John Muckler will return to coach the Rangers next season, Neil Smith affirmed yesterday afternoon.
“Absolutely; I’ve never even given a thought otherwise,” the GM told The Post in a telephone conversation. “John has done a remarkable job with what has been asked of him this season.
“What we’ve asked John to do this year is take a team that everyone acknowledges needs restructuring, work in youngsters, and still be a competitive factor in the playoff race. And while of course making the playoffs was a goal within a goal – and will be until we’re mathematically eliminated – we have been competitive and we have been a factor, and we have gone forward on a program for the future.
“It’s a very difficult task we’ve asked Muck to handle. Most coaches are asked to do one thing: worry about today. But Muck is more than just a coach in this organization. He’s part of the management group strategizing about how we go forward; he’s part of the chain, one of the developers, that sets the course for the future.
“And so Muck has to worry about today, he has to worry about tomorrow, he has to worry about both. And he’s been able to do it. He’s been able to make it mesh,” Smith said. “I think he’s done an excellent job.”
Muckler, who replaced Colin Campbell during last year’s Olympic recess, has a 38-48-12 record behind the Ranger bench. He has one year remaining on his coaching contract for approximately $1 million, then two more years for unspecified front-office responsibilities.
The Blueshirts, 2-5-2 in their last nine games and three games under .500 for the season, are seven points out of a playoff berth with nine games to go. They will try to reverse their fortune tonight when the Islanders visit the Garden.
“Look, the focus of the team and organization is still to make the playoffs, but everyone connected with the decision-making processes we’ve gone through for over a year now, has understood that we weren’t going to be looking for quick fixes or quick shortcuts to validate ourselves,” said Smith. “So while most coaches are just asked to take the group of players they’re given and make the playoffs with them, John’s mandate has been more complicated and more difficult than that.
“He has a team that goes from the greatest player who has ever played this game [Wayne Gretzky] down to the youngest player in the league [Manny Malhotra], and then everybody in between. I think he has done an excellent job of meshing this, and getting the most out of the roster he’s been handed.
“He’s taken Mike Knuble and worked him into a role as a regular, when Mike had never had that role before. He’s coached Brian Leetch through a terrific season. He certainly has to be given credit for coaching Mike Richter to the kind of turn-around he’s had. He’s worked in Dan Cloutier very strategically. Adam Graves is having a great year under John, and so is John MacLean. He’s gotten the most out of Kevin Stevens.
“Marc Savard has developed. Manny Malhotra has made great progress. Look at how Petr Nedved has responded to the responsibility he’s been given. All these are reflections on coaching. And beyond that, he and his staff have kept the attitude positive within the team all year.
“Muck’s a competitor. He wants to win now as badly as anybody. We all want that, every one of us in this business. But the one thing he has never ever done is come to me to complain about the roster. He’s never asked me to trade our kids for veterans to plug holes. He’s part of the program. He’s part of the solution to our problems.”
And he will be behind the Ranger bench for 1999-2000. *Smith said yesterday that he had not been the source for the erroneous story appearing elsewhere on Friday that the Rangers had offered Leetch a multi-year contract worth in excess of $7 million per. The captain was quoted yesterday by The Post saying that the report had been inaccurate.
Said the GM: “It wouldn’t have been me, and I don’t see how it could have been anyone in our organization, because Brian is absolutely right – that is not the number we were working off of. We’re not doing anything from a PR standpoint leaking misinformation to try and make ourselves look good. What’s going to make us look good is signing Brian.”
Muckler, when asked yesterday whether the two-game suspension assessed Eric Lindros for his rake-job Saturday on Nedved’s face was appropriate: “What’s appropriate?”
Smith, who publicly campaigned for the suspension immediately following the 3-1 loss in Philadelphia: “I don’t like to do that kind of thing, but I saw the frustration and anger level of our coaches. I just wasn’t going to allow one of our players to be speared in the face like that without having the organization stand up publicly behind him.”
