The last two seasons, the New York Rangers have followed the same script. A slow start followed by a hot finish. The end result? Missing the playoffs both years (though they did make the Stanley Cup Qualifier in 2020).
We all know about the Thanksgiving rule that says that teams in playoff position on Thanksgiving will make the playoffs. It’s a pretty solid assumption with four out of five teams in playoff position on turkey day making the postseason since 2000 when the league went to 30 teams. The last time the NHL played on Thanksgiving Day was in 2019 and the Rangers were five points out of the last wild card spot.
Now that life is back to semi-normal, we can use Thanksgiving as a benchmark for playoff contention even though the season is starting a few days later than normal.
But that’s not the reason a fast start is important. With the start of the season just around the corner, some of the Rangers biggest rivals for a playoff spot have suffered some debilitating injuries. The Blueshirts have to take advantage of the depleted opponents and the way to do it is to get off to a fast start.
The injury bug
Knock on wood, the Rangers are completely healthy. Not so for a few other teams in the Metropolitan Division including three teams the Rangers will probably have to finish ahead of in the standings to make the playoffs.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
The latest injury news was for the Philadelphia Flyers. Center and ex-Ranger Kevin Hayes had to undergo abdominal surgery and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks of action. That means he will miss anywhere from 7-15 games of the regular season, a sizable chunk of games. He had core muscle surgery on June due to a sports hernia and considering the proximity of the two surgeries, some estimates are that he could be out 10-12 weeks.
Kevin Hayes will be out 6-8 weeks after the Flyers center had abdominal surgery Tuesday.https://t.co/1OSzVfAmA5
— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) September 21, 2021
The same goes for defenseman Samuel Morin who will miss the same amount of time after knee surgery.
The Hayes injury is the one that hurts as he was slotted to be the second line center. This means they will have to move Claude Giroux to center though he is better on the wing. Unless rookie Morgan Frost can handle a top six role, the Flyers lack of depth at center has been exposed.
The Flyers did bulk up over the off-season on defense so they are better equipped to handle the loss of Morin who was probably going to be their seventh defenseman this season anyway.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
We’ve known that the Pittsburgh Penguins are going to be missing their top two centers, but the news is getting worse. It looks like Evgeni Malkin will be out even longer than anticipated. Malkin injured his knee in a game in March and had knee surgery in June. While it was thought he would miss the start of the season, now he looks to be out until Christmas.
Sidney Crosby had surgery on his left wrist that will keep him out of action for a minimum of six weeks. At best, he will miss the first week or two of the regular season, but any setbacks will keep him out longer.
Coach Sullivan on starting the season without Crosby and Malkin: "They're two generational talents, so those guys aren't easy to replace... Whenever players go down from an injury standpoint, it's going to provide opportunity for others."
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 23, 2021
Read more: https://t.co/lOVyH7xIm9 pic.twitter.com/6QvY1je8oQ
The Penguins are facing starting the season with Jeff Carter and Teddy Blueger as their top two centers. They have to hope that sophomore Radim Zohorna will step up and Brian Boyle may turn his Professional Tryout into a real job.
A bigger concern is that with Malkin 35 years old and Crosby only one year younger at 34, these injury issues are becoming an annual event. It doesn’t bode well for the Penguins and they have no one close to their pedigree to replace them.
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
The Washington Capitals may be without Nicklas Backstrom for the first few games of the season as he is rehabbing from a chronic hip injury. The official word is that his rehabilitation is taking longer than expected and he may miss the season opener against the Rangers.
GM Brian MacLellan says Nicklas Backstrom's recovery is taking longer than expected https://t.co/E04huQk04t
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) September 23, 2021
Without Backstrom in the lineup, the Caps still have Evgeni Kuznetsov, Lars Eller and Nic Dowd at center and even T.J. Oshie can move over, but you cannot overlook the importance of Backstrom. It’s why they will be paying the 33-year old over $9 million for the next four years.
But injuries to other teams is just one factor for the Rangers, another is a history of lousy starts.