New York Rangers: Brassard, Zuccarello & Yandle
New York Rangers: Offensive Leaders
The All Star break is almost here and the New York Rangers currently sit at second place in the Metropolitan division. This break is a great time for us to analyze players and see how they are doing when compared to past seasons and current NHL leaders.
Mats Zuccarello, Keith Yandle and Derick Brassard are all intricate parts of the New York Rangers and they respectively lead the Blue Shirts in goals, assists and overall points. Lets take a further look at each player and how they are measuring up thus far.
Mats Zuccarello: Goals Leader
The New York Rangers X-factor, Mats Zuccarello currently leads the Blue Shirts in goals with 18. After 49 games, Zuccarello is only one goal away from matching his career high, which came during the 2013-2014 season. He also has tallied 17 assists and 35 points this season. Mats would need a solid push if he wants to match his single season high of 40 assists, but it is not an insurmountable goal. On the other hand, his 35 points puts him on pace to surpass his single season overall points total of 53, which was also recorded during the 13-14 season.
Keith Yandle: Assists Leader
Keith Yandle, the offensively productive defenseman, currently leads the New York Rangers in assists with 23. Yandle has seen more productive years, but he is helping the Rangers win and has a realistic shot to pass his single season assists record.
Yandle has recorded 3 goals this season, while his overall points total stands at 26. Yandle had his best statistical season back in the 2010-2011 season when he was a member of the Coyotes. During that season he recorded 11 goals, 48 assists, and 59 points, which are all career highs.
Whether Yandle will make it the whole season with the Rangers is still unknown. Some people hope he stays a Blue Shirt and some people feel strongly that he should be traded to free up cap space. The good news is we won’t have to wait much longer for a decision. The trade deadline is February 29th and new rumors are bound to start swirling around Yandle once the All Star break ends.
Derick Brassard: Points Leader
Brass is on pace to crush his single season goals record. He currently has 17 and only needs two more to tie his high of 19. When it comes to assists, he may not reach his career high of 41 since he currently only has 19, but it does look like he will surpass his single season record of 60 overall points.
Brassard is also heading into the All Star break with a career high five-point game. His two goals and three assists last night helped the New York Rangers beat the Sabres 3-6.
The Rest of the NHL
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When it comes to the rest of the NHL, Patrick Kane is in a league of his own. He currently is ranked number one in goals, assists and overall points. Kane has placed himself atop the leader boards by scoring 30 goals and recording 43 assists. It is safe to say we will not be seeing any Rangers come close to this stat line during this season.
In order to get a better understanding of where these three New York Rangers stand versus the rest of the NHL, here is where they rank in their respective categories.
Brassard’s 36 overall points places him 40th in the NHL.
Yandle’s 23 assists places him just outside of the top 50 at 52nd in the NHL.
Zuccarello’s 18 goals places him inside the top 25 at 24th in the NHL.
Overall the New York Rangers, 27-17-5 (59 points), are in second place within the Metropolitan division. When compared to the rest of the NHL, as a team they rank fourth in goals per game, only behind Boston, Dallas and Washington. When it comes to goals against per game they are not doing that terrible either. The Rangers sit at 17th in the NHL with a 2.59 average, which is not too shabby since the best average in this category is 2.15, held by the Capitals.
Next: New York Rangers: Lundqvist Greatest Goalie in Team History