The next best New York Rangers team of all time

The next-best New York Rangers’ team of all-time.

We recently presented the New York Rangers’ all-time team. Now it’s time to look at the next-best Blueshirts squad.

As we did for the all-time team, we adhered to the NHL’s regular-season active roster maximum of 23 players in choosing twelve forwards, six defensemen, two goalies, and three spares (Black Aces).

Those who appeared on the all-time team were not repeated. Mark Messier appeared on the all-time team as a center. He also played left wing, but he’s widely regarded as a pivot. Nor were wingers moved from their listed position to the other side (tempting to be sure, but too easy).

We used the “play index” on hockey-reference.com to account for players from different eras like those who played in the NHL’s early days when the schedule had each of its six teams played between 44 and 48 games a season.

Right wing Cecil Dillon is a prime example.

He skated in 409 games for the Rangers between 1930-31 and 1938-39, posting 160 goals and 121 assists for 281 points. By contrast, Mike Gartner recorded 173 tallies and 113 helpers for 286 points in 322 games with the Rangers. However, the NHL had a 48-game schedule during Dillon’s tenure.

Adjusted to the league’s 82-match slate of today, Dillon’s stats would read 277 goals and 277 assists for 554 points. That’s better than the production of fellow Rangers right wings Tomas Sandstrom (380 points in 407 tilts), Mats Zuccarello (352 points in 509 contests), and Anders Hedberg (397 points in 465 duels).

Players received consideration for their length of service and contributions to the Rangers, as well as intangibles such as playing without regard for his own body and coming up big in crucial times.

In other words, you won’t find Hall of Fame left winger Luc Robitaille on this team because a) he absolutely soiled the bed in the postseason, scoring just five times in 26 games, and b) he was too soft too often.

You won’t see Guy Lafleur or Marcel Dionne, either. Both are Hockey Hall of Famers, but they earned their enshrinement long before coming to New York in the twilights of their careers.

Meanwhile, some outstanding (deserving?) players were left out.

Brendan Shanahan scored his 600th career goal in a Rangers sweater but played only 140 games for New York. Martin St. Louis gave the Blueshirts and their fans some memorable efforts in the 2014 playoffs but wasn’t around long.

Tony Amonte, Tony Granato, Doug Weight? Tremendous players, but each had most of their best seasons off Broadway.

The most difficult decision was leaving out center Derek Stepan.

The kid came to the Rangers after his sophomore year at the University of Wisconsin, played 515 in a Rangers’ sweater, had 128 goals and 232 assists, including a hat trick in his very first NHL game. And who could forget him jumping up and down like a Pee Wee after beating Braden Holtby on a rebound in overtime to clinch the Conference Semifinals in 2015?

It was also hard passing on right wings Ryan Callahan and Gartner.

“Captain Cally” forward stepped in front of a slapper by Boston Bruins’ defender Zdeno Chara (owner of one of the game’s hardest shots) just months after breaking his hand trying to block a bid by Philadelphia Flyers’ standout Claude Giroux.

Chara’s blast broke Callahan’s leg but the Rangers forward saw it as the price of preserving a one-goal lead late. In 450 games for New York, he posted 268 penalty minutes, 254 points, and finished in the top-10 in voting for the Selke Trophy three times.

Gartner had three 40-goal seasons for the Rangers but spent much of his Hall of Fame career with the Washington Capitals (758 GP, 397 goals, 789 points). He was dealt at the trade deadline in 1994 to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the insistence of head coach Mike Keenan, who preferred Glenn Anderson’s experience of five Stanley Cup championships with the Edmonton Oilers over Gartner’s never having played in the Finals.

Callahan and Gartner were victims of a numbers game. Like we said in the all-time team piece, “can’t have everybody.”

So, here’s my Rangers’ next-best all-time team. Players are listed with years and regular-season stats as a Blueshirt. The NHL’s 23-man active roster limit applies. Hall of Famers noted as HOF. Skinny notes are from hockey-reference.com, the Official Guide to the Players of the Hockey Hall of Fame, and New York Rangers by the Numbers.

We’ll start with the top line, spanning three generations.