Skates to Sneakers: 3 Lessons Knicks Can Take From MSG Counterparts

What can the Knicks learn from their icy MSG roommates?

When you've won a single playoff series since 2001 and even struggle to make the NBA's newly installed Play-In Tournament, you'd be wise to take whatever help you can get.

For the New York Knicks, salvation lies within...Madison Square Garden.

MSG's lights have remained lit over the spring thanks to the efforts of the NHL's New York Rangers, who have taken full advantage of their first visit to the 16-team Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2017. The Blueshirts are two games away from returning to the championship round, as a vital fifth game in an even Eastern Conference Finals set with the Tampa Bay Lightning awaits on Thursday night in Manhattan (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). 

Should they prevail, a four-to-seven game battle for a Cup hoist awaits against the Western champion Colorado Avalanche. The Rangers are seeking their first visit to the last stanza since 2014 and their first drink from the Cup since the dually legendary 1994 campaign. Their hardwood counterparts have offered support throughout the journey...potentially using the contests as recruiting trips as well.

What lessons can the Knicks take from the skates and apply to sneakers? AllKnicks investigates...

Be Patient With the Kids

The Rangers' "Kid Line" has turned into one of the most pleasant surprises of the spring. That three-man scoring group, consisting of Filip Chytil, Alexis Lafreniere, and Kaapo Kakko has been responsible for the Rangers' most consistent scoring chances, with the 22-year-old Chytil (whose Game 5 status is in question due to an upper-body injury) currently second on the team in playoff goals with seven. Lafreniere and Kakko, the yields of the Rangers' lottery-induced trips up the draft board, have also found a second-gear this postseason, uniting for 14 points. 

New York's youth is not limited to the famed Kid Line: on defense, K'Andre Miller and Braden Schneider (22 and 20 respectively) have transformed themselves from veteran-obtaining trade deadline fodder into franchise staples set to man the blueline for years to come. The Rangers' defense group is headlined by the 24-year-old Adam Fox, the league's defending Norris Trophy winner (bestwoed to the top defenseman). 

The Rangers' patience with their youngsters could be guidance to a Knicks team that could be floating names like Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin, and even the lauded RJ Barrett out to the highest bidder in the name of obtaining a prime talent. But the Rangers opted to stick with their young players under a proven captailizer of talent in head coach Gerard Gallant (best known for guiding the expansion Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in their first season). Tom Thibodeau has worked in a similar way, particularly through his artistry with point guards (even if Kemba Walker's brief, disappointing Knicks tenure left much to be desired).

An intriguing offseason awaits the Knicks, a franchise that has been historically allergic to the concept of a full-on, fully embraced rebuild. Bringing in a slam dunk, All-Star sensation is certainly something they'll explore...but the team must be careful about the price. 

Don't Be Afraid To Say Goodbye

The Rangers' success is an early culmination of a project begun in 2018, one that opened with a public letter from the front office to fans. To summarize, the letter, sent shortly after the Rangers endured a 6-1 shellacking at the hands of Boston, served as a de facto warning that familar faces from the new century's glory days (the Rangers missed the playoffs only once between 2006 and 2017) would be sent away in the name of the future. Former captain and current ECF rival Ryan McDonagh was among those sent away, as were J.T. Miller, Rick Nash, and Mats Zuccarello. 

For the Knicks, that would render several names, namely Julius Randle, potentially expendable. It's great that Randle has provided the closest thing the Knicks have to modern glory days, but trading him away now, while there's still a lot of on-court value, could benefit both the Knicks and Randle. Trading a modern hero, in fact, is how the Rangers obtained one of their current franchise faces: sending away Derick Brassard, a reliable postseason contributor, to Ottawa drew a polarizing reaction, but few are still complaining after Mika Zibanejad's subsequent emergence.

This is not meant to contradict the first tenet on this list (even if a trade for a superstar will likely require them to part with one of their young assets). Rather, the Knicks can't be afraid to leave other prospects off the table, i.e. the 11th overall pick in the coming NBA Draft or a veteran responsible for their most recent time in the spotlight.

The Garden, in fact, will already be short one first-round round pick come this summer: conference final caveats turned the second-round pick the Rangers sent to Winnipeg in exchange for second half contributor Andrew Copp into a first-round selection. Copp was jokingly apologetic to general manager Chris Drury, but no sorries were necessary: the Rangers have undoubtedly been a different team with Copp in the lineup, as well as fellow deadline arrivals Frank Vatrano, Tyler Motte, and Justin Braun. 

That same brand of shrewd farewells can likewise serve the Knicks as they prepare to embark on this offseason project. 

One Man Can't Do It Alone

Ranger fans are more than content to enjoy the ride at this point in time, but one can't help but wonder how Henrik Lundqvist would've performed with this current group. Lundqvist was the Blueshirts' reliable goaltender for 15 seasons and his name appears throughout the goaltending chapters of both the team and league record books. Lundqvist won almost every piece of hardware there is to win on the NHL level...with the exception of a Cup hoist.

Igor Shesterkin, the heir to the icy throne of "King Henrik", has since taken over. While Shesterkin has been forced to bail out the Blueshirts far more times than is reasonably comfortable, the talent in front of him has gotten considerably better. While Lundqvist had to drag teams whose leading scorers consistently put in less than 70 points, Shesterkin has the benefit of four skaters alone who eclipsed that mark this season. It's also great to see Shesterkin make his own SportsCenter Top 10 compilation on a nightly basis, but fans will easily accept easy victories over big save videos any day of the week.

That's exactly what the Knicks need to beware of as they embark upon the path of a fateful offseason. It'd be amazing to land a say, Donovan Mitchell. But is it fair of the team to place the burden of New York success, easily one of the heaviest in professional sports, solely upon him? The answer is no.

The Knicks can't center this offseason around one giant move. That's obviously harder when you're working a dozen players rather than 18, but they need to find a way to make it work. Fortunately, as stated above, there's a hodgepodge of youth to work around and foster, which could help in the cause of having a star player arrive of his own free will rather than a trade. Another leading scorer, Artemi Panarin, was so inspired by what the Rangers' hopeful young core had to offer that he spurned more lucrative offers to sing in Manhattan.

It's naive to believe that every member of the Knicks' current contingent of youth will stick around for the future. But no single player should have a stranglehold on the franchise's destiny.