Who’s Underperforming For the Rangers?

There are a few things to note when looking at how players are doing over the course of any span of games. Through these first nine games of the NHL season, there are quite a few players who aren’t performing to the standards they need to for the New York Rangers. There are quite a few who aren’t playing well enough, but I’m going to pick on three in particular.

Ryan McDonagh: Oh captain my captain, well the captain has not played the way he needs to especially for someone who expects to lead the team. Last season he broke out with 43 points in 77 games, at this point in the season he has three points through nine games which simply isn’t good enough. One of the things that led McDonagh to becoming captain of such a storied franchise was his ability to lead by example and use his on ice play to garner the attention of his teammates and coaches, but his offensive production has been bad and the entire group of defense-men (led by McDonagh) has been poor all season long.

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Mats Zuccarello: The 5’7″ Norwegian was the Rangers best and most consistent player last season. He led the Rangers in points with 59, and bailed the team out when they needed someone to do so. Partnered with Derick Brassard and Benoit Pouliot, their line was the most dependable all season long. Now that Pouliot is gone, Brassard and Zuccarello are trying to figure out who their partner is meant to be all the while getting their own individual play going. Brassard has figured it out, and is second on the team with seven points in nine games, Zuccarello has only four points in eight games and three of them came during one game. If Zuccarello wants an extension from his one year contract after this season it’s time for him to step up.

Lee Stempniak: Through the first four games Stempniak was the most consistent player that wasn’t named Rick Nash, he tallied four points in those four games and played well with the puck, was all over the ice at any point in time and made his presence known to those watching him. After playing so well in these first four games, Stempniak cooled off and has tallied zero points in the last five games with the Rangers and does not appear to be the dominant force on the ice that he was when the season started. Maybe he’s a streaky player like Nash, or maybe he doesn’t feel he has to do to much for only being paid 900k this season, but he has underperformed especially after the way he played through the first few games.

Honorable Mention:

Martin St. Louis and Chris Kreider: I was originally going to leave these two alone, but then decided it could not be helped. They both have six points through nine games, which really doesn’t sound too bad; St. Louis has one goal and five assists, Kreider has two goals and four assists. Both of them are expected to be top players for the Rangers, St. Louis as a future hall of famer and Kreider as a budding young star, something or someone needs to light a fire underneath them cause the Rangers will be in trouble if they don’t.