2 New York Rangers

The Rangers petered out during the Eastern Conference Finals, losing to the New Jersey Devils in six games. One reason for them clearly running out of gas was the fact their first- and second-round series went seven games, when an offense that was slightly above average during the regular season (11th, 2.71 goals per game) became a hindrance in the postseason (2.15 GPG).

Adding Nash at the expense of Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and a first-round draft pick should help alleviate that problem. Rick Nash is the most important addition to the New York Rangers and arguably the best player to change teams this offseason, with no disrespect to Zach Parise or Ryan Suter and the Minnesota Wild. Nash can play either left wing or right wing, and the 28-year-old has scored at least 30 goals in seven of his nine NHL seasons, reaching 40 twice. At 6-foot-4, 219 pounds and with great speed and hands, he has been creating his offense without the luxury of a top-end center for most of his career. That will change when he's riding shotgun with Brad Richards this season. Nash averaged 39 seconds of shorthanded ice time per game with the Jackets last season, 10th-most on the club.

"We're happy to have a five-time All-Star on our team and a 40-goal scorer and a guy that's only 28 years old," general manager Glen Sather said. "He's one of the better goal scorers in the National Hockey League and he'll help us immensely."

Along with a new home come new expectations for Nash, who reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs once while with Columbus. The Rangers, meanwhile, came within two wins of reaching the Final and are built to contend again this season. "I'll embrace it great," Nash said. "I think in 2010, I had the most pressure on me in the Olympics being in our home country. I feel like hockey is truly a passion here where they expect the same championship-caliber team. I think they've done everything they can as an organization to put that together and I think pressure is a great thing if you use it in the right way."

Nash is just one of many new faces for the Rangers, who parted with several key contributors this summer. Along with Dubinsky and Anisimov, Brandon Prust, Ruslan Fedotenko and John Mitchell have all found new homes. Prust was given a massive raise by the Montreal Canadiens, who signed the gritty forward to a four-year, $10 million deal. Fedotenko signed with the Philadelphia Flyers and Mitchell took his services to the Colorado Avalanche. To replace Prust, Fedotenko and Mitchell, the Rangers added Taylor Pyatt, Jeff Halpern and Arron Asham.

Additions: RW Rick Nash, LW Taylor Pyatt, C Jeff Halpern, RW Arron Asham, C Micheal Haley

Subtractions: C Brandon Dubinsky, C Artem Anisimov, RW Brandon Prust, LW Ruslan Fedotenko, D Tim Erixon, C John Mitchell, D Stu Bickel, D Jeff Woywitka, D John Scott

UFAs: D Steve Eminger

Promotion candidates: LW Chris Kreider

Pyatt left the Phoenix Coyotes to sign a two-year deal with the Rangers. The left wing will turn 32 this month and fills the void left by the departure of Fedotenko. Pyatt had nine goals in 73 games last season. Asham will take over Prust's enforcer role. Asham, 34, had five goals in 64 games last season and will see most of his time on the right wing of the fourth line. Last season, Halpern was a member of the Capitals team that lost to the Rangers in seven games in the second round. The 36-year-old center is excellent on faceoffs and could be an upgrade over Mitchell if he can stay healthy. The big question for the Rangers entering camp will be which forwards will be used on the penalty kill. Dubinsky, Fedotenko, Anisimov and Prust were four of the seven most frequently used forwards while the Rangers were shorthanded last season. Halpern has plenty of experience in this area, but Asham and Pyatt didn't spend a single second killing penalties last season.

The Rangers will likely enter 2012-13 with the same defense corps they used for most of last season. The one wild card is Michael Sauer, who missed 63 regular-season games and all of the postseason because of a concussion. Sauer has shown signs of improvement, according to the Rangers, but whether he'll be ready for training camp remains to be seen. One player who wasn't meant to be ready for the start of the regular season, but should be fit for a January start is Marian Gaborik, who was recovering from surgery on a torn labrum in his shoulder until November. If the Rangers do not add anyone else between now and the regular season, that could leave an opening for prospects J.T. Miller or Christian Thomas or tough guy Micheal Haley, who was signed to a two-way deal this summer. For a team coming off a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, the New York Rangers have some big questions hanging over them after a very fluid offseason. The Rangers lost some of their depth but added 40-goal scorer Rick Nash. Of their 12 regular forwards from last season, five are gone. The blue line will remain almost completely intact, something that is key for a club built on defense. Can the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Final this season for the first time since 1994?

