New York Rangers: Comparing the future 17-18 team to the 13-14 team
Goaltending
13-14: Henrik Lundqvist, Cam Talbot
In 2014, Henrik Lundqvist turned in one of the more impressive goaltending performances in recent postseason history. He was an absolute brick wall for the New York Rangers in net.
Lundqvist had a .920 SV% in the regular season and improved on that with a .927 SV% in the postseason. He simply was spectacular for the Rangers.
Cam Talbot played well as the backup for the Rangers. He provided great value in net when called upon. He started 21 games that season and was more than exceptional.
17-18: Henrik Lundqvist, Ondrej Pavelec
2016 saw Henrik Lundqvist have his worst season in the NHL. Lundqvist had a very un-Lundqvist like season. The Rangers had an extremely poor defense which is likely a big part of why Lundqvist’s performance was subpar. With all of the defensive changes that have been made, it seems fair to believe that Lundqvist will be much better this upcoming season.
With all of the defensive changes that have been made, it seems fair to believe that Lundqvist will be much better this upcoming season. But there are still going to be questions about whether he is still able to play at an elite level, despite his past success.
Pavelec remains an unknown for the Rangers, which makes this hard to comment on. The hope is that their goaltender guru/whisperer Benoit Allaire is able to shape him into a solid backup like he has with countless goaltenders, but the jury is still out on him.