Jonathan Quick doesn’t think last season’s surge of change in his life, both personally and professionally, had an effect on his game.
To go from being a franchise goaltender to the third-stringer for a different team in a city more than 250 miles away from the place you and your family called home for 16 years, however, is a drastic adjustment for most.
For Quick, there’s no benefit to dwelling on the end of his career with the Kings and how it did or didn’t impact his play. Just like there’s no reason for him to look too far into his 0-3 showing in his first preseason with the Rangers.
The 37-year-old netminder is a proven veteran who not only knows how to prepare himself in the preseason but also recognizes that every year is going to be different no matter the circumstances.
“It’s about improving your game every day, right?” Quick told The Post after the Rangers’ final practice before their season opener Thursday in Buffalo. “Obviously, every time you step out there, you want to win. Whether you go 7-0, 0-7 [in the preseason], it’s 0-0 coming in. Everything you do throughout camp is for [opening night] and moving forward.”
The preseason numbers weren’t great for the Rangers as a whole, but Quick’s 11 goals allowed on 57 shots do stand out.
It’s important to consider the fact that Quick hasn’t suited up behind a new team in an NHL preseason since his true rookie season in 2008-09.
He had to make the adjustment on the fly last season after the Kings traded the Connecticut native to the Blue Jackets on March 1 before Columbus flipped Quick to the Golden Knights the next day.
“I think it’s mostly just getting the reads,” Quick said of what he likes to focus on in the preseason. “You could skate all summer and do those shooting drills and everything like that, but when you get out there and you got 10 guys in the zone, trying to get the reads. You want to have that awareness of where everybody is at all times. Just kind of seeing that and getting comfortable making those reads.”
Forward Jimmy Vesey and defenseman Zac Jones skated as the extras in practice Wednesday, indicating they’ll be the two scratches for the opener in Buffalo.
After parlaying a professional tryout into a contract — then a two-year extension — last season, Vesey begins the 2023-24 campaign as the 13th forward.
The 30-year-old is entering his ninth NHL season, but this is a role he is somewhat familiar with.
Between Will Cuylle’s emergence in training camp and the offseason signing of Tyler Pitlick, Vesey was edged out of the Rangers’ lineup, in which he played 81 of 82 games last season.
Pitlick is expected to skate on the right wing of the fourth line, while Cuylle has slotted onto the left wing of the third line.
Jones was expected to start the season as the seventh defenseman after the Rangers signed Erik Gustafsson in the offseason.
Gustafsson is expected to skate on the left side of the third pair alongside Braden Schneider.