Five bold predictions for Rangers 2024-25 season

Fox has 100 point season

Of this list, this is most likely to happen. If not this season, it will happen eventually for the 26-year-old defenseman. Adam Fox will become the second blueliner to reach the 100-point milestone in a single season, joining Brian Leetch.

Fox has been flirting with the possibility of hitting that plateau for the past couple of years. The closest he has gotten to the century mark for points, was in 2021-22, when he had 74 points. But, looking at the past three years, collectively, he has been consistent with 74 points, 72 points and 73 points, respectively.

Last season showed Fox take a big stride toward the 100-point mark by reaching a new career-high in goals. He found the back of the net 17 times in 2023-24, which was tied for sixth-most in the NHL for defensemen, with Quinn Hughes of Vancouver.

Panarin joins 50-goal club

After coming just one goal shy of joining an exclusive club of 50-goal scorers in Ranger history, Artemi Panarin gets over the hump in 2024-25. He continues to prove he is worth every single penny of his massive contract, and he is a large part in the success of this team.

If Panarin can accomplish this feat, he will join Vic Hadfield, Adam Graves, Jaromir Jagr, and Chris Kreider as those who scored 50+ goals in one season. That is an impressive list of players for an extraordinary feat.

If there is one player on this current roster to do it, it is Panarin. Kreider's magical 52-goal season in 2021-22 was a masterpiece, but very unlikely to happen again. And, even though there are some fantastic goal-scorers on this team like Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere, either of those guys will get close to hitting 50. Well, maybe Lafreniere. So, that leaves Panarin hitting that 50-goal plateau and smashing it.

Lafreniere is a top-5 scorer for the team

The final bold prediction on this list is a rising star making his mark on the Rangers and the NHL in 2024-25. Alexis Lafreniere will be a top-five scorer on the Rangers, and once again, smash his career-highs in goals and assists. If I were to put a number on it, I would argue that he will be a 40+ goal scorer, and he may match that in assists on that productive line with Vinny Trocheck and Panarin.

Lafreniere has already begun his 2024-25 season with a bang. Having that beauty of a first goal of the season, he has carried over some of the confidence gained last campaign to this year. He will be a crucial member of this team, as he will likely be the face of this franchise after this "last dance" of a season with the core group.