Who were the top penalty kings from the NY Rangers in 2023-24?

As we steamroll toward the 2024-25 season, let’s check out some fun facts from the NY Rangers 2023-24 Presidents’ Trophy-winning campaign, beginning with who led the team in those famous penalty minutes. Of course, players rack up time in the penalty box for a variety of reasons but judging from the trio listed in this article, we’ll see a common denominator - they were overtly physical players. 

Oh, and if I were to make a bold prediction for who will lead the team in penalty minutes for the 2024-25 season, if not the league, they’re ranked No. 3 on this list. Anyway, let’s check out how clinched the Gold Medal in these rankings and where the Rangers ranked overall in penalty minutes in 2023-24.

1. Gold Medal: Barclay Goodrow, 78 minutes
2. Silver Medal - Jacob Trouba, 73 minutes
3. Bronze Medal - Matt Rempe, 71 minutes

Source: Hockey-Reference

Yeah, we can all agree that Rempe will likely lead the team in this category for 2024-25, with 71 penalty minutes in just 17 games this past season. But as you can see, the Rangers, for the most part, didn’t have anyone who came even close to leading the NHL in penalty minutes last year. 

NY Rangers did a solid job staying out of the penalty box in 2023-24

Liam O’Brien of the former Arizona Coyotes led the league with 153 minutes in the box, nearly doubling Goodrow’s compilation in 75 games. But let’s have some fun and adjust Matt Rempe’s 71 minutes in 17 games across that same 75-game span. Doing the math, we get an astounding 313 minutes in the box, which is ironically just three minutes shy of doubling O’Brien’s. 

While nobody on the Rangers racked up enough penalty minutes to be ranked in the top 25 individually, they didn’t do an outstanding job with staying out of the box in 2023-24. According to Hockey-Reference, the Blueshirts ranked 16th in the NHL in penalties in minutes per game with 9.4, tying them with the Calgary Flames. 

That said, they were also remarkable at drawing penalties, and one of just eight teams to have drawn double-digit penalties in minutes per game at 10.4. This number ranked them sixth in the league last season, and given their monster power play unit, it’s one of many reasons they won the Presidents’ Trophy and enjoyed a deep playoff run. 

With Matt Rempe now in the fold, there’s a good chance the Rangers will see their overall penalty minutes increase, and they’ll also have a contender to lead the league in individual minutes if Rempe keeps up his tactics. But there’s also an excellent chance the Blueshirts will keep drawing penalties, allowing for their sensational power play to take advantage.