Last season was one of the most exciting and unexpected for the New York Rangers in more than a generation. After missing the playoffs four straight years, the Blueshirts not only qualified for the postseason, they made it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals. And if they hadn't run out of gas against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they would've made it all the way to finals.
This team is now a bonafide contender, and that is due in no small part to the job Chris Drury has done as GM. While his predecessor Jeff Gorton laid the foundation, Drury added the missing pieces, including the head coach, Gerard Gallant, who was the polar opposite of David Quinn. The rebuild was a resounding success.
So let's breakdown where this team stands and the key players who will determine how successful it will be this season.
Vincent Trocheck. The former Carolina Hurricane is an upgrade over Ryan Strome, who signed with the Anaheim Ducks over the summer. Trocheck checks all the boxes. He's a good skater, good passer, good checker and good in his own zone. He's not afraid to go into the corners and, oh yeah, he's good on face-offs. Last season, he won 54.6 percent of his draws. He's a solid 2C who will benefit from having Artemi Panarin on his line.
Vitali Kravtsov: After last year's clusterfuck, it's obvious Drury had no intention of letting lightning strike twice. The talented winger has been practicing exclusively with Panarin during the preseason and the two have developed a chemistry that, if it clicks in the regular season, will give the Rangers one of the better second lines in the league. If it doesn't, Drury will have trade bait at the deadline.
The Kid Line: It's no secret that the Rangers relied a great deal on Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko in the postseason. Without this line, it's doubtful they would've beaten the Penguins in the first round, much less the Hurricanes in the second. It seems Gallant has decided, for now, to keep the kids together to start the season. How long they stay together will depend on how well both they and the right wings on lines one and two perform.
Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Adam Fox and Panarin: There's no getting around it. The Rangers will go as far as the Fab Four takes them. Kreider's 52 regular season goals led the team last season, and while he doesn't necessarily need a repeat performance, the team can't afford to have him revert to his old ways of scoring 28. Zibanejad was second on the team in power play goals with 15 and led the team in postseason scoring with 24; Fox finished right behind with 23. While Panarin struggled in the playoffs, he is the one of the most talented forwards in the NHL. His 96 points led the team.
Braden Schneider: Mini Trouba, as he is called in the locker room, had an impressive rookie season. The Rangers are counting on him to develop into a solid, stay at home defenseman. With Zac Jones on his left, the two should be a considerable upgrade over the tandem of Patrik Nemeth and Nils Lundkvist, both of whom Drury unloaded during the offseason.
K'Andre Miller: With the exception of Lafreniere, no other player on this team is poised to have the kind of breakout year than Miller. He was third on the team in plus / minus with 23. He has the size, speed and skating ability to be an elite defenseman in the NHL. The sky's the limit with this kid. Like Lafreniere, he will be an RFA after the season, meaning Drury will have his hands full getting him re-signed.
Igor Shesterkin: Last season's Vezina's trophy winner was also unquestionably the team's MVP. He led the league in save percentage (.935) and goals against average (2.07). The Rangers will need him to be just as brilliant this season.
The Power Play: The Rangers had the fourth best power play in the league last season at 25.2 percent. And on a team that struggled to score at 5v5, that was the key to their success; that and Shesterkin's acrobatics in net. For the Blueshirts to contend this season, they will need the power play to be as potent.
The prognosis: Unlike last season, when Gallant was trying to figure out who went where, most of the positions on this team are set. Indeed, the only questions remaining to be answered are who will play RW on the Zibanejad line, and who will the team keep as its 13th forward and 7th defenseman. The Rangers are one of those rare teams that has a veteran core but also some of the youngest players in the league. That combination might just be the special sauce that propels them over the top.
The fact is if you look objectively at the Eastern Conference, a case can be made that the Rangers are the best of the bunch. While an in-depth analysis of the league is forthcoming, in short, each of the top teams in the conference was forced to shed talent to get under the salary cap. The Lightning lost Ondrej Palat to the Devils in free agency and Ryan McDonagh to the Predators in a trade; the Hurricanes were unable to re-sign either Trocheck or Nino Niederreiter; the Panthers surrendered Jonathan Huberdeau, their top scoring forward last season, to acquire Matthew Tkachuk; the Penguins couldn't afford to keep Ivan Rodrigues, who signed with the Avalanche; and the Maple Leafs opted to go with a goalie that hasn't had a good season since his cup years in Pittsburgh half a decade ago.
By contrast, the Rangers have depth at virtually every position and the elite goaltending to go on another extended playoff run. Last October, I said they were a year or two away from the Holy Grail. I've seen nothing over the last twelve months that would change that assessment.
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