The New York Rangers look like they could repeat the terrific season they had last year!
Last season, the Rangers almost lifted the coveted Stanley Cup above their heads and brought it back to New York for the first time since 1994. Sadly, the LA Kings took the trophy all the way to the West Coast. What can New York fans expect from the coming season? Can they repeat their incredible run to the playoffs?
The Rangers will almost certainly remain strong contenders for the cup as many of their star players, including Rick Nash, Ryan McDonagh, Martin St. Louis, and of course, the indefatigable Henrik Lundqvist will be returning to the squad for another season. The difficulties will now lie in who the supporting players will be.
During the off-season, Derek Dorsett was traded, Anton Stralman, Brian Boyle and Benoit Pouliot signed with other teams and Brad Richards was bought outright. This leaves many holes to fill for the Rangers management team, especially considering the teams propensity to play four lines throughout most games. So, who would the managers pick? They want to maintain their quickness on the ice but with so many players leaving, that could prove to be a tall order.
The Rangers eventually decided to pick up about seven new faces during the off season spending close to their 17 million dollar cap. This means that the team will be inexperienced, but with that amount of money and the smart scouting the Rangers have shown these past couple seasons, the young players will be skilled. The coaches and staff agree; Jeff Gorton, the assistant general manager remarked, “The thing that’s most exciting is we’re still a relatively young team.”
The Rangers will have to do some work early in the season testing out different combinations of lines to see what is best. But, despite a few predictable growing pains early in the season, the Rangers should be poised to make another great run in the National Hockey League. Maybe hoping for the cup to come home to New York in 2015 is not such a distant dream after all.