5 biggest surprises of the season so far
With a lengthy break due to COVID and the holidays, we are scrambling for topics to write about. 30 games into the season is a good time to list the five biggest surprises of 2021-22 for the New York Rangers.
Now, this is a completely subjective list and we need to remind you that surprises are not necessarily good. They could be team-related or based on individual performance. Please feel free to weigh in after this story with your own suggestions or if you agree or disagree with our choices.
We will start with some honorable mentions, surprises we considered for the top five, but didn’t quite make the cut.
Honorable mention #1 – Ryan Reaves
Okay, we all wanted Ryan Reaves to be a Ranger, but that was three years ago, not this season. When Chris Drury dealt a 2022 third round pick to Vegas on July 29 for the 34-year old enforcer, it was met with some skepticism that was elevated to near hysteria when he signed him to a contract extension for $1.75 million. Everyone figured that he was a Gallant guy and the new coach wanted some of his former players on the team. The question was whether Reaves could still be an effective NHL player after a season when he played his fewest games and was benched in the playoffs.
He has answered any questions by proving that he can still play, hit and fight and that he is also an incredibly positive force in the locker room and on the bench. In a team that sometimes lacked leadership, he has provided it in spades. A perfect example was in the October 25 loss to the Flames when he sustained a leg injury, but insisted on staying on the bench though he couldn’t skate.
Sure, he is old and sometimes looks slow as molasses, but he still leads the team with 112 hits in 26 games. He knows his role on the team and he’s had some surprising moments on offense including his two-assist game against the Islanders. He’s been better than any of us could have hoped.
Honorable mention #2 – Barclay Goodrow
This a tough one. Chris Drury traded a seventh round pick to Tampa so he could have the inside track on signing Goodrow, then inked him to a six-year, $21.85 million contract. The reaction from hockey insiders was that it was too rich a contract ($3.64 million AAV) for too long.
The reason? While Tampa’s “Grind Line” of Goodrow, Yanni Gourde and Blake Coleman played a key role in Tampa’s run to the Cup, it was a line, not an individual player. Critics said that the Rangers should have gone after Gourde, the center who was drafted by Seattle, instead of Goodrow.
One issue when a player like Goodrow gets a big contract, is there is an expectation that he will be an offensive star. That has never been his identity, in fact, he’s never scored more than eight goals in a single season. He was the tenacious defender on that line and it was his forechecking that helped set up the offense that was provided by Gourde and Coleman.
That’s why this is a surprise. There was an expectation that he would arrive and magically turn into a player he has never been. He has been a team leader and a defensive presence and is the Swiss army knife on the Rangers, killing penalties, taking important faceoffs, while playing on all four lines and at all three forward positions.
Anyone who has followed his career knows that the Rangers got exactly what they wanted when he was signed. It’s more of a surprise to the fans who expected more. The simple fact is the Rangers are not as deep as the Lighting up front and that could make the addition of a $3.6 million Swiss army knife an issue moving forward.
Honorable mention #3 – A healthy defense
A very significant factor that has contributed to the Rangers success has been overlooked and the Rangers are tops in the league in this category. Believe it or not, through 26 games, the Rangers had not lost a single man-game due to injury on their defense. The first time a defenseman missed a game due to illness or injury was when Nils Lundkvist was out in game #27.
With a blueline that hasn’t missed a single game they are tied with the Anaheim Ducks who also have not had a defenseman out even once. Western Conference defensemen seem to be pretty hardy as Calgary came close with Noah Hanafin missing one game in October and Winnipeg’s defense corp missing only game in the first 26.
Some teams’ defense squads have been absolutely hammered including Edmonton who lost 55 man games, San Jose who lost 51 man games and the Flyers with 50 games lost.
Why does it matter? It means that the big four of Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller have remained intact the whole season and their third pairing has been able to get consistent ice time. One of the strengths of this team is the defense and keeping them healthy has played a huge part in the Rangers’ fast start.
Now, let’s move on to our top five
#5 – The Kravtsov fiasco
If at the start of training camp anyone had told you that Vitali Kravtsov would be playing this season in the KHL and his relationship with the Rangers may be fractured beyond repair, you would have laughed. No one is laughing now.
This was a combination of hurt feelings, bad communications, overhyped expectations and immaturity. Kravtsov came to camp assuming he was going to be playing regularly, especially after the didn’t get invited to the Prospect Camp because, as Drury explained “We just felt like we wanted him with the NHL skaters… We were excited with big parts of his game last year.”
Kravtsov suffered an injury that limited his preseason playing time and when Gerard Gallant cut him he threw a fit, walked away from the team and demanded a trade. At an impasse, the Rangers made the best of a bad situation and let him play for his old Traktor team in Russia.
