NHL Team Preview: New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are trying to figure out a way to take that next step as a team as they failed to reach the postseason last season as they were fifth in the East Division with a 27-23-6 record for 60 points in the condensed, regular season. 

There has been a bit of change in the organization as they fired their general manager Jeff Gorton and hired Chris Drury. Let’s look a bit into this team to figure out how they should look this season. 

Big Additions

The Rangers did not make any big splashes in free agency and instead worked on re-signing their players. However, they did add left-winger Barclay Goodrow to a six-year, $3.8 million contract. He played for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and in 55 games, he finished with 20 points (six goals, 14 assists). 

Impactful Subtractions

Despite re-signing a good amount of players during the offseason, the Rangers did not keep all their impactful players. One player that they lost that can hurt them is right winger Pavel Buchnevich. He finished last season scoring 48 points (20 goals, 28 assists) in 54 games and had 195 points in 301 games in his five-year career with the New York Rangers. 

Key Players

We are going to highlight two players in this section, and we will start with their best offensive weapon: left winger Artemi Panarin. Last season, he finished playing 42 games with 58 points (17 goals, 41 assists). He finished with a 16 shooting percentage, which was his highest in a season since his rookie season. 

Another player to highlight is their starting goalie Igor Shesterkin, as he will be the reason the New York Rangers can make that improvement this season or not. Last season, he finished playing in 35 games (31 starts) and went 16-14-3. He also allowed 2.62 goals per game and a .916 save percentage last year. He needs to figure out how to improve a little as he gets to have some more starts under his belt. 

2021-22 Win Total Odds

The New York Rangers are currently listed as one of the better teams in the entire NHL as their over/under for regular-season points is sitting at 95.5 as of this writing. However, that feels a little too high for my liking. 

This Rangers team is decent, but expecting 96-plus points seems a little too much as Shesterkin struggles at times and is a .500 goalie. Go with the under as it feels like the more likely play.

* All odds provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.