April 30, 2012; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers left wing Carl Hagelin (62) handles the puck against the Washington Capitals during the third period in game two of the 2012 Eastern Conference semifinals at Madison Square Garden. Capitals won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE

Last year Carl Hagelin made an immediate impact on the Rangers. It seems just as soon as he got his call up he became a vital part of the team. Part of this is due to the fact players like Artem Anisimov and Brandon Dubinsky were slumping and Hagelin got his shot on the team. He took his chance and ran with it and hasn’t looked back since.

Now Hagelin finds himself being a key player for the team and management expects him to put up some points this season. The hope is Hagelin won’t have to play in the top 6 this season to give him a chance to play against weaker competition. I’m on board with that notion, but I also think him playing with Richards and Gaborik was very effective last year. Hagelin has proven that he’s effective anywhere in the lineup.

With Dubinsky and Anisimov gone to greener pastures (that was a joke), Hagelin is going to have to step up and provide some offense for the Rangers. I think it will be tough for him to get power play time, but if he can score 40 points this coming season (If there’s an 82 game season) I think he would have done his part. Anything more than that is gravy to me.

It’s also up to Hagelin to stay consistent throughout the season. Last year as the season wore on he slowed down. Part of this I think has to do with the amount of games in the NHL compared to college. He played 64 NHL games last year plus 17 games for the Whale. That’s already close to double the amount of games he played at Michigan a season in his four years there, and I’m not even including the NHL playoffs. This time around, I think Hagelin will have adjusted to the pro game enough where he will still be effective every game.

Like I said this is a big year for Hagelin.

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Mar 17, 2012; Vancouver, British Columbia,CANADA; Columbus Blue Jackets forward Rick Nash (61) during the warmup at Rogers Arena against the Vancouver Canucks. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-US PRESSWIRE

The Rangers did win the Rick Nash lottery but suddenly have a couple holes to fill. The holes are relatively simple to fill but Sather is going to need to do something about them. Below I will outline what these holes are:

The Rangers suddenly have a great top six but a poor bottom six. The Rangers need to sign a forward to play the 3rd line along with Brian Boyle, Carl Hagelin/Ryan Callahan. Personally Shane Doan would fit this bill nicely. He can score, but he can also grind and play those tough minutes. Even if it isn’t Doan someone either needs to be signed or impress out of training camp and take this role.

For the last few months going into next season I had Tim Erixon penciled in to play the bottom pair with the big club. Now that Erixon is gone the Rangers need to find someone to help shore up that role. Michael Sauer’s health is a big if at this point and hopefully the team knows where he stands. If Sauer can recover I think him and Del Zotto would make a great pairing. Think like Jeff Buekeboom-Brian Leetch. Though obviously both Sauer and Del Zotto aren’t as great as those guys.

The Free Agent market for defenseman is pretty bad right now so a trade for a defenseman is most likely.

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