The New York Rangers’ rebuild is officially over with the signing of Artemi Panarin. Here are three key players for their 2019-2020 season.
In February of 2018, the New York Rangers sent out a public letter to their fans telling them that they will be undergoing a rebuild. The letter warned the fans that familiar faces and fan favorites would be on the move to start building a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
The Rangers then dealt away everyone. Captain Ryan McDonough, J.T. Miller, Mats Zuccarello‘s departure moved Henrik Lundqvist to tears, and plenty of fresh faces and draft picks came back in return.
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The Rangers executed this rebuild to a T and this summer signed big fish free agent Artemi Panarin a massive seven-year deal. Now the rebuild is over and it’s up to these three players to step up and start making this team competitive again.
3. Henrik Lundqvist
Henrik Lundqvist was a soldier throughout the rebuild, playing for a non-contending team while his dreams of a Stanley Cup grew in importance with his age.
This year, King Hank is 37 years old and he has yet to win it all. The Rangers have built a very strong team in front of him and now it’s Lundqvist’s turn to show management that he still has enough in the tank to push the team forward.
His numbers in the last three seasons have not been his best, but granted, the team in front of him did not play well. Now he has a legit team in front of him and he won’t be getting any younger. Both these factors will be big motivators for the goaltender and hopefully, it lights a big fire under him.
2. Artemi Panarin
Artemi Panarin is a huge piece of the Rangers’ puzzle. Last season, the Rangers’ offense was bad. They were 21st in the league in goals per game (2.7) and their powerplay was 17th (19.4%). The arrival of Panarin will instantly boost both these numbers.
Panarin will give the Rangers a lethal shooting threat, offensive depth, and drastically improve their powerplay. New York’s first line of Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, and Pavel Buchnevich will be a lethal combination that can compete with any other team’s top line.
1. Mika Zibanejad
Last season was Mika Zibanejad’s first taste as a first-line center and he aced it. A career-high 30 goals, he lead the team in production and was a phenomenal playmaker. His leadership off the ice earned him the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, awarded to the Ranger who “goes above and beyond the call of duty”.
Zibanejad established himself as a leader in the locker room during the tough times of the rebuild and will now be expected to continue leading the team as they start their upward trend. He will be key both as the Ranger’s top-line center as well as the guy players turn to when things aren’t going smoothly.
The Rangers have a lot of key leaders on their team that have been through a lot and are ready for the next chapter. This team has a good balance of veteran leadership and young budding talent and they are poised to make some noise this season. The rebuild is over and it’s time to start playing for real now.