The Rangers looked like they were going to make a serious run at contending for a Stanley Cup until they ran into Boston in the Eastern semis. Henrik Lundqvist led the team from between the pipes but a lack of offense and a poor power play kept the Rangers from going deeper into the playoffs. Let’s take a look back at the Broadway Blueshirts.
Team Name:New York Rangers
Record: 26-18-4, 2nd in Atlantic, Lost 4-1 to Boston in Eastern Conference Semifinals
Player of the Season: Lundqvist was one of the most solid and consistent goaltenders in the league. He posted a 24-16-3 mark with a scant 2.05 goals against average, .926 save percentage and a pair of shutouts. The Rangers finished 4th in goals against average and Lundqvist was why the Rangers had a successful season.
Breakout of the Season: Derek Stepan (18-26–44, 14 ST points, +25 rating, 12 PIMs) rocked the rink in his third season. He was seven points shy of matching his career-high of 51 despite playing in 34 fewer games due to the lockout.
Stepan should be in the 70-point range next season and look for him to have a strong plus-minus rating. Another piece of upside on Stepan is that he has NEVER missed a game in three seasons in the NHL. And he has more goals (56) than penalty minutes (54) for his career. That’s an impressive stat.
Disappointment of the Season: They couldn’t provide enough offense to make life easy for Lundqvist. Rick Nash scored a team-high 21 goals but most of them came in the third period of games so it made life difficult for impatient owners. Brad Richards, Carl Hagelin and Ryan Callahan each scored double-digit goals but no one else scored more than six.
Team Analysis: The Rangers need depth and they need to re-tool their power play in order to move up in the pecking order in the realigned Eastern Conference. They can’t keep asking Lundqvist to stand on his head night after night and expect to win. Without upgrades, it’s all going to fall apart in spectacular fashion.
The Rangers scored one goal or less in 15 of their 48 games and 6 of their 12 playoff games.
There is the problem. How will they fix it?
2013-2014 Story Lines: How will the team react with John Tortorella being in Vancouver and Canucks coach Alain Vigneault now at the helm of the Broadway Blueshirts? At least press conferences will be longer than this paragraph.
How will Marc Staal be, healthwise, after taking that puck to the eye in the regular season?
2013-2014 Fantasy Guys to Have: Lundqvist, Stepan, Nash, Richards, Callahan, Hagelin, Michael Del Zotto (21 pts, 8 on PP, +6 rating)
Guys On the Fringe: Ryane Clowe, Martin Biron (to handcuff Lundqvist)
| PLAYER | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | ATOI | PPG | PPA | SHG | SHA | SOG | SPCT |
| Derek Stepan, C | 48 | 18 | 26 | 44 | 25 | 12 | 20:55 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 108 | 16.7 |
| Rick Nash, LW | 44 | 21 | 21 | 42 | 16 | 26 | 19:58 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 176 | 11.9 |
| Brad Richards, C | 46 | 11 | 23 | 34 | 8 | 14 | 18:49 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 10.0 |
| Ryan Callahan, RW | 45 | 16 | 15 | 31 | 9 | 12 | 21:31 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 144 | 11.1 |
| Carl Hagelin, LW | 48 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 10 | 18 | 17:18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 132 | 7.6 |
| Michael Del Zotto, D | 46 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 6 | 18 | 23:10 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 81 | 3.7 |
| Ryan McDonagh, D | 47 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 13 | 22 | 24:21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 83 | 4.8 |
| Marian Gaborik, RW† | 35 | 9 | 10 | 19 | -8 | 8 | 18:40 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 113 | 8.0 |
| Dan Girardi, D | 46 | 2 | 12 | 14 | -1 | 16 | 25:25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 2.5 |
| Derick Brassard, C † | 13 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 16:38 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 20.0 |
| Taylor Pyatt, LW | 48 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 13:06 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 10.7 |
| Marc Staal, D | 21 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 14 | 24:27 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 10.0 |
| Mats Zuccarello, RW | 15 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 16:25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 11.1 |
| Ryane Clowe, RW† | 12 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 14 | 17:02 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 13.6 |
| Anton Stralman, D | 48 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 16 | 18:03 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 6.1 |
| John Moore, D † | 13 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 11:46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 6.7 |
| Brian Boyle, C | 38 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -13 | 29 | 14:13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 3.6 |
| J.T. Miller, C | 26 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -7 | 8 | 13:31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 4.7 |
| Chris Kreider, LW | 23 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 6 | 10:07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 10.5 |
| Steve Eminger, D | 35 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 13:02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0.0 |
| Arron Asham, RW | 27 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 50 | 6:38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14.3 |
| Jeff Halpern, C † | 30 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -5 | 8 | 9:10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0.0 |
| Kris Newbury, C | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 7:53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Benn Ferriero, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9:37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Matt Gilroy, D | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 6 | 9:33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0.0 |
| Brandon Mashinter, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 5:55 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Micheal Haley, C | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 12 | 6:38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Christian Thomas, RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12:46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Mike Rupp, LW† | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 12 | 6:15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Roman Hamrlik, D † | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 6 | 10:06 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Brandon Segal, RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5:21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Darroll Powe, RW† | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 18 | 8:43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0.0 |
| Stu Bickel, D | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 49 | 5:31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| PLAYER | GP | W | L | OTL | GAA | TOI | SV | SV% | SHO | TGA | TSA | PIM |
| Henrik Lundqvist | 43 | 24 | 16 | 3 | 2.05 | 2575:22 | 1102 | .926 | 2 | 88 | 1190 | 0 |
| Martin Biron | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2.32 | 335:42 | 143 | .917 | 0 | 13 | 156 | 0 |
