Rangers: Nils Lundkvist gets on the scoresheet

The New York Rangers put together a fantastic effort against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night. It truthfully couldn’t have gone much better for them, as they defeated the Blue Jackets by a 4-0 final score. It wasn’t too surprising to see that Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, Chris Kreider, Alexis Lafrenière and Ryan Strome all recorded at least one point. However, it also is huge that rookie defenseman Nils Lundkvist picked up his first NHL point with a secondary assist on Strome’s goal.

It may have taken Lundkvist seven games to get on the scoresheet, but at the end of the day, that doesn’t ultimately matter now. The 21-year-old defenseman has broken the ice and will now look to contribute a bit more frequently moving forward. When remembering how well he played overseas these last few years, he certainly has the potential to be more of a threat.

With Luleå HF last season, Lundkvist scored 14 goals and had a total of 32 points. This was after a 31-point campaign in 45 games with the team the season before. Ranger fans are well-aware that he won the Salming Trophy as the Swedish Hockey League’s top Swedish defenseman last season. It’s why many people were excited to see him join the Rangers this year in the first place. Although he hasn’t had the crazy offensive start many may have hoped for, one has to wonder what’s next in store for him.

Even with the lack of offense, one could argue that Lundkvist hasn’t looked too out of place with the Rangers. He made the team out of training camp for a reason. As he continues to gain more experience at the NHL level this season, it will not be surprising to see his name on the scoresheet more often. It’s really just a matter of remaining patient with the kid as he continues to get used to the most competitive league in the sport.

Keep an eye on him when the Rangers take on the Seattle Kraken Sunday night. It will be interesting to see if this will be the beginning of nice little point streak for Lundkvist. More importantly, though, the Rangers will want him to continue to become more dependable on the backend.

Although the Kraken started off this season on the wrong foot, they have showed signs of improvement over their last two games. They beat the struggling Montreal Canadiens by a final score of 5-1. However, more impressively, they defeated a very strong Minnesota Wild team 4-1. This is a team who is getting hot at the right time. Don’t be surprised to see them buzzing against the Rangers, as a win would make them .500 again.

Here’s to hoping Lundkvist, and the rest of the Rangers for that matter, can sink the Kraken with another strong offensive performance.

Let’s end with this – it took Adam Fox eight games to record his first career assist and he now has a Norris Trophy under his belt. Practice patience.