New York Rangers: Five players looking to progress this season

Kevin Hayes

Coming off somewhat a strange season, Kevin Hayes went from rookie sensation, to slumping sophomore, and ended up last season in a statistic limbo. Statistically Hayes performed only slightly better than his rookie season, but, he averaged nearly 4 minutes less per game in his rookie season.

The defense to Hayes and his stagnant performance, could likely be his line-mates. Hayes spent a very large portion of his season sharing a line with Michael Grabner and J.T. Miller. According to Puckbase.com, the Hayes, Miller, Grabner line took the second most faceoffs of any line combo the Rangers played last season.

Hayes took a damaging blow to his overall center game as his Corsi For % dropped from a 48.9% to a harrowing 43.9%, this can be attributed to the increased competition that Hayes has faced as a consistent second line center.

It looks to be a rebound year for Kevin Hayes, with sites like DailyFaceoff and RosterResource putting the American center with possession driver Mats Zuccarello, and either Rick Nash or Chris Kreider. The increased support on the wings of Hayes will help provide offense and perhaps close up any defensive gaps left in his still young game.

A 60 point year is certainly not out of the question.

Mika Zibanejad

In his inaugural season in New York, Mika Zibanejad did not fail expectation. Had Zibanejad played a full 82 games, he could have produced 54 points. The young Swede is also returning to a team that desperately needs him to take control of the Center role. Left without a center after the Derek Stepan trade, the Rangers look for a #1 center in Zibanejad.

In November of 2016, Zibanejad injured his leg in overtime of a game against the Florida Panthers. This injury only knocked Zibanejad out for 26 games. Unfortunately he was certainly slow getting back into his groove upon returning from the injury.

ZIbanejad spent a majority of his season lined up with Mats Zuccarello and Chris Kreider. That line was together about half of Zibanejads faceoffs this past season. Projected between Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich, Zibanejad looks to have a productive season.  He has improved every season his ice time has increased, and this season should be no different.

I think it is fair to expect 65-70 points for Zibanejad, if he stays healthy.

Brady Skjei

The young American had a breakout rookie season, producing 39 points in 80 games. Skjei, sat as the 8th highest points scorer on the Rangers roster last season. Skjei impressed many with his play in somewhat limited ice time. In only about 18 minutes of ice time per game, Skjei provided a back end reinforcement on a defense that was lackluster.

The opportunity for Skjei this season will only be expanded and against higher level competition this season. Despite that, Skjei demonstrates the ability to increase production with an increase in playing time.

Skjei spent much of his time playing on the 3rd defensive pair. He also played more than the league average with the 6th defenseman, possibly holding him back, as shown by HockeyViz.

This season, it seems likely that Skjei will remain on the 3rd pair, without an absolute lock for his D-Mate, Skjei’s performance will be dependent on who he is paired with for the season.

I can see Skjei producing up to 40-45 points this season, provided his deployment stays where it was last season.

J.T. Miller

Putting up career highs, and being the second highest point scorer on the Rangers, J.T. Miller had a bit of  breakout year.  Each and every season Miller has progressed in production. Finishing the 2015-2016 campaign with 56 points and a career high 16:22 average time on ice. Miller took command of a Rangers team looking for a scorer.

A Rangers team without a prime scorer like Rick Nash, or Marian Gaborik was set to drown without production. A 3rd line Miller filled a production gap left by the missing top quality scorers. Miller, helped keep the Rangers moving offensively with an explosive season. The only player who produced more points was Mats Zuccarello, with 59.

Miller is projected to stay on the 3rd line with David Desharnais and Michael Grabner.  The seperation of the Hayes, Miller, Grabner line may prove difficult for Miller at first, but his production should rebound quickly and it would not be out of the realm for Miller to breakout.

Miller has the ability to hit 65 points this year based on line pairings and time.

Henrik Lundqvist

After what statistically could be the worst season of his career, Henrik Lundqvist is poised to rebound. One of the most competitive players in the league, Lundqvist is well known for his ability to bounce back after a loss. The belief is that Lundqvist can replicate this quality on the large scale.

Lundqvist has won at least 30 games in all of his seasons with the Rangers every season except for the lockout year, where Lundqvist won 24. Lundqvist has shown extreme consistency. He is also the only player to have 7 straight 30-win seasons to start a career.

The Rangers have really cleaned up a somewhat stagnant defensive group, with the buyout of Dan Girardi, and the signing of Kevin Shattenkirk. An improved defense will work wonders for Lundqvist, providing him better circumstances for success. The Swedish star goaltender also demonstrated excellence in the IIHF World Championship. He posted a .946% in five games with Sweden.

Next: Who can Lundqvist pass on the all time wins list next?

It can be fair to say that Lundqvist will likely return to form this season, you can expect 35 wins from the Swedish netminder.