PHILADELPHIA — Ever since they announced their intention to rebuild and then sold off so many veteran players before the Feb. 26 trade deadline, the main goal for the Rangers has been to get a good look at the young players within the organization to see whether they can be counted on going forward.
But coach Alain Vigneault admitted this week that evaluating the veterans left on the roster is a little trickier because the Rangers are not in the playoff hunt anymore, and therefore not playing in meaningful games. Still, the coach said, watching how productive the top line of Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Jesper Fast has been of late, he can’t help but be impressed.