Expectations for the 2020-21 New York Rangers: Part 4 – The Team

This coming season, the New York Rangers will be challenged to keep getting better. And by all accounts, this young and talented team, should in fact, be better. But will the improvements of the New York Rangers be enough to propel them into the playoffs? Do they have all the right pieces in all the right places to be considered serious playoff contenders? The short answer is, unfortunately, no.

The long answer is that a lot need to break right for the Rangers as their division rivals are not yet ready to step down. That with the new pandemic influenced divisional alignment, the division got tougher, not easier. But, there is room for hope, even if it is misguided. In a shortened season, a fast start could propel a team into the post season. While a slow start means certain death to a teams playoff aspirations.

Lets take a look at the newly aligned division and see where the Rangers stack up. Firstly, who should finish below the Rangers.

The New Jersey Devils finished 11 points below the Rangers last season. During the off-season they made improvements in goal by bringing in Corey Crawford, but did little else. With no player on the team exceeding 45 points, they will rely heavily on the growth of their youth to drive their season along. Off ice, they hired Lindy Ruff, previously with the Rangers as defensive coach, as their new head coach. He will look to rekindle the magic he had with the Buffalo Sabres, but then again, that magic was named Dominik Hasek.

The Buffalo Sabres also finished 11 points below the Rangers last season. They made a big free agent splash by acquiring former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall, plugging him in on Jack Eichel’s wing will pay immediate dividends. They also acquired Eric Staal from the Minnesota Wild to provide them two quality centers behind Eichel. Unfortunately for the Sabres though, is that too much of the rest of the team is the still the same. Until they show otherwise, The Buffalo Sabres will continue to be underachievers.

The New York Islanders surprised the hockey world with two impressive runs during the 2019-20 season. First they started the season with a 16-3-1 record that kept them in playoff contention until the season was suspended. Second, they defeated the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Qualifier, then took out the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers en route to an Eastern Conference Finals appearance.

Between these runs though, the Islanders were 19-20-9, which is far from playoff worthy. Additionally, the team lost Johnny Boychuk to an injury forced retirement and promising youngster Devon Toews to trade as a salary cap casualty. The Islanders have yet to come to an agreement with RFA center and leading scorer Matt Barzal and the team has eight players under contact who  are at least 30 years of age. None of these have the team trending in the right direction.

How Barry Trotz had the Islanders prepared to start the season, and after the Stanley Cup Qualifier, makes them a potentially dangerous team, but the Rangers growth gives them a slight edge.