The Retooled Rangers Have Their Sights Set On A Return To Playoff Hockey

Kirk Irwin. Getty Images.

It's hard to believe we're not even than two and a half years from the Presidents Trophy-winning New York Rangers having just a pair of dubs between them & the 2024 Stanley Cup final because, mannnn…it's been all downhill since. Actually, a hill is too generous. It's been a swan dive off the Empire State Building. From a franchise-record 114 points & 16 playoff contests to 85 then last season's paltry 77, which matched their worst regular season since '03-04. Yikes.

But it can only go back up from here…right? Or did they splatter?

It's been a busy summer for Chris Drury and his "retool" aspirations. I'm not gonna delve into the pieces he gave up and whether "retooling" vs "rebuilding" is the right decision - but solely looking at their starting lineup this year compared to last, it's hard to argue they're not a better sum of their parts. No, there's no in-house solution to replace Artemi Panarin one-for-one but otherwise, moving on from Trocheck was the right play when you can still slot Zibanejad and JT Miller as your top two pivots. Replacing Bread & Troch are Pavel Dorofeyev - a bonafide 25 year-old sniper who's piled up as many goals as Pasta the past two years - and the well-rounded vet Oliver Bjorkstrand who was a consistent bet for 20 goals/50 points before he found himself buried in the Tampa lineup a season ago.

Last year's down-the-stretch emergence of Gabe Perreault has given fans hope they may have a Panarin replacement soon enough after all. And before you all tell Corey Pronman on me, I'm not saying he's actually going to end up the elite offensive dynamo Artemi is - I'm saying no other forward in the Rangers lineup has the tools to facilitate and make those around them better at even-strength like Perreault does. It's a small sample-size in low pressure games, I know - but after the Olympic break, his 15 even-strength points let the squad (along with his linemate Lafreniere) and the Zibanejad trio showed some excellent chemistry head coach Mike Sullivan is looking to build upon to start this year's clean slate.

Along with JT Miller - who skated his most 5x5 minutes with Conor f'n Sheary and, by all accounts, played the majority of last season banged up but is 100% now - the new top-six may not be as scary on paper without Panarin's name on it but it's undoubtedly more balanced and maybe even underrated. Let's not forget the Blueshirts were just outside the top ten in goals/game and brandished the league's 3rd-best powerplay once the Breadman was removed from the lineup for good. I'm not saying he was the problem, obviously. It's just proof they're capable without him and there will be more touches to go around without the tunnel vision that (rightfully) comes with the territory when sharing the ice alongside someone as skilled as Panarin. Perreault should have the puck a ton. Lafreniere as well which, on top of his newfound net-front home on the powerplay, has finally gotta get him over the 30-goal hump & pushing 70 points. The former 1OA is out of runway. His time has gotta be now.

With their top-six makeover, their bottom-six gets stronger. Will Cuylle finished with his second consecutive 20-goal campaign but if you have eyeballs, it was fairly evident Sullivan was tasking him with playing above his head. 20 tucks & 300+ hits is the definition of an excellent third-liner and that's where Cools will slot, alongside sophomore Noah Laba whose speed & knack at the dot personifies a reliable bottom-six pivot. On their flank to start the season will be low-risk free agent Eeli Tolvanen. Tolvanen has been a polarizing player ever since his days as a draft prospect where he was knocking on the door of top-10 status on some pre-draft rankings lists yet fell to Nashville at #30. Even as he bounced between the KHL & AHL for 3 seasons there was a heavy sect of prospect pundits who swore he'd still be a star. Although he improved with a move to Seattle, those "star" dreams are gone. Still, he's become a physical player and will always be a solid volume shooter with an excellent shot. He might be a bit of a plodder, especially for a smaller guy - but there's a lot of upside compared to last year's opening third line of Sheary and the recently-waived Taylor Raddysh flanking Laba for his NHL debut.

Worst case, if Tolvanen flops on L3, one of my favorite new Rangers can step right in - Tolvanen's former teammate Tye Kartye. Hell I'd argue he should be there anyway. Kartye was a revelation in his 24 games on Broadway. The undrafted pinball stepped into a career-high 14 minutes a night in 24 tilts as a Blueshirt & racked up 5G/9A/75 hits while jumping off the TV screen almost every shift. While that's likely not a sustainable scoring pace, it's proof that the 25 year-old is not only gonna empty the tank in whatever role asked of him but he's capable of contributing on the stat sheet too. To start the year he'll be riding shotgun next to Joe Veleno who, like Laba ahead of him, is another depth center with great speed who wins more draws than he loses. He's never hit on his first-round pedigree but, at just 26, there could still be a hint of upside left for a guy with a safe 4th line floor. Matt Rempe gets the starting nod over Jaroslav Chmelar for now, but Chmelar's better combo of speed, skill and size is the better bet to play more games this season.

