New York Rangers: Five fears every fan should have this season

5. Henrik Lundqvist gets injured

The mainstay for the Rangers between the pipes has been none other than Henrik Lundqvist. Rangers fans don’t want to be bothered when thinking about life after the King, but injuries do happen.

In January 31, 2015 against the Carolina Hurricanes, Lundqvist took a puck to the neck. It was later discovered he had damaged a blood vessel, and would miss five to seven weeks because of it.

Luckily, the Rangers had a phenomenal backup goalie in Cam Talbot. That season, Talbot went 21-9-4 with a .926 save percentage and 2.21 goals against average in 36 games. The following year, Talbot’s replacement, Antti Raanta, was also one of the best backups in the league.

This year is slightly different though. The Rangers traded Raanta to the Arizona Coyotes, meaning newly signed Ondrej Pavelec will back up Lundqvist. Over the course of his career, Pavelec has proven to be inconsistent and unreliable. He boasts a lifetime .907 save percentage, and a 2.87 goals against average.

Henrik Lundqvist has won at least 30 games every year he’s played in the NHL except the lockout year, when the season was shortened to 43 games. That consistency over the course of a 12 year career is remarkable.

If Lundqvist goes down, can the rest of the team step up in his absence? At 35, Lundqvist is still the backbone of this team, and the team goes as far as he takes them. With less insurance behind him this year, things could get scary if Lundqvist were to get injured.