When the New York Rangers look at the postseason, they'll be concerned about making it. Right now, that looks unlikely, sitting behind Montreal with two more games played. They must make up the ground to get to the dance, but what if they make it to the playoffs? Is there any reason the Rangers should be viewed as a first-round elimination if they get there? Can they go deep into the postseason? Well, that's what we're here for.
Teams that make playoff noise tend to have a couple of aspects. They must have high-end talent, be relatively deep, especially at the center, have a bit of an edge and not be afraid to dip into the grey area during the playoffs, and have good goaltending. That's what most teams that go deep have, and it's a good way to understand the chances of a team going into the playoffs before looking at matchups.
Let's start with goaltending. Between Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick, the Rangers have one of the best and most accomplished tandems in the NHL. Jonathan Quick is a three-time Stanley Cup Champion and a Conn Smythe trophy winner, whereas Igor Shesterkin is a Vezina-winning monster who has dragged the Rangers deep in several seasons. The goaltending is good enough to make noise in the playoffs, which is a good start to this discussion.
Then, we get to the high-end talent. Artemi Panarin, J.T. Miller, and Adam Fox fit that bill. Fox is a former Norris Trophy winner for the best defenseman in the NHL. Artemi Panarin is a former Stanley Cup Champion himself, and he nearly broke the single-season points record for the Rangers last year, where J.T. Miller has become one of the best-producing physical forwards in the league.
Let's move on to that physicality box; Miller will get down and dirty in a fight. Then there's Sam Carrick, Matt Rempe, and maybe Adam Edstrom if the timetable for his injury looks good; that's a physical fourth line that the Rangers can use to run teams over. Knowing this, it would be hard to argue that the Rangers don't meet the physicality quota for a deep playoff run.
Finally, we must look at the depth of the roster. J.T. Miller leads this category again, followed by Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck. That's incredible depth. On the wings, guys like Chris Kreider, Will Cuylle, Brett Berard, and Brennan Othmann, all sitting behind Alexis Lafreniere and Panarin on that top line, check the depth box, too.
The Rangers look like they are built for a deep playoff run. They have great forwards, a good goaltender, star power, and the physical presence to make noise. Mainly because their first-round matchup today would be in Washington. The Rangers swept the Capitals last year, and the Caps are riding unsustainable puck luck to sit atop the Eastern Conference right now. The Rangers could upset them, and then they'd get Carolina or the Devils (probably Carolina) in round two. Beat them, and a rematch with Florida in the Conference Finals could await.