New York Rangers: Predictions following a ghastly October
With a difficult start to the season for the New York Rangers, the one thing on everyone’s mind is where they will place in the challenging Metropolitan Division.
For the past few seasons, the New York Rangers have been able to survive in the Metro. However, their slow start has raised quite a few questions.
Some blame it on the poor coaching of Alain Vigneault. Others blame it on lack of energy from the team as a whole. Whatever the reason, no one can argue that the Rangers are going to need to start playing better hockey.
It’s still early enough in the season that the team has time to turn things around. However, everyone has different opinions on whether or not they’ll be able to.
Here’s the thoughts of the Blue Line Station crew on where the Rangers will place in their division and whether or not they’ll make the playoffs.
Brandon Cohen- Wild Card
The New York Rangers will make the 2017-18 playoffs. Maybe it’s the Rangers fan talking in me, maybe I’ve lost my mind, or perhaps I have a legitimate thought process that led me to that conclusion. You can decide!
The New York Rangers will make the playoffs because they cannot be this bad all season long, Henrik Lundqvist does not know how to miss the playoffs, and the Eastern Conference is a cesspool of mediocrity right now. Even the best teams are struggling, and despite the Rangers’ issues, they still boast an impressive roster.
New York simply needs to deploy their players correctly, and acquire a top nine center. Acquiring a top nine center should lead to the former happening, changing the whole dynamic of the team. However, I do not believe the Rangers will go anywhere in the playoffs, and I do believe they will be a wild card team.
As for other predictions, the Rangers will have a phenomenal start to the new year. That will be the turning point. New York will bring in a top nine center in December, but Filip Chytil has not played his last game in New York this year.
Oh, and Neal Pionk will play more games with the Rangers than Anthony DeAngelo.
Garrett Gartino- Fourth Place
I don’t think anybody anticipated this start to the season for the New York Rangers. Expectations were sky-high with a revamped defense and a wealth of young talent ready to contribute. However, after a miserable October, here we are with a below .500 record and more questions than answers.
Moving forward I expect big changes to occur. The biggest change being that we will see even more of a shift towards the Rangers of the future. This process began when Boo Nieves was called up before the game against Arizona to center the team’s fourth line.
When Alain Vigneault finally gets the boot, which I believe is very like to happen, a roster overhaul will be next in line. Veteran players such as Michael Grabner, Nick Holden, and even Rick Nash could be on their way out of town. They will be replaced by some of the Rangers’ top prospects such as Neal Pionk, Vinni Lettieri, and the reemergence of Filip Chytil.
The Rangers are forced to play at an above-100 point pace in order to sniff the playoffs. Therefore, the focus moving forward should be on development. I still expect the Rangers to finish respectably in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division. They will trail Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Washington, and land just in front of the lowly Philadelphia Flyers.
Karly Redpath- Miss the Playoffs
The Rangers are off to one of their worst starts under head coach Alain Vigneault sitting at 2-6-2 through their first 10 games.
While the Rangers have seen slumps in the past, the one they are currently experiencing has a lot to do with the decisions that Vigneault is making for his team.
On paper, the 2017-18 New York Rangers should absolutely be a playoff team.
Yes, the Derek Stepan trade had an impact on their depth down the center. However, I hoped that moves made to solidify the defense this offseason could support the Rangers on the opposite end.
Signing Kevin Shattenkirk in the offseason and pairing him with Ryan McDonagh should have made for a shutdown top pair. With Brendan Smith and Brady Skjei returning, keeping them together after their performance in the postseason seemed logical.
The only question seemed to be the third pair — whether you risk playing Marc Staal and Nick Holden together or play newbie Anthony DeAngelo (acquired in the trade for Stepan — now with Hartford) or some other d-man in the system (Steven Kampfer) with him.
However, Vigneault has thrown logic out the window. The choices he has made to switch up lines and pairings has effectively neutralized any impact the Rangers could have if they were deployed properly.
I think the Rangers will miss the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons this year.
The only way I see anything will changing is if Alain Vigneault is fired. And I don’t think that Jeff Gorton has the guts to do it.
Regardless of the outcome, this season will hopefully be a wake up call.
Nick Zararis- Sixth Place
The New York Rangers will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2010. After ten games it’s clear that they lack the talent or the coaching to play at a 104 point pace the rest of the season. It’s unrealistic to expect a veteran head coach like Alain Vigneault to change his ways this far into a career.
The Rangers won’t finish in the cellar of the metropolitan division. I still think they’re more talented than the Devils and Flyers. It’d be hard for them to continue playing as poorly as they have through ten games. The Rangers team PDO, the stat that combines the team’s shooting percentage and save percentage, of 97.2 indicates they’re a better team than they appear.
Alain Vigneault will be fired for missing the playoffs. The team wouldn’t have signed Kevin Shattenkirk if they weren’t trying to win right now. I see a trade for Matt Duchene at the deadline that will come just a bit too late.
The Rangers will finish sixth in the division 20 points out of a playoff spot. The Rangers play in the best division in hockey, it will show during a brutal season.
Daniel Carrozzi- Miss the Playoffs
I predict that The New York Rangers will turn their season around but it will be too little too late. The Rangers, whether or not Alain Vigneault remains the head coach, will snap out of their current funk.
I believe this team (on paper) has it in them to do some damage in this league. I don’t think it’s beyond the realm of possibility that this roster lucks/wills themselves into a hot streak.
The problem is when this will occur. The Rangers already find themselves behind the eight-ball so early in the season. Because of that, many think that a shakeup is coming in the form of a trade, coaching change, or both.
When either/both of those occurs, the Rangers will go on a tear, as most teams do after such an upheaval. Whatever momentum they garner from that won’t be enough to propel them into a playoff however.
