New York Rangers 2014-15 Season Primer

The New York Rangers will be looking to get back to the Stanley Cup Final, and will have to do so with a roster that may see plenty of new faces.

Use the below Tabs to view Rangers info for this upcoming season, as well as some numbers from last year.

2013-14 record: 45-31-6, 96 points
Where they finished: 2nd in the Metropolitan; 5th in the East; 12th in the NHL; lost 4-1 in the Stanley Cup Final to Los Angeles

Player Salaries: $80,397,222 (22)
Cap Payroll: $67,667,500
Bonuses: $95,000
Cap Space: $1,332,500
Forwards: $35,780,000 (13)
Defensemen: $22,825,000 (7)
Goalies: $9,062,500 (2)
Source: CapGeek.com

In: Cedrick Desjardins G, Chris Bourque LW, Chris Mueller C, Dan Boyle D, Kevin Hayes W, Lee Stempniak RW, Mat Bodie D, Matt Hunwick D, Matthew Lombardi C/LW, Michael Kostka D, Nick Tarnasky LW, Petr Zamorsky D, Ryan Malone W, Steven Kampfer D, Tanner Glass LW

Out: Aaron Johnson D, Anton Stralman D, Benoit Pouliot LW, Brad Richards C, Brian Boyle C/LW, Derek Dorsett RW, Justin Falk D, Micheal Haley LW/RW, Stu Bickel D

2014-15 Team Outlook:

Few teams in the NHL surprised as much as the New York Rangers did last season. First came the trade of 28 year old captain Ryan Callahan to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for the 38 year old Martin St. Louis, next was trading former top prospect Michael Del Zotto to Nashville for Kevin Klein, then came the playoffs.

In what can only be described as improbable, the Rangers went on a deep playoff run all the way to the Stanley Cup Final before eventually losing 4-1 against the Los Angeles Kings.

New York now finds themselves in an interesting position heading into training camp.

This offseason, after losing a few key contributors to last year’s success via free agency (Brad Richards after his buyout, Benoit Pouliot, Anton Stralman, and Brian Boyle), the Rangers elected to replace those players with several low key signings while keeping cap space available to bring back Derick Brassard on a five-year, $25 million deal.

The offensive unit got a little bit of a shake-up, mainly to the bottom-six. Buying-out the remaining six years on Richards’ contract leaves Derek Stepan as the new number one centre, a spot he took over during last year’s playoffs. Beside Stepan, on the top-line will likely be Rick Nash (who struggled mightily last year, recording only 39 points in 65 games during the regular season and 10 points in 25 games in the playoffs) and one of Chris Kreider or Mats Zuccarello, who lead the Rangers in points last year. The second-line will see Brassard in the middle with St. Louis on the one wing and either Carl Hagelin, Zuccarello/Kreider on the other. J.T Miller may get a shot to centre the third-line with likely Lee Stempniak and one of Hagelin or Zuccarello. On the fourth-line, centremen Dominic Moore could be flanked by any combination of Matthew Lombardi (who spent last season in the Swiss League scoring 50 points in 46 games), Tanner Glass, Chris Mueller and Chris Bourque, as well as prospects Jesper Fast, Oscar Lindberg, Danny Kristo and Kevin Hayes.  The Rangers are also in talks to bring Ryan Malone in on a tryout.

On defense the Rangers are pretty much set. Once again, the defense will be led by a top-pairing of the ever improving Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi, with Marc Staal and veteran Dan Boyle making up the second-pair. The 38-year old Boyle was brought in on a two-year, $9 million deal to replace some of the puck moving skills and smarts that left when the Rangers elected to not meet Stralman’s contract demands. The final pair will consist of the two-way defensemen John Moore and Klein. Although the defense appears to be a near lock, veterans Mike Kostka and Matt Hunwick will try their best to get a starting job, although both are better served as extras. Prospects Dylan McIlrath, Conor Allen, and former Union College captain Mat Bodie will also be looking to stick in the NHL this season.

