New York Rangers’ five worst players since the 2010 season
The New York Rangers have had a lot of questionable players on their roster over the years. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest headscratchers to play for the team since 2010.
The New York Rangers have employed a lot of quality players over the last several years. Since 2010, Ryan McDonagh, Rick Nash, Marian Gaborik, Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider, Martin St. Louis, Kevin Shattenkirk and of course Henrik Lundqvist are just a few of the names that have left a mark (and will continue to leave a mark) on Broadway.
But the Blueshirts have also paid some pretty horrible players along the way, too. And that’s what we are going to talk about today.
After digging through each roster from the last seven seasons, I have picked out the five worst players to wear the Rangers’ sweater over their heads within that timespan.
Before I begin to mention names, there were a few boxes that each candidate for this list had to have checked off to make the list. For starters, said players needed to play at least 20 games for the Rangers to be eligible for this list, so guys like Emerson Etem, Mike Kostka, Tim Erixon, and Paul Carey who may have made this list otherwise were omitted.
Also, players that were considered ‘goons’ were also omitted from the list. So if you were excited to see guys like John Scott, Stu Bickell, and Tanner Glass on this list, you will be disappointed
5. Jeff Woywitka
Woywitka only played 27 games for the Rangers back in 2011-2012 when Marc Staal was recovering from a concussion he sustained at the end of the previous season. Woywitka, for all intents and purposes, wasn’t dreadful, but he certainly wasn’t anybody the team needed to worry about keeping.
Surprisingly, Woywitka had a decent offensive game but defensively he was anything but stout. He was a solid skater but he was often physically outmatched by opposing players. He was pretty soft for a guy with a 6-foot-3 frame. After a couple of seasons as a number seven defenseman around the league on teams like St, Louis and Dallas, Broadway was his final stop in the NHL.
After playing in both the AHL and the DEL (a German hockey league) over the next four years, Woywitka retired after the 14-15 season.
4. Taylor Pyatt
Pyatt played parts of two seasons with the Rangers. After having some successful seasons in Vancouver and Phoenix, he actually was expected to put up modest production.
His first season with the team was the lockout-shortened 2012-2013 campaign where he played in all 48 contests with the team and registered six goals and five assists.
His second year with the team was dreadful. In 22 games, he only tallied one assist and a -9 rating. The team eventually waived him and the Pittsburgh Penguins claimed him.
Pyatt was a big player. He was 6-foot-4 and weighed 230 pounds. The former 8th overall pick of the Islanders was arguably one of the slowest-skating player to play with the Rangers since the 2004 lockout. And that’s saying something considering John Scott played with the team.
Pyatt was also a puck-possession black hole. He had a CF percentage of 47.1 with the Rangers. If you dig deeper and look at his 13-14 numbers, though, Pyatt’s CF percentage dropped to 42.5 at even strength.
3. Justin Falk
Speaking of slow players, Falk may rival Pyatt’s lack of speed. Falk lasted just 21 games in Alain Vigneault’s system before being benched for good. Originally acquired in the 2013 offseason in a deal for Benn Ferriero and a late round draft pick, Falk was supposed to bring some steady, stay-at-home defense to the Rangers’ bottom pair.
Needless to say, that didn’t work out so well…
Falk was slow to pucks and was often outmuscled on the boards – which is bad considering his height at 6-foot-5 and 223-pound frame. He brought nothing on the offensive end of the ice and was consistently outskated by opposing forwards. This was a very problematic, as you would imagine.
Falk is currently still in the league as a depth defenseman for the Buffalo Sabres. Through 8 games this season, he has zero points and a CF percentage of 41.4.
2. Kris Newbury
Of all the players on this list, Newbury had the worst overall career. Somehow, though, there was one player with a worse Rangers career, so stay tuned for that…
A couple of years back, Alain Vigneault called out J.T. Miller saying that if he didn’t figure it out at the NHL level, “he will be a good minor league player.” Getting over the hump is extremely hard, even if you have great numbers in the American Hockey League. Kris Newbury learned that the hard way.
After getting a chance -albeit a small one – to play some NHL games early in his career with the Maple Leafs and the Red Wings, Newbury was acquired by the Rangers at the deadline in 2009-2010. In 2010-2011, he broke out for the Hartford Wolfpack to the tune of 61 points in 69 games with 139 penalty minutes.
While he continued to dominate at the AHL level over the next couple of years, the three instances where he was called up from the minors as an injury replacement did not go so well. In fact, in 24 games spanning three seasons, Newbury only tallied two assists for the Rangers while being a puck possession anchor. He only averaged just over seven minutes a game over those 24.
Must read: Five unsung players from over the years
Newbury was a power forward who was not afraid to drop the gloves if he had to. The offensive side of his game never developed at the NHL level despite his stellar AHL stats. Since the Rangers let him walk after the 2012-2013 season, Newbury played his last four NHL games as a member of the Flyers
The 35-year-old played in the AHL from 13-14 until last season and now plays for the Fischtown Penguins of the DEL.
1. Darroll Powe
Powe was traded to the Rangers by Minnesota along with Nicklas Palmeri for Mike Rupp in 2012-2013. Powe was brought in to stabilize the penalty kill. Well, as it turned out, he really didn’t do too much to help, as the penalty kill ranked 15th in the league.
In fact, Powe really didn’t do much of anything. In 35 games with the Rangers, Powe didn’t tally a single point, was a -4, had a CF percentage of 40.7 (which is impressively awful) and was mediocre in more or less every other facet of the game.
After all, there is a reason that once he was sent down to the AHL to begin 13-14, he would never play an NHL game again. After one more season playing professionally, this time with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL, Powe called it quits.
Next: Five reasons Lundqvist won't win a Stanley Cup
Players like Powe are pretty much extinct from today’s game. While teams still employ defense-first forwards, they have to have some redeeming qualities in other areas. Powe wasn’t even that strong defensively. There was no point to having him on the roster and the team realized that quickly in 2013-2014.