Taking a look back at the New York Rangers regular season
The New York Rangers’ regular season has officially ended, and there were many exciting events throughout the year. Young players made their debuts and records were set and the best news is there are still game to be played.
The off-season
Jeff Gorton was extremely active during the summer of 2019 in hopes of putting together a contending roster within a couple of years. The first move was trading for Jacob Trouba and then signing him to a seven-year contract extension. Holding the second pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, the Rangers selected winger Kaapo Kakko.
The biggest prize of the off-season was agreeing to terms with winger Artemi Panarin, who signed a seven-year contract worth well over $11 million annually. Gorton was also able to sign Pavel Buchnevich to a two-year extension and Brendan Lemieux and Tony DeAngelo to one-year deals.
Kevin Shattenkirk was bought out at the beginning of August after a disappointing season during the 2018-19 season. He was in the middle of a four-year contract and was still owed over $13 million.
Milestones and records
Many milestones were achieved during the season, including the NHL debuts of Adam Fox and Kakko on opening night against Winnipeg. Trouba and Panarin also made their Rangers debuts that same night in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd. Henrik Lundqvist won his 450th career game, moving him into sixth place on the all-time wins list.
In his third NHL game, Kakko scored his first NHL goal against Edmonton, which ended up being the only goal scored by the Rangers in a 4-1 loss. Nearly two weeks later against Buffalo on October 24, Ryan Strome recorded his 200th career point and Fox recorded his first NHL point.
On November 20, Lundqvist recorded his 454th win against Washington to tie him with Curtis Joseph for the fifth-most wins among goalies. Five nights later, Lundqvist passed Joseph with 455 wins and moved into fifth place on the all-time wins list.
The next major milestone came on January 7, when Igor Shesterkin made his highly anticipated NHL debut against Colorado, also earning his first NHL win in a 5-3 victory in New York.
Just two nights later against New Jersey, DeAngelo recorded his first NHL hat trick and finished the night with a total of five points, tying him with Brian Leetch for most points in a regular-season game by a defenseman in franchise history.
On March 5 against Washington, Mika Zibanejad became the first Ranger since Mark Pavelich in 1983 to score five goals in a game, including an overtime game-winner.