This season has been nothing short of a disaster for the New York Rangers. A team that was expecting to compete for a playoff spot finds itself in last place in the Eastern Conference by a wide margin. While the overall season has been bad, there have been some bright spots. Here, we will go over three reasons fans should still watch Rangers games even though they are extremely bad.
The Development of Gabe Perreault
The trade of Artemi Panarin and the current injury to J.T. Miller means Gabe Perreault has a solidified spot on the Rangers’ top line. He has been playing very well as of late, with three goals and five points over his last four games. He is a player who is seen as a massive part of their future, so the last 19 games of the season are going to be crucial for his development. He is getting top-line minutes and is on the top power-play unit, so he is getting every opportunity to succeed.
He has been building chemistry on his line with Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere, and they have looked great so far together. Over the past few games since being put together, they have been the team’s best line and Perreault has been a great playmaker, setting up his linemates for goals while also being able to score some of his own. If Perreault develops into the player the Rangers hope he can be, it will help make this retool go a lot smoother.
Mika Zibanejad’s Bounce-Back Season
Speaking of Zibanejad, he has been the Rangers’ best offensive player this season, and it’s not even close. After two straight seasons of seeing his production decline, many thought he would never get back to being the player he used to be. However, he has proved his doubters wrong and is having an amazing season despite the team struggling around him, with 27 goals and 59 points in 62 games.
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He is eight games away from his 1000th-career NHL game and is one point away from 800 in his career. Zibanejad will go down as one of the better offensive players in franchise history, and seeing him get back to the level he was playing at a few seasons ago has been great to see. If he can continue to put up these kinds of numbers and remains with the team for the rest of his career, he could see his number hanging in the rafters at Madison Square Garden.
Adam Fox’s Potential Final Games as a Ranger
While this may not be a good reason to watch these last 19 games, they could be the last 19 games of Adam Fox’s Rangers tenure. Since coming back from the Winter Olympic break, Fox has yet to say publicly that he is committed to the Rangers’ retool, and that has some fans thinking that he many want to move on in order to chase a Stanley Cup. If that is the case and he does end up getting traded this offseason, it would mean moving on from the best defenseman the franchise has had since Brian Leetch.
While he may not be the biggest or the fastest, he is one of the smartest players in the NHL today, and some of the plays he