While Zibajenad has been a calm voice in the locker room, we were treated to the sight of him being berated by Gerard Gallant for giving it to the referees. At the end of the Buffalo game, we could see his frustration boiling over when he was upended by Tage Thompson with no penalty called. The situation has to be tough for Zibanejad. They did disregard his frequent trips to the injured list, something the Blues must have been well aware of. It’s 2020 hindsight and they still would have needed a defenseman (Jarred Tinordi is not an answer) and the team had to believe that they were getting a diamond in the rough in Blais. It’s easy to add up the salaries paid to Sammy Blais and Patrik Nemeth and argue that with that money and the more than $7 million they have in cap space, they could have kept Buchnevich. After all, penciling in the KZB line every night was a no brainer and kept improving year to year. The Russian signed for $5.8 million for four years with the Blues and the question has to be whether the Rangers were to rash in dealing him. It also leaves Drury open to massive second guessing over his trade of Pavel Buchnevich.
72 in 1 games full#
If he continues at this season’s rate, he will score the fewest goals in a full season since 2012-13 when he was a 19-year-old.Īnd that’s why hockey insiders like Darren Dreger are reporting that Chris Drury is on the prowl for a forward. To compare, in his last 18 games of the 2020-21 season he scored 11 goals, a 50 goal pace. Over 82 games, that projects to a total of 18 goals, not what you would expect from an $8.5 million-a-year player. While he has 15 points in 18 games, he has scored only four goals.
Expectations were high for the Swedish center after he signed his eight-year, $68 million contract. The player who has suffered the most has been Mika Zibanejad. In the three year prior, Kreider scored 62 % (45 of 72) of his goals at even strength. Five of his 13 goals this season or 39%, have come at even strength. It’s worth noting that while Kreider has thrived this season, it has been on the power play.
So far this season the issues with the top line have been camouflaged somewhat by Chris Kreider’s fabulous start and a power play that has been reasonably efficient. Fundamentally, the bottom nine has become set and they need to remain together. The fourth line has always featured Ryan Reaves and Kevin Rooney and has been best with either Hunt or Goodrow on the wing. Also, Filip Chytil has been the subject of perpetual rumors of a move to the wing, but the third line with Julien Gauthier and Alexis Lafrenière has excelled lately and must be given time to develop. Kaapo Kakko could have been a solution on the top line, but he has shown chemistry with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome and it would make no sense to break them up. The question has to be if the Rangers can continue to win with players like Barclay Goodrow or Dryden Hunt on the top line?Ī couple recent developments have made this issue even tougher to resolve. It’s the lack of forward depth, exacerbated by the loss of Sammy Blais to a season ending knee injury. The Rangers’ stellar record has disguised an issue that needs to be resolved if this team wants to continue to win and go deep in the playoffs.
In fact, in the expansion era of the NHL, only that team along with the 1978-72 squads have gone deeper into the season with only four regulation losses. The last time they went this deep into a season with only four losses was 2015-16 and that team finished with 101 points. Despite allowing as many goals as they have scored, they have lost only four games in regulation, 18 games into the season. They continue to find ways to win and they have a sparkling record in one goal games. Do not duplicate in any form without permission.The New York Rangers have exceeded all expectations and boast one of the best records in the NHL.