Three New York Rangers Regression Candidates to Prevent the Same Success as Last Year
Your New York Rangers found a lot of success last year, but it will be difficult to keep that up with these three players poised to regress.
The New York Rangers had a sensational season during the 2023-24 campaign. Artemi Panarin almost tallied 50 goals, the Rangers won the President's Trophy, and they were just six wins away from the Stanley Cup—they got closer than 29 other teams. However, the Rangers got a lot from some veteran players who have had career years, which is not sustainable. So, perhaps the expectations of repeating as champions of the Metropolitan and winning the President's Trophy are unrealistic.
Artemi Panarin having the kind of season the Russians did is unlikely to happen again. He's less young and spritely than Alexis Lafreniere, who was expected to improve. While it is perfectly fine to expect Panarin to default back to his career averages, thinking he'll get as close to the 50-goal mark or Jaromir Jagr's single-season points record for the New York Rangers is unrealistic. I'd love to be wrong about this, but players do not get better in their 30s.
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Another player who was essential for the Rangers' success was Vincent Trocheck. Another veteran who is on the wrong side of 30 and coming off the best year of their career, we cannot reasonably expect Trocheck to repeat that season. That was the best season of his career, with 25 goals and 52 assists for 75 points. He only has one other season with more than 70 points, seven years ago. He only has one additional season of over 60 points.
Jonathan Quick is another Ranger well into his 30s and bathed in the fountain of youth under Benoit Allaire's guidance. With Allaire taking on less of the day-to-day operations of the coaching job of the netminders, it's expected that we will see a regression in the 38-year-old. He's long past his days as the Conn Smythe winner who stole the cup for the Los Angeles Kings twice. Without Allaire, expecting Quick to remain as outstanding as he was last season is optimistic more than realistic.
While Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Igor Shesterkin are better than they showed last year and are likely to rebound, that doesn't mean the Rangers won't see falloff from their other veterans. Players like Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, and Braden Schneider must be more prominent. With the improvement of the little brothers across the river, winning the Metropolitan will take a lot of work.