Henrik Lundqvist

The 30-year-old has been among the League's best goaltenders throughout his career, but he was finally deemed the best in the business last season. He went 39-18-5 with a 1.97 goals-against average and .930 save percentage, career bests in all categories, and was awarded the Vezina Trophy. Expecting a goaltender to repeat a season like that is asking a lot. Lundqvist's lighter workload of 62 games helped to keep him fresh, but so did the fact the Rangers were atop the East for most of the season, giving coach John Tortorella the luxury of resting his elite goaltender more often. The Rangers added Nash to boost the offense, but if the Rangers don't find a way to score a few more goals and Lundqvist reverts to his inferior, yet stellar numbers of the past few seasons, it could be a problem.

Big expectations

The Rangers entered last season as a team that nearly missed the playoffs two years in a row. They also came into the season without the services of top defenseman Marc Staal, who missed the first half with concussion issues. Flying under the radar for the first couple months, the Rangers surged to the top of the standings in November and December and never looked back. This season, the Rangers won't enjoy the cloak of anonymity. Players talked about how every opponent wanted to give the Rangers their best shot as the NHL's top team over the final four months. The Rangers obviously responded by winning the East, but with the addition of Nash, no team in the East has a bigger target on its back. How the Rangers deal with the label of favorites entering a season, something they haven't had for a long time, will be interesting.

Line combinations

Marian Gaborik was meant to miss the first six weeks or so as he recovered from surgery on his shoulder. But when the Rangers are completely healthy, how will their lines look? Of course, with Tortorella shaking up his lines like a child unhappy with his Etch-A-Sketch drawing, they're subject to change from shift to shift. Nash will likely start the season with Brad Richards as his center, and if the two develop a chemistry that Gaborik and Richards failed to find at the start of last season, they could be the go-to top unit. That would leave Derek Stepan centering the second line with Gaborik. The two worked extremely well together at times last season, and with Stepan and Chris Kreider connecting so often during the postseason, they could make up one of the most potent secondary scoring lines in the NHL. One bad game and one bad shift can result in the deck being shuffled, but a foundation of Nash/Richards and Gaborik/Stepan seems like a pretty secure one.

Penalty Killing

The Rangers mainly used seven forwards to kill penalties last season, and four of them (Brandon Prust, Brandon Dubinsky, Ruslan Fedotenko and Artem Anisimov) are no longer with the club. Jeff Halpern, who was signed this summer, has loads of experience on the PK, but that leaves just Brian Boyle, Ryan Callahan, Stepan and Halpern as reliable options while shorthanded. Players on the current roster who have an opportunity to fill that role include Richards, Nash and Taylor Pyatt. Richards was a featured penalty killer through the 2008-09 season for the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning, but hasn't done much of it since. Do the Rangers really want their No. 1 center expending energy on the PK when goals don't exactly come easy to the club? Nash was killing penalties regularly for the Blue Jackets through 2009-10. But again, how much time does Tortorella want to take away from his most-gifted scorer with Gaborik out to start the season? Pyatt also has experience in a shorthanded role, but just like Richards and Nash, didn't do it regularly last season. As a third-line forward, Pyatt will likely be one of the first to be asked to fill one of those openings. The Rangers' PK was fifth in the NHL last season. They will have a hard time repeating that number with the losses they incurred this offseason.

Rangers' grinding style

Make no mistake about the Rangers' style of play, they embrace it and used it to win 51 games last season. In a battle of toughness and will, few teams can beat the Rangers at their own game. But it appeared to take its toll on the Rangers themselves at the end of the regular season and into the playoffs. The Rangers went 11-9 in their final 20 regular-season games and went 10-10 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Their inability to finish the eighth-seeded Ottawa Senators and seventh-seeded Washington Capitals earlier in the series left them with heavy legs in their six-game loss to the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals. There wasn't a player who was willing to admit to being tired, mentally or physically, during the postseason, but their play on the ice said otherwise. The Rangers have just as much talent as anyone with the addition of Nash, but maybe a little less grind and a little more finesse will help the club go further this season.

Chris Kreider

If Carl Hagelin wasn't suspended during the first round of the postseason, it's possible Kreider never would have seen the ice during the playoffs. But that three-game ban opened the door and Kreider barreled through it with five goals and seven points in 18 playoff games. There were times when Kreider was used on the first line and times when he was benched during the third period of tight games. Tortorella will have a longer leash on the 21-year-old this season, but is it asking too much for Kreider to match or exceed his postseason pace in his first full NHL season? Kreider's playoff numbers factored out over 82 games would give him about 23 goals and nine assists. It doesn't sound like much based on the reputation he built for himself, but the Rangers will sign up for that as long as Kreider improves his play away from the puck.

