The National Hockey League (NHL) starts the 2021/2022 season on October 12th. If Tampa manages the “three peat”, what can you expect from the new franchise from Seattle? In the annual preview series is advancing Hockey-News.info focus on a different team every day.
The New York Rangers are still waiting for a return to the playoffs – the last appearance of the Blueshirts was no less than four years, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Due to the many good decisions made by the Rangers management, Manhattan is looking to a successful future that already shimmered through in the past season. Now is the time for the Rangers to put all the pieces of the puzzle together to become a real contender in the Metropolitan Division. With high draft picks, well-developed players and one or the other veteran you go into the new season – only a few cracks, who put on the Rangers’ dress last year, are no longer part of the game. The most prominent departure is Pavel Buchnevich, who was the Rangers’ second best goal-getter with 20 goals. But none other than Alexis Lafreniere should make his goals forget.
| New York Rangers Infobox | |
|---|---|
| Additions: | Barclay Goodrow, Samuel Blais, Patrik Nemeth, Jarred Tinordi, Ryan Reaves |
| Departures: | Pavel Buchnevich, Brendan Lemieux, Brett Howden, Colin Blackwell, Jack Johnson, Brendan Smith |
| 2021 1st Round Pick: | Brennan Othmann (16th) |
| Top 3 Prospects: | Nils Lundkvist, Vitali Kravtsov, Braden Schneider |
The 1st overall pick from the NHL Entry Draft 2020 had to struggle with starting difficulties in the past season, but found its way better and better as the 56-game season continued and ended the season with twelve goals and 21 points. Everyone knows about the skill set of the Canadian – if the Rangers want to play a word for the playoffs, Lafreniere will have to triple his point yield, but he can definitely be trusted. Artemi Panarin, who missed part of the previous season due to personal reasons, was still the Rangers’ attacker with the highest points with 58 points. At the age of 29, the Russian, who has already collected 473 points, is entering his seventh NHL season. He’s still under contract for no less than $ 11.6 million per year until the end of the 2025/26 season. The term of Mika Zibanejad’s contract is significantly shorter, because the Swede with Persian roots is entering his last year of contract, which is already causing trade rumors. Especially with regard to the possible and not too cheap signings by Lafreniere, Fox and Kakko, the 28-year-old center could not be in the long-term plan of those responsible. From a sporting point of view, there is no doubt about the quality of the center: Zibanejad was able to score 199 points in 175 games in the last three seasons.
What can you expect from the 1st overall this year? (c) RoadTrippinHockey (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Ryan Strome, who spent last season as Panarin’s center, has developed into a good top six center over the past few seasons and is pretty sure his place in the front ranks. The Finn Kaapo Kakko will also storm in the second attack formation and try to increase his point yield, because the Rangers expect more than a maximum of 23 points from the former 2nd overall pick from the NHL Entry Draft 2019. With Barclay Goodrow they piloted a two-time Cup champ to New York – he is supposed to form a very balanced third attack formation together with Filip Chytil. Another young striker is starting his NHL career with Vitali Kravtsov. The 21-year-old winger gained his first experience in 20 games last season, this year he wants to secure a permanent place in the team of head coach Gerard Gallant. With Ryan Reaves they brought a physically very present player from Las Vegas, who is supposed to “protect” the high-end technicians in particular – a clever move by the Rangers, who generally made their squad a bit “tougher”.
| New York Rangers Lineup | ||
|---|---|---|
| striker | ||
| Chris Kreider | Mika Zibanejad | Alexis Lafreniere |
| Artemi Panarin | Ryan Strome | Kaapo Kakko |
| Barclay Goodrow | Filip Chytil | Vitali Kravtsov |
| Samuel blais | Kevin Rooney | Ryan Reaves |
| defender | goalkeeper | |
| Ryan Lindgren | Adam Fox | Igor Shesterkin |
| K’Andre Miller | Jacob Trouba | Alexander Georgiev |
| Patrik Nemeth / Libor Hayek | Nils Lundkvist / Jarred Tinordi | |
It’s unbelievable what a season the new superstar defender Adam Fox has delivered in only his second NHL season. The 23-year-old American, who was drafted by the Calgary Flames in 2016, delivered 47 points in only 55 games, was a fixture in both the PP and the PK and thus rightly secured the “Norris Trophy”, which goes to the best defender of the season. For the first time since Brian Leetch received this trophy in 1997, it went back to a Rangers defender. In the history of the NHL, the “James Norris Memorial Trophy” was received five times by a Rangers crack. His status as the lynchpin in the Ranger’s defense is set in stone and if he delivers at this high level in the upcoming season, Fox will have a nice payday as the defender’s contract expires at the end of the season.
With the 23-year-old Ryan Lindgren, the coaching staff found an ideal addition for Fox – Lindgren, who also scored 16 points, but takes on the defensive part and showed in the previous year with a plus / minus rating of +20 (Rangers- Best value). With Fox and Lindgren, the Rangers are not sending the only, rather young cracks into the race, because with K’Andre Miller and the Swede Nils Lundkvist, two 21-year-old Defenders will be in the opening day lineup. Lundkvist in particular will have a lot of spotlights, he was able to show off in the Swedish SHL at the age of only 20 – he delivered 32 points in 52 games in the past season and was also awarded the “Salming Trophy”, which went to the best Swedish defender is awarded. It remains to be seen how quickly he can adjust to the conditions in North America, with a second, extremely offensive defender, the Rangers defensive takes on a completely new dimension.
K’Andre Miller was able to convince straight away in his first season in the “big apple” and will have his place in his pocket, as will the veteran Jacob Trouba. Trouba is entering its ninth NHL season at the age of 27 and can fall back on the experience of 515 NHL games. This is a very important aspect, especially for young defenders. One of the most interesting lines is complemented by Patrik Nemeth and the physically very strong Jarred Tinordi. Zac Jones and Libor Hajek are also fighting for a place in the training camp – a real luxury problem for the Rangers coaching staff.
Gerard Gallant is the new strong man in the gang! (c) Michael Miller (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Igor Shesterkin delivered a solid first, full NHL season. After the Russian was able to prove his skills in twelve games in 2019/20, Shesterkin was between the pipes in 35 games in the past season and scored 16 wins for the Blueshirts. With a goal average of 2.62 he was only 22nd in the league, his 91.6% Save an important 16th place. Here one can hope for an increase in performance from the 25-year-old Netminder – he definitely has the potential to do so. The Moscow native is still under contract until the end of the 2024/25 season and is charging the Rangers Cap with a cap hit of 5.666 million US dollars. Alexandar Georgiev, who has both Russian and Bulgarian citizenship, has been exclusively in the Rangers’ box for the past two years, previously he has been commuting between the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) and the prestigious NHL franchise. The also 25-year-old goalkeeper was able to win eight of his 19 appearances this season and has developed into a solid backup option in recent years. The Rangers need more from their goalie team than in the past season to work their way up the table.
Hockey-News Projection: The Rangers have a lot of quality in attack, defense, goal but also on the boards. In the “big apple” you will get closer to the playoffs and get involved in the race for a wildcard.
www.hockey-news.info , Bild: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA CC BY 2.0
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