Offseason Review: Will New Coach & New Attitude Equal New Results For Rangers?
Is this the year? Do the New York Rangers take the step forward?
They’re coming off a 2020-21 campaign that saw them post a 27-23-6 record in head coach David Quinn’s third year behind the bench. Far from perfect, but a good year considering top scorer Artemi Panarin missed more than a dozen games. What it wasn’t good enough for was for Quinn to hold his job. He was fired this past offseason and was replaced with veteran coach Gerard Gallant.
They moved out some skill and brought in some grit, but will that move them forward?
What happened in 2021?
The Rangers’ record left them on the outside looking in when playoffs rolled around placing fifth in the East Division. But that’s not a major surprise — New York was staring down the barrel looking at other clubs like the New York Islanders, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins. Yeah, a tough go.
It wasn’t all bad, however. They scored the 11th most goals in the league while allowing the 14th most. Those are big stat to build off of.
The aforementioned Panarin (17-41—58) led the way offensively, but those 14 missed games stung. Mika Zibanejad (24-26—50) broke out, while Ryan Strome (14-25—49) had another impressive season. Rookie Alexis Lafreniere finished with (12-9—21) in 56 games. At times, Lafreniere showed flashes of the skill that made him the first overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, while at other times he looked overmatched as a teenager playing against bigger, stronger grown men.
On the backend, Adam Fox (5-42—47) had a Norris Trophy winning season, a wildly impressive feat for a player who just played his second season in the NHL. He alone has changed the shape of the Rangers franchise and will be a staple for years to come.
In net, Igor Shesterkin (16-14-3, .916 sv%, 7.9 GSAA) broke out with a strong campaign and is a player who should hold the fort in net for the years to come.
What did they do in the offseason?
Notable Additions: Barclay Goodrow, Ryan Reaves, Sammy Blais
Notable Subtractions: Pavel Buchnevich, Brett Howden, Brendan Smith, Tony DeAngelo
What to expect in 2021-22?
Ryan Reaves fights Tom Wilson.
Okay so if there’s one thing the entire hockey world is waiting for it’s October 13th. Yeah, it’s the second day of the NHL season but it’s also the opener for the Rangers. Who do they play? The Washington Capitals. We all can remember the Wilson-Buchnevich-Panarin incident from last year and Reaves was brought it to, well… deal with things.
Reaves will also help provide leadership to a team that needs it and while he’s not an offensive burner, the team felt the need to acquire this added grit.
They also signed Barclay Goodrow to a huge six-year, $3.641-million contract. The money isn’t so much the issue for a middle-six talent, but a career high of 26 points is cause for concern. But he’ll be a help for the Rangers, nonetheless.
Moving on from Buchnevich was an odd move, but the addition of Blais should help to offset the loss.
The Rangers should be able to take another good step forward this season and under new head coach Gerard Gallant. They’re heading back to a heavy Metro so their work will be cut out for them.
One bold prediction…
The Rangers make the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17. We’ve seen in the past teams have strong first seasons under a new bench boss and Gallant will make the most out of the roster. Oh, and Lafreniere scores 60 points.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.
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