Vigneault's Style Will Benefit Lundqvist

NOTE: I posted this on Sportsnet.ca on Monday evening but figured this would be a good place to have it go up as well.

When it comes to hiring head coaches in the NHL, a general manager often looks for a coach that is going to have a positive impact on both the offense and the defense whether it is scoring more goals or doing a better job of keeping the puck out of the net.

Not only is Alain Vigneault, the new head coach of the New York Rangers, going to have a positive impact on the club’s offense and defense, but he is also going to have a positive impact on the team’s star player, Henrik Lundqvist.

Under previous head coach John Tortorella, there is no doubt that Lundqvist was under constant pressure. While Tortorella’s style may have been defense first, it was also one that sacrificed the team’s offence and in turn, made for a lot of low-scoring games.

While Lundqvist is one of the best masked men in the game today, he is not perfect. Tortorella’s style forced Lundqvist to be perfect night in and night out as it did not leave him a lot of room for error.

This was especially the case in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year. A perfect example of this was his team’s 2-1 loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 3 the second round. Lundqvist was just about perfect in this game until he allowed two goals in the third period, which ended up being the hockey game.

With Vigneault now behind the bench, this could all change for Lundqvist. For starters, it appears that Vigneault is all about offense.

In his introductory press conference last Friday at Radio City Musical Hall, Vigneault explained to the media that he wants his skilled forwards to be given the freedom to do what they do best.

“I believe that your top skill players have to be given a little bit more latitude,” Vigneault said. “They have to understand the game. They have to understand the time in the game when you need to play maybe higher percentage, but they also have to be given that latitude to make something out of nothing. That’s why those guys have the high-end skill, and you’ve got to give them that leeway.”

For Lundqvist, that means that his team should be able to score more goals. Last season, the club was in the middle of the pack when it came to scoring goals (15^th in the league) but with a roster that included the likes of Brad Richards, Rick Nash, Marian Gaborik, Ryan Callahan, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Brian Boyle, Derick Brassard, and others, that simply was not good enough.

As mentioned above, this was especially the case in the postseason. The Rangers averaged just 2.17 goals per game in this year’s playoffs and to win in the postseason, a team needs to be able to put the puck in the net, which the club was not able to do with any kind of regularity to help Lundqvist out.

Secondly, with Vigneault’s offensive style, it should give Lundqvist some breathing room. Under Vigneault’s offensive plan, Lundqvist should not feel the need to be perfect every single game and instead, just be able to focus on what he does best and that is stop the puck.

Lastly, with a new voice behind the bench and a new style being implemented, it will allow Lundqvist to once again think about his long-term future on Broadway. When the season ended, Lundqvist was non-committal about his future with the Blueshirts and understandably so, given the way the club’s season ended.

This might all change as Vigneault’s style should not only help the Rangers up front and on defence, but it will also help Lundqvist in a big way if implemented the right way.