The New York Rangers will be fielding one of their youngest lineups ever. How’s does it compare to past teams?
The 2019-20 New York Rangers have a number of youthful players who have a good chance of making the major league roster. As many as 11 rookies or second year players will make the team and that number could be even higher if there are injuries or if a prospect excels in the AHL.
The rookies who should definitely make the team are Kaapo Kakko, Vitali Kravtsov, Adam Fox and Libor Hajek. There’s an excellent chance that we will see Ryan Lindgren, Igor Shesterkin and Yegor Rykov at some point during the season.
Players in their second year include Lias Andersson, Filip Chytil, Alexandar Georgiev, and Brendan Lemieux. Other players would could find their way to Broadway include Tim Gettinger, Steven Fogarty, Jake Elmer and Patrick Newell.
With 11 players almost a sure thing, you’d think it was some kind of record, but it definitely isn’t the most in Blueshirts history.
Last season
Last season, the Rangers had ten rookies and three players in their second seasons. The rookies who saw regular action were Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson, Alexandar Georgiev and Brendan Lemieux. Up for just a brief stint were Steven Fogarty, Tim Gettinger, Libor Hajek, Ryan Lindgren and John Gilmour.
The three second year players were
Neal Pionk, Boo Nieves and Vinni Lettieri.
The 12 players on the team with one year or less experience was not the highest in recent memory. The. 2017-18 had 14 rookie or second year players as a result of the trade deadline dealing of Rick Nash, Michael Grabner and Ryan McDonagh.
As a result of those deals, Ranger fans got to know Neal Pionk, Rob O’Gara and Vinni Lettieri among others. The 14 youngsters was a number that you have to go back quite a few years to equal.
Post lockout team
To get anywhere near those numbers again, you have to go back to 2005-06 when seven rookies played in games that season. They also had seven second year players.
The 2005-06 team was the first team after the lockout and unexpectedly finished third and made the playoffs under coach Tom Renney. Led by Jaromir Jagr and the Czechmates, the team was an inspiration as they overachieved.
While that team had a slew of novice players, most only made brief appearances. The notable rookies that year were led by Henrik Lundqvist, Petr Prucha and Ryan Hollwegg while the second year players included Dominic Moore, Colton Orr, Jed Ortmeyer and Fedor Tyutin.
While the 2005-06 team had a great success, it wasn’t expected and there was none of the anticipation that the current Rangers team has. No one had heard of Lundqvist or Prucha and they were the best of the rookies on the team.
A baker’s dozen rookies
The team with the most rookies in recent memory was the 2003-04 Rangers who fielded 13 first year players at one point in the season. The reason for the huge number of rookie players was that this was the year of the “purge” when the Rangers traded Brian Leetch, Alexei Kovalev and Petr Nedved at the trade deadline.
Of the 13 rookies who made their NHL debuts that season, only Dominic Moore and Fedor Tyutin had careers of any note.
Back to this year
While there may have been several seasons when the number of young players exceeded this season’s totals, there has never been a team that featured so many young players with so much promise. The 2005-06 team surprised everyone, but the 2019-20 team won’t be a surprise if they make the playoffs.
The hope is that like the 2005-06 team, they will find a future hall of fame in their prospect pool. It may not be a Henrik Lundqvist, but a Kaapo Kakko will probably do just fine.