NHL Power Rankings: St. Louis Blues start 2019-20 season on top

24. New York Rangers

In February of 2018, the New York Rangers announced their rebuild with a letter. They’ve come a very far way in 20 months. This offseason’s move gave their rebuild a much-needed spark and infusion of elite talent.

Rookie Kaapo Kakko is a legitimate Calder Trophy contender. Yes, the rookie of the year award is a very hard one to predict. But Kakko’s more NHL ready than any teenager and he has proven he can dominate against professionals.

The Rangers also signed Artemi Panarin, who gives them a bonafide elite forward. He’s young enough that he still has a lot of excellent seasons ahead of him. Even though Panarin is making over $10 million a year, I’d argue he’s probably a little bit underpaid considering his age and his elite talent.

Jacob Trouba was another addition. The Rangers needed to replace Ryan McDonagh after trading him in 2018 and Trouba should do that for them.

Despite their great offseason, this still doesn’t look like a contending year for the Rangers. Most of their roster is young and developing. They don’t have a true second-line center right now, though I’m optimistic Filip Chytil will emerge as one by the end of the season.

Most of all, though, their defense is still a mess. But help is on the way there thanks to an impressive group of prospects. The Rangers are going to need a lot of things to go their way to make the postseason, but for the first time in 20 months, the future truly looks bright on Broadway.