Should New York Rangers fans expect the same explosive offense for the 2020-21 season?
Over a four part series, we have removed the fan goggles to examine the realistic expectations of the New York Rangers for the 2020-21 season. In part one we took a look at the goaltenders and in part two, the defense corps. In our third part, we delve into the New York Rangers crop of forwards, led by the dynamic duo of Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad.
The 2019-20 New York Rangers offense finished fifth in the NHL with 234 goals scored, only 11 fewer than the league leading Tampa Bay Lightning. The Rangers power play (PP) converted at a rate of 22.91%, the seventh highest conversion rate in the NHL. They did this while scoring 52 PP goals on 227 opportunities with the man advantage, both the fourth highest totals in the NHL. Overall, the Rangers finished with a +13 goal differential even though they surrendered the third most shots against (2381) and eighth most goals against in the NHL.
As noted in the second part of this series, the defense should be expected to provide the same level of contribution to the offense. The question to be raised here, is can the forward group be expected to maintain the same heights that they managed during the 2019-20 season. Last season the Rangers captured lightning in a bottle. They were a top heavy team in terms of their production and benefited from three of their top six players having career high seasons, with two others on pace for career years had the season not been suspended.
Is it realistic for the New York Rangers and their fan base to expect the same sky high production levels going forward, or should they expect these highs to come back to earth. Lets take a look.