This Will Finally Be The Year For The New York Rangers

Eliot J. Schechter. Getty Images.

In '21-22, the New York Rangers shocked the hockey world all the way to the tune of a 2-0 ECF series lead before having their improbable Cup dreams squashed. The following season, now ripe with expectation, ended in disappointment with another blown 2-0 series lead - this time in the very first round. With a change at the helm from Gallant to Laviolette a year ago the same Rangers core stormed their way back to the Conference Final, claiming a Presidents' Trophy along the way…only to falter, again, albeit to the eventual champs. Despite no significant roster shakeups and an undeniable recent history of going out like a lamb I'm here to tell you flat out that THIS will be the year the Blueshirts bring the greatest trophy in sports home to the world's greatest arena.

The lack of any significant roster changes certainly wasn't due to a lack of trying. The Rangers front office first put together a sneaky but legal waivers deal with the Sharks, essentially wiping their asses with Barclay Goodrow's no-trade clause to dump his 3 remaining years at $3.6M/per. A brilliant yet cutthroat piece of business. Things didn't go Drury's way though when trying to move on from Jacob Trouba's monster $8M cap hit (or at least half) for another two years. They were crafty enough to ship Goody. Troubs was crafty enough to keep him & his family where he wanted them to be. Sometimes the team wins & other times the player does. That's the business. With that potential cap flexibility lost, the opportunity for a big splash addition was lost as well.

That's not to say Reilly Smith is garbage. Far from it. He's on the backside of his career but New York's biggest offseason add is absolutely capable of finally turning the Zibanejad/Kreider duo into a trio. Things didn't work out for Smith as a Penguin but in his prior six years in Vegas he scored at a 25-goal/60-point per 82-game clip along with 52 points in 66 playoff tilts. That kind of scoring would play perfectly fine as a top-six wing but that's not all Smith brings to the ice. He's a solid skater with a responsible two-way game similar to his assumed new linemates. He won't play timid or constantly look to defer like prior options in that position have. With positive regression absolutely on the horizon for Zibanejad - he was a career 11% 5x5 shooter as a Blueshirt prior to last season's abysmal 6.7% - along with the addition of a third wheel they can trust, that line should improve upon an already solid 58% 5x5 goals-for advantage the Rangers had when Zib & Kreids were on the ice together.

Perhaps the most exciting thing fans are looking forward to is the follow-up to Alexis Lafreniere's long awaited breakout. The soon-to-be 23 year-old former first overall pick racked up 28 goals & 57 points - 26 & 51 at even strength which placed him within the league's top-20 & top-40 respectively. That's elite even-strength production. While climbing past that 60-point threshold is likely as much as we can expect without a PP1 promotion, if Laviolette decides to shake up his powerplay units Lafreniere would be a big beneficiary. I'm talking point-per-game status. Now there's no real reason to dissemble the Fox/Panarin/Trocheck/Zibanejad/Kreider group as it's among the best in the league with the man advantage - but if an injury or wanting more balanced units presents an opportunity for Laffy, we'll be watching his ascension to superstardom.

Another player for fans to be pumped about is the return of a healthy Filip Chytil. Injuries have kept the talented pivot from doing anything other than teasing glimpses of becoming a legitimate offensive weapon. First it was centering the dominant Kid Line in the 2022 playoffs after a regular season that included a November concussion. Then the following year he started off on fire with 19 tucks in 44 games despite barely 14 minutes a night & minimal PP time before cooling off the rest of the way. He suffered another concussion just six games in. Fast forward to this past season and Filthy Fil got hit with his third conky in three seasons that not only knocked him out of the final 72 regular season contests but out of the country to recover at home (Czech Republic) away from hockey. There was plenty of reason to believe this kid might not play again but he suited up for the end of the playoffs and seems to be all systems go now. It's scary to think how quickly that could change with one hit, but if Chytil can get through unscathed he's capable of being an absolute force taking advantage of third line matchups with his tremendous skill & speed while Kakko & Cuylle (13 goals while throwing the 6th most hits among all NHL forwards as a rookie) do the dirty work. Still a lot to prove from all three for various reasons but tough to find a more talented, well-rounded third line than this.

Rounding out the forwards is a solid group of reliable vets, size & talent. Sam Carrick was brought in to anchor the 4th line with a sound defensive skillset & success at the dot. Jimmy Vesey was outstanding last year in a bottom-six role and would've almost certainly had a spot on Carrick's wing - but he'll miss the start of the season due to a lower-body injury. That opens the door for a couple of giants. We all know who Matt Rempe is and what he brings to the table, but one of the brightest spots this preseason has been another 6'7" monster in Adam Edstrom. Rempe throws loud hits and heavy fists. Edstrom certainly plays physical too but simply put, he's just a better hockey player with a higher skillset. There wouldn't be a need to shelter Edstrom nearly as much as Lavi had to do with Rempe. Both should start the year in the lineup, but when everybody's healthy don't be surprised to see Rempe as the odd man out.

