First Look: New York Rangers

In a letter to fans in February 2018, the New York Rangers shared that a rebuild was imminent for the team. Now, the Rangers - one of the NHL's youngest teams - are nearing the end of that process, as they have formed a new foundation and are ready to compete.

Coached by David Quinn, New York finished the 2019-20 season with a record of 37-28-5, which placed 18th in the NHL and seventh in the Metropolitan Division. They went on to the Qualifying Round of the playoffs, but were swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in three games.
While the loss was disappointing, it ultimately led to the Rangers winning the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery and the right to select forward Alexis Lafrenière, adding to their youthful roster. The 19-year-old made his NHL debut on Jan. 14 and has since been shifted to the first line.
"I haven't talked to him a lot, but I've seen bits, they've shown highlights and things like that," said Sidney Crosby of his fellow first overall pick. "He's a great player. He generates a lot of different ways. Like any young player, I think with every game there's so many new things - new buildings, new opponents, that sort of thing. So, I'm sure there's a lot on his mind, but I think being someone who can relate to what he's going through, he's just got to continue doing what he's doing."
The most significant change to the Rangers' roster was the loss of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist served as the team's backbone for 15 seasons before the Rangers bought him out to make room for young netminders Alexandar Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin. They will be battling for New York's starting goaltender position this year.
Joining Quinn behind the bench as an assistant coach is Jacques Martin, who spent the previous seven seasons with the Penguins. Following Martin from Pittsburgh to New York is defensemen Jack Johnson, who spent the last two seasons with the Penguins.
The Rangers come to Pittsburgh 1-2-0 this season after going 1-1 in their season-opening series with the Islanders and falling to the Devils 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Here is their projected lineup…
Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Alexis Lafrenière
Artemi Panarin-Ryan Strome-Pavel Buchnevich
Phil Di Giuseppe-Filip Chytil-Kaapo Kakko
Brendan Lemieux-Brett Howden-Julien Gauthier
Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba
Jack Johnson-Tony DeAngelo/Brendan Smith
Igor Shesterkin
Alexandar Georgiev
FORWARDS: Barring the addition of Lafrenière, this forward group remains unchanged from last year. At the core are alternate captains Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad, who had explosive years offensively last season. Panarin tied for third in the NHL with 95 points in 69 games last season, while Zibanejad ranked fifth with 41 goals in 57 games.
He is centering Lafrenière and Rangers veteran Chris Kreider, who is entering his tenth season on Broadway, is another big part of their attack with his incredible speed. Meanwhile, Panarin is playing with countryman Pavel Buchnevich and veteran Ryan Strome, who both had career years production-wise last season. Buchnevich and Panarin are currently tied for the team lead with two goals and four points in three games.
Between youngsters Lafrenière (1st overall, 2020), Kaapo Kakko (2nd overall, 2019), and Filip Chytil (21st overall, 2017), the Rangers have three first-round picks on their top three lines. While Kakko struggled in his first year in the NHL, he already has one goal to his name this season while his centerman Chytil has one assist.
Lafrenière started his rookie season on the third line alongside Chytil and Julien Gauthier, but found himself playing with Strome and Panarin before the final whistle and remained on the second line for the next two games. Quinn then moved Lafrenière to the top line with Kreider and Zibanejad in Thursday's practice.
Rounding out the bottom-six of the Rangers offense is Phil Di Giuseppe, Brendan Lemieux, Brett Howden and Gauthier.
DEFENSE: New York's young blue line is led by alternate captain Jacob Trouba, in his second season with the Blueshirts after six with Winnipeg. He's joined by Adam Fox, 22; Ryan Lindgren, 22; and K'Andre Miller, 21.
Fox, who played with John Marino at Harvard, tied for second among NHL rookie defensemen with eight goals and ranked third in assists (34) and points (42). His partner Lindgren did not actually make the opening-night roster last year, but wound up playing in 60 games. K'Andre Miller, the Rangers' first-round pick in 2018, did make the opening-night roster this year and brings plenty of size at 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds.
DeAngelo is New York's most offensively-gifted defenseman. He ranked fourth among league blueliners in goals (15) and ninth in assists (38) last season. However, DeAngelo was a healthy scratch for the Rangers' second game of the season after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in their first game. Quinn explained they would be "sticking with what worked" following the team's 5-0 victory over the Islanders on Saturday, which resulted in DeAngelo sitting out Tuesday against the Devils as well.
DeAngelo was back in the lineup in place of veteran Brendan Smith in practice on Thursday, but Quinn says the final call on who will be dressing tonight will not be made until after today's practice.
GOALTENDING: For the first time since 2005, the Penguins won't be seeing Lundqvist in net for New York. Instead, Shesterkin is set to start between the pipes.
Shesterkin was selected by the Rangers in the fourth round of the 2014 NHL Draft. After spending subsequent years in his native Russia, he came to North America for the 2019-20 season and was recalled from the AHL's Hartford Wolfpack last January. He went 10-2-0 in 12 games and finished with a .932 save percentage and a 2.52 goals against average. This season, Shesterkin is 0-1 with a 3.09 goals against average and .902 save percentage.
While the Penguins have yet to face Shesterkin, they have seen Georgiev before. Georgiev, the first Bulgarian-born player to play in the NHL, went undrafted and without a contract until New York invited him to their 2017 developmental camp. After impressive play there, New York signed Georgiev to a three-year entry-level contract.
Since then, Georgiev served as a solid backup goalie to Lundqvist for the past three years. He went 17-14-0-2 last year with a 3.04 goals against average and a .910 save percentage. Georgiev is 3-2 against the Penguins.
Heading into this season, it seemed the crease belonged to Shesterkin. However, after the Rangers fell to the Islanders in their season opener, Quinn started Georgiev in the following two games. He saw his fifth career shutout on Saturday, but after Tuesday's loss, Shesterkin will be back in net.
SPECIAL TEAMS:The Rangers had one of the league's best power plays last season, finishing seventh in the NHL with a 22.9% success rate.
The first power-play unit is Fox, Panarin, Strome, Zibanejad and Kreider. The second unit is Lemieux, Howden, Lafrenière, Buchnevich and Trouba.
On the contrary, New York's penalty kill finished as one of the worst in the league at 23rd, but has already seen some improvement this season under the guidance of Martin.