State of the Rangers rebuild: Report card #1
Have the New York Rangers grown
The NHL suspended last season with the New York Rangers having played 70 games. The team was in the NHL basement for the first half of the season, but were a top five team after the calendar changed to 2020. Because of the bad start the team had to play catch up to rally towards a playoff berth. When play was halted on March 11, the Rangers were only two points out of a playoff spot.
There is no way to know if the team’s surge would have resulted in a playoff appearance, but it was something to build off of headed into the new season. The issue though, as it is being seen now, was that the team was buoyed by several players peaking with career performances all at the same time. Artemi Panarin (32 goals, 95 points), Mika Zibanejad (41 goals, 75 points), Ryan Strome (59 points) and Tony DeAngelo (53 points) each produced at levels they had never before reached.
These performances aided a Rangers team that finished fifth in goals scored, with 234 on the season. The team would also be tied for fifth in regulation wins with 31 and have the seventh best power play with a 22.91% conversion rate. This offset allowing 222 goals against (eighth worst) and a penalty kill that operated at only 77.97% efficiency (ninth worst). The Rangers were their own yin and yang.
But is this seasons New York Rangers better or worse than last season’s team. Lets take a peek and compare the statistics of both seasons through the first 10 percent of the season.
2019-20 2020-21
Record 2-4-1 5pts 1-4-1 3pts
Points % .357% .250%
Corsi For % 43.25% 55.01%
Goals for 19 15
Goals against 25 17
Shots for 201 196
Shots Against 257 156
High danger save% .831% .786%
Save % .903% .891%
Power play % 26.31% (5 goals) 16.00% (4 goals)
Penalty kill % 77.42% (7 goals) 70.00% (6 goals)
What can be seen from this quick analysis is that the Rangers are playing better hockey as a team, but are not getting rewarded with the desired results. The records are virtually identical. Last season the Rangers started with two straight wins before dropping five in a row with an overtime loss in the fifth game. The current team is in the midst of its own four game losing streak with a shootout loss mixed in the middle.
The Rangers offense, in terms of generating chances is up slightly from 51.71 shot attempts per game to 57.66 (346 total attempts). However, goals are down slightly from from 2.71 goals per game last season to 2.5 goals per game this year. Actual shots on goal totals are up nearly four shots per game from 28.71 to 32.66.
Special teams started out poorly last year and are again following that trend and are worse at this point. Though it should be noted that the team has been more disciplined, taking only 20 minors over six games and just 12 over the last five. Last season’s team took 31 minors over their first seven games. Rangers goaltending has been shaky at best and has cost them in the standings, specifically against the New Jersey Devils and in the second game versus the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The major positive to be taken from this comparison is the reduction in shots against. Last season’s Rangers team faced 475 shot attempts against with 257 shots reaching the goalie. This years team has faced 283 shot attempts against with 156 shots on net. These totals represent a 60% reduction in both shot attempts against and shots against on net. This ranks the Rangers sixth and seventh best defensively, in terms of shot suppression, for shot attempts and shots against on net respectively.