New York Rangers: Players Who Would Make Olympic Rosters

The Winter Olympics will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February of 2018. While hockey will continue to be a sport in the Winter Olympics, players under contract in the NHL will not be allowed to participate.

The NHL and commissioner Gary Bettman have decided that their players will not be allowed to participate at the Olympics. Bettman said the league doesn’t want its season to be interrupted. Several NHL players took to social media to voice their opinions on the matter. Other players even went over to play for their countries in the  IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.

Since there will be no NHL players participating in the Olympics in February. Let’s take a look at which New York Rangers would’ve made their respected countries Olympic rosters…

Henrik Lundqvist –

This is a no-brainer. Henrik Lundqvist has been the face of goaltenders in Sweden for over 10 years now. Lundqvist’s most recent stint with Team Sweden came after the New York Rangers were eliminated by the Ottawa Senators. Lundqvist joined his brother Joel and Team Sweden at the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. They helped lead Team Sweden to a gold medal victory over Team Canada.

Lundqvist has helped Team Sweden capture two gold medals and three silver medals combined between the Winter Olympics and IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships. He was one of the NHL players that took to social media to voice his opinion. On Twitter, Lundqvist stated his disappointment over the NHL not allowing its players to participate in the Winter Olympics.

 Mika Zibanejad –

Mika Zibanejad would be heading over to Pyeongchang, South Korea with Henrik Lundqvist. If NHL players were allowed, Zibanejad would get his first taste of the senior Team Sweden roster. Zibanejad has represented Team Sweden in three different events and has won three different medals for those events.

The 24-year-old forward won a bronze medal at the World U-17 Hockey Challenge in 2010. He added a silver medal to his trophy collection at the IIHF World U18 Championships in 2011. His most memorable international moment came in 2012 at the World Junior Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Zibanejad propelled Team Sweden to the gold medal with an overtime goal against Team Russia.

Time will tell when Zibanejad will be able to reach the senior Team Sweden roster, it just won’t be at the Winter Olympics in February.

Rick Nash –

Rick Nash is another New York Ranger with tremendous international success on the ice. Nash made his first appearance for Team Canada at the 2002 World Junior Championships. He added three points in capturing his first silver medal of three. The Brampton, Ontario, Canada native made his senior roster debut at the 2005 World Championship. He led the tournament in goals but fell short of the gold and took him his second silver medal.

Nash had his first taste of gold at the 2007 World Championship with a victory over Team Finland. The left-winger has added three gold medals and three silver medals in total to his trophy case. The most recent was a gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia with a victory over Henrik Lundqvist and Team Sweden.

Rick Nash would be on his way to South Korea in February to play for Team Canada if the NHL allowed it.

Kevin Shattenkirk –

One of the New York Rangers newest acquisitions is also familiar with international play. Kevin Shattenkirk has laced up the skates for the red, white and blue on several occasions. Shattenkirk first represented the United States at the 2006 World U-17 Hockey Challenge in which they captured the silver medal.

The New Rochelle, New York native has put on the Team USA sweater five times in total. Two of those times being with the senior Team USA roster. Once at the 2011 World Championships in Slovakia and the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Shattenkirk has taken home two silver medals during his stints with Team USA in those international tournaments. The right-handed defenseman would be looking to add his first gold medal if the NHL allowed its players to participate.

Michael Grabner –

Michael Grabner is the next on the list. The speedy right-winger would be making his second Olympic appearance for Team Austria if he was allowed to. Grabner debuted internationally for Austria in the 2004 IIHF World U18 Championships.

Grabner went on to play for Team Austria at the junior level on two other occasions. Once at the World Junior Championship and the U18 Championships both in 2005. He produced eight goals and five assists at the junior level in 13 games played.

He went on to make his senior roster debut at the 2012 IIHF World Championships in which he tallied four assists in five games. The Villach, Austria native made his Olympic debut at the 2014 Winter Olympic games. Grabner had five goals and one assist in just four games played in Sochi, Russia.

Mats Zuccarello –

Team Norway is lucky to have Mats Zuccarello. He has had an interesting career and I will dig into that sooner rather than later (Spoiler Alert). Zuccarello has played in nine different international tournaments for Team Norway.

At the junior level, Zuccarello has played 22 games and has tallied four goals and 12 assists in those 22 games. He made his debut for Team Norway at the junior level at the U18 World Junior Championship in 2004.

The Oslo, Norway native made his senior roster debut for Team Norway in 2008. He has been a focal point for Team Norway for many years. There is no doubt that he would’ve been heading to South Korea to represent Team Norway at the Olympics in February.

Who Just Missed The Cut:

Who missed the cut? There are three that stand outs, in my opinion, but anyone could argue that another two or three could be added. The three in my mind that just miss the cut are Jesper Fast, J.T. Miller, and Brady Skjei.

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All three of them have international experience and rightfully so. All three are tremendous hockey players and deserve to be representing their countries. Some would argue for Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes to make this list. I just need to see more from Hayes and Kreider before I start to agree with those two.

Regardless, the Rangers have a lot of talent on their roster that would be able to represent their countries in the Olympics. It’s just upsetting that Gary Bettman and the NHL denied the request.