New York Rangers: Five duos the Rangers cannot put together

Michael Grabner and Kevin Hayes

This will likely be surprising and controversial, but Michael Grabner and Kevin Hayes also need to be separated. Grabner shocked the hockey world last season, scoring a whopping 27 goals and 13 assists in 76 games. His speed amazed New York Rangers fans. He seemingly had at least one or two breakaways per game. Because of that, he was a threat whenever he stepped on the ice.

Despite all that, Grabner can no longer be a winger on a line with the big center Kevin Hayes. Though he found a way to bury 27 goals last season, Grabner scored just 9 goals in 80 games in the 2015-2016 season, albeit with a last place Toronto Maple Leafs team. The speedy Austrian is much better than what he showed in Toronto. However, he’s also not quite as good as what last season in New York would tell us.

It’s extremely improbable that Grabner will come close to 27 goals again. As a matter of fact, 20 goals might not even be possible for Grabner. Before last season, he hadn’t reached the 20 goal plateau since the 2011-2012 season. That was when he was playing for the other New York hockey team.

Grabner is a good role player, there is no doubt about that. However, his 27 goals was likely somewhat flukey, and we should probably expect around 15 goals this upcoming season. Hayes will take on a much larger role this upcoming season after Derek Stepan was traded to Arizona, so it’s ideal to give him a few more offensively gifted wingers. Not to mention, both Grabner and Hayes somewhat struggle in the defensive zone.