Now we have a new coach who plays a defenseman at forward and someone just as bad as Glass in Haley
In terms of lineup decisions, it's been just as bad.
While I agree and I don't enjoy watching our 7th overall pick skate next to a defenseman and a 13th forward, I think there is something to be said about locker rooms in professional sports (especially in hockey) and striking a balance between keeping a meritocracy and giving respect to players who bring certain intangibles to the table.
For better or worse, guys like Smith and Haley have NHL experience and a collective 700 NHL games between them. They may be leaders in the dressing room and they certainly provide physicality on the ice, which are two things that come within the purview of a rebuilding coach's roster decisions.
Naturally, we tend to focus more heavily on the player deployment on our own team, but this is not some foreign issue that precludes other NHL franchises as well.
Micheal Haley himself played 11 games in the playoffs last season for a legitimate cup contender. Other coaches are guilty of the same decisions we as fans seem to find baffling.
The reality is that there is much more that happens behind the scenes than we will ever know. There is an element to having guys like that in the lineup psychologically within locker rooms and veteran guys like that have respect in the room for their effort and tenacity, regardless of how it looks on the charts and graphs we all place emphasis on.
It's not an issue exclusive to Alain Vigneault or David Quinn or the Rangers organization. It's an oversight by fans who believe in their heart of hearts that they could manage an NHL front office.
Sometimes, we overlook the human side of hockey and things players bring to the locker room and organization as a whole that don't show up analytically or in raw traditional statistics.