I predict that the team will miss the playoffs. Because this is the Rangers and Rangers fans can’t have nice things, they will finish with around a .500 record. They will miss by a point or two, and as a result, won’t have a high 1st round draft pick in a strong draft. You’d have to be delusional or absurdly optimistic to believe the Rangers would win the draft lottery, by the way.
One silver lining is that if Vigneault isn’t fired mid-season, he’ll be gone when the team misses the playoffs. Also, I think that some players, such as Mika Zibanejad, will have breakout seasons. Kevin Shattenkirk will prove he was worth the money.
There are dark days in the immediate future for the Rangers but I don’t think it will be too long until they emerge as contenders again.
Peter Reichert- Wild Card
While the Rangers have had a rough October, I do believe they will be able to right the ship. This team is too talented to not make the playoffs. If Alain Vigneault magically turns it around (don’t hold your breath, kids), or if Rangers management decides to fire him (again, don’t hold your breath), they will have an easier time of making it.
As per usual, this team will make it in spite of AV’s coaching, not because of it. Henrik Lundqvist has been good, but not good enough, and I believe that will change. The Rangers also have an enormously low shooting percentage, and that will change.
In my opinion, the Rangers will finish somewhere around 95-100 points, and nab a Wild Card spot. Although, how far they might go in the playoffs is anybody’s guess. Only time will tell. It’s the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Anything can happen.
Now, for some individual predictions. Henrik Lundqvist will once again reach 30 wins, which is usually a given. I also believe he will get his save percentage back up around the .920 mark.
Mika Zibanejad will post a 60-65 point season and will lead the team in scoring, looking like the true number one center the Rangers have needed for years. Kevin Shattenkirk will hit 50 points once again, and Pavel Buchnevich will hit around 45-50 points, despite being chronically misused.
Justin Starr- Sixth Place
Well it’s safe to say that I didn’t expect that start to the season from the New York Rangers. I don’t think many Rangers fans for that matter saw this poor start happening. That leads us to the question of “Where do the Rangers finish now?”
In my opinion, it all depends on how this team handles adversity. Alain Vigneault and the rest of the coaching staff need to figure out what their plan is here. They seem like a mess as of now. I see the Rangers finishing in 6th in the Metropolitan Division with no changes being made.
Alain Vigneault could be fired by the end of November if this sinking ship doesn’t right itself. I sincerely hope that I am proven wrong. However, if there are no drastic changes made to this team then I stick to saying that I see them finishing in 6th in the Metropolitan Division.
Jennifer Moglia- Miss the Playoffs
My updated prediction for the Rangers, following an unexpectedly horrible first month, is that they will not make the playoffs.
I debated about making this my prediction for the entire season, in a previous roundtable, but I still had some hope for the team at that point. Going into this season, I would have even said that our playoff chances look better than they did last year. The defense was upgraded quite a bit, and a new backup goaltender with virtually untapped potential was acquired.
However, a range of issues, including the gaping hole in the team without a number one center, has brought the rangers to only three wins in October. I think that this will be an unusual year, one that new Rangers’ fans will not be familiar with. The “rebuild on the fly” strategy clearly isn’t working anymore, hence the hole that the team has dug themselves into.
I think that this will be more of a rebuild year without a huge chance of making playoffs. The focus will be on getting the team to work together and win games, whether it means tinkering with the lineup, trading players, or, hopefully…firing the coach? Maybe?
Regardless, this year will probably be the first season in a while that doesn’t feel like a “win-now” year for the Rangers, and that could be a very good thing for them.
John Cavanagh- Wild Card
There’s no doubt the New York Rangers aren’t satisfied with how their season started. Throughout 11 games, the Rangers are 3-6-2. While they won their last game, it came at the expense of the lowly 0-9-1 Arizona Coyotes. Negativity has filled the air, but despite their lackluster play, I believe the Rangers can turn this around.
Simply put, the Rangers are far too talented to be in the position they are in. Kevin Shattenkirk has struggled, but he’s still a big improvement over Dan Girardi. With the defense in better shape, there’s no reason this team can’t match last years points total of 102.
The loss of center Derek Stepan has certainly hampered this team, but the Rangers still possess an ability to roll four lines after calling up center Cristoval Nieves. The fourth line of Nieves, Michael Grabner, and Pavel Buchnevich was their most productive line against the Coyotes.
For the remainder of the season, I predict Nieves will stay with the Rangers for the entire season. If the Rangers can have four scoring lines, cut down on the turnovers, and have their top guys step up, I think they finish fourth in the Metropolitan Division. That will be good enough for a wild card spot. It’s unlikely the Devils continue their hot streak, and after the Penguins and Blue Jackets, the division is wide open.
Alexandra Russo- Wild Card
I promise to not let the crazily optimistic Ranger fan in me influence my prediction here (too much).
The New York Rangers are a perfect combination of young talent and veteran experience, and that is what is going to pull them out of this. How they started out is not something anyone expected. However, I think a lot of people (I’m looking at you, pessimists) won’t be expecting the end to this season, either.
The coaching situation isn’t ideal, no one is arguing that. The defensive breakdowns in front of the net have been unbearable to watch at points, and no one is arguing that, either.
However, the positives of this team far outweigh the negatives. Mika Zibanejad is consistently proving that he knows how to handle the role of being a number one center. Henrik Lundqvist, despite the poor play of the defense at times, has been good. Strong veteran players such as Mats Zuccarello and Rick Nash look like their usual powerful selves.
Next: New York Rangers: Five untouchable assets the team possesses
There is absolutely no reason to start panicking now. It’s a long season, and I predict that before you know it, this team is going to once again (like they did in 2013-2014) turn this thing around and nab a wild card spot.