It has been nearly a year since John Tortorella took over as Rangers coach. When he replaced Tom Renney, some people assumed that Tortorella would instantly transform the Rangers into the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning team that won the Stanley Cup.

With nine players under 25, John Tortorella told Arthur Staple of Newsday that the Rangers are trying to build something and that patience is needed:

“I just don’t think we can knee-jerk and always look at short term,” Tortorella told Newsday in an exclusive interview. “People may not like to hear that. But from a head coach’s point of view, I think we need to build. We need to build. We’ll suffer as we’re trying to build here, and the ups and downs we have, but patience is a huge word for our organization right now.”

…I am a Tortorella fan and think that he is right. He also told Staple this “That’s what needs to be built around. We have to keep using that core, and eventually, when we get to where we want to be, we’ll be there for a while.” There are going to be hiccups along the road. The problem is, the Rangers were very close and should have probably beaten the Sabres in 2007 and gone to the Eastern Conference Finals. However, that team is far far away from this team, and instead the Rangers sort of rebuilt on the fly from Jaromir Jagr, Marty Straka and Michael Nylander, to the Chris Drury Scott Gomez, and now Marian Gaborik team that they have. With the only real constants between being Henrik Lundqvist and Michal Rozsival. They have gotten accelerated play from both Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky who are still finding their way, Dubinsky especially, and with a full year under Tortorella, should be better next year.

Expectations of this team went sky high when they started off hot, but it was just a mirage. The team is what they are now, an inconsistent bunch of young players and overpaid and under-performing veterans who will battle for the playoffs and finish anywhere between seventh and tenth place in the East. This is all they have ever been, they should have a few more points, but the powerplay, inconsistency from the defense and Christopher Higgins inability to score has left them where they are. They are a team that will battle for the playoffs but regardless of the outcome, will be better for it next season.

Its great to hear Tortorella speak of the core. That should get rid of concerns that certain players will be dealt, but the Rangers do need to play better and do need to make smart decisions in the off-season to get this team back on track to making noise in the playoffs.