As the summer rolls along, the New York Rangers are awaiting training camp next month and into the preseason in September. All eyes point to the drop of the puck in October for the regular season.
Let's take a look back at what was the best Rangers team in their history. It is a solid list of teams, and there are a lot of runner-ups. There is no denying that the Presidents' Trophy-winning club from 2023-24 is in the top three, and how can you forget the Stanley Cup-winning team from 1993-94? But, there is only one other team that had more firepower and was a more complete powerhouse than those two fantastic years.
Funny thing is, they made it to the final showdown and lost in the Stanley Cup Final to the Los Angeles Kings in 2013-14.
Let's look back.
The 2013-14 New York Rangers
This team had heart and grit, and did it with the 18th most goals in the league that season. They made the right moves to acquire the right pieces that would help catapult them into the Stanley Cup Final, like grabbing Martin St. Louis at the deadline.
The craziest thing about this team is that statistically, they were not a great team. Mats Zuccarello led all scorers with 19 goals and 40 assists for 59 points. But if you look at the other players around him, there were a young Chris Kreider, Rick Nash, Brad Richards, Derek Stepan, a young J.T. Miller, Derick Brassard, Carl Hagelin, and Ryan Callahan. What a forward group.
Defensively, this team was really good, with Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh leading the way. Followed by prime Marc Staal, Michael Del Zotto, Kevin Klein, and Anton Stralman. Opposing players hated playing against those guys, both for the wear and tear on the body, but also the blocked shots as well.
Henrik Lundqvist had one of the best years of his career, despite not having a great win record. At 33-24-5 with five shutouts, he held it down with a .920 save percentage and allowed only 2.36 goals-per-game. His back-up, Cam Talbot, was sensational in relief with a 12-6-1 record with a staggering .941 save percentage and 1.64 GAA. What a duo.
The playoff run
The spectacle of the season came in the miraculous playoff run. As the second-place team in the Metropolitan Division, they had to run through Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Montreal before meeting their demise to Los Angeles. The first and second rounds went the distance to seven games, and then the Rangers pulled off a miracle to beat the Canadiens in game six of the Eastern Conference final.
McDonagh, St. Louis, and Stepan led the Rangers with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Each had incredible moments throughout the playoffs that still hit every major highlight reel when talking about the 2010s Rangers.
It might have ended in heartbreak, but there is no denying that this team should be considered the greatest in all of Rangers history.