The New York Rangers have certainly had a legendary start to their 2021-22 campaign, as they have accumulated 42 points in 30 games as of Christmas Day, which puts the Blueshirts among the top five teams in the entire NHL. The rebuild really seems to be coming to a conclusion, doesn’t it?
We’ve seen the highs and lows throughout the first season without John Davidson and Jeff Gorton at the helm, but first-year President and General Manager Chris Drury and Head Coach Gerard Gallant have reorganized a young, but talented New York squad into potential playoff contenders.
Due to the NHL’s COVID-19 pause, now is a good time to look ahead to not only what the Rangers as a team will accomplish in the new year, but how their Broadway stars will perform by season’s end.
It may seem early to talk about a team MVP when the season still has four months to go, but it’s shaping up to be a very tight race between a handful of players. It’s an award that the media covering the Rangers has voted on since the 1941-42 season.
You may be asking yourself, why is it fair to judge the Rangers stars after only a small portion of the season is completed? After all, the players and management only care about clinching a legitimate postseason berth for the first time since 2017 (excluding the COVID bubble), and maybe even shocking the world if they make a deep playoff run.
The answer is, every player mentioned in this article (as of right now) will have a legitimate shot of winning this honor when the time comes. Other honorable mentions, including Mika Zibanejad, Ryan Strome, Kaapo Kakko and more, could even throw their hats in the ring with a strong second half showing.
By having the most crowded field in a long time, this top-player debate, which will most likely carry over for months, is a great problem for the Rangers to have.
Happy at the holidays. 🎁#NYR | @Infosys pic.twitter.com/QJvM84txRx
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 23, 2021
When it comes to team MVP, the top candidates each must answer an important question, and it is how they answer that will determine who gets the title. How they answer could also result in a potentially historic Blueshirts’ season.
My choices for the top five Rangers are classified into the three position groups: two forwards, two defensemen, and one goalie. This is a balanced field for a dynamic team filled with valuable franchise cornerstones at every part of the ice, and the following list is in no particular order in terms of current placement for the award.
At the conclusion of this article, I will make my way-too-early prediction for the award. My choice will be based on how each candidate responds to the most important question that has dogged him all season, a question posed by team management, the players themselves, their long suffering fans and even Rangers Twitter.
Of my five choices, while only one of them can be the team MVP, as many of three could also win a league-wide trophy.
As always, feel free to write about who you think will win this 2022 award in the comment section below.