3 Areas of Concern the Rangers Need to Address Immediately

As of this writing, the New York Rangers are currently fifth in the NHL with a 26-11-2 record. While it may look like the team is performing well, they have been struggling more as of late. They are 8-7-1 since the start of December and the start of 2024 has not been good as they have lost three of the four games in the new calendar year and during these games, have not been playing with the same structure they were earlier in the season. Adding this on top of missing key players due to injury, the Rangers have areas of concern they need to address sooner rather than later if they want to keep up with the rest of the league’s top teams.

1: Rangers Need To Add More Scoring Depth

The Rangers are truly lacking scoring from their bottom six. Blake Wheeler, who has been mostly playing on the top-line right-wing, only has five goals this season. Players such Barclay Goodrow, Nick Bonino and Tyler Pitlick have combined for three goals, one goal per player this season. The only two bottom six-forwards who have more than five goals are Jimmy Vesey with eight and Will Cuylle with seven. This is not a recipe for success going forward into the playoffs. The Rangers simply need to get more scoring from the bottom half of their lineup.

The injuries to Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil have had a bigger impact as the season has gone along. Even though Kakko only scored two goals this, he brings more to the lineup than a player such as Goodrow or Pitlick. The Rangers are close to getting Kakko back in the lineup as he has recently begun to fully practice with the team. As for Chytil, time will tell if he will come back this season. If the Rangers want to become a better overall team, they need to trade for better depth scoring options because they can’t go into the playoffs with players who have combined for three goals in 39 games played.

2: Rangers Need A Legitimate Top-Line Right Winger

While Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider are having good seasons, they have been inconsistent. It doesn’t help that whichever player is put on their line isn’t playing well either. Kakko was put there at the start of the season and while the line was good, they were not generating enough scoring opportunities. Wheeler has been the mainstay on that line since the injury to Kakko and he has been even worse than Kakko was. His speed has been a major issue and most games, he is a non-factor. If the Rangers want Zibanejad and…