How You Know The New York Rangers Are Developing Their Youth Right

Yesterday I posted an article about how Glen Sather has been patient to this point and why he needs to remain patient. Then, this morning, I posted an article on how the New York Rangers have made it a point to bring heady players into the organization and what that's done to the organization.

I gave Sather credit for not moving Chris Kreider back at the deadline, but with the Jeremy Lin news for the New York Knicks coming down Tuesday, it reinforces the decision, and shows that the Rangers have done a great job developing their youth.

Both Kreider and Lin saw some serious similarities. Both players came into their respective leagues as rookies and weren't expected to make much of an impact but then blew their expectations out of the water and infused their fanbases with excitement and anticipation. There was no "Kreidersanity" like there was surrounding Lin, but Kreider made his magic in the playoffs, not the regular season.

All through the playoffs and even through this offseason so far, Kreider has been a respectful, humble, hard-working kid who knows how to respect his teammates and his organization. And he's not the only one. All of the Rangers' youth have shown the same type of dedication and attitude Kreider has.

Join me after the jump for more.

And maybe that's the difference. I'm not a big basketball fan at all, but it seems to me like two of the Knicks younger assets -- Landry Fields and Lin -- who did play pretty big roles, both took the money rather than New York. Granted, in basketball, offer sheets are used more than they are in the NHL, but the point remains the same.

You can look at Ryan McDonagh, a player who won't talk about the way Montreal traded him away but will tell you how much he loves New York and everything about the Rangers. Look at some of Kreider's quotes when he first joined the team and he told the media, "It's hard not to fall in love with this kind of team."

Just look at the way the team plays. Carl Hagelin, Artem Anisimov, Derek Stepan, Michael Del Zotto and even Dan Girardi, Brandon Dubinsky, Marc Staal and Henrik Lundqvist. Guys who don't buy into the system, guys who don't care about being a single piece in a bigger machine don't play that way. Hell, is there a better example of this than Ryan Callahan? Is there a single guy in the NHL who better exemplifies what it means to be a captain? There might be a few who are on Callahan's level, but no one resembles the "C" better than him.

This kind of stuff doesn't happen by accident. An organization doesn't fall into a core of players like this. Some of you have pointed towards this core not getting us far enough last year to be kept together. An ideology that I think is ridiculous. The Rangers made major strides last year, and their youth was a big part of that. That's only going to get better. The future is bright, let it stay that way.

You embrace a core like that. You don't break it up. Not unless you have to. And right now, the Rangers simply don't have to.