Why New York Rangers not as disappointing as these 2 NHL teams despite miserable season
There’s no sugarcoating how miserable a season this was for the New York Rangers. They entered as Stanley Cup favorites in many circles and exit without even making the playoffs.
The Rangers (39-36-7) accomplished something that only three other teams have done before, and no one ever wants to. They won the Presidents’ Trophy one season and did not qualify for the postseason the next.
Their elite special-teams play plummeted. Their defensive effort and structure was downright amateurish most nights. Their starts to games were often unacceptable on one hand, and they lost far too many because of poor finishes on the other.
And their compete level was called into question repeatedly, something no professional wants.
Management, coaches and the players each have their fingerprints all over this mess and must assume responsibility. It’s the most disappointing season in recent memory for the Rangers, maybe in franchise history, though it’s tough to be more so than that 1992-93 campaign.
It’s why coach Peter Laviolette, veteran forward Chris Kreider, fallen star Mika Zibanejad and others could be on the chopping block following the season-ending 4-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
Only two teams were in the same league as the Rangers when it came to being such a massive disappointment this season. The Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators.
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Bruins, Predators rival Rangers as most disappointing NHL team
Let’s see how the Bruins and Predators stack up against the Rangers in the dubious category of being the most disappointing team in the NHL.
Boston Bruins
How bad did it get for the Bruins this season? So bad, that they traded captain and franchise icon Brad Marchand ahead of the deadline. The white flag was flying long before this dreadful season was officially over. At least the Rangers added J.,T. Miller to help make a postseason push and they remained in the hunt until the final week of the season. The Bruins instead bit down hard and dealt Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo and Trent Frederic. They had no chance this season and acted accordingly.
That’s called gutting the roster and starting to rebuild. Not what was expected after eight straight playoff appearances and just two years removed from setting NHL records for most wins (65) and points (135) in a season.
The Bruins (33-39-10) finished last in the Eastern Conference and had a ghastly minus-50 goal differential. Just two seasons ago, the Bruins allowed the fewest goals in the League. Ahead of the season, they traded away Linus Ullmark and lavished Jeremy Swayman with a $66 million contract. Swayman was not good at all (3.12 goals-against average, .892 save percentage) and Ullmark led the Ottawa Senators into the playoffs.
Free-agent pick-up Elias Lindholm was a flop. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy missed 32 games due to injury. Fellow defenseman Hampus Lindholm played just 17 games before fracturing his kneecap.
Boston’s special teams were terrible — 29th in the NHL on the power play, 24th on the PK; and overall the Bruins were 28th in goals for (2.71 goals per game) and 26th is goals against (3.30). The Rangers were pretty much middle of the road in those areas, except power play (27th).
The Rangers were bad. The Bruins were much worse.
Nashville Predators
Expectations were high for New York heading into this season, if a bit tempered after being somewhat manhandled in the Eastern Conference Final last spring by the Florida Panthers.
But in Nashville? After a free-agent haul brought in Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei to join an already talented roster, there was a Stanley Cup or bust vibe.
Bust it is.
And what a bust. The Predators (30-44-8) finished 14th out of 16 teams in the Western Conference, and 30th overall out of 32 teams. If not for the bottom-feeding and rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks, the Predators would’ve been the worst team in the NHL. Pound for pound, or dollar for dollar, it’s easy to say that the Predators were, indeed, the worst team in the League and its biggest disappointment.
Nashville lost its first five games, giving a glimpse of what was to come. By the New Year, the Predators were toast, 11-20-7. They couldn’t win on the road either, managing just 10 road victories all season, tied for second fewest in the NHL.
Somehow a team that had Filip Forsberg and added Stamkos and Marchessault averaged 2.59 goals per game, second fewest in the League. They were outscored by a whopping 60 goals. Twenty-three times they were held to one goal or fewer.
The Predators scored only 164 goals at even strength. Their special teams were fine. But 5v5, the Predators were thoroughly outplayed.
Stanley Cup or bust? You know the answer.
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