In net, the Rangers will roll out the same goalie tandem as last year, with the starting gig going to none other than “King Henrik”, Henrik Lundqvist, with the backup job belonging to Cam Talbot. Lundqvist is one of the best goalies in the world, that much has been known for years now, but Talbot more than held his own last season. Talbot posted a 1.64 goals against average and a .941 save percentage in 21 games for the Rangers last year after spending the previous three years in the minors. Outside of Lundqvist and Talbot, the Rangers don’t really have much depth in net, proven by the fact they signed career AHL goalie Cedrick Desjardins to a two-year contract this offseason to provide some sort of insurance.

On paper, this Rangers team still looks solid. Losing Richards’ hurt their centre depth, but the Rangers should have more than enough depth on the wings to supply the offense. Much of that hinges on Nash, who has to be much better than he was last season if the Rangers truly hope to excel this season; as does St. Louis. St. Louis was solid during the playoffs last year, but struggled in his 19 regular season games with the club, scoring only one goal and eight points. Both players have to return to near point-per-game producers for the Rangers to play at their best level. The defense and goaltending is rock solid, so even if Nash, St. Louis and company don’t score much, they should still win quite a few games; during the regular reason at least. Expect the Rangers to make the playoffs in a similar position as they did last year, as a middle of the pack to a low seeded team. Expecting the team to repeat as the Eastern Conference champions however, seems like a stretch.

Written by Greg Stamper, who can be found on twitter @g_stamp91.

The depth chart listed below was taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30. 

FORWARDS
Rick Nash – Derek Stepan – Chris Kreider
Carl Hagelin – Derick Brassard – Martin St. Louis
Mats Zuccarello – J.T. Miller – Lee Stempniak
Matthew Lombardi – Dominic Moore – Jesper Fast
Tanner Glass – Chris Mueller

DEFENSEMEN
Ryan McDonagh – Dan Girardi
Marc Staal – Dan Boyle
John Moore – Kevin Klein
Mike Kostka

GOALTENDERS
Henrik Lundqvist
Cam Talbot

Forwards POS HT WT DOB BIRTH PLACE
Derick Brassard C 6′ 1″ 202 22-Sep-87 HULL, QC, CAN
Jesper Fast R 6′ 0″ 185 2-Dec-91 NASSJO, SWE
Tanner Glass L 6′ 1″ 210 29-Nov-83 REGINA, SK, CAN
Carl Hagelin L 5′ 11″ 186 23-Aug-88 SODERTALJE, SWE
Ryan Haggerty R 6′ 0″ 200 4-Mar-93 STAMFORD, CT, USA
Chris Kreider L 6′ 3″ 226 30-Apr-91 BOXFORD, MA, USA
Matthew Lombardi C 5′ 11″ 195 18-Mar-82 MONTREAL, QC, CAN
J.T. Miller C 6′ 1″ 205 14-Mar-93 EAST PALESTINE, OH, USA
Dominic Moore C 6′ 0″ 192 3-Aug-80 THORNHILL, ON, CAN
Rick Nash L 6′ 4″ 213 16-Jun-84 BRAMPTON, ON, CAN
Martin St. Louis R 5′ 8″ 180 18-Jun-75 LAVAL, QC, CAN
Lee Stempniak R 5′ 11″ 196 4-Feb-83 WEST SENECA, NY, USA
Derek Stepan C 6′ 0″ 196 18-Jun-90 HASTINGS, MN, USA
Mats Zuccarello L 5′ 7″ 179 1-Sep-87 OSLO, NOR
Defensemen HT WT AGE DOB BIRTH PLACE
Dan Boyle 5′ 11″ 190 38 12-Jul-76 OTTAWA, ON, CAN
Dan Girardi 6′ 1″ 203 30 29-Apr-84 WELLAND, ON, CAN
Matt Hunwick 5′ 11″ 190 29 21-May-85 WARREN, MI, USA
Steven Kampfer 5′ 11″ 192 25 24-Sep-88 ANN ARBOR, MI, USA
Kevin Klein 6′ 1″ 199 29 13-Dec-84 KITCHENER, ON, CAN
Michael Kostka 6′ 1″ 210 28 28-Nov-85 ETOBICOKE, ON, CAN
Ryan Mcdonagh 6′ 1″ 213 25 13-Jun-89 ST. PAUL, MN, USA
John Moore 6′ 3″ 202 23 19-Nov-90 WINNETKA, IL, USA
Marc Staal 6′ 4″ 207 27 13-Jan-87 THUNDER BAY, ON, CAN
Goalies HT WT AGE DOB BIRTH PLACE
Henrik Lundqvist 6′ 1″ 188 32 2-Mar-82 ARE, SWE
Cam Talbot 6′ 3″ 205 27 5-Jul-87 CALEDONIA, ON, CAN

