A Closer Look at the New York Rangers
It has been a busy offseason for the Rangers. It seems like forever ago they watched the Ottawa Senators celebrate in Madison Square Garden as they advanced to face the Penguins. Since then, a lot has changed with multiple roster moves. Here is a timeline of the big moments of the off season so far:
May 9th:
The Rangers fell in Game 6 against the Senators 4–2 in the second round of the playoffs. The Senators tallied in the first period twice, with Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone with the goals. The Rangers cut it to a one goal game just 53 seconds into the third period thanks to Chris Krieder, but it wasn’t enough to force overtime.
June 14th:
It was time for Dan Girardi to find a new home. After a great career in New York, the Rangers decide to buy him out. Ranger fans were really asking for him to go after the season, and they got their wish. He played a total of 788 games with the Rangers, and 122 playoff games. He now finds a new home with the Tampa Bay Lighting.
June 21st:
The Vegas Golden Knights who are a new addition to the NHL this year as an expansion team, took Oscar Lindberg from the Rangers in the expansion draft. Many people (including myself) thought they would take Michael Grabner who had an outstanding season last year. Lindberg had eight goals and 12 assists this year as a Ranger. He will be deeply missed in New York as it will cause a depth issue at center (for now).
June 23rd:
This was possibly the second biggest day of the offseason for the Rangers. It’s draft day, and the Rangers are on the move early. They make a trade with the Arizona Coyotes which includes Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta going to Arizona. Raanta was the backup goalie for Henrik Lundqvist, and proved himself to be a starter somewhere else. It was clear that he would not stay in New York after this season because he wanted a chance to be a starter. Derek Stepan was an excellent center for the New York Rangers, but to get this trade they had to see him go. The Rangers in return get defenseman Anthony DeAngelo who was one of their top defensemen and the 7th overall pick. With the seventh pick they get Swedish player Lias Andersson. At only 19 years old, Andersson has almost an impossible shot to stop and has tremendous speed.
July 1st:
The biggest move of the offseason by any team in the league was Kevin Shattenkirk signing with the Rangers. Shattenkrik was one of the Washington Capitals top defensemen this past season, and now we will see what he can do in the Big Apple. Growing up in New York, fans across the country had a hunch he was coming home. The New Jersey Devils and the Tampa Bay Lighting were also in the mix to land Shattenkrik, but came up just short. In the end, the Rangers had an offer that Shattenkirk couldn’t turn down: to come home. Also on this day they signed goaltender Ondrej Pavelec who played for the Winnipeg Jets last year, but only appeared in eight games last season. If the Rangers want to continue their strong play like last season, they need Lundqvist in net in more games than he played last year. Lundqvist isn’t getting any younger, and playing Pavelec often could be a stretch to win games.
July 5th:
Even with the young guns drafted, the Rangers still need another solid center. They signed David Desharnais from Montreal to try and replace that hole. A cause of concern for the Rangers is he only played in 49 games last season. He tallied six goals and 14 assists in that span. Desharnais signed a one-year-$1-million-dollar contract with the Rangers.
July 10th:
After all of this madness happening, the Rangers were still in need of an assistant coach. Lindy Ruff was named the assistant coach to replace the hole in the coaching staff. Ruff was the Dallas Stars head coach last season, who had a record of 34–37–11. Ruff is looking to get back into his winning ways by bringing the cup to New York.
July 27th:
Most recently, the Rangers signed forward Mika Zibanejad to a five-year- $5.3-million-dollar contract. It’s clear that Zibanejad will be the number one center for the Rangers this season. New York is just hoping for much of the same production he had last season (14 G, 23 A).
More Moves to come?
There still are some questions for the Rangers. One of these being what do they do with Nick Holden who had a below average playoffs? Many think they will trade him during the season, but the sooner the better. He proved to have a solid start to the year, but declined ever since. Even with the signing of Desharnais, they could still use another reliable center. Some players that they could still go after in the free agency include Andrew Desjardins from Chicago or Cody McCormick from Buffalo.
So far, it has been a very successful off season for the Rangers. With landing Shattenkirk, getting good draft picks, and resigning players they had to. There is still more to come yet, but fans will wait and see what other moves the front office make.
