New York Rangers: Five things that’ll make this season worth the wait
No Expectations
When was the last time the New York Rangers weren’t expected to make a playoff push? 2005? It will certainly be a change of pace with the team not having high external expectations.
The team will be playing with house money in 2018-19 and could certainly prove some people wrong.
The Metropolitan Division is deep. The Capitals and the Penguins have combined for the last three Stanley Cup Championships. The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Philadelphia Flyers are serious contenders to win the division. The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes have very good core groups and could be in line to finish in the wild card slots.
The Rangers and Islanders are the clear bottom two teams in the division, and while their is probably no way the Islanders finish clear of the bottom five in the league, the Rangers could potentially push for a playoff spot.
They have a pretty deep forward unit, and if Skjei, Shattenkirk and Smith return to form and a player like Neal Pionk continues to develop, the team could have a good enough arsenal to make it interesting.
Next. Looking at the cost of other teams' success around the league. dark
Is it likely? Probably not. But you never wanna count out a hungry, young team with something to prove.