New York Rangers Bottom Six Regular Season Review
For the New York Rangers, the regular season is over and they are ready to move on to the postseason. But it wasn’t as simple as it may seem. The top six were pretty easy to talk about because they more or less did everything it was supposed to. For the Bottom six, there were a lot more bumps in the road. There was less certainty and even some questions as to whether or not the Blueshirts would be okay without major additions.
In the end, the Blueshirts’ bottom six has become one of its strengths with some key breakthroughs on the third line in particular. There’s been a lot to enjoy and this depth is going to need to play a big part if the Rangers want to get through the New Jersey Devils. It’s no secret that the Devils can score with all four lines and the Rangers are going to need to be able to match that in this upcoming series.
New York’s bottom six consists of a rather strange combination of both kids and savvy, experienced veterans of the league. From the battle-tested to the young blood, this bottom six has a lot to like and it’s gotten stronger as the season has gone on. New York added to their bottom six before the deadline too to ensure they were capable of beating a big team in the playoffs.
As I stated with the top six reviews I did, this is the bottom six as listed in the season finale. If you’re looking for a player here that I didn’t do, they’re probably in the top-six piece. Feel free to go and read that one too once we’ve gotten to the bottom of this Rangers forward core, but enough plugging my own work, it’s time to start talking about the Rangers and there’s no better place to start than with a huge Laf.
Alexis Lafreniere
How do you define the season that was had by the 2020 1st overall pick? Alexis Lafreniere was both excellent and awful in equal proportions at times this season. Lafreniere has been so up and down throughout the season. He’ll go multiple games having almost no impact and even getting on the score sheet while not doing much else, and then he’ll have a game where he decides that he’s the best player on the ice.
Lafreniere finished this season with 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points. He’s not had the true breakout season in terms of production that everyone wants to see. We all want to see Lafreniere take that big step forward and decide that he is going to become the face of this Rangers franchise which he has the potential to do. We all want to see him get to be the best player he can be for this franchise.
When we move forward with Lafreniere, we get to see how the Rangers’ young forward adapts. He’s showing signs of breaking out. He’s shown flashes of his raw talent and if he can get some level of showing that consistently, he’s going to become one of the best players in the NHL for the foreseeable future. There’s no denying that he is one of the most talented youngsters on this roster, and he’s played a major part.
We all remember how important Lafreniere and his line were to the Blueshirts’ success last season, so it is of the utmost importance Laffy can continue his development this postseason. He needs to keep playing north-south hockey because that is when he is at his best. He gets a little distracted going east and west, so taking the direct approach is going to be the best course of action for him.
After being scratched in January, his future was up in the air. The organization still remains certain that they want him to stay with the Blueshirts for the foreseeable future, but we will see what happens with the pending RFA. Everything can change with a playoff run, so we will see how far the Rangers go and how big a part Lafreniere is of whatever the Rangers can accomplish past game 82.
Filip Chytil
This is the biggest breakout year of any Ranger forward. Filip Chytil has arrived in the big leagues. For the Czech-born centerman, this was the kind of year fans have been wanting since the Rangers drafted him 21st overall in the 2017 NHL Entry draft. He was great on the ice, he was great with the media, he was fantastic with the fans, and he’s proven himself to be as good a player as he is a person.
In just 74 games this season, Chytil recorded 22 goals and 23 assists for 45 points. That is a monster season for the 23-year-old. This was good enough to put him sixth on the team in production behind the big four forwards that were here at the beginning of the year and Adam Fox. It was suspected that the Rangers would need their young kids to take a step forward this season and Chytil certainly did that.
If he did not score a single goal this season and just had his 23 helpers, that would have tied his career-high in points. He doubled what he had been doing for the Blueshirts and this should hopefully be the start of a long and fruitful career in Manhatten. While the path into the top six is blocked for the moment, that hasn’t stopped the Rangers from showing Chytil that they have full faith in his abilities.
Chytil signed a 4.4375 x 4 extension with the Rangers earlier in the season so we know that the Czech forward is going to be with the Blueshirts for the foreseeable future and that he is still a key part in the plans of Chris Drury, Gerard Gallant, and the coaching staff. However, he cannot rest. Chytil needs to keep trying to build on this success and keep modestly improving. He can become a key part of a Stanley Cup Champion, hopefully.
Kaapo Kakko
If you have noticed, I went from left to right on the kid line to start this off. That means that after Lafreniere and Chytil, the final part of that line is 22-year-old Kaapo Kakko. Kakko himself had such a rollercoaster of a season. In the early parts of the year, he wasn’t doing much and there were talks of scratching the Finnish winger. Nothing ever came of it and Kakko very quietly had a very solid season.
