New York Rangers: Midterm report card
By Steve Paulus
Forwards
Lias Andersson, Grade Incomplete
Quarter season grade D: 0 goals, 1 assists, 1 point, 4 PIM, -8 rating
Midseason record: 0 goals, 1 assists, 1 point, 4 PIM, -8 rating (suspended without pay)
Someday we will know what happened with Lias Andersson. Is he a spoiled brat who quit on the team when he wasn’t treated with respect? Is he a misunderstood player who came to the team with lofty expectations he never had a prayer of living up to? Is he a solid hockey player with an upside who never got a chance from the organization? Is he just a mediocre hockey player whose talent was overestimated? There are four people who know the answer to those questions and they are not talking.
Pavel Buchnevich, Grade C-
Quarter season grade B: 4 goals, 14 assists, 18 points, 8 PIM, +9 rating
Midseason record: 7 goals, 16 assists, 23 points, 12 PIM, -3 rating
Pavel Buchnevich was off to a pretty solid start after 20 games. While his goal scoring was off, his point total was solid and he was an effective player. His season has gone south and at the midway point, he is headed to his what could be his worst season since his rookie year.
What’s especially disturbing is the swing in his plus/minus. Don’t forget, Buchnevich has consistently been playing on a line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. Yet, in the second quarter of the season he had three goals and two assists. That just doesn’t cut it.
Filip Chytil, Grade A-
Quarter season grade A: 7 goals, 2 assists, 9 points, 2 PIM, +7 rating
Midseason record: 10 goals, 4 assists, 14 points, 8 PIM, +4 rating
Fili Chytil exploded offensively when he as brought up from Hartford and after just 12 games he was headed for a fabulous season. As expected, he has cooled down significantly, but no one could expect him to keep that pace up. Still, the 20-year old is headed for a very solid season and so far he is one of the more productive players picked in the 2017 draft.
He still needs to work on his faceoffs with a 36% success rate, the lowest of all the centers on the team. The best part of Chytil’s game has been his physical play. He’s not as “soft” a player as he was as a teenager and he can be a physical presence, though he is still a streaky scorer.
Jesper Fast, Grade B
Quarter season grade B: 2 goals, 6 assists, 8 points, 8 PIM, +1 rating
Midseason record: 6 goals, 8 assists, 14 points, 14 PIM, +9 rating
It’s been another consistent season for Jesper Fast. He is actually headed towards one of his best offensive seasons, playing on the top line with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome. The fact that Fast is playing on the top line is definitely an issue for this team. He still misses on glorious scoring opportunities, but his plus/minus rating is second best on the team.
He is also a top candidate for a trade at the deadline and would be a perfect depth acquisition for a contender. Ranger fans should take his remaining time in New York and appreciate this player.
Steven Fogarty, Grade Incomplete
Midseason record: 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points, 0 PIM, -1 rating
Fogarty has played in just four games and is averaging a shade over five minutes per game. After serving as Hartford’s team captain and leading the team in scoring, he has come to New York and has been stapled to the bench. It’s clear that the 26-year old is not expected to have any kind of future in New York and was the warm body brought up to fill out the roster. He’s an unrestricted free agent after this season as well so you would think the team would give him some minutes as he could be trade bait if he plays decently.
Tim Gettinger, Grade Incomplete
Quarter season grade Incomplete: 0 goals, 1 assists, 0 PIM, +1 rating
Midseason record: No change
After a brief call up and two games, Gettinger has been playing in Hartford where he has nine goals in 32 games. He’s the biggest player in the Rangers’ professional system and he hasn’t done poorly when given the chance, but those chances have been rare.
Micheal Haley, Grade D
Quarter season grade D-: 1 goal, no assists, 1 points, 40 PIM, -3 rating
Midseason record: 1 goal, no assists, 1 points, 45 PIM, -5 rating
Haley has cleared waivers and hasn’t played much since he was about to be sent to Hartford. In the second quarter of the season he played in eight games with no points, one fighting major and a minus two rating. With Libor Hajek ready to come back from injured reserve, that could spell the end of Haley’s NHL season. Considering his contributions, that can’t come soon enough.
Brett Howden, Grade C
Quarter season grade C+ : 3 goals, 4 assists, 7 points, 4 PIM, -1 rating
Midseason record: 5 goals, 6 assists, 11 points, 10 PIM, -8 rating
Brett Howden has not lived up to the promise he showed as a teenager last season. Despite playing regularly, he only added four points in the second quarter, a stretch that saw his ice time drop with his assignment to the fourth line. Most recently, he has been put on the “kid line with Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil and the unit has had two very solid games in Calgary and Vancouver.
There is no doubt about it, Howden has been a disappointment this season and he is headed towards a statistical repeat of his rookie season. Blame it on the sophomore jinx, but Howden needs to rebound in the back half of this season. In an organization with a lack of depth at forward, Howden is one of those players that has to succeed
Kaapo Kakko, Grade B-
Quarter season grade B: 6 goals, 4 assists, 10 points, 4 PIM, -13 rating
Midseason record: 7 goals, 9 assists, 16 points, 12 PIM, -15 rating
Kaapo Kakko came into this season as the second coming of Patrik Laine who scored 36 goals as an 18-year old four years ago. Instead, Kakko has been an 18-year old NHL rookie who has shown glimpses of excellence, but has struggled most of the time.
