New York Rangers Need to Fire Alain Vigneault

Yes, Alain Vigneault is not the one on the ice making mental mistakes in coverage. Yes, he is not the one refusing to shoot the puck at a golden opportunity. And yes, he is not the reason half his defensive core got old and slow overnight.

Vigneault did not do himself any favors, either, and his New York Rangers were worse off as a result. Will Vigneault be fired after the Rangers’ earliest playoff exit since 2011? Probably not. There are plenty of reasons why he should be, though. And if he isn’t fired, he should start next season on the hot seat.

Let’s start with reason No. 1. He placed young players in his doghouse for the sake of placing young players in the doghouse. He never realized what he had in Dylan McIlrath — a gritty, pot-stirring young defenseman who could have given the Rangers’ blue line a spunk that it sorely lacked. He was constantly benched in favor of washed up players like Dan Boyle. J.T. Miller has a three-assist game in his breakout season, and he benches him. For what, exactly? Not being one of his favorites? He held Kevin Hayes accountable for his lackadaisical play, but he never held Chris Kreider accountable for his shortcomings in December. And what of Oscar Lindberg? What did he do to deserve to be a constant healthy scratch in front of Hayes at the end of the season? Selective accountability never, ever goes over well in a locker room, and it is just poor management.

The Rangers acquired Eric Staal, ostensibly to be the missing piece of a Stanley Cup puzzle. Despite Staal’s mediocre play, he found chemistry on the third line with Viktor Stalberg and Hayes. Then, Vigneault inexplicably broke them up upon the return of Rick Nash from injury. Did he see something we didn’t? If so, it sure didn’t work out at all. Staal was lost from that day forward, and the deadline deal that brought him to New York went bust.

He refused to make strategic adjustments all season long. If there were constant defensive breakdowns in front of Henrik Lundqvist, then why not change up the strategy instead of blindly trusting his struggling personnel to suddenly fix their issues? As far as the special teams, he refused to place their best puck-moving defenseman, Keith Yandle, on the top power play line until February. Only then did it start improving. Coincidence? And then there’s the penalty kill, an abomination all season long. Absolutely no adjustments at any time, even when goals were flying by Lundqvist and Antti Raanta with regularity on opposing power plays.

And finally, there’s the defense. The McIlrath issue has already been addressed, but it is utterly disturbing he continued to trust Boyle, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal despite precipitous regressions in their game. Then we find out that Girardi played all season with a bad knee, plus the end of the season and Game 1 of the playoffs with a concussion. If Vigneault knew this, how in his right mind could he play him? This is more disturbing than anything.

Blind loyalty, selective accountability and stubborn refusals to make adjustments or effectively manage his personnel suggest a coach that cannot do his job properly. The same issues that hastened Vigneault’s departure as Vancouver Canucks head coach are happening in New York. Perhaps it is the reason he is a good enough coach to take teams to the precipice of a championship, but not good enough to take that final step. If he returns to the Rangers’ bench next season, he cannot repeat the same mistakes he made this season. If he refuses to adjust, then he’s got to go.