Most Likely to Succeed: New York Rangers

Most likely to Succeed is our newest series which points out one player from every team and explains why that player is poised to increase their point totals. While some teams may have more than one player likely to breakout and some none, we will focus on the ones who actually should improve with a full healthy season. File this article under a sleeper-type but sleepers would not be called that if people saw them coming.

Nobody lost more from coach Tom Renney’s firing than superstar Henrik Lundqvist. In his first full season under John Tortorella the Swedish goaltender won the least games since his first season, when he split time with then starter Kevin Weekes. His peripherals took a bit of a nosedive with the change of regime and system but this goalie simply is too special not to rebound.

Lundqvist almost stole a full series from the Washington Capitals and holds better odds than more talked about netminders like Marc-Andre Fleury or Jaroslav Halak. He also won a gold medal with Sweden and a SEL Championship before even coming to the NHL. His GAA and SV% are that good every year because of his talent and quick reaction to shooters.

The best player on the New York Rangers plays between the pipes and because of him the team will always come near the playoffs. Last season they actually were not a terrible team defensively, with a very good penalty kill but at times anemic offense. If they can slightly improve their production, Lundqvist could flirt with 40 wins once again.