It was a banner year for two New York Rangers, one from Russia and another from Sweden
This New York Rangers season was notable for the accomplishments of Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad. While their seasons were outstanding, they were record setting for Ranger players from Russia and Sweden.
Artemi Panarin‘s Russian records
There have been some great Russian players on the Rangers, most notably Sergei Zubov, Alex Kovalev and Sergei Nemchinov. Artemi Panarin has a chance to be the best of them all.
Panarin finished the season with 32 goals, 63 assists and 95 points. The shame is that it would have been even better if the season hadn’t been shortened by 12 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even in a shorter season, Panarin shattered some longtime records.
Panarin’s 95 points topped the 89 points from Sergei Zubov in the 1993-94 championship season. His 46 even strength assists were a new record, more than Zubov’s 36.
Not only did Panarin lead the entire NHL in even strength points with 71, he exceeded Sergei Nemchinov‘s previous team record of 50.
He also took Nemchinov out of the record books with his 32 goals, two more than Nemchinov scored in 1991-92.
Finally, Panarin’s plus/minus rating of +36 was 16 more than Sergei Zubov’s +20 rating in 1993-94.
The shortened season cost Panarin the chance to set Russian Ranger records for power play goals, even strength goals and shots on goal. There’s always next year.
Mika Zibanejad‘s Swedish records
The history of Swedish Rangers is a distinguished one. Stars include Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson, Tomas Sandstrom and most recently, Michael Nylander. Like Panarin, Mika Zibanejad is looking to rewrite the record books when it comes to Swedish Blueshirts.
Zibanejad scored 41 goals and added 34 assists for 75 points. What’s even more remarkable is that he did it in only 57 games, missing 13 games with a neck injury and losing 12 games to the pandemic. It was a Swedish season for the ages and one can only wonder what more he could have accomplished in a full 82 games.
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Zibanejad set a new Swedish team record with his 41 goals, one more than Tomas Sandstrom’s 40 in 1986-87. He broke his own record (tied with Nylander) of 14 power play goals by scoring 15 with the man advantage.
The Swede notched six game winning goals, setting a new team record for Swedish players, knocking Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson, Carl Hagelin and Sandstrom out of the record book.
He now owns all records for shorthanded scoring. His three shorthanded goals and five points are the most ever by a Swede. Jan Erixon had four shorthanded points in 1990-91. His two assists tie him with Anders Hedberg, Erixon, Niklas Sundstrom and Jesper Fast.
If the season had not been halted, he had an outside shot at topping Sandstrom’s record for most points (88) and even strength goals as he had 23 and Hedberg and Sandstrom hold the record with 27. Hedberg took a Swedish record 243 shots in 1980-81 and Zibanejad finished with 208.
Mika Zibanejad is in his prime and his numbers get better every season. He is creeping up in the career categories of Swedish players on the Rangers, only behind Sandstrom and Hedberg in most offensive statistics. By the time he is done, he could hold every offensive record for a Rangers player from Sweden.
Some other records by nationality
Panarin and Zibanejad weren’t the only record setters on the Rangers this season. Alexandar Georgiev may be from Bulgaria, but he is also considered the Russian record holder in three categories. His 17 wins topped his previous record of 14 set last season. He tied his record of two shutouts and his 967 saves topped last year’s 966.
Of course, with Igor Shesterkin poised to take over in net next season, there’s little doubt that his name will be enshrined in the single season record book sooner than later.
Rookie Kaapo Kakko scored one goal in overtime, something that had been done only three times previously by Finnish players on the Rangers, twice by Reijo Ruotsalainen (1983-84 & 1984-85) and also by Olli Jokinen (2009-10).
Kakko also set a record for a Ranger player from FInland that he would prefer not to have. His plus/minus rating of -26 was four worse than Ruotsalainen’s mark of -22 in 1984-85.
Finally, one record was tied for Ranger players from the United States. Anthony DeAngelo tied the previous record of two overtime goals set by five other American Rangers.
While Rangers records for Canadian and American players will be tough to break for the current crop of Blueshirts, in Kaapo Kako and Filip Chytil, the Rangers have two young players who could establish records for players from Finland and the Czech Republic. Of course, with Jaromir Jagr preceding him, Chytil has a much tougher road.