New York Rangers Stock Market: Streaky play into February
Up: Mika Zibanejad
This one shouldn’t come as a surprise. Mika Zibanejad has been playing like a man possessed lately, and New York Rangers fans definitely aren’t complaining about it.
This week, he had nine points in six games, an average of 1.5 points per game. Against the Devils, he had four points including three goals for his first hat trick as a Ranger, and an assist on the only other goal in the game, scored by Chris Kreider.
Yup, you heard that correctly; Zibanejad contributed to all four goals scored by the Rangers against New Jersey. He had two assists against the Lightning, one goal and one assist for two points against the Kings, and one goal against the Bruins. In fact, in the Kings game he set a team record by having a point in ten straight goals scored by the Blueshirts.
He was also named the NHL’s third star of the week on February 3rd. Zibanejad leads the Rangers in multiple categories, with the most points (53) and assists (31) on the team.
He has the second-most goals on the squad (22), just two behind Kreider’s 24. The forward has officially passed a few of his career-highs as well.
His previous career high for points was 51 with the Ottawa Senators during the 2015-2016 season, which he has surpassed by two so far. The center’s 31 assists pass his previous benchmark of 30, established in that same campaign.
Plus, with just five more goals, he will match his career high for goals, set last year in his second full season as a Blueshirt. The best part?
There are still 28 games left in this season. If he continues at this pace, he will definitely set new career highs in all offensive categories, miles above his previous benchmarks, and will lead the team in scoring for the first time.
Mika Zibanejad serves as a reminder of just how great the Derick Brassard trade was for the New York Rangers. With any luck, the 25-year-old will most likely be a big part of helping this team win after the rebuild.
Down: Henrik Lundqvist
Unfortunately, this was not Henrik Lundqvist’s best stretch. He appeared in one of the New York Rangers’ wins and three of their losses, suffering from the team’s inconsistency.
As mentioned earlier, his save percentages have been lower than it should be lately. Against the Devils, it was .864% letting in three goals on 22 shots.
In the match-up with the Lightning, it was .870%, which is slightly better, but he still let in three goals on 23 shots. Against the Kings, he at least stayed consistent, with .867%, giving up four goals on 30 shots.
He rebounded against the Hurricanes, only surrendering one goal on 31 shots and recording a .968%. In order for Henrik Lundqvist to maintain his status as an “elite” goaltender in this league, he will have to step it up a bit.
A lot of times, it isn’t his fault. The Rangers’ defense isn’t exactly impeccable, a mixture of declining veterans, younger players who don’t have it figured out yet, and everyone in between trying to move out of slumps.
Of course, Lundqvist will always be a huge part of the New York Rangers organization, no matter what he does for the rest of his career. He helped put this team back on the map again a few years ago and led them through many deep playoff runs.
The goaltender’s stats right now shouldn’t matter that much, considering the body of work he already has, but, unfortunately, they do. Hopefully, this was just a rough patch for him (as well as the team), and he will be able to bounce back in the coming weeks.
Up: Tony DeAngelo
Tony DeAngelo had one of his better weeks since becoming a regular roster player for the New York Rangers. He appeared in four out of the six games during this stretch, a positive change after being scratched by head coach David Quinn while he was dealing with “maturity issues.”
The 23-year-old has also done a good job refining his play, only recording two penalty minutes during these few games. Additionally, DeAngelo’s value increased this week because of his increase in offensive production.
He, along with Mika Zibanejad, had an assist on Chris Kreider’s tally against the Los Angeles Kings. The defenseman, joined by Pavel Buchnevich, also had an assist on Filip Chytil’s goal against the Boston Bruins.
Tony DeAngelo seems to finally be hitting his stride. He’s appearing in the lineup nearly every night, and his coach is being more open about the struggles they are working through together. He has already played in 35 games this season, only four less than his career high of 39.
His offensive play is definitely improving, and if he continues to play at this pace for the rest of the season he will pass his career high in points. He currently has 14 points, matching the benchmark he had previously set for himself in his first NHL season in 2016-2017 with the Arizona Coyotes.
The Sewell, New Jersey native has already surpassed his career high in assists this year, passing his previous milestone of nine with 10 so far this season. He is also poised to eclipse his previous total of goals since his career high prior to this year was five and he has four already this year.
It took a little while, but it seems like Tony DeAngelo is starting to make a name for himself on this team and show why he can be useful. With a little more experience, he will probably become even more of an asset to the Rangers in coming years.
Down: Marc Staal
Although he has been having a better campaign so far this year than he usually does, New York Rangers fans got a glimpse of the old Marc Staal this week. He had eight penalty minutes throughout this stretch.
There were a few games where he was the only Ranger to get called for a penalty, or one of just two members of the team. Now, some may not consider this a big deal, since the calls are for small mistakes like interference, holding, and slashing.
However, it actually means the opposite. Staal, at 32-years-old and in his 12th full season in the NHL, should know better than to be making these silly mistakes.
He has the fourth most penalty minutes on the team, behind just Brendan Smith, Tony DeAngelo, and Chris Kreider. A player who is this tenured, and is an alternate captain, should be setting a better example for the young defensive core growing within the organization.
Staal’s offensive production has started to improve this year, and it’s a great thing to see for his fans and teammates alike. However, a defenseman’s play isn’t as simple as how much he is contributing on the scoresheet.
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Marc Staal needs to step up and be a leader on the New York Rangers, by recovering from this slump. Taking penalties that are so easy to avoid is not something that a veteran like him should be doing, especially on a young, rebuilding team.