During Chris Kreider's postseason run that made him a household name in the five boroughs, the 21-year-old was asked if he had given any thought about where he would live in New York next season. Some New York Rangers players choose to live in Manhattan, but some enjoy the quiet solitude of Westchester County, which is where the team's practice facility is located. Kreider, without missing a beat, answered the question honestly and properly. "I have to make the team next year first," he said. In that answer lies the incredible potential for the 6-foot-3, 230-pound left wing who burst onto the scene during the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs with five goals in 18 games. There's no reason to believe Kreider won't make the Rangers out of training camp; but without a lick of regular-season experience, struggles and perhaps a demotion to the American Hockey League aren't out of the question, either. Kreider worked his way onto the first line with Brad Richards at times during the postseason while seeing most of his ice time on the second line next to Derek Stepan. However, there were also times when coach John Tortorella had Kreider on the bench in big spots, as the rookie's skills away from the puck needed some work. "He has a knack," Tortorella said during the Eastern Conference Finals. "The puck follows him around. And he has a ways to go away from the puck, but he has a knack with that puck. And as we continue, especially when the season starts next year, I think that's when we'll certainly find more about him. But it's pretty exciting to see what he's doing as a kid coming right out of college."

 

Kreider will likely open the season on the second line with Stepan and perhaps captain Ryan Callahan on the right wing. If Marian Gaborik is still recovering from injury, there's even a chance Kreider could find himself on the top line with Richards and Rick Nash. Kreider's playoff numbers factored out over 82 games would give him about 23 goals and nine assists. With goals easier to come by during the regular season, those numbers could be even better. But if he falters early, it's not out of the realm of possibility he could be honing his craft with the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League when Gaborik returns from injury. There was no bigger example of the dangers of having a rookie learn the game at the NHL level than Kreider's mistake during the Rangers' second-round series against the Washington Capitals. With the puck on his stick deep in his own end, Kreider blindly pushed it out toward the blue line. Waiting for it was Alex Ovechkin, who unleashed a one-timer that beat goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Whatever happens, entering the season Kreider is the wildest of wild cards and he'll need to improve in all areas to maintain Tortorella's trust. "The last thing I want to do is settle in," Kreider said. "I don't want to get complacent, especially at this level. If I get complacent, next thing you know I'm a minus-2 and giving Ovechkin a one-timer in the slot. I have got to stay extremely focused, obviously. That's pro hockey, right?"

The New York Rangers were two wins from returning to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 18 years. They enter the 2012-13 season a three-game losing streak while dealing with thoughts of what might have been. The New Jersey Devils, their rivals from across the Hudson River, ended the Rangers' hopes of bringing the Stanley Cup back to Manhattan. A big reason was the amount of energy the Rangers had to expend to expunge the eighth- and seventh-seeded teams in the Eastern Conference in the first two rounds.

Michael Del Zotto - Most offensive-minded defenseman on team gets overlooked with Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh and Marc Staal on the blue line, but Del Zotto had 10 goals and 41 points last season with a plus-20 rating while quarterbacking the power play.
Carl Hagelin - Despite a breakout rookie season in 2011-12, Hagelin could be the odd-man out among the team's top-six forwards when Marian Gaborik returns from his injury, which would decrease his fantasy value significantly.
Chris Kreider - Kreider will be arguably the biggest sleeper pick in all of fantasy hockey and could finish the season with 25-plus goals while being a top-six forward for the Rangers.

General manager Glen Sather's months-long pursuit of Rick Nash finally proved fruitful, as the former Columbus Blue Jackets captain came on board this offseason, and the price was less than previously expected. Sather might not be done adding, and the Rangers still have plenty of salary-cap space to maneuver with.

 

Forwards

Carl Hagelin - Brad Richards - Rick Nash

Chris Kreider - Derek Stepan - Ryan Callahan*

Taylor Pyatt - Brian Boyle - Christian Thomas

Mike Rupp - Jeff Halpern - Arron Asham

Micheal Haley

Defensemen

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi

Michael Del Zotto - Marc Staal

Stu Bickel - Anton Stralman

Sean Collins

Goaltenders

Henrik Lundqvist

Martin Biron

*Marian Gaborik was originally not expected to be ready for the start of the season

 

 

