Every new season brings new story lines to follow. There will be no shortage of interesting stories to follow for the New York Rangers with a new coach, revamped lineup and highly touted kids striving to take the next step. But every year there are story lines involving ex-Rangers worth following and this year, there are more than ever.
Here are the top five, in no particular order.
The Carolina Rangers
We could also title this the “Tony DeAngelo” section, but the Hurricanes had to make it even more interesting by creating a Rangers alumni association in Raleigh. No fewer than six former Blueshirts will be suiting up for the Hurricanes, including DeAngelo, Jesper Fast, Brady Skjei, Antti Raanta, Derek Stepan and Brendan Smith along with prospect Joey Keane.
The Hurricanes are expected to contend for the Metropolitan Division title, though Ranger fans can wonder how they expect to do that with one fourth of their roster made up of Ranger rejects. Of course, there is no guarantee that we will see all of them taking part in the Hurricanes’ “Storm Surge.”
Tony DeAngelo is the wildest of wild cards and he is supposed to step into the lineup and succeed Dougie Hamilton as power play quarterback. The question is whether it will be the Great Tony of two seasons ago who surfaces or will it be the Bad Tony of last season. We’re not talking about his off-ice shenanigans, but his lousy start that saw him with a plus/minus rating of minus six and only one assist in six games that saw him supplanted on the power play by Adam Fox.
Other than DeAngelo, Jesper Fast, Brady Skjei and Antti Raanta will get regular playing time. Fast filled the exact same role he had with the Rangers on the Hurricanes last season. Skjei is a top four defenseman and will play a lot. Raanta will share the goal with Frederik Andersen. Goalies on teams expected to be a top Cup contender will face a lot of pressure and Raanta will be on the hot seat. Dorothy, we’re not in Arizona anymore.
With the arrival of Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Derek Stepan finds himself fifth on the center depth chart and he may get cut. Brendan Smith is destined for the same role he filled with the Blueshirts as a depth defenseman and forward though with Jake Gardiner out all season after hip and back surgeries, he may see more ice time than expected.
As for Joey Keane, while we feared that Keane for Julien Gauthier would turn into another Ryan Graves for Chris Bigras trade, Keane has regressed since the trade and is probably destined for the AHL.
Yes, watching the Carolina Hurricanes could be almost as fascinating as watching the Rangers this season. Next, the player Ranger fans love to hate.