The National Hockey League is celebrating the best of the past 25 years by revealing Quarter-Century Teams for each of the League's 32 franchises, as the year 2025 is currently underway.
According to NHL.com, each club will be represented by a First Team and Second Team of six players — three forwards, two defensemen and one goalie — who played for the franchise anywhere between Jan. 1, 2000 to Dec. 31, 2024. The first and second teams were selected by broadcasters, national, local and NHL.com writers who have covered the respective teams, in addition to select former players.
Introducing the Quarter-Century Team for the @NYRangers! 👏 #NHLQCTeam
— NHL (@NHL) January 26, 2025
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First Team
Forwards
Kreider, Panarin and Zibanejad were the Rangers’ all-time leading scorers in the quarter-century, so there selections should come at the suprise to absolutely nobody.
Defensemen
Similar to the previously mentioned first-team forwards, Fox and McDonagh were first and second, respectively, in scoring among Blueshirt defensemen in the quarter-century.
Goaltender
Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2023, Lundqvist, who broke into the NHL in the 2005-06 season, played his entire 15-year career with the Rangers. He is sixth all-time in league history with 459 wins in 887 games.
Not to fear though, Igor Shesterkin is excetedly listed below on the second-team roster.
Second Team
Forwards
NHL released the following for the Rangers' Quarter-Century second team forwards selections:
"Jagr played only 277 games with the Rangers from 2004-08 but his impact was huge. He had 319 points (124 goals, 195 assists) in those 277 games, including 123 points (54 goals, 69 assists) in 82 games in 2005-06. That is still the most points by a Rangers player in a single season," the NHL site reads. "The Rangers did not make the playoffs from 1998-2004 but helped by Jagr's dominance they made it in 2006 (there was no 2004-05 season), 2007 and 2008. Stepan was the Rangers’ No. 1 center during their run in the 2010s that included the 2014 Cup Final appearance and runs to the conference final in 2012 and 2015. He had 360 points (128 goals, 232 assists) in 515 games from 2010-17. Stepan also had 49 points (19 goals, 30 assists) in 97 playoff games, the fourth-most played by a skater in team history. His most memorable moment was scoring in overtime of Game 7 against the Washington Capitals in the second round of the playoffs in 2015. Zuccarello played 509 games with the Rangers from 2010-19; he had 352 points (113 goals, 239 assists). He also appeared in 60 playoff games, getting 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists)."
Defensemen
NHL released the following for the Rangers' Quarter-Century second team defensemen selections:
"No skater played more games for the Rangers in the quarter-century than Staal (892). Girardi is third with 788. They were never stat machines in their NHL careers, but both were stalwarts on the back end of successful teams in the 2010s. Girardi played in 122 playoff games from 2007-17 and Staal played in 107 from 2008-20," the NHL site reads. "Staal had 188 points in the regular season and was a plus-46. Girardi had 230 points and was a plus-54. Girardi leads all Rangers this century with 1,798 hits and 1,691 blocks. Staal had 1,308 hits -- which ranked fourth -- and was second behind Girardi with 1,162 blocks. In the playoffs, Girardi is first with 357 hits and 347 blocks. Staal had 178 hits (fourth among defensemen) and 193 blocks (third)."
Goaltender
Shesterkin is in his fifth full season and sixth overall with the Rangers, and he was second behind Lundqvist in the quarter-century in games played (240) and wins (146). Not to mention his recent run of back-to-back shutouts and being the highest-paid goalie in NHL history.
Additionally, the six players voted to each First Team will be on the ballot for the NHL All Quarter-Century Team that will be chosen via a fan vote that will start in February.