NOTES: Gaborik would likely slide into the spot next Stepan when he returns after they found some chemistry last season. There are several candidates to earn a spot in the lineup with Gaborik out, and that doesn't include a potential addition via free agency or trade. Aside from Kreider, who stepped into the lineup during the playoffs but has never played a regular-season game, Thomas and J.T. Miller are probably the Rangers' most exciting prospects, but Kris Newbury, Ryan Bourque and Chad Kolarik are among the other possibilities. Give Thomas the edge over Miller if it is a short-term move, because Miller can go back to the Ontario Hockey League and the Rangers won't burn a year off his entry-level contract. The Rangers need another defenseman, and that may very well be Michael Sauer, whose availability is still uncertain because of a concussion that cost him most of last season. The top four is solid, but coach John Tortorella had little faith in using six defensemen in the playoffs. Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy for the first time last season and could become the first goalie in franchise history to win the award twice. The Rangers are the only Original Six team to not have a two-time Vezina winner. Biron has had two strong seasons as Lundqvist's backup, giving the Rangers one of the best tandems in the League.

When the New York Rangers were sitting atop the NHL standings in February, it was clear they were a team that could contend for a Stanley Cup. Sure, the Rangers could've used some more offense, but they wouldn't acquire it at the expense of their elite prospects. Instead of including Chris Kreider in a deal for Rick Nash, general manager Glen Sather refused to part with him. The Rangers fell short of the Cup when they lost in the Eastern Conference Finals, but Kreider's five goals in 18 postseason games showed why the Rangers were so high on the 19th pick of the 2009 NHL Draft. Do the Rangers have another player in their system who can make an impact this season the way Kreider and Carl Hagelin did last season? With Marian Gaborik missing the start of the season while recovering from shoulder surgery, there could be an opening.

Prospects

The Rangers have lost some of their better prospects in the past couple seasons, Tim Erixon, Roman Horak, Evgeny Grachev, but there's still plenty of talent to be excited about within the system.

1. J.T. Miller, C: A product of the U.S. National Team Development Program, the 19-year-old had 25 goals and 62 points in 61 games for the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League, Miller's first season in that league. He joined the Connecticut Whale for the American Hockey League playoffs, but was held to one assist in eight games. At 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Miller has the size to play in the NHL right now, but another season of development wouldn't hurt.

2. Christian Thomas, RW: The 40th pick of the 2010 NHL Draft has nothing left to prove at the junior level after seasons of 41, 54 and 34 goals with the OHL's Oshawa Generals. The 20-year-old is just 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, but he has the speed and skill to be a scorer in the NHL. If Thomas doesn't make the Rangers out of training camp, he'll begin the year with Connecticut.

3. Dylan McIlrath, D: There was some surprise when the Rangers used the 10th pick of the 2010 draft to take the hulking blueliner, but he's proving to be quite the force at the junior level. Now 20 years old, McIlrath had three goals and 20 assists in 52 games for the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League. McIlrath is 6-foot-5, 220 pounds and projects to be a physical defenseman in the NHL. The Rangers have plenty of depth on the blue line right now, but McIlrath's time will eventually come.

4. Michael St. Croix, C: The 19-year-old has exceeded expectations since he was taken in the fourth round of the 2011 draft. In 72 games with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League last season, St. Croix had 45 goals and 60 assists. The Rangers will likely want to see another season like that out of St. Croix before getting too excited, but there is potential there.

5. Ryan Bourque, C: The undersized center (5-9, 170) had six goals and eight assists in 69 games with the Whale, his first season at the AHL level. The 21-year-old fits into the Rangers' mold as a gritty player with more grind than flash. If there's an opening on the third line coming out of training camp with Gaborik out, Bourque is not the most-talented prospect, but he may be the one who fits best in that role.

6. Andrew Yogan, C: The 21-year-old possesses size (6-3, 201) and grit (199 PIMs in 139 games over his past two OHL seasons) the Rangers love. He'll probably get his first full season with the Whale this year.

7. Brady Skjei, D: The 28th pick of this year's draft is a product of the U.S. National Development Team. He's 6-1, 183 pounds and still growing, but remains a long way from the NHL. Skjei will play at the University of Minnesota this season, where he'll be part of a loaded Gophers squad.

8. Jesper Fast, RW: The sixth-round pick in the 2010 draft has been plying his trade in Sweden with Jonkoping. He had five goals and 11 assists in 26 games with the big club last year.

9. Pavel Valentenko, D: The 6-2, 219-pound defenseman had a chance to make the Rangers out of camp last year but failed to impress. He will turn 25 in October.

10. Steven Fogarty, C: A third-round pick of the Rangers in 2011, the 6-2, 195-pound forward had 33 goals and 81 points in 60 games for Penticton of the British Columbia Hockey League last season. He'll be a freshman at Notre Dame this season.