With just one game remaining in the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, this means that the NHL will be resuming its normal schedule in the next few days. For the New York Rangers, this last half of the season is going to be the most important time of the year. They are fighting for their playoff lives and as of this writing, they sit three points out of the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. With so much drama already surrounding the team throughout this season so far, they are going to be a fascinating team to watch heading down the stretch. In this piece, we are going to look at three storylines to follow as the Rangers begin their push for the playoffs.
#1: The Continued Impact of J.T. Miller
The Rangers made a big trade at the end of January when they acquired J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks. It signaled that they were still going to be making a push for the playoffs and that he would be a big piece for the team not just for this season, but for the next five seasons after, which is how long he has left on his $8 million average annual value (AAV) contract. Miller started off hot with two goals in his first game back with the team and four points overall in the first two games. His line with Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad looked dangerous every time they were on the ice and while it was broken up in the final game before the break, it could very easily be put back together.
Miller didn’t have a point in his last three games and has four points in his first five games back as a Ranger. While it is a small sample size, it is going to be interesting to watch what his impact on the team will be as the season goes along, and he gets more comfortable with the players around him. Will they continue to stack one line and leave the rest of the lineup looking weaker, or will they try to spread players out and maybe put Miller with other players to try and elevate their games? We will have to wait and see, but one thing for certain is that if the Rangers want to make the playoffs, Miller will need to be a key contributor down the stretch.
#2: The Play of Alexis Lafreniere
Last season was a breakout year for 2020 first-overall pick, Alexis Lafreniere. He scored 28 goals and 57 points in 82 regular season games and followed it up with eight goals and 14 points in 16 playoff games. He truly looked like he was becoming the superstar he was hyped up to be five years ago. He started off this season well and in October, he signed a seven-year extension with the Rangers worth $7.45 million AAV. Fans were ecstatic that he would be sticking around, but ever since he signed the extension, he hasn’t looked like the same player. He has just 14 goals and 32 points in 55 games this season, with 13 goals and 24 points in 47 games since the extension. He looks like a shell of what he was last season, and it has been very disappointing to see.
Related: Pundit Suggests Outrageous Trade Between Rangers & Ducks
The biggest concern involving him is his lack of back-checking and play in the defensive zone. There have been too many plays this season and many recently in which he is just coasting back while the opposing team gets a great scoring chance and most of the time, the puck has been going in. Lafreniere just looks lazy out there when he’s not in the offensive zone, and if he can’t fix these other issues in his game and continues to struggle offensively, this new extension could look like a huge mistake before it even kicks in. He will be a player to watch, and maybe this break gave him the physical and mental reset he needed because he needs to step up his game if the Rangers want to make the playoffs.
#3: What Happens at the Trade Deadline?
The NHL Trade Deadline is on March 7, which is in three weeks time. The Rangers have seven games between now and then and how they play in these games is going to determine what path general manager Chris Drury takes at the deadline. If they lose a majority of these games, he is going to sell off players like Ryan Lindgren, Reilly Smith and Jimmy Vesey. All of them are pending unrestricted free agents and likely won’t be back with the team after this season. Maybe he even listens to offers on a player like K’Andre Miller, who has struggled this season and is due for a new contract this offseason. Another player who could get shopped around, and his name was already out there earlier this season, is Chris Kreider. While he is having a down season, he is a proven playoff performer and any playoff-bound team will want to have him in their lineup.
Now, if the Rangers win most or all of the next seven games, it could convince Drury that he should add to this roster to help them push for the playoffs. While he still may trade off the pending free agents, he could use the assets he gets for them and package them for other players he thinks could help this team win now. Who would be the players coming in? Well, it is hard to say because the trade market for rentals this season isn’t very appealing, and it would make more sense to give up assets for players under contract beyond this season instead of losing assets each year for rentals who leave every offseason. This upcoming stretch of games will be the most important of the season, as it will likely decide the fate of the team for the rest of it.
The Rangers will be one of the most interesting teams to follow coming out of the break. They have players who need to play better, a star player still trying to settle into his new environment, and they could be one of the more active teams leading up to the trade deadline. While there will be more storylines to follow as well, these are the big three to keep your eye on as the NHL season returns to action and the push towards the playoffs begins.
