It’s been a summer of meaningful moves for the New York Rangers, who are coming off their second straight season of failing to qualify for a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Rangers, who traded star forward Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings in February after informing him that he would not be re-signed, also traded Vincent Trocheck to the Utah Mammoth despite not moving him at the NHL Trade Deadline.
Additionally, they acquired goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from the Original 6 rival Boston Bruins to serve as backup to Igor Shesterkin after Jonathan Quick’s retirement, while also acquiring Pavel Dorofeyev from the Vegas Golden Knights and locking him up to a multi-year extension.
However, in the mind of a key NHL Insider, the Rangers are in danger of being in the NHL’s dreaded “mushy middle” group of clubs – essentially, not bad enough to think of landing a high draft pick, while also not talented enough to content for a title.
Worrying Prediction Given To New York Rangers By NHL Insider
According to NHL Insider Harman Dayal, the Rangers are in danger of being stuck in the “mushy middle” of clubs.
He recently wrote the following with regard to New York’s long term outlook:
“GM Chris Drury made aggressive moves this summer to beef up his 30th-place Rangers. Pavel Dorofeyev is a top-flight goal scorer, and their second pair has been successfully rebuilt with Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi. Couple that with better health for Adam Fox (55 games played) and Igor Shesterkin (51 games played), Gabriel Perreault’s breakout potential and the possibility of Alexis Lafrenière taking a leap (he scored 28 points in 29 games after Artemi Panarin sat out and was eventually traded), and there’s a compelling case for the Rangers to contend for a playoff spot.
However, it’s difficult to envision what their window to actually contend for a championship is.”
Dayal then continued by disclosing the reality of New York’s lineup, featuring an aging core of players and their average prospect pool.
“The current lineup isn’t close to the level of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Sure, there’s a long-shot scenario where Shesterkin steals a series if they squeak into the postseason, but the odds of a deep playoff run feel slim to none. The bigger issue is that their core is aging — Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller, Fox, Shesterkin and Vladislav Gavrikov are all in their late 20s or early 30s — and there isn’t enough of a strong youth movement coming, as the team’s prospect pool is average and they’ve already traded away two of their next four first-round picks.”
Can Pavel Dorofeyev Help Offset The Offense Lost By Trading Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck?
While the Rangers no longer have Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck in their lineup, they do have former Golden Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev, who was instrumental in their recent run to the Stanley Cup Final.
During the postseason, Dorofeyev scored 12 goals with four assists; he’s also scored 35 and 37 goals in each of the previous two regular seasons, respectively.
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