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Rangers Season Preview

by Patrick Hoffman on 09/02/10 at 11:45 AM ET
Comments (1)

Over at RLD Hockey, I was asked to write a season preview on our/your beloved/cursed New York Rangers.

I am going to post it here as well for your viewing pleasure. As always, please feel free to leave your comments and predictions:

When your team does not and has trouble scoring goals, plays inconsistently, does not take advantage of opportunities and plays too defensively, you get the outcome that the 2009-10 New York Rangers did: no playoffs.

Last season, the Blueshirts relied too heavily on Marian Gaborik (42 goals, 44 assists, 86 points) and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist (35-27-10, 2.38 goals-against average, 4 shutouts and a .921 save percentage). Yes, the team and the organization have a right to rely on their two superstars; but at the same time, hockey is a team game and requires everyone to pitch in and contribute.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, that did not happen and the team’s inconsistency led to a playoff-less season for the first time since the lockout. That is the worry when it comes to the upcoming season.

During the off-season, Rangers GM Glen Sather went out and signed free agent backup goaltender Martin Biron to a two-year deal; inked inconsistent yet talented forward Alexander Frolov; and signed enforcer Derek Boogaard to a ridiculous four-year deal at $1.65 million per year.

The Biron signing should allow head coach John Tortorella to give Lundqvist a rest – something he needs more often. Frolov could be a good signing for one year, especially if he can start clicking with Gaborik. As for Boogaard, the team knows that he will provide toughness but that will most likely be about it (he has missed an average of 31 games a year since the lockout).

This off-season also saw the Blueshirts re-sign defenseman Dan Girardi, as well as forwards Vinny Prospal and Erik Christensen. Prospal had a solid first year on Broadway with 58 points while Christensen surprised many by producing 26 points in 58 games. Again, can they be consistent and produce this season? The club also signed Norwegian star Mats Zuccarello Aasen to help out the offense.

The defense is also spotty. Assuming Sather re-signs RFA Marc Staal, he’ll end up being the team’s most reliable blue-liner. The team also hopes that Michael Del Zotto follows up on his successful rookie campaign (37 points), and that Matt Gilroy can get his game together. They also have the promising Ryan McDonough, who could end up making a lot of noise at the NHL level.

Again though, this is the Rangers we are talking about. Their inconsistency hurt them last season and if they continue to struggle scoring goals or showing up on a nightly basis, it will hurt them in 2010-11.

From Ryan Porth at RLD Hockey:

Additions: Alexander Frolov, Steve Eminger, Todd White, Martin Biron, Mats Zuccarello Aasen, Derek Boogaard, Tim Kennedy
Subtractions: Olli Jokinen, Jody Shelley, Alex Auld, Aaron Voros, P.A. Parenteau, Anders Eriksson

Fresh Faces From the Farm:
- The aforementioned McDonagh will be given an opportunity to make the starting lineup in camp.
- Forwards Derek Stephan and Evgeny Grachev could have a chance to crack the roster, but are most likely a year away.

X-Factor: Brandon Dubinsky
If he gets any time at all as the top-line center, Dubinsky is going to have to do better than he did last year.
Breakout: Artem Anisimov
Without a true number one pivot, could Anisimov jump up and steal the spotlight?
On the Hot Seat: Wade Redden
Redden and his $6.5 million cap hit are on its last leg on Broadway.

Bold Prediction: John Tortorella will be fired prior to season’s end.

The Final Word: The Rangers made some good and not-so-good moves this summer. With all of the changes Sather made, I think the team only made lateral movement. I don’t see the Blueshirts being a playoff team unless they get consistent scoring from its top two lines. Good luck with that.

RLD Staff Predictions:
Anthony- 4th Atlantic Division; 12th Eastern Conference
Patrick- 4th Atlantic Division; 10th Eastern Conference
Ryan- 4th Atlantic Division; 13th Eastern Conference

Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
 Tags: New+York+Rangers,

Comments

Something is wrong. According to pretty much everyone’s predictions Rangers will finish 2010-2011 season in 10th place at best.  THN gives them 13th. One of the blogs I read said 14th.  Everyone has a right to have an opinion and especially prediction.  But there should be some reasoning.

THN’s reason to give NYR 13th place is: you can’t expect Gaborik to stay healthy.
Ryan Porth’s - the lack of consistent scoring from two top lines.
At the same time everyone agrees that the team improved a little or at least didn’t get worse this summer.

Last year the Rangers missed playoffs by 1 point and were in 9th place.  In the summer Frolov, Mats Zuccarello Aasen and Tim Kennedy were acquired to improve scoring.  I might be biased as a Rangers fan but I don’t see how these three forwards don’t score 40 goals together. Mind you NYR missed playoffs by ONE point.
Christensen, Prospal, Avey and Frolov for that matter have to prove themselves as best as they can - it just might happen to be the last NHL season for them if they don’t.
Henrik and Gabby are the same two players in their prime as they were last year (barring the injuries) plus Biron should help out

Rangers also have a bunch of young players who can do nothing but improve. Callahan and Dubinsky should have at least as good of a season as last year.
Del Zotto, Kennedy and Anisimov will most likely improve.

Defense is spotty. But it didn’t become worse then last year (assuming Stall is resigned)

So again - at the very least the team did not get worse then it was. Of course I’m a fan but I don’t see the logic in equation 9 = 13

Posted by Shurshik14 on 09/02/10 at 02:09 PM ET

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Patrick has a tremendous passion for hockey. Besides covering the Rangers and the NHL for Kukla’s Korner, you can also find Patrick’s work over at RLD Hockey, Rangers Tribune, and TheGoodPoint.com.

Prior to writing for the above mentioned outlets, you could find Patrick’s musings at hockey web sites/outlets such as TheHockeyNews.com, The Fourth Period, Spector’s Hockey, Hokeja Vestnesis, Blueshirt Bulletin, SNYRangersBlog.com and many more.

For questions, comments and hip checks, feel free to e-mail Patrick at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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