In large part to their turnover up front, the Rangers now roster the second-youngest team (26.15) in the league. They were the 13th-oldest a year ago. How that translates to winning immediately remains to be seen, but there's no doubt there needs to be the start of a changing of the guard. Zib & Miller will likely lead the way but there can't be a chasm between those two and the rest of the offense. No one's got more pressure on their shoulders than Lafreniere to fill the void, but Dorofeyev is no longer shielded by the likes of Eichel, Stone & Marner in Vegas. Scoring 35+ is never easy, but it's certainly easier when you can fly under the radar. On Broadway, there's no such thing. And although Perreault will be given a little more rope from fans, he knows he's the wild card. If he picks up right where he left off, memories of the squad we saw sputter offensively 22 times to the tune of less than 2 goals last season (10 shutouts!!) are gonna be erased pretty quickly.

Defensively though is where New York is unquestionably, drastically improved. Their bottom-four a year ago was comprised of Will Borgen, Carson Soucy, Braden Schneider, Matthew Robertson & Urho Vaakanainen. Just abysmal behind the stellar top pair of Gavrikov and Fox. To no one's surprise, whenever Fox was hurt and guys had to slot up, it was whatever word is abysmally worse than abysmal. The Fox slander from Rangers fans blows my fucking mind. Adam Fox is nothing short of elite, and arguably as important to this team as Shesterkin. Without Fox in the lineup last season they went 8-16-3 and averaged over a full goal against worse than when he was in the lineup (3.68 vs 2.63). Take his offensive abilities out of it - throughout his entire tenure, bad shit happens on the ice significantly less when the former Norris winner plays. That's indisputable. Now look at his scoring impact - 19.4% PP without him, 27.3% with to start - and it starts to become abundantly clear how indispensable Fox is. The residual impact is crazy. Zibanejad scored at a 91-point pace with Fox healthy last year…52 without him. JT Miller 73/48. Lafreniere 62/49. Perreault 51/33. He's the straw that stirs everything and if the Blueshirts can get a full, healthy season with him alongside Gavrikov those Norris sparks will be rekindled.

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Out are Borgen, Soucy & Urho. In are Marcus Petterson, Sean Durzi and 6th overall pick Alberts Smits. Now I'm not gonna sit here and act like I wasn't screaming Chase Reid's name from the mountaintops on draft night - but that doesn't mean I thought Smits sucks. The Latvian may very well be the real-life Ivan Drago. Ever since camp started this kid has been all business. No excitement. No cockiness. No surprise. No maybes. Seemingly not a care in the world for anything other than hockey and when he made the team he simply said "That's why I came here. I don't really care if you're 18 or 30 or 60, job's gonna stay the same." Gotta love it. Sullivan will assumedly shelter him a bit in his third-pair assignment with Braden Schneider, and he'll be able to do so because Drury went out and got a legitimate second-pairing.

Marcus Pettersson is insanely underrated. He might look like Gumby out there but the lanky lefty is a great defender with the ability to move the puck - a skill this team has lacked heavily on the back end. Sullivan knows him well from their days in Pittsburgh and has seen him munch quality minutes with his safe, sound style and monstrous wingspan. On his right is Sean Durzi, who's likely the best skater of their group & brings a more dynamic style. Durzi's had a hard time staying healthy but he's scored at a 40-point pace over his career. He's susceptible to his fair share of giveaways which comes with the territory for any d-man with high-level transition passing acumen, but that's why pairing him alongside Pettersson is the perfect match. Plus he's got some rat to his game. An agitator. Kinda reminiscent of Tony Deangelo. This duo could be a top pair on a bad team. Slotting them behind one of the best defensive tandems is gonna do absolute wonders for this team all around.

Last but not least, they still have Igor Shesterkin between the pipes. Fox may be the straw that stirs it all but there's no one better across the league than Igor at making sure shit don't spill. Despite injury and a woeful team in front of him, Shesterkin still finished top five in GAA and save percentage over 51 starts. If he can stay healthy there's little doubt Igor can return to Vezina-caliber form and backstop this team into the playoffs.

This ain't a Cup team, but they definitely have the pieces to be battling for 3rd in the Metro or a wild card spot. After the last two demoralizing seasons the bar as a Rangers fan has dropped. So that's all I ask for. A puncher's chance with the best goalie in the sport against either Eastern division champion is still infinitely better than being on the outside looking in.

VIVA LA BLUESHIRTS!!!