3 Rangers facing most pressure heading into training camp
Every new NHL season for the New York Rangers brings optimism … and a healthy dose of pressure. That’s especially true in 2024-25 after the Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy, reached the Eastern Conference Final, but failed again to play in the Stanley Cup Final.
The pressure mounts each season for this core group since the Rangers haven’t reached the Final since 2014, nor won the Stanley Cup since 1994.
With his hands tied financially because the Rangers are up against the salary cap, general manager Chris Drury essentially brought the same team back this season, sans some UFAs he let walk and Barclay Goodrow, who was claimed on waivers by the San Jose Sharks. Forwards Reilly Smith and Sam Carrick are the only new players added from outside the organization.
So, yes, there’s a lot belief in this core group, and a lot of pressure on them to run things back again, and take the next step to win the Cup.
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3 Rangers facing biggest pressure when training camp begins
With training camp set to open next week, which three Rangers are under the most pressure on a team in a win-now mode with aspirations to bring the franchise its first Stanley Cup in 31 years?
Mika Zibanejad
It’s a testament to the rest of the roster — especially the Artemi Panarin – Vincent Trocheck – Alexis Lafreniere line — that the Rangers had the season they did in 2023-24 when they got so little from Mika Zibanejad.
His 26 goals and 72 points were solid in a vacuum, but New York needs more from its No. 1 center, especially at even strength. The 31-yar-old had just 12 even-strength goals in 81 games, including just one in the 30-game stretch from Dec. 27 through March 9.
Things didn’t get much better in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, when he finished with three goals (none after Game 1 of the second-round series against Carolina), and had just two assists (neither at even strength) in the Eastern Conference Final against the Florida Panthers.
So, the heat is on Zibanejad, who’s entering Year 3 of a long-term contract with a salary-cap hit of $8.5 million that carries through 2029-30.
If there’s regression elsewhere in the lineup and Zibanejad is not a dominant force this season, the Rangers will have some important issues to address.
The fans haven’t turned on him, yet. But if they do, that will only increase the pressure on Zibanejad, perhaps to diminishing results.
Jonathan Quick
It’s easy to forget the trepidation felt by many 12 months ago when the Rangers entered the 2023-24 seasons with Jonathan Quick as the backup to No. 1 goalie Igor Shesterkin.
Quick, after all, fell off the figurative cliff during his last season (2022-23) with the Los Angeles Kings and barely saw any ice time following his trade — via Columbus — to the Vegas Golden Knights. Of course, even though Quick didn’t play in the 2023 postseason, he still collected his third Stanley Cup ring when Vegas dusted off Florida in the Cup Final.
The signing was a questionable one, but Quick quieted all the naysayers — including this writer — when he stormed out of the gate with a 9-0-1 record, .924 save percentage and a pair of shutouts in his first 10 appearances. Quick kept the ship afloat when Shesterkin was hurt early and struggled midway through the season.
So why the pressure?
It could be unfair, but the backup position in hockey is crucial to any team’s success. Gone are the days of the No. 1 getting 70 starts.
A regression from Quick should be expected — it’s a lot to ask a soon-to-be 39-year-old to post back-to-back seasons with a .911 save percentage and a 2.62 goals-against average. But a major one could sink the Rangers, especially if Shesterkin has another midseason dip in performance.
How much will goalie guru Benoit Allaire’s day-to-day absence impact Quick? Only time will tell. But there’s significant pressure on the winningest United States-born goalie in NHL history to come close to replicating his turnaround play from a year ago.
Jacob Trouba
t wasn’t a pretty ending for the Rangers captain last season, and it spilled into the offseason when his name was dominating the trade rumors around the NHL Draft in late June.
But alas, Jacob Trouba remains with the Rangers and is still their captain. His public statements have been professional since the rumors and we’ll see if there’s any acrimony between him and the organization.
On the ice, though, Trouba needs to rebound and adjust to what’s expected to be a diminished role as a third-pair defenseman. He’ll still be a top penalty killer and will get some key 5-on-5 shifts up the lineup. But Trouba will also largely be on the third defense pair — with an $8 million cap hit — which begs for him to be a target of fan abuse if his play trends south.
Trouba struggled mightily last season, especially down the stretch following his foot injury. That snowballed into an even tougher postseason, where No. 8 looked slow, bad in his own end and took needless penalty after needless penalty.
All signs point to this being Trouba’s final season in New York, ending in either a trade or a buyout. But there’s a lot on the captain’s shoulders. He’s a proud leader who couldn’t have been happy about how last season ended, both personally and collectively.
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