New York Rangers mid-season report card

Middle of the pack

Here’s where the Rangers get in trouble.  There are too many players in the average category and the question is who many of them can rise above that level?  It could be an issue of usage, or simply skill level, but the fact is that an average player belongs on the bottom six and on the Rangers, some of them are playing in the top six.

Kaapo Kakko C+

When it comes to working the boards and forechecking, Kaapo Kakko gets a solid B grade.  But when the Rangers drafted him second overall, they weren’t selecting the next Jesper Fast, they were drafting the next Patrik Laine.  Kakko is a goal scorer who isn’t scoring and the only saving grace is his work ethic and his board work.  The question among the fan base is whether the Rangers have put him in a place to succeed.  With 24 goals in 159 games, that’s plainly not enough, but with 46 minutes on the power play this season, he has been on the ice almost a third of the time compared to the players on the first unit.

Dryden Hunt is playing the role he was signed for, to be a physical player who can score every once in a while.  He’s the perfect example of a player who was signed for one role and has been thrust into another one when he found himself playing the right wing with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome.  On a defensively sound team his plus/minus is -8, the worst among Ranger forwards, and believe it or not, his scoring is off from his pace last season.

Nils Lundkvist    C

Because he played in 25 games, Nils Lundkvist gets a grade instead of an incomplete.   For a 21-year-old from Sweden, making his debut in North America, he has actually played pretty well.  More was expected of him offensively, but he has given us glimpses of the stickhandling and shot that made him one of the Rangers’ top defense prospects.  He’s down in Hartford, where he should have probably started the season. He will be back.

Libor Hajek C

You have to give him credit, he patiently sat on the sidelines for 26 games and stepped right in when he got his opportunity.  Unfortunately, when he got that opportunity he showed that he is not the player the Rangers thought they were getting when they made the big trade with Tampa in 2018.  He’s good, but not great and fills the role of depth defenseman, but except for the risk of a waivers loss, he has been passed on the depth chart. With only nine games this season, he could easily fall into the “Incomplete” grade, but we’ve seen enough to assign a “C”.

Patrik Nemeth   C

As a third pair defenseman with experience, Patrik Nemeth fits the bill.  He is a decent penalty killer and served as a mentor first to Nils Lundkvist and now to Braden Schneider.  Signed to a three-year contract for $2.5 million a year, he is overpaid and the term is too long.  With Nemeth, you are getting what was expected, but this is a signing the team will regret in the long run.

Alexis Lafrenière C-

This is an unfair grade.  Saddled with overly high expectations, this 20-year-old has not been the wunderkind that everyone thought he would be.  Is it his fault?  Or is he simply not the player everyone in the hockey world thinks he was?  Of course, the answer is it is too soon to know.  However, you cannot get away from the feeling that the Rangers are not helping his development.  He bounces around the lineup like a yo-yo, is asked to play the off wing and is way down the depth chart when it comes to forwards.   Unfortunately for Lafrenière, the New York Rangers were probably the worst team that could have drafted him with Panarin and Kreider firmly ensconced on the left side for years to come.  Figuring out how to get out of this mess is a priority for Chris Drury.  Until he does, the kid is an underachiever.