New York Rangers: Here we go, to the playoffs!

The New York Rangers kick off their 2021 season tonight against the hated New York Islanders

Finally!  Today is the day.  While the league may have started play last night, the NHL season kicks off tonight for New York Rangers fans.

It’s been a long drought since we have seen the Blueshirts playing significant hockey games.  Some may say it’s been since August 4th when the Rangers were eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes in the preliminary playoff round.  But really, those three games were an aberration, the whole thing just didn’t feel right, and felt even worse when all was said and done.

The Rangers were gifted a slot in the tournament, and came to the party woefully unprepared for playoff hockey.  That is not a slam against anyone on the Rangers coaching staff or team, but rather just a formal nod to the fact that the team had no playoff experience to fall back on. And when you are suddenly thrust into a playoff round after a few months of inactivity without any experience, it was big challenge to say the least.

The last real significant game the Ranger played was on March 11, against the Colorado Avalanche.  They lost 3-2 in overtime, but the game was a hard fought battle in the middle of the hunt for a ‘real’ playoff spot.

It is now just over ten months later and we are finally getting back playing games that matter.  Yes the games will be different in many ways with no fans in attendance, but from the very start each game will be important and they should be fun to watch.

So as we embark on a season like no other, let’s make a few predictions as to how the season will shake out.

The Eastern Division

The Rangers will make the playoffs.  Finishing fourth in this very, VERY tough division will require the team to make tremendous strides forward, but youth is taking over the NHL and the Rangers have that in spades.  The Rangers could be an offensive juggernaut if everything falls into place and that combined with a very strong goaltending tandem gives them the potential to be very dangerous.

Look for the team to improve significantly as the season progresses and secure a playoff spot by the slimmest of margins.  How far they go after that will be dependent upon the growth of the team during the season.  A playoff spot should be enough for Rangers fans this year, anything else would be gravy.

Projection:

1. Flyers
2. Bruins
3. Capitals
4. Rangers
5. Islanders
6. Penguins
7. Sabres
8. Devils

The Flyers just seem like they improved a ton last year and that progress should continue under Alian Vigneault.  They are a solid veteran team that should really excel in this compressed season. If Carter Hart can shoulder the load in goal, the Flyers will be tough.

Bruins and Capitals are just good teams, but would not be too surprised to see the Caps struggle just a bit.  Regardless the talent level alone gets them into the playoffs.

Islanders can’t score goals. Penguins are getting old and are thin in talent after the top four or five. Sabres could surprise if Taylor Hall really plays his butt off for a bigger contract.  The Devils will stink.

The Central Division

1. Lighting
2. Stars
3. Hurricanes
4. Panthers
5. Blue Jackets
6. Predators
7. Blackhawks
8. Red Wings

Tampa Bay may be the easiest divisional winner to pick.  The defending champs will stroll through the regular season hoping to keep everyone healthy and then add elite talent back to the roster once the playoffs start.  Could be a really tough combination for every other NHL team to overcome.  A repeat is certainly not out of the question.

Dallas and Carolina are too good here.  The top three in this division seems easy to sort out.

Florida, Columbus and Nashville will certainly battle it out for the fourth and final spot.  Any one of the three teams could take it. Would be great to see the Blue Jackets get the fourth seed just so Tampa has to to face a real challenge in the first round, but giving the nod to Florida.

The Western Division

1. Avalanche
2. Golden Knights
3. Blues
4. Sharks
5. Coyotes
6. Wild
7. Kings
8. Ducks

The West is just a mosh pit of mediocre teams once you get past Colorado and Vegas. Placing those two teams at the top of the division is a no brainer while sorting out the rest of the division is a Rubik’s Cube.  How they all finish depends on so many possible twists and turns. And let’s face it, with these teams playing a majority of the their games on Pacific Time, those of us in the east will just have to let it sort itself out without having much insight as to how it came to be.

Vegas and Colorado will fight it out in an epic Division Final with Vegas coming out on top.  Pete DeBoer, although hated by most Rangers fans, is a great coach and he will have The Golden Knights humming for the playoffs.

The North Division

1. Oilers
2. Maple Leafs
3. Canucks
4. Canadiens
5. Jets
6. Flames
7. Senators

What is better than the North Division?  This is just pure hockey entertainment at its best. It’s a wide open race where realistically three or four teams could win the division.  Every Hoser in Canada has to being going nuts.

It just feels like Edmonton is ready to make a big move.  Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are arguably the best triple threat center combination in the league.  Now there is certainly a lack of talent on the wings but these three guys can carry a team for a while and Darnell Nurse is a beast on the back end.  Goaltending is an issue.

Toronto can just as easily be slotted into the top spot, while Montreal, Vancouver and Winnipeg sort out the last two spots.  Not buying into the Canadiens as much as most folks so it wouldn’t be that big a surprise if the Jets sneak in.  If they can sort out the defense, their offense and goaltending could propel them into the fourth spot.

No game in this division will be taken lightly.  There is a ton of pride at stake for these teams from the ‘Home and Native Land’. Teams will want to win, and even if they are out of the playoff race they will want to be spoilers.  It will be fun to watch, and one can only hope that NHL fans in the U.S. get to see more than just a handful of games.

Stanley Cup Finals

It is really hard to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions.  But maybe the shortened season, the new divisions and every other idiosyncrasy that is tied to this season makes it just a little easier for Tampa Bay to pull it off.  But I don’t think they will.

It’s very possible that we will see fans back in arenas by the time the playoffs start in the spring, almost certainly by the time the semi-final round starts.  Vegas will capitalize on the pent up fury their fans will deliver and make it to the finals to face Tampa Bay where they will beat the Lighting and hoist the Stanley Cup in Sin City.

Agree?  Disagree?  Feel free to weigh in below.