Top 10 New York Rangers moments in 2024

What better comeback story did 2024 bring than Filip Chytil’s return after missing 72 games due to a head injury last season? Chytil returned in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs but was not very effective after so much time off. A solid summer of training and conditioning had him ready for the 2024-25 season, and it paid off right away.

Chytil scored in the season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins, his first goal since April 18, 2023, which came in the first round of playoffs against the New Jersey Devils. There was doubt if Chytil would ever play hockey again, so the goal was a sign of good things to come.

After a 4-7-2 record to start calendar year 2024, the red-hot Rangers of 2023 seemed to be cooling off. However, they exploded in the month of February, winning 10 straight games catapulting them back to a comfortable lead in the standings. They capped off the 10-game win streak against the Philadelphia Flyers when Igor Shesterkin made 39 saves and Matt Rempe scored his first NHL goal in a thrilling 2-1 win.

One thing on general manager Chris Drury’s to-do list for 2024 was to sign Alexis Lafreniere to a contract extension after the young forward broke out with 28 goals and 57 points last season. After a strong start to the 2024-25 campaign, Drury did just that. Lafreniere agreed to a team friendly seven-year contract extension with an AAV of $7.45 million. This ensures he’ll remain a part of the new younger core that’s growing together in New York.

To cap off a remarkable 2023-24 season, the Rangers played their 82nd and final regular-season game, skating to a 4-0 win over the Ottawa Senators. The victory clinched the Presidents’ Trophy awarded to the NHL team with the best regular-season record. The Rangers also established franchise records for most wins (55) and points (114). It was the fourth Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history for New York, and set them up nicely for a first round matchup against the Washington Capitals, who were the lowest-ranked team to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Rangers came into this series as the far better team in every facet. Many experts predicted a Rangers sweep, and that is exactly what happened. New York put together four strong performances, winning 4-1, 4-3, 3-1, and finally 4-2, advancing to the second round to face the Carolina Hurricanes. It was the first time New York swept a first-round playoff series since 2007, when they did so against the Atlanta Thrashers.

The Rangers had a string of thrilling wins in the 2024 playoffs, several in overtime. After winning Game 1 of the second round against the Hurricanes on home ice, the Rangers found themselves in a deadlock with the Hurricanes in Game 2, which went to double OT before being decided. It was Vincent Trocheck who played hero, scoring at 7:24 of the second overtime period to blow the roof off of Madison Square Garden. New York secured a 2-0 series lead and their sixth consecutive win of the playoffs.

The Rangers found themselves up 2-0 in the second round against the Hurricanes and once again playing overtime in Game 3. This time, it was Artemi Panarin who sealed it for New York with a magnificent tip at 1:47 to give the Rangers a seven-game win streak to begin the postseason. The win gave the Rangers a 3-0 series lead, and tied for the seventh-longest playoff win streak. The all-time NHL record is 14 games.

After starting the 2024-25 season as a pending unrestricted free agent, there was a lot of controversy surrounding the status of Igor Shesterkin’s next contract, and if it would even be with the Rangers or not. The goalie’s asking price was very high, rightfully so, and the Rangers did not have a lot of salary cap space to work with. The sides finally came to an agreement two months into the season, making Shesterkin the highest-paid goaltender in NHL history. He signed an eight-year extension worth a total of $92 million, and AAV of $11.5 million per season, likely making him a New York Ranger for the rest of his career.

In what was arguably the game of the year for the Rangers, they earned a 6-5 overtime victory against the Islanders in front of a sellout crowd at MetLife Stadium in the 2024 Stadium Series, and did so in dramatic fashion. After falling behind 4-1 and again 5-3, the Rangers stormed back in the final minutes of regulation to tie the game, forcing overtime. It was Panarin who scored the winning goal off the opening face-off of the extra frame and, after video review, sent the crowd at MetLife into pandemonium.

After going up 3-0 in the second round against the Hurricanes, the Rangers lost Games 4 and 5, and trailed Game 6 on the road 3-1 heading into the third period. Just when things were starting to get concerning for the Rangers, Chris Kreider stepped up in a big way. He scored three straight goals, a natural hat trick, to propel the Rangers to a 5-3 win and punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Final. Without Kreider’s remarkable third-period performance, the Rangers would have been at serious risk of a reverse sweep. It was one of the great playoff performances in Rangers history.