The New York Rangers have gotten off to an amazing start this season with a 5-0-1 record and they are one of four teams in the NHL without a regulation loss. Everything looks like it is clicking and they are getting great contributions from their forwards, defensemen, and goaltending.
They won the Presidents’ Trophy last season as the best team in the regular season and while it might be hard to repeat that success again, this team is proving that they could do it again with the way they have been playing so far. Here are three reasons why the Rangers are going to be a better team than they were last season.
Much-Improved Forward Depth
One of the big reasons why the Rangers lost in the Eastern Conference Finals last season was that when their top players stopped producing, they were not getting any production from their bottom-six players either. Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, and Mika Zibanejad combined for just two goals in the six games against the Florida Panthers. While they did lose a few players in the offseason like Barclay Goodrow, Alex Wennberg, and Jack Roslovic, none of them were big contributors on the team and now, the Rangers have come back this season with even better forward depth. It’s been a big factor in their great start to the season.
While the players in the top six have gotten off to great starts, the players in the bottom six — especially those on the third line — have played extremely well, have contributed offense, and have led the Rangers to victory in some of these games. It can’t be understated how much a healthy Filip Chytil really helps improve the offensive depth. His line with Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko has arguably been the Rangers’ best line and even one of the best lines in the entire league. The fourth line has even contributed a bit of offense and they even have Matt Rempe as a healthy scratch who can jump into the lineup whenever he is needed.
The Rangers Have 8 NHL Defensemen Who Can Play
The Rangers not only have great depth up front, but they also have great defensive depth. So far this season, they have played eight different defensemen and will continue to carry eight defensemen for the foreseeable future. Leading the way is Adam Fox, who has seven points in six games and looks great as usual. He has been paired with K’Andre Miller on the top pair while Braden Schneider has moved over to the left…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Hockey Writers…