New York Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist’s Race for All Time Wins List
By Ben Whitney
King Henrik, long may he reign! Henrik Lundqvist won his 400th game for the New York Rangers in the fewest number of games played of any goalie. He’s now in 12th place on the all time win list and has the most wins of any non-Canadian in the history of the league.
By season’s end he’ll likely have hopped over 3 more goalies – Chris Osgood, Grant Fuhr, and Glenn Hall – into 9th place all time. Lundqvist will turn 35 on March 2nd. How far up the ladder can he climb before calling it a career?
The High End:
Marty Brodeur tops the list at a stunning 691 wins. Brodeur was a tremendous goalie who was plunked into the perfect system, Dak Prescott style. Without taking anything away from Brodeur, the Neutral Zone Trap the Devils masterfully employed in his heyday sure made for some easy nights in net.
Although Lundqvist got to 400 in fewer games, Brodeur was much younger, at 31, on the day of his 400th win. Brodeur’s career started earlier, as he racked up 27 wins in the 93-94 season at the age of 21.
Lundqvist spent some formative years in Sweden and didn’t make his NHL debut until he was 23.
Brodeur played until he was 42. In the unlikely scenario that Henrik plays 8 more years and averages 30 wins a season, he would still only get to about 650. Henrik is not going to catch Brodeur.
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The Low End:
Barring injury, it’s safe to assume that he will win 55 more games, leapfrog a few more icons, and replace Curtis Joseph in fourth place. It’s also fairly safe to assume, barring a dramatic dropoff, that he will win 85 more games and catch the great Ed Belfour in third.
Complicating the issue is Florida netminder Roberto Luongo, still active and moving up the list himself. Luongo is the elder by about three years, but has struggled of late. Luongo leads Lundqvist by 51 wins has a chance to be in third place himself by the time he is done.
It’s likely that Henrik will make up those 51 wins in 3 seasons, so you have to bet that Lundqvist will finish ahead of Luongo.
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That leaves only the great Patrick Roy, in second place at 551. Roy could have easily won over 600 had he kept playing, as he won 35 games in his final season at the age of 37.
Roy had the lowest goals against averages of his career in his final two seasons and retired as the all time leader in wins. Brodeur played another five seasons after breaking Roy’s record in 2009.
Henrik would need 152 more wins to pass Roy for second place.
Lundqvist’s Future:
Despite recent stellar play, Lundqvist’s season goals against and save percentage are the worst of his career.
Lundqvist had a terrible January, giving up 12 goals over 4 periods in two games at one point. He gave up a goal on the first shot 7 times this season.
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Lundqvist was even booed at the Garden, as if he were King Joffrey, not King Henrik, the greatest goalie ever to don the blue sweater.
Including his time in Sweden, international play, and the playoffs, Lundqvist has logged a ton of minutes between the pipes. Was his 2016 slump a sign of things to come or a just a dip in a long career of peaks and valleys? How long can we expect Henrik to play?
Final Thoughts:
If you take all the goalies on the list with more wins, not counting Luongo, the average age of retirement was around 40. If Lundqvist plays six more seasons, he will turn 41 in his final season.
To get to 552 and second place, Lundqvist would need to average about 22-24 wins per season, assuming about 12-15 more this season. That seems within reach at this point, considering his career average of 34 wins per season, even factoring in a drop off in the second half of those six seasons.
I’d be in remiss not to point out that Lundqvist’s rookie year was 2005-06, the same year the NHL eliminated ties completely by adding the shootout. Lundqvist had that advantage over the men he will pass over the next few years.
Next: Five Reasons Lundqvist and co. can win the Cup
Lundqvist has a good chance to finish with the second most wins. But that remarkable accomplishment won’t mean as much if the Rangers fail to hoist the Cup during his tenure.
Ranger fans would sure hate to see him join Patrick Ewing and Don Mattingly in the pantheon of iconic New York athletes never to win a title.
Let’s hope the name “King Henrik” is engraved on Lord Stanley’s Cup when the King descends from his throne.