The folly of it all is that the team is desperately trying to find a right winger for Ryan Strome and Artemi Panarin and their most skilled forward prospect is unavailable until the KHL season is over and it is a question of whether he will ever put a Rangers jersey on again. Not to mention a series of injuries to Kaapo Kakko, Ryan Strome and Sammy Blais that would have paved the way for Kravtsov to come back to the NHL in record time.
Should we be surprised by these shenanigans? After his prior issues with the team, maybe not, but it sure looked like he was ticketed for a starting job with the varsity. The fact that that cannot happen until March and in fact, may never happen is a huge surprise.
#4 – Kreider’s scoring
The fact that Chris Kreider is scoring goals by the bushels should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed his career. The fact that he has kept doing it is what the real surprise is. There’s no doubt that he is streaky, but his highs can be really high and his lows can be incredibly low.
The most senior New York Ranger has seen an extended periods when he has been totally unproductive in practically each of his 10 seasons. Last season he scored four goals in his first 15 games, then scored nine goals in his next six games. The next nine games? One goal.
This season, in his first 24 games he never went more than two games without scoring. The skeptics said the slump had begun when he didn’t get a point in four straight games, but he answered them by notching three assists in the next game and then scoring his 18th goal of the season in the next.
So, the fact that Chris Kreider is scoring is not a surprise, but for the first time in his career, he is a prolific scorer and he has been doing it consistently. Let’ s see if he can keep surprising us and top that 30 goal total for the first time in his career.
#3 – What happened to the offense?
Last season the Rangers averaged 3.14 goals scored per game, 10th best in the NHL. They were eighth in the league in 5v5 goals They were 25th in shots taken per game (28.7), a number that drove David Quinn crazy.
Fast forward to this season. Their goals per game average has dropped to 2.83, 17th best in the league. The have slipped to 24th overall in 5v5 goals with 50 in 30 games. Ironically, they are averaging 28.7 shots per game, the same as last year, but that is now 28th overall. It must be driving Gerard Gallant crazy as well.
Last season, by their 30th game their top five forwards had scored 50 goals with 36 at even strength. This season they have scored 46 goals, but only 27 at even strength.
Going into this season, the common consensus was that the Rangers were one of the most dangerous teams offensively in the league. While their power play was a strength, they scored at even strength as well. Not this season.
It’s simple, this year it is the power play that is sustaining the offense mostly due to Chris Kreider. So, should be surprised in this drop in even strength goal scoring? Not if you factor in that they haven’t replaced the scoring of Pavel Buchnevich who had 11 even strength goals in the team’s first 30 games last year.
#2 – Mika’s slow start
Last season, Mika Zibanejad had an awful start, scoring only three goals and 11 points in his first 27 games. It was later revealed that he had a bad bout with COVID before the season and it took weeks for him to get over it.
This fall, it sure looked that he was primed for a good start, scoring three goals in his last two preseason games and looking in midseason form on the power play. He then signed that big $68 million contract just before the start of the season and it all looked good.
The season started and again, something off with Zibanejad as he scored only four goals in his first 25 games. The saving grace were the 16 assists he totaled. His 27 game total was five goals and 21 points, a major improvement over the 11 points last season, but still, his lack of goal scoring has to be a surprise.
Gerard Gallant will point to Zibanejad’s play in all three zones along with his leadership, faceoff ability and defensive prowess. That’s a fact, but when that $8.5 million contract kicks in next season, he will need to score.
At his current rate, he will end up with 19 goals, a far cry from his recent totals. Of course, Ranger fans are looking for him to stage a second half revival and he has shown signs with three goals in his last five games. The bigger surprise will be if he doesn’t.
#1 – 42 points in 30 games
There is no doubt about what has been the biggest surprise this season. It’s the 42 points and a record of 19-7-4. While everyone expected an improvement, especially under new coach Gerard Gallant, the consensus was that this was the year that the Rangers would take the next step and become a playoff contender. Was a playoff spot a guarantee? Not at all and in a loaded Eastern Conference, the fear was that they would fall short.
Seriously, if anyone had told you that on Christmas, the Rangers would be tied for the second best record in the NHL, you would have laughed. The last time a Ranger team had this many points after 30 games was in 1993-94.
What’s really remarkable is that they have this record despite a stretch when the have won only two of their last six games and despite losing their to goalie for eight games.
We are not going to anoint the Blueshirts as a Stanley Cup contender, they have too many holes in the lineup, but at this point, unless they have a catastrophic collapse, they are headed for the playoffs for the first time in five years. To be able to say that five days before Christmas , now, that’s a surprise.
Agree? Disagree? Did we miss one? Feel free to let us know below in the comments.
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