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

Since winning back to back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 the Pittsburgh Penguins have been remarkably consistent. the 2017-18 and 2018-19 season saw the team reach the 100 point mark, and last season they had 86 points with 13 games left to play at the pause. It proves that it is folly to count out a team with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.

For the coming season they have brought in Jason Zucker, acquired at the trade deadline and Cody Ceci, signed as a free agent, to replenish their ranks. They have also moved on from Matt Murray and have handed the starting duties over to Tristan Jarry. Their defense may take a hit with the departure of Jacques Martin, but the rumors of their impending demise have been greatly exaggerated.

The Philadelphia Flyers are an Alain Vigneault team. In that, they took a while to get into the groove of things, but took off once they did. They may have fizzled out in the Stanley Cup Qualifier, but they finished the season on an 18-6-1 tear. The Flyers finished one point behind the Washington Capitals, poised to knock them off their five season long division winning streak.

The Flyers did not do much in the to improve the team in the off-season, but they do hope 2017 second overall draft pick, Nolan Patrick, may return to the line-up. Patrick missed all of last season with migraine disorder. Additionally, Carter Hart has emerged as the team’s clear cut number one goaltender, which is a clear benefit to them.

The Washington Capitals finished first in the Metropolitan division for a fifth straight year. The Capitals are a team of many, many weapons. Up front Alexander Ovechkin is trying to catch Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record. They still have Nicklas  Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kutsznetsov and Tom Wilson up front and team scoring leader John Carlson on the back end. In goal they switched Braden Holtby for Henrik Lundqvist, which would have immediately improved their presence in net. However, Henrik Lundqvist shared some terrible news.

This will force the Capitals to rely far more heavily on Ilya Samsonov than was expected and will be a big challenge for their new coach. The hiring of Peter Laviolette was the biggest off season move for the team and perhaps its biggest improvement. “Lavy” is the only coach in the cap era to bring three different teams to the Stanley Cup Finals. He won in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes and brought both the Philadelphia Flyers (2010) and Nashville Predators (2017) within two victories of hoisting the Cup.

The Boston Bruins are a cream of the crop team in the NHL. Much like the Penguins, you cannot count out a team that has Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and the goalie tandem of Tukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak. Just two years removed from a game seven loss in the Stanley Cup Finals, this is a team that is still posed to seriously contend for the Cup.

However, their core is another year older, Zdeno Chara is not yet signed, Tory Krug left via free agency and both Marchand and Pastrnak are expected to miss the start of the season due to surgery. They may not be as dominant moving forward, but they are still a team that will challenge for the division lead and be contenders for the Stanley Cup.

Looking at the division as a whole, the New York Rangers appear to be on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. There is the possibility that the NHL might expand the post season for a second season, though that is currently an unknown. Until that is either confirmed or debunked it is not an avenue the Rangers can count on to take to the post season.

There is hope that the oddities of a shortened schedule will benefit the team. That they may get off to a hot start or that one of the teams in the division falters when expected to contend, catapulting them into the playoffs. The New York Rangers playoff hopes ride not only them playing well, but the good fortune that others do not. It will be close, but the realistic expectation is that the Rangers finish fifth in the division and are watching the playoffs instead of playing in them. The future is bright and this season is yet another stone to step on.