It’s time for a too early assessment of the New York Rangers after just four games. They are off to an excellent start with an incredibly potent power play, one of the top offenses in the NHL and some sloppy play on defense. Some may say that Igor Shesterkin has regressed this season, but it’s the Rangers defense that has been careless. In other words, it’s mostly all good news.
Here are five things that stand out after four games.
#1 Depth scoring
The Rangers’ one flaw last season was remedied at the trade deadline when Chris Drury went out and acquired Andrew Copp and Frank Vatrano. So far, that has not been an issue. Ranger forwards have scored 16 goals this season, 10 at even strength. While six have come from the top two lines, the bottom six has scored four times.
So far we have seen goals from the likes of Filip Chytil and Dryden Hunt and that has to be a positive. Although Hunt’s goal came in a loss, before the season, it looked like Hunt was destined for the waivers wire and a trip to Hartford if he cleared.
Hunt goes skate, stick, net. We're tied 1-1 #NYR pic.twitter.com/mt5rCX1gJl
— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) October 15, 2022
That despite the fact that the season started with the Kid Line intact as the third line and that lasted all of a period when Vitali Kravtsov was injured. That forced Gerard Gallant to move Kaapo Kakko to the first line and Alexis Lafreniere to the second line. It bodes well for when the team is healthy.
Now, let’s talk about those kids.