Hagelin Stays a Blueshirt

       One of the things that the New York Rangers, who struggled offensively last season, will need if they want to improve their offense is a speedster. And with their main transaction today, the Rangers will keep one of hockey's fastest skaters.
       On Wednesday, New York resigned RW Carl Hagelin to what is reportedly a 2 year/$4.5 million contract. Hagelin, who was a big part of the Rangers offense in 2013, is coming off a 10-goal 24-point regular season playing in all 48 games and a 3-goal 6-point Postseason playing in all 12 of the Rangers playoff games. He is part of a busy week for the Blueshirts as they have signed 2 of their main RFAs that are on the roster (Hagelin and Ryan MacDonaugh) but are still yet to sign others such as Derek Stepan.

       I think this was a very important sign for the New York Rangers. As anyone who watched this team last year would know, they played well under expectation, as many expected to be the team hoisting Lord Stanley's historic trophy in late June. However, from the very first game of the shortened season, the team looked slow, didn't seem aggressive, and just weren't getting the job done. The team seemed to hit their stride near the end of the season and were able to grab the 6th seed in the Playoffs.
       As the season came to an abrupt end in a 5-game series loss to the Bruins, all Ranger fans could hope for was that the team would find a way to become more aggressive, especially on the offensive side, yet keep the core amount of guys that could one day be serious Cup contenders. Well I think all they needed was to stay with what they have. Hagelin is one of Hockey's best all-around players right now. He is aggressive on both sides of the rink (something this team needs to do more), brings some serious speed to a club that at times loses its edge (he is the reigning Fastest Skater at the Skills Competition), and he puts up some offensive numbers with double digits in goals and assists.

       Now obviously Hagelin needs to be a leader in the Rangers offensive push next year, but it was also clear that now-fired Rangers coach John Tortorella was not the guy who would help make that happen. His system just didn't work for the strengths of the team and was openly disliked by many of the players. However, the Blueshirts new head coach Alain Vigneaux is coming off of 7 mostly successful seasons in Vancouver and has a reputation of being a players' coach, so I think good things will come from this busy months or so of transactions from the Rangers.