Peter Laviolette to make some drastic line changes to benefit the New York Rangers
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New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette is looking to make some significant changes this season.
The New York Rangers have decided not to make many moves this offseason, following their Presidents' Trophy winning season, but head coach Peter Laviolette expects things to be different this year.
Without a doubt the Rangers had a fantastic season, but ultimately they didn't quite have what it takes to become champions, as they faced a tough defeat to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
However, Laviolette is determined to make sure the Rangers will come back strong and fix their mistakes as they still have a great shot at a championship.
"This group will be new," Laviolette said via Dan Rosen of NHL.com. "Even though there are a lot of familiar faces, and a lot of the coaches will be the same, there is change in some of these places and we have to look to build it again, look to get better from where we were last year."
So far this offseason the Rangers traded for Reilly Smith and signed Sam Carrick to strengthen their forward core.
Other than that, Chris Drury hasn't done much else as the Rangers will return this season with nearly an identical roster to the one they had last season.
Laviolette is looking to change up a few lines this season to help find the spark they desperately need to make it all they this year, which will likely be figured out at training camp.
"There are a lot of things I'm familiar with and I have a comfort level with, and then there are things we will see if we can find some chemistry with through different avenues," Laviolette said. "It's hard to give an exact answer and say this is locked in. You'd like to say that, but you've got to go through training camp, get some practices and play some games."
The Rangers are to begin training camp at some point in September, leaving Laviolette with some difficult decisions to make.
As seen on: The Hockey News
| POLL | ||
28 AOUT | 105 ANSWERS Peter Laviolette to make some drastic line changes to benefit the New York Rangers Do you think the New York Rangers will have a better or worse season than last year? | ||
| Better | 65 | 61.9 % |
| Worse | 40 | 38.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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