While most of the New York Rangers may be golfing, some of their finest personnel are spending their time in Denmark.
With the IIHF World Championships coming to a close on May 20, the New York Rangers had quite a representation in the tournament.
Players such as Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich made appearances. Veterans were not the only Rangers to crack the rosters of international teams. Players like Neal Pionk, Lias Andersson, Filip Chytil, and Igor Shestyorkin have had chances to show off their skills in the tournament.
The Rangers had players representing four countries.
Russia
Igor Shestyorkin
Sweden
Lias Andersson
USA
Czech Republic
Filip Chytil
How this could help the team going forward
Having Rangers play in the IIHF World Championship can only help them. Particularly, when the team is not in playoff contention, any play at a high level helps. Summer work is one of the most important factors in a healthy team.
Adding to that, the Rangers are seeing some of their most important young players in Andersson, Chytil, Buchnevich, Pionk and Shestyorkin play on a big stage. The youth movement is a prime area for the Rangers this offseason, seeing as there is no guarantee for major signings.
The Rangers must trust their farm system and especially develop their former first round picks in Andersson and Chytil. However, do not discount goalie prospect Igor Shestyorkin either.
Shestyorkin is the Rangers most highly touted goaltending prospect, and seems to be heir apparent for Henrik Lundqvist.
The situation is somewhat different for Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, however most of the following concept apply to all the Rangers players. The World Championships may not be a perfect barometer for NHL readiness or NHL performance, however playing against other professional hockey players in a full speed environment certainly cannot hurt anyone’s game.
A few Rangers have played in international competitions before, including Igor Shestyorkin, who won gold at this year’s Olympic Games.
The Rangers’ prospects and young players have certainly performed, particularly with Zibanejad and Kreider producing slightly more than a point per game and a point per game pace respectively. Shestyorkin has played decently well, with a modest two shutouts and a 1.46 goals against average.
While playing for the Czechs, Chytil put up a goal and assist as a 18 year old, and that is quite impressive. His Swedish counterpart Lias Andersson has not played much different, accruing a goal and assist for the yellow and blue.
Despite a tough season missing the playoffs, the Rangers had a great group playing the World Championships. This is the first step on the road back to the playoffs for the Rangers.