for the Flames — rhat is why they are paying him all this money. So far, two of the three Vezina Trophy finalists are struggling to start the season.

Los Angeles Kings

Then there are the Los Angeles Kings. Like the Flames, many picked the Kings to finish near the top of the division. However, like many teams in the Western Conference, the Kings are dealing with goaltending woes. As noted in the NHL Power Rankings, can the Kings really rely on an aging Jonathan Quick to get them into the playoffs and make a deep run again? Cal Petersen was supposed to be the answer after signing that three-year, $15 million deal. For Petersen and the Kings, the deal went south quickly. Now Petersen is in the minors trying to find the game that earned him that deal.

Offensively, the Kings are still trying to find their game. Though lately, the Kings have come on, especially Kevin Fiala. Fiala, who the Kings traded for and then signed to a seven-year extension, is producing as the Kings figured he would (10 points in his last six games). Through 27 games, Fiala leads the team in points with 28 and assists with 20. Right behind him is Anze Kopitar, followed by Gabriel Vilardi. Vilardi is having a great year for Los Angeles as he leads the team with 13 goals. He has been the Kings most consistent player this season.

Like the Kraken, the Kings have a balanced lineup. It helps when Vilardi and Arthur Kaliyev take the next steps in their development. Defensively, Los Angeles can be better. They are still giving up way too many high-danger chances and goals. Their -5 goal differential is the worst amongst teams currently in the playoffs. That has to change if the Kings want to make a deep run in the playoffs. But as Dallas showed last year, that number goes out the window when you have a hot goalie come playoff time.