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5 biggest surprises halfway through the season

By Steve Paulus

Mar 6, 2021; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New York Rangers right wing Pavel Buchnevich (89) celebrates a goal by defenseman Libor Hajek (25) (not pictured) during the second period of their game against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 6, 2021; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New York Rangers right wing Pavel Buchnevich (89) celebrates a goal by defenseman Libor Hajek (25) (not pictured) during the second period of their game against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports /
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New York Rangers right wing Pavel Buchnevich (89) Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports /

We are halfway through the New York Rangers 2021 season and there are a number of unexpected developments.   In a season that has been filled with pandemic disruptions and bizarre scheduling, there have also been the usual surprises on the ice.  There has been unexpected production from unexpected sources and wholesale improvement in some areas.  At the halfway point, it’s time to highlight the top five surprises of the first half of the season.

After ten games we took a look at the top five surprises up that point. Here they are and here’s how those surprises have turned out.

  1. K’Andre Miller – Continues to play like a veteran with some minor hiccups.
  2. Shot supression – The Rangers continue to be one of top teams when it comes to shot suppression, allowing only 28.3 shots per game, seventh best in the NHL.
  3. Taxi squad production – Colin Blackwell, Tony Bitetto, Libor Hajek and  Keith Kinkaid all started the season on the taxi squad and are all continuing to make huge contributions.
  4. Lafreniere’s debut – While he hasn’t been burning up the league, he has shown some offensive sparks.  After scoring only one goal in his first ten games he scored three goals and added four assists for seven points in his next 20.
  5. Zibanejad’s slow start – He’s still not the player he was last year, but he is getting better every game and in the last week has shown he can be a gamebreaker.

So, 30 games into the season, what can we say are surprises when it comes to the 2020-21 New York Rangers?

Surprise #1 – Pavel Buchnevich

Pavel Buchnevich is he leading scorer on the New York Rangers.  Yup, that’s a surprise.  Sure, he was aided by the fact that Artemi Panarin missed 11 games so far this season, but he is still scoring at a point a game pace.  In a full 82 game season, his numbers project to 31goals and 79 points.

What’s been most impressive is his work on the penalty kill.  In his first four years in the NHL he played a total of 6:05 minutes on the penalty kill.  I’ll spell that out. Six minutes, five seconds in four seasons.   This season he has played 73:12, yes, over 73 minutes on the penalty kill.  He is second on the team, three minutes less than Ryan Lindgren who has played one more game.

Pavel Buchnevich’s development as a two-way player has been well documented, but has to qualify as the biggest surprise of the season so far.

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