A tale of 15 Ranger rookies

The 2019-20 New York Rangers are one the of the youngest teams in the NHL with four rookies playing regularly and two more seeing some action.  But the two seasons before this one, ten rookies played for the Blueshirts each year. How has that unprecedented crop of rookies turned out?

Since February 8, 2018, when the New York Rangers announced that they were rebuilding, an awful lot of rookies have seen action for the Blueshirts.   15 rookies have seen action on Broadway in the last three seasons with 11 making their Ranger debuts since the February 8 letter was sent.

While it seems like the six rookies  on this season’s team is a lot, 10 rookies saw action in each of the last two seasons.  How have they done since making their debuts?

Success Stories

Filip Chytil –  One of the best of the rookies from the last two seasons, Chytil surprised everyone  by making the Rangers out of training camp as an 18-year old in October 2017.  After scoring one goal and three points in nine games, he spent the rest of the season in Hartford and at the WJC tournament.

He made it back to the NHL last season, scoring 11 goals and 23 points.  He has solidified his place as the team’s third line center and is developing nicely after a brief trip to start the season in the AHL.  He’s on pace to score 19 goals and has become a much more physical player in his sophomore year.

Neal Pionk – A true success story, Pionk was brought up along with John Gilmour from Hartford the day after the Sather/Gorton letter.  He had played one season in Hartford after being signed as a highly sought after undrafted free agent from Minnesota-Duluth.   He played top minutes in that rookie season with 14 points in 28 games.

He carried that over to his sophomore campaign last year, scoring six goals and 26 points while playing top pair minutes for the Rangers.   He was traded to Winnipeg over the summer in the Jacob Trouba deal and is having an excellent season for the Jets.

Alexandar Georgiev – Arguably the most successful of the rookies who debuted in the last two seasons, Georgiev played his first game two weeks after the letter was sent out in February 2018.   He came up as an unheralded replacement for injured backup Ondrej Pavlec and immediately opened eyes.  He split his eight decisions, going 4-4 with a .918 save percentage.

He solidified his role backing up Henrik Lundqvist last season and is now sharing goaltending duties equally.  How long his stint with the Rangers will be is a question as he is trade bait this season.

Brendan Lemieux – The Rangers acquired rookie Brendan Lemieux at the deadline in their trade of Kevin Hayes to the Winnipeg Jets.  He  quickly became a fan favorite, finished fifth in the league in penalty minutes.  Not only that, he added 12 goals and 17 points.

No sophomore jinx for Lemieux this season as he has scored five goals and 13 points while bringing some needed physicality to the team.  Sidelined by a wrist injury, he just returned to the lineup.

Ryan Lindgren – One of the four prospects acquired at the 2018 deadline, Lindgren could end up the best of them.  The Rangers got the defenseman in his senior year at the University of Minnesota and he played last season in Hartford, except for a brief five game stint with the Rangers.

This season he started the season in Hartford, but was recalled in late October and has become a stalwart on defense as Adam Fox’s partner.  He’s a physical presence and backs down from no one and occasionally shows an offensive flair contributing a goal and eight assists.

Still showing promise

Brett Howden – Howden was acquired from Tampa in the deadline deal, along with Libor Hajek.  They were two of the four prospects picked up at that deadline, along with Ryan Lindgren and Rob O’Gara.  A first round pick of the Lightning, Howden is on the cusp  of being a success story just for the fact that he made the NHL club last season and hasn’t looked back.

The negative about Howden is simply his inability to put the puck in the net. As a rookie last season he had six goals and 23 points in 66 games.  This season in 48 games he has equaled that goal total with six, but has only six assists.  It’s too soon to give up on him at age 21 and he shows flashes of promise, but he needs to step up his game.

Libor Hajek – Hajek was one of four prospects acquired at the trade deadline in February 2018. After starting the season in Hartford in his first year out of juniors, he had an impressive five game debut for the Rangers before suffering a shoulder injury that ended his season.

This season he has been a regular on the blueline for New York, but is now in Hartford playing his way back into shape after a knee injury.   As a member of the baby blueliners, Hajek has had some challenges in his rookie season.  Still only 21, he should be a success story soon.

While these are the positive stories, the news isn’t good for every rookie.