New York Rangers Regular Season Player Grades
By Matt Josephs
Apr 27, 2013; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers center Derek Stepan (21) and goalie Henrik Lundqvist (30) celebrate after the game against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden. Rangers won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports
Derek Stepan- A+
Stepan really took that next step this season and added more scoring to his game as well as bringing more consistency. It’s an A+ well earned.
Ryan McDonagh- A
Second year in a row Marc Staal went down with an injury and McDonagh didn’t disappoint yet again stepping up in his absence. He also added some offense to his game.
Ryan Callahan- A
He went AWOL for a bit offensively in the season, but he picked up his offensive game when the team needed him the most. The captain delivered yet again this season.
Marc Staal- A
Tough to write this while he’s still out, but Staal was the best Rangers defenseman before he got that nasty eye injury.
Rick Nash- A-
If not for being snakebitten offensively a bit early in the season his grade would likely be higher. With that being said though Rick Nash was everything the Rangers traded for and he performed as advertised. Now we just have to see what he does in the playoffs.
Dan Girardi- A-
Sort of like McDonagh it was another year in a row playing a ton of hard defensive minutes. Girardi was a rock all season and performed to expectation.
Henrik Lundqvist- A-
The King might not have defended his Vezina crown but the man is the reason why the Rangers are in the playoffs. It wasn’t Henrik’s best season, but it was one of his better one’s and it was a good season by league standards.
John Moore- B+
Moore came into the fold at a time when the Rangers really needed to replace to traffic cone also known as Roman Hamrlik. Well Moore did a bit more than that and is definitely apart of the Rangers future plans. Hard to believe this kid is only 22.
Derick Brassard- B+
Brassard joined the team when Brad Richards was really struggling and it’s good thing Brassard came in and lit things up offensively right away. He was extremely useful down the stretch of the season and looks like he can be a long term player on this team.
Michael Del Zotto- B
I liked what I saw from Del Zotto sometimes, and other times I question as to how much he’s improved since last year. Going off last year I’d say this season was average from MDZ.
Mats Zuccarello- B
The Hobbit has returned and is well on his way to receiving that coveted one way contract he’s always wanted.
Martin Biron- B
Well I guess he deserves a B. Hard to judge since he only got 5 starts.
Carl Hagelin- B-
Last year Hagelin left the Rangers wanting more out of him. This season he’s shown some flashes of brilliance, but I think I’ll chalk off this underwhelming offensive year to the Sophomore slump.
Ryane Clowe- B-
The Rangers got what they traded for. A big physical body with a scoring touch. I’d just like to see him show off his scoring touch a bit more.
Brad Richards- C+
This grade could have been a lot worse had Richards not turned up his game the last 12 games of the season. A good showing in the playoffs and this regular season can easily be forgotten.
Darroll Powe- C+
Good role player and has done exactly what he was brought in to do. Unlucky around the net.
Steve Eminger- C+
Another player who started playing well as the season died down. He’s performed to expectations and has also benefitted from Staal’s unfortunate injury.
Anton Stralman- C
I don’t think he’s played bad, but I expected more offense.
Brian Boyle- C
Stonehands can play good defense but has been put in plenty of situations to score and simply hasn’t. I wasn’t asking for 20 goals this season but I don’t think 5 would have been asking to much.
Arron Asham- C-
I really had no expectations for Asham but it was very cool to see him rip a couple snipes this year.
Taylor Pyatt- C-
I had some expectations for Pyatt this season and fell short by quite a bit of them. He literally managed to be invisible for a good 35 games as well. Hopefully in the playoffs he can bang some bodies.
Players not judged for various reasons:
Benn Ferriero, Stu Bickel, Matt Gilroy, JT Miller, Chris Kreider, Roman Hamrlik,Michael Haley, Brandon Mashinter, Christian Thomas, Brandon Segal, Kris Newbury.
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