We are approaching midseason, and that means the playoff races are shaping up. For teams not currently in one of the top three spots in their division, or in one of the two wild card slots, it's an uphill battle, and the New York Rangers are unfortunately in that position.
Neil Paine of ESPN recently shared the Rangers' playoff odds plummeted from 62 percent at the beginning of the season to just 42 percent. Paine highlighted the Rangers' lack of offensive production behind their struggles, saying:
"While the uncharacteristically poor goaltending and defense of last season is improved, thanks mainly to Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick playing like their old selves again, the Rangers still rank just 29th in scoring with subdued production from the likes of Artemi Panarin, J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck and elite puck-moving defenseman Adam Fox on IR. This is the lowest the Rangers have ever ranked in goals per game in their history."
You would think a lineup featuring Panarin, Miller, Zibanejad, Trocheck, and Fox would lead a top-10 scoring unit. Instead, the Rangers rank 26th in goals scored with 88 and are wasting Shesterkin's and Quick's efforts in the crease. Shesterkin and Quick have been one of the NHL's best goaltending duos, with a collective 0.914 save percentage, a 2.41 GAA, two shutouts, and a 0.676 quality starts percentage.
New York Rangers have been historically bad with the puck this season
Regardless of the situation, the Rangers can't score. Their power play is converting just 19.23 percent of the time, 1.04 percent lower than the league average. The Blueshirts' shooting percentage in all situations is 9.8, or one percent lower, and their shooting percentage at 5-on-5 is 7.8, or 0.7 percent lower.
Opponents have shut out the Rangers six times this season, and they have scored one goal or less on 12 occasions. Following their loss to the Anaheim Ducks, the Rangers have played in 34 games and have scored one goal or been shut out in 35.3 percent of those contests.
It's thanks to defensive efforts and play from Shesterkin and Quick that they're just two points out of a wild card as of Tuesday. If they had average goaltending instead of an elite duo, then the Rangers would most likely be looking for ways to stay out of last place in the Metropolitan, where they are four points ahead of the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets.
Rangers scoring needs a serious wake-up call or else it will be an 82-game season
For the Rangers to improve offensively, it starts with the captain, J.T. Miller. Miller has just 20 points and nine goals on the season, a far cry from where he was last season when he put up 35 points and 13 goals in his 32 games with the Blueshirts. He must find a way to get back to near the point-per-game threshold.
Vincent Trocheck has scored 25-plus goals in each of the past two seasons and is now scoring roughly one goal every four games. He has missed some time this season, but would still barely reach the 20-goal threshold across 82 games. He hasn't found the net since Nov. 26 in a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Artemi Panarin's woes are also jumping out. While he has 34 points, he has scored 11 times and has a shooting percentage of just 11.3. That's putting him on pace for a career-low, and his worst since he shot at 11.8 percent during the 2017-18 season.
While the entire team must step up, Miller, Trocheck, and Panarin are the big three who the Rangers should be able to count on, but can't. If the Blueshirts are going to fix things and increase their odds to make the playoffs, Miller, Trocheck, and Panarin must bring their A-game from now until April.