New York Rangers: Top five players to disappoint in the playoffs
The New York Rangers season ended on Tuesday night when the Ottawa Senators defeated them 4-2 to close out the series. A few players stood out as disappointments throughout these playoffs.
The New York Rangers once again came up short in the NHL playoffs. This year, they were defeated by the Ottawa Senators in six games.
The disappointment comes after defeating the Montreal Canadiens in the first round. The Rangers were the favorite to defeat the Ottawa Senators but could not live up to their expectations.
There was a lot that went wrong in these playoffs. At the end of the day, it all comes down to a few players in particular that held the team back. Here are the top five players who failed the Rangers this postseason.
Honorable Mentions: Chris Kreider and Rick Nash
These two players were not nearly as pitiful as the rest of the players to come on the list, but they came up short of their expectations for sure.
Chris Kreider had just three goals and one assist through the Rangers’ 12 playoff games this postseason. That’s underwhelming considering he was playing an average of 17 minutes per game.
The one bright spot in Kreider’s game is that he was all over the ice at times. He could play defense and use his speed to get him to the places other guys couldn’t. However, his offensive statistics are a true blemish.
Rick Nash once again failed to find his game in the postseason. He has just 15 goals in a career 77 playoff games. This postseason followed that trend, just three goals and two assists through 12 games.
For these two, they couldn’t find their game in the playoffs and it hurt the team.
#5: JT Miller
J.T. Miller did not have particularly terrible playoffs, but the word underwhelming certainly comes to mind when you think of his playoff performance.
Miller didn’t do a whole lot wrong. But he also didn’t do a whole lot right. Looking back, what did Miller do through the last 12 games?
That’s just it, he seemingly became invisible in these playoffs. He had three assists and no goals and played decent defense, but he was far from the player he was in the regular season.
Miller played in all 82 regular season games and had 56 points for the Rangers while doing it. He was one of the Rangers’ best forwards when the playoffs started.
For some reason, he didn’t make that kind of impact in the playoffs for the Rangers and it hurt. It looked like the forwards were missing a few pieces and Miller was certainly one of the lost ones.
He will be back next year and hopefully ready to make more of an impact when the games really start to matter.
#4: Kevin Hayes
Hayes’ performance is a lot like JT Miller’s: disappointing. He didn’t have a particularly bad playoffs, but his numbers were hardly consistent to those he put up in the regular season.
Hayes played in 76 regular season games and logged 49 points. He was, like Miller, considered to be one the Rangers’ best forwards entering the playoffs. Also like Miller, he logged just three assists in 12 games.
This is a step up from last postseason for Hayes. Last year, Hayes had zero points and was actually scratched from two of the Rangers’ five games. While this year is an improvement, it’s not the improvement the Rangers were looking for.
The Rangers can only hope that Hayes isn’t a Rick Nash type playoff performer. He has only 10 points in 34 career playoff games. He is still young, but the signs aren’t pointing in the right direction for Hayes in the playoffs.
#3: Marc Staal
Marc Staal is just one part of a Rangers defense that overall suffered in the playoffs. He wasn’t the weakest link among the blueliners, but he certainly was far from the best.
Staal didn’t contribute at all on offense as he was held pointless in the playoffs. However, that is considered normal for Staal as he isn’t known to dominate the box score by any means.
Where Staal lacked was in his own end playing defense. Maybe it was his partner, maybe it was the Senators, maybe it was Alain Vigneault putting him the wrong situations, but Staal was bad a lot of the time.
Staal was a -1 for the playoffs which looks a lot better than it was. He was on the ice for some of the worst goals of the playoffs and never seemed to be in the right place.
Whether Staal couldn’t find his groove or if he is just this bad, he needed to be a lot better if the Rangers wanted a chance.
#2: Derek Stepan
Stepan was the worst forward for the Rangers in these playoffs and there really isn’t all that much to debate about it. He failed to show up when it mattered the most and it proved to be a fatal flaw.
Stepan’s offensive statistics are better than some other forwards for the Rangers. He has two goals and four assists through the 12 games. The problem was he undid all of that work on the other end of the ice. He was a -3 for the playoffs.
The power play suffered when Stepan was a part of it. The pace was glacial and it’s part of the reason the Rangers failed to generate any power play threat.
The good news is Stepan has recognized his poor play. When talking to NHL.com’s Dan Rosen, Stepan said “Individually, I’m disappointed and ashamed and flat out embarrassed”.
Maybe this will further motivate Stepan to be better in the future.
#1: Nick Holden
What happened to Nick Holden in these playoffs? It seemed like he was a lock to be around next season and that seems like a lock to not happen after these playoffs.
Holden was fatally bad on defense. He scored a couple of nice goals that gave him some redemption, but not nearly enough. His defensive positioning was that of a six-year-old that skipped the practices and was just in it for the games, but he’s bad in the games.
You don’t have to look too far to see an example of such positioning. The first goal for Ottawa in game six works perfectly. Mike Hoffman went to the front of the net with more than a stick length of room from Nick Holden. The shot came in and Hoffman was able to easily redirect it past Holden. Comically enough, right in front of Holden actually.
I am no defensive guru, but I know that Holden should have had a body on Hoffman. It’s just about the biggest job of the defenseman is to defend the front of the net. Holden didn’t do it here, and a couple other times too.
Next: Why the Rangers failed to win the Stanley Cup
This is just one of many instances where Holden wasn’t where we was supposed to be. Thanks to that, the Rangers aren’t where they are supposed to be: traveling to Ottawa for a game seven.