Three reasons the New York Rangers will win the Stanley Cup
This is going to be a long and difficult road to Lord Stanley. 16 teams have seen their season end and with 16 more, only one will walk away with the Holy Grail of the hockey world, the Stanley Cup. Perhaps no one in hockey will be in a tighter series in round one than the New York Rangers as they will host the New Jersey Devils in hopes that they are the team to get back to the promised land and bring a 5th cup to Manhatten.
For 15 of those teams, they will walk away from their difficult roads to this point wondering what could have been. One team will take it all home. One team will be immortalized as their names are engraved on the cup and the team is enshrined in the annals of history. Everyone remembers the teams that win. Ranger fans remember the 1994 team, they remember 1940. Will 2023 be the next year etched into Blueshirts lore?
It very well could be. This is a Rangers team that seemed to get hot at the right time, has all the pieces to do it, and was in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. There’s every chance the Blueshirts can make a deep run and capture the mug at the end of this long road. I understand there are people with reservations about this team, but they seem to be able to go deep.
For the Rangers, there will be little pressure. There are very limited expectations placed upon the Blueshirts and they can play like it is a free shot. This Rangers team is not expected to come flying out of round one and start a deep run. They may not even be the favorites in their round one series, but this is a New York roster that looks capable of going deep and perhaps even lifting the sought-after trophy awarded at the end of it.
Igor Shesterkin
There are very few teams in the NHL that can provide an answer for the Rangers’ netminder. He’s shown himself to be one of the best goaltenders in the league and if the Russian shot-stopper can continue to exude his class, Igor Shesterkin could be an important difference-maker in a playoff series. How often does a series come down to one save, one goal, one shot, or one moment? If Igor can stop that moment, he could save a series or more.
As the reigning Vezina trophy winner is starting to round back into form after a shoddy period following his trip to the all-star game, Shesterkin is quickly becoming more experienced in his role as a playoff netminder. If he is the best netminder in the series he plays, there is a very good chance the Blueshirts will be the ones walking away with the victory after all.
If we take a little look at last season’s playoff run for the Rangers. Against the Penguins, he was the better netminder. It was the same against Carolina. Against Tampa, he was not worse than Andrei Vasilevskiy, but he was not better and that turned out to be where the Rangers fairytale struck midnight and everything ended before the fans wanted to see it. There’s still time this year.
We’ve seen mediocre teams go deep with a hot goalie. This Rangers team is not mediocre, so if Shesterkin was to become the brick wall he can be, there is every chance the Rangers could end the season with another cup in the storied history of this original six franchise. However, if he is not at his best, it could be a very difficult postseason for the Blueshirts this year.
Star Talent
If you look around the NHL, you will have a difficult time trying to find a roster with as much pure star power as this Rangers one. Whether that is Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox or even if you want to include the aforementioned Igor Shesterkin here, this is a roster loaded with some of the best players in the NHL at their positions.
If the Rangers are going to go deep, they will need their stars to shine and they have so many different players that can break a game open, you have to think that the nights where they all fall silent will be few and far between. This doesn’t even mention the strong depth they have, but that is not what we are going to be talking about at this point in time. This is about the pure top-end talent the Blueshirts have.
There are former Conn Smythe winners, Vezina Trophy winners, Norris Trophy winners, Calder Trophy winners, and so many more on this roster. There are multiple players on this roster with multiple cup rings, there are even more with one-off championships. Patrick Kane himself scored that ghost goal in 2010 where no one but Kane himself saw the puck enter the net against Philadelphia.
If the Rangers’ top-end talent does not spark and those big guns fall silent, there’s very little the depth can do. You need your best players to lead the team in production when it is the most difficult to produce. You need those players to be the players that earn the big bucks in the regular season. Since they don’t get paid for the playoffs, you cannot say this is where they earn their money, but it would be nice.
Road to Glory
Despite the first round being a rather coin-flip series, New York’s road to the final may not be as difficult as some of the other teams that are looking at their potential road to Lord Stanley. New Jersey is a difficult team to beat but in the complete fantasy world where they lose to the Rangers in round one and New York progresses. This road to Lord Stanley is a lot more friendly than you think.
In round two, they would either get the Carolina Hurricanes or the New York Islanders. Both teams have had injuries ravage their top six, and both teams have seen goal-scoring dry up. Both have a great defensive structure but you wouldn’t say that either team is a clear favorite against the Rangers. I would actually argue the winner of the Devils-Rangers series should be the favorite, even if the division-winning Canes come out of that series.
So, let’s say that the Rangers progress through there too. They’re into round three. They’d play whoever survived between the Bruins, Maple Leafs, Lightning, and Panthers. Obviously, Boston has set records this year, but that is a team on the older side. If it’s any of the others, I’d flat-out say the Rangers are the better team. There’s a path to the finals for the Rangers if they can win this series.
In the Finals, I would take the Rangers over any team in the Western Conference. Regardless of seeding, players, injury status, or anything. If the Rangers look anything remotely like the team they will ice in game one against New Jersey, they should be beating most if not all of the teams that come out of the Western Conference. There are exceptions to the rule, but there’s a chance for the Rangers to win it all.