A look at the New York Rangers top prospects heading into this season. Each source may use different classifications as to if a player is deemed a prospect or has graduated on from a prospect.

RK NHL.com ESPN – Corey Pronman Dobber Prospects Hockeys Future The Hockey News
1 Brady Skjei Pavel Buchnevich Anthony Duclair Brady Skjei J.T. Miller
2 Anthony Duclair Anthony Duclair Cameron Talbot Pavel Buchnevich Brady Skjei
3 Jesper Fast Danny Kristo Jesper Fast Anthony Duclair Jesper Fast
4 Danny Kristo Brady Skjei Danny Kristo J.T. Miller Conor Allen
5 Dylan McIlrath Oscar Lindberg Pavel Buchnevich Brandon Halverson Dylan McIlrath
6 Pavel Buchnevich Kevin Hayes Oscar Lindberg Kevin Hayes Anthony Duclair
7 Conor Allen Jesper Fast Brady Skjei Jesper Fast Danny Kristo
8 Oscar Lindberg Conor Allen Marek Hrivik Danny Kristo Brandon Halverson
9 Brandon Halverson Dylan McIlrath Michael St. Croix Dylan McIlrath Ryan Graves
10 Ryan Graves Cristoval Nieves Ryan Haggerty Conor Allen Oscar Lindberg

* Dobber Prospects – Prospects based on relevance in a fantasy-hockey keeper league, not actual talent on the ice.