Kakko finished the season playing in all 82 games with 40 points. Made up of 18 goals and 22 assists, this is the first time Kakko had passed the 23-point mark, and he made 40. It’s a modest improvement and it sparks hope that Kakko can continue to take steps forward in his NHL career. There’s no denying that this is a player that has incredible talent, so getting the most out of him should be one of the organization’s priorities.
This third line is going to need to be big and Kakko in particular could find himself having a bigger part to play. It’s no secret that the Rangers’ right wing isn’t entirely locked. Kakko could find himself playing in the top six if there’s an injury or if something just isn’t working and it is then he will need to show that he is capable of playing at the top six levels. There needs to be that step forward if he’s given the chance on this big stage.
Something that will go under the radar is that slowly, Kakko is being given more and more in terms of responsibility. Whether that is due to the strength of the kid line or the fact that Kakko is gaining the trust of the coaching staff as we go, he played roughly two minutes more per game than he had throughout the rest of his career this season. He’s doing something right and he needs to keep building.
Tyler Motte
Remember when there were people genuinely upset that the Rangers did not re-sign forward Tyler Motte this summer and instead chose to bring back some of the other members of this bottom six instead? Well, Chris Drury liked him as a deadline pickup so much last year that he decided to do it again this year. If it works well once, you can do it again because you know the outcome right.
Motte tallied five goals and five helpers since his return to the Rangers roster but I think everyone knows that has nothing to do with why he was acquired. He’s here to do fourth-line things. He’s going to kill penalties, block shots, hit anything that moves, and try to help the Rangers rest their best players so that they can do the damage when they are on the ice after the lower lines wear out the opponents’ best players.
I joke about how Drury enjoyed the acquisition of Motte so much last season but it turned out to be an incredibly helpful trade for the Rangers’ playoff run. He was a big part of the Rangers’ ability to just survive. Everyone had to pull on that rope to get to the Eastern Conference Finals last year and there is no denying that Motte can do that with the skillset he has. It made him a great idea as someone who already knew the room.
While there is a limit to the strength of the impact of a fourth-line player like Tyler Motte, it is important for him to continue to help guide some of the younger players on this roster. He’s not going to break games open with outstanding flashes of brilliance because that isn’t the type of player he is. As I’ve already covered, his game is going to be playing on the PK, keeping scoring chances against to a minimum, and hitting hard.
Barclay Goodrow
One of the experienced heads on this Blueshirts roster and a two-time Stanley Cup Champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Barclay Goodrow earns his money at this time of the year. As an integral part of the Tampa Bay Lightning team that won two Stanley Cup Championships, Goodrow is one of the few players on the roster with a cup ring, and I believe he’s the only one with multiple rings to show for his career.
It was not a bad season for Goodrow in terms of production. 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points is the second-highest tally from his career, just behind the totals he put up last year. It was one of the more quiet storylines in this Rangers’ roster. In a depth role, Goodrow has shown that he is as valuable to this team as a lot of the top guys. But scoring is not his strong suit, you’ll notice that theme with these fourth-line veterans.
Goodrow is a physical player and that is going to be the kind of game the Blueshirts need him to play. Don’t give up much defensively and maintain a solid defensive structure throughout the playoff run. This is a player that knows what it takes to win a cup, he was in the locker room of one of the greatest teams in the last decade down in Tampa Bay, and he can share what he learned on his route to the cup.
New York will need the Toronto native to continue to play well. There were question marks after he signed his contract in Manhatten for $3,641,667 against the cap but all of those questions will go away if Goodrow can play a part in restoring the glory of the New York Rangers. Getting that 5th cup in the history of the franchise is the next step after what was a strong season from the bottom six forward.
Jimmy Vesey
This former Hobey Baker trophy winner is probably the best feel-good story of the season for the New York Rangers. From the brink of being out of hockey to signing a two-year extension this year with the team, he started his NHL career with after bouncing around teams unable to find a new home, Jimmy Vesey has shown true perseverance, courage, strength, and just sheer determination.
In 81 games, Vesey recorded 11 goals and 14 helpers for 25 points. These are not earth-shattering totals, but they are enough to justify the Rangers’ optimism in bringing the Bostonian back after moving him to Buffalo all those years ago and watching him move around. New York signed him late in the summer to give him a home for the season and Vesey rewarded the team with one heck of a season.
One thing with Vesey is that he did this without ever truly finding a place in the lineup to call his. He spent time in the top six, he spent time on the third line, and he finished the year on the fourth line. There was nowhere for him to truly make his own. His inability to score at a 30+ point pace as he had done in seasons past in New York was what made it clear the Rangers needed to go and get another right-winger.
Another incredibly strong penalty killer, a seasoned veteran of this league, and a player that will give 110% for his team, Vesey is exactly the kind of person you want in the playoffs. Ignoring skill and ability, those qualities I talked about earlier embody the ideal human being you want on your team in the postseason. Add to that he’s strong defensively a good penalty killer and a strong energy guy, there’s not a lot to dislike.