The coaching staff has acknowledged that he is too hard on himself and that self-inflicted pressure has hurt him. Yet, David Quinn benches him when he takes a penalty in his most dynamic game in weeks. Hopefully, he will find some confidence and consistency on his new line with Chytil and Howden since it’s clear that the coach has no intent of playing him with Panarin or Zibanejad.
Kakko is fourth in rookie scoring on the power play and leads all rookies with six primary assists with the man advantage. His eight power play assists is tied with Panarin for tops on the team among forward despite averaging a full minute less of power play time per game. His six primary power play assists is best on the team. Yet, he is playing on the second power play unit. Curious.
Chris Kreider, Grade B
Quarter season grade C: 5 goals, 7 assists, 12 points, 10 PIM, +1 rating
Midseason record: 12 goals, 14 assists, 26 points, 40 PIM, +4 rating
Chris Kreider woke up in the second quarter of the season. He played a much more phyisical game (look at the increase in penalty minutes) and his scoring picked up substantially. Ranger fans will be quite grateful at the trade deadline when Jeff Gorton extorts a king’s ransom for the player acknowledged as the best rental forward on the market.
As good as he has been, he is still headed for a typical Chris Kreider season. 24 goals and 52 points is where has been throughout his career. Those kind of numbers will not justify the payday he is expecting this off-season and he is definitely not getting it from the Blueshirts.
Brendan Lemieux , Grade B
Quarter season grade B: 3 goals, 6 assists, 9 points, 52 PIM , +1 ranking
Midseason record: 5 goals, 8 assists, 13 points, 87 PIM , -8 ranking
Brendan Lemieux was having a solid season until it was derailed by a broken wrist. His offensive output has been fair, but it’s his contributions as one of the few physical forwards on the team that is his value. One negative has been his reputation and that has resulted in some penalties that he didn’t deserve. His plus/minus rating has taken quite a dive over the last quarter, reflective of the lack of scoring from the bottom half of the lineup.
Greg McKegg, Grade B-
Quarter season grade B: 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points, 7 PIM, -1 rating
Midseason record: 1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points, 13 PIM, -3 rating
McKegg has been seeing a lot of action with the injury to Brendan Lemieux. That means time on the fourth line and that also means less than ten minutes ice time per game. David Quinn has been talking up McKegg lately and that may mean a bigger role moving forward. Still, his production is pretty limited and he hasn’t done well in the faceoff circle, with a 47% winning percentage. He is a role player and what you see is what you get. The key question moving forward is whether he will be taking ice time away from young players after the team makes its roster moves at the deadline.
Artemi Panarin, Grade A+
Quarter season grade A+: 12 goals, 15 assists, 27 points, 10 PIM, +9 rating
Midseason record: 22 goals, 33 assists, 55 points, 12 PIM, +17 rating
What more can you say? He has exceeded all expectations and continues to drive the offense. One area of concern is that he has been held scoreless for two straight games, only the third time this season that has happened. If the opposition has figured out how to suppress his scoring, that means big trouble for the Rangers. Another issue, in his last 11 games he has had no power play goals and only two power play assists. In fact, in this quarter he scored only one power play goal after scoring five in the first 20 games. That is a problem that needs fixing.
Brendan Smith, Grade C+
Quarter season grade B: 1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points, 17 PIM, -6 rating
Midseason record: 3 goals, 3 assists, 6 points, 31 PIM, -9 rating
The $4.5 million dollar man has played over ten minutes only twice in his last eight games. We can talk about his versatility and how he contributes to the team work ethic, but the simple answer is that as a forward, Brendan Smith is pretty bad. He is still playing on the penalty kill, so he has some value, but on a rebuilding team, he is taking up valuable space on the roster and the salary cap.
Ryan Strome, Grade A
Quarter season grade A-: 6 goals, 15 assists, 21 points, 16 PIM, +7 rating
Midseason record: 11 goals, 26 assists, 37 points, 36 PIM, +9 rating
Everyone keeps waiting for Ryan Strome to falter and revert to his status as a draft disappointment. However, he keeps chugging along as Artemi Panarin’s sidekick and his second quarter was as solid as his first. He started the second quarter with a 15 game goal drought, but got hot once he started scoring again.
The restricted free agent looked to be trade bait a the deadline, but at 26, it looks like Strome has finally found success and a home in New York. The Rangers need to find the cash to keep him.
Mika Zibanejad, Grade A+
Quarter season grade A: 4 goals, 7 assists, 11 points, 0 PIM, = rating
Midseason record: 16 goals, 15 assists, 31 points, 6 PIM, +2 rating
While Artemi Panarin is the team’s offensive powerhouse, Zibanejad is their most complete player. He plays equal time on the power play and the penalty kill and is out in all key situations. His line with Buchnevich and Kreider has been consistent in terms of point production and his positive plus/minus is an huge improvement over the last two season when he was a combined minus 35.
The Rangers’ top power play is having issues and while Zibanejad has scored six power play goals, his last power play assist was on October 18, 24 games ago.