New York Rangers Draft History from the past five years

2014 Draft
Rd. Draft # Player Pos. Team Ht. Wt.
2 59 Brandon Halverson G Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) 6′ 4″ 180
3 85 Keegan Iverson C/RW Portland (WHL) 6′ 0″ 219
4 104 Ryan Mantha D Indiana (USHL) 6′ 4″ 225
4 118 Igor Shesterkin G Spartak 2 (RUS) 6′ 1″ 187
5 122 Richard Nejezchleb LW Brandon (WHL) 6′ 2″ 203
5 140 Daniel Walcott D Blainville-Boisbriand (QMJHL) 5′ 11″ 161
5 142 Tyler Nanne D Edina High HS (MN) 5′ 10″ 174
2013 Draft
3 65 Adam Tambellini LW Vernon (BCHL) 6′ 0″ 160
3 75 Pavel Buchnevich LW Severstal (RUS) 6′ 0″ 160
3 80 Anthony Duclair LW Quebec (QMJHL) 5’11” 160
4 110 Ryan Graves D PEI (QMJHL) 6′ 4″ 220
6 170 Mackenzie Skapski G Kootenay (WHL ) 6′ 3″ 186
2012 Draft
1 28 Brady Skjei D USA U-18 6′ 1″ 183
2 59 Cristoval Nieves RW Kent HS (CT) 6′ 3″ 190
4 119 Calle Andersson D Farjestads BK (Swe) 6′ 2″ 205
5 142 Thomas Spelling RW Herning (Den) 6′ 1″ 175
2011 Draft
1 15 Jonathan Miller C US NTDP 6′ 1″ 198
3 72 Steven Fogarty RW Edina HS (Minn) 6′ 2″ 195
4 106 Michael St.Croix C Edmonton (WHL) 5’11” 163
5 134 Shane McColgan RW Kelowna (WHL) 5′ 8″ 170
5 136 Samuel Noreau D Baie-Comeau (QMJHL) 6′ 5″ 205
6 172 Peter Ceresnak D Dukla Trecin (SVK) 6′ 3″ 209
2010 Draft
1 10 Dylan McIlrath D Moose Jaw (WHL) 6′ 5″ 215
2 40 Christian Thomas LW Oshawa 6′ 2″ 175
4 100 Andrew Yogan LW ERIE 6′ 3″ 205
5 130 Jason Wilson LW Owen Sound 6′ 2″ 205
6 157 Jesper Fasth RW HV 71 JR. 5’11” 165
7 190 Randy McNaught RW Saskatoon 6′ 4″ 222
Player GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GW S S%
Mats Zuccarello 77 19 40 59 11 32 4 1 4 170 11.2
Derek Stepan 82 17 40 57 12 18 5 0 2 199 8.5
Brad Richards 82 20 31 51 -8 18 5 0 2 259 7.7
Derick Brassard 81 18 27 45 2 46 7 0 4 159 11.3
Ryan Mcdonagh 77 14 29 43 11 36 2 3 4 177 7.9
Rick Nash 65 26 13 39 10 36 4 2 9 258 10.1
Chris Kreider 66 17 20 37 14 72 6 0 0 136 12.5
Benoit Pouliot 80 15 21 36 10 56 7 0 4 141 10.6
Carl Hagelin 72 17 16 33 8 44 0 1 5 144 11.8
Ryan Callahan 45 11 14 25 -3 16 4 1 2 109 10.1
Dan Girardi 81 5 19 24 6 16 1 0 0 100 5
Dominic Moore 73 6 12 18 0 18 0 1 1 96 6.3
Brian Boyle 82 6 12 18 1 56 1 0 1 137 4.4
John Moore 74 4 11 15 7 25 0 0 2 115 3.5
Marc Staal 72 3 11 14 -1 24 1 0 0 92 3.3
Anton Stralman 81 1 12 13 9 26 0 0 0 104 1
Michael Del Zotto 42 2 9 11 -5 10 1 0 0 64 3.1
Martin St. Louis 19 1 7 8 1 4 0 1 0 37 2.7
Derek Dorsett 51 4 4 8 -1 128 0 0 0 67 6
Kevin Klein 30 1 5 6 4 0 0 0 0 24 4.2
J.T. Miller 30 3 3 6 -6 18 0 0 0 46 6.5
Daniel Carcillo 31 3 0 3 0 43 0 0 1 22 13.6
Justin Falk 21 0 2 2 -5 20 0 0 0 10 0
Raphael Diaz 11 1 1 2 5 4 0 0 0 18 5.6
Taylor Pyatt 22 0 1 1 -9 10 0 0 0 22 0
Arron Asham 6 0 0 0 -5 14 0 0 0 1 0
Darroll Powe 1 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brandon Mashinter 6 0 0 0 -1 10 0 0 0 3 0
Dylan Mcilrath 2 0 0 0 -1 7 0 0 0 0 0
Jesper Fast 11 0 0 0 -5 2 0 0 0 7 0
Conor Allen 3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 2 0
Goalie GPI GS MIN GAA W L OT SO SA GA SV%
Henrik Lundqvist 63 62 3655 2.36 33 24 5 5 1810 144 0.920
Cam Talbot 21 19 1211 1.64 12 6 1 3 560 33 0.941
Martin Biron 2 1 71 7.61 0 1 0 0 38 9 0.763

Performance and Usage Charts for the New York Rangers from last season, from Extra Skater.

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