On defense, not much has changed in terms of personnel. Adam Fox is still the alpha of the group and will be expected to push for Norris consideration as usual. His partner Ryan Lindgren couldn't come to terms with the Blueshirts on a multi-year deal - I'd assume largely because of injury concerns and the toll playing his warrior style of hockey might be taking on him. So they agreed on a 1-year contract and, right on cue, Lindgren suffers an upper-body injury doing warrior things in a scrap defending a hit on Filip Chytil. He'll miss the start of the season. How the pairings end up while he's out remains to be seen, but whether they're together or not the two most important pieces to this back end are K'Andre Miller and Braden Schneider. Miller's been a roller coaster with some pretty incredible highs followed by some head-scratching lows. Stepping into his 5th season though, the 24 year-old has gotta find consistency to get to that next level. As for Schneider, he's expected to leapfrog the captain and assume a significant boost in responsibility. Trouba's the fanbase punching bag so it's easy to say "anyone's an upgrade over him"…and that may be right. Still, there's a big difference in second-pair matchups & a few minutes more per night over the course of a full season. "Baby Trouba" should be fine but he's gotta prove he can handle it.

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Am I an idiot for believing in Jacob Trouba this year? Maybe. But I genuinely don't think he's "finished" & he's got every reason to bounce back and be a key piece to his team's success. He had a rough season. Rough playoffs. Suffered an ankle injury that certainly didn't help. Got demoted. His organization wanted to get rid of him. Fans despise him because of his contract, his poor play and now because he fought his way out of being traded. Combine all those chips on his shoulder with the fact that this is likely his last legitimate Cup shot as captain of an original six franchise and I truly believe Trouba's gonna be solid. When the D corps gets back to full strength, he'll be skating alongside another player with plenty to prove. Zac Jones has been patiently waiting for a shot at a regular role while being overlooked for a couple years now. Finally he gets his chance. I've said for years that Jones projects like an Adam Fox-lite. That's not to say Jones is gonna be anywhere near the Norris winning Fox - but both are smaller players with smarts & talent to overcome disadvantages in size & strength. Foxy's biggest advantage is his brain. No one is as cerebral. Without elite speed & quickness he still plays the game 5 steps ahead. For Jones, skating is his weapon. He's got a high offensive IQ, vision & playmaking ability but his elite feet and ability to carry the puck is what the Rangers need most alongside Trouba's plodding power game. I'm legitimately excited to see this tandem get work.

And finally, of course, goaltending. As it's been for the last 15 years, Rangers success primarily lies on the shoulders of their netminder. And, as it has been for the last 15 years, the Rangers have the absolute best. Among goalies with 40+ starts in 23-24, only 5 boasted a better save percentage than Igor Shesterkin and that's despite an absolute nightmare Dec-Jan where he hung an ugly .887 across 19 games. Down the stretch though he absolutely dominated. 17-5-1 with 2.20/.930 peripherals from February on followed up by a 2.34/.926 ECF run. All the questions surrounding Shesty's upcoming payday shouldn't have any bearing on this season. What's absolutely certain is he's not getting traded and another stellar year only strengthens his negotiating position. Assuming health, there's no reason to expect anything less than peak Igor while Jonathan Quick returns as an age-defying quality backup.

With all that being said - these next 82 games kinda don't even matter. Barring a catastrophe, the Rangers will easily be a playoff team. Success or failure will be judged by their success in the postseason and "success" begins at a Stanley Cup Final appearance. 12 playoff wins at minimum. The last Eastern squad standing…and truth be told, the Blueshirts are the only one from last year's mix to take a step forward (albeit a small one) on paper. Florida replaced a lot of hard-to-play-against depth forwards & a couple key defenders with a lot of "meh". Their core is still there and still dangerous, but they're seemingly not as penetrable as last season. Carolina might break even at best swapping Skjei/Pesce with Walker/Ghost, but they couldn't hang onto Guentzel and downgraded from Teravainen to Roslovic. They'll still be tough but again, on paper, they went backwards. The Rangers improved via addition by subtraction by losing Goodrow, plus adding Smith and a healthy Chytil. That's a net positive. 

The Devils will almost certainly join the cream of the Eastern crop though. Last year was a fluke. Zero goaltending and injuries galore kept this squad out of the playoffs but that won't happen again. Markstrom is one of the most important additions across the entire league. Pesce & Dillon solidify a back end that will also be welcoming back a healthy Dougie Hamilton. Luke Hughes (out for a bit with a shoulder injury) and Nemec have their rookie campaigns behind them with arrows pointing straight up. Behind the big name forwards of Hughes, Hischier, Bratt and Meier are sneaky good pieces like Palat, Tatar, Haula & Noesen. And I haven't even mentioned 22 year-old Dawson Mercer who might push for 30 goals like he did his sophomore campaign with what looks to be a locked-in top-six role. This team could be flat out scary, but they still gotta prove it.

The Rangers have the best goalie in the league. The best blueliner in the conference. Last year's 4th leading scorer. An ideal blend of vets and youth with chemistry that's been building for years while learning from their past playoff shortcomings. There aren't any holes in their fully-healthy lineup while there's plenty of room for upside to take shape.

This is, finally, the year.

VIVA LA BLUESHIRTS!!!!