Drop the Puck

RUNNING IT BACK
The Rangers had a “loud” off-season when it came to trade and contract rumors, but a “quiet” off-season when it came to actual player moves. As we said in our off-season recap, if you were of the mindset to “run it back”, then you got your wish for 2024-25. If you were hoping for a “shake-up”, you’ll get your wish next summer when the Rangers will need to make hard decisions to stay cap compliant.

As an aside, let’s be clear, the reason this team is going to have to make changes is because young, homegrown Rangers Igor Shesterkin, K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere have developed to the point that they need to get paid. That is a good thing, though it clouds the futures of Jacob Trouba, Ryan Lindgren, Kaapo Kakko amongst others.

That’s for the future, when the puck dropped earlier tonight for the road opener in Pittsburgh, they were focused on this year, and this year only. The Rangers have a core that has experienced success by making the conference finals twice in the last three years, earning last year’s Presidents Trophy by winning a Rangers record 55 games and then their first 7 playoff games.

When the power play cooled off, so did they, but they still managed to finish off Carolina (shout out to Chris Kreider) and push the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers to 6 games. What makes them think they can go further this year with so few changes?

1. Reilly Smith is a clear upgrade on Jack Roslovic and Blake Wheeler as the RW that could help Mike Zibanejad and Kreider find their 5×5 offense.
2. The “second line” is back together with an ascending Lafreniere ready to step up in case either Artemi Panarin or Vincent Trocheck take a step back from their career years.
3. Filip Chytil is healthy, and therefore an upgrade on Alex Wennberg and the compromised version of Chytil we saw in the playoffs.
4. Speaking of compromised, Adam Fox played chunks of last season compromised,  especially during the second half of the playoffs, coinciding with the power play slump.
5. Kaapo Kakko is no longer seen as a Top 6 guy and is locked into a 3^rd line role which should unburden him from trying to live up to his lofty draft status.
6. Will Cuylle, Zac Jones, K’Andre Miller and Braden Schneider are ascending players and on track to get more responsibility this season.

MERITOCRACY
Running it back left few openings. Peter Laviolette said that despite having his team set on paper, he encouraged everyone in camp to go out and be noticed, by finding a way to stand out in practice and games. As bad luck would have it, the Rangers had two regulars injured during training. As luck would have it, they had two rookies who took Laviolette’s advice, and were ready to fill-in.

Adam Edstrom won the 2024 Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award presented to the Rangers top rookie at training camp and replaced the injured Jimmy Vesey on the 4^th line in the opener against Pittsburgh, while the unofficial runner-up for the award Victor Mancini replaced the injured Lindgren on defense. There were NHL veterans in camp that could have been given these spots based on their experience, but the Rangers based it on performance.

Don’t you love it when a boss keeps his word?

MID-ROUND DRAFT PICKS
In hockey, you expect to hit on your first-round picks, and you hope to hit on your second-round picks, but the others are generally a crapshoot. Which is why you see mid-round picks flying around at the trade deadline. The Rangers may want to rethink that philosophy based on how well their scouts have been rolling the last 5 years.

• Zac Jones (3^rd round, 2019)
• Adam Edstrom (6^th round, 2019)
• Matt Rempe (6^th round, 2020)
• Victor Mancini (5^th round, 2022)

Oh, wait, we forgot someone!

• Igor Shesterkin (4^th round, 2014)

IGOR SHESTERKIN
If you haven’t heard, Kevin Weekes reported yesterday that Shesterkin turned down an 8 year/$88-million-dollar contract offer, which led to the Rangers franchise goalie trending on social media.

There’s a vocal minority of New York sports fans who like to cry about “greedy athletes” when one of their own players wants more money than was offered. They are generally the same fans who scream, “spend whatever it takes” when they want another team’s best player in free agency. Note to those fans, regardless of position, Shesterkin is the Rangers’ best player.

We say, rest easy. The fact that the Rangers either leaked $11m per year, or didn’t deny it today says they understand Igor’s worth. The fact that he turned down the offer doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to be a Ranger, it just means that in his 5 years of living in the United States, he’s learned how to be a capitalist. It’s a negotiation with no real urgency or immediate deadline.

The Rangers organization and fanbase treasure their goalies. There are already 3 goalie jerseys hanging at Madison Square Garden and we’re confident that somewhere down the road, at least 9 years from now, there will be a 4^th.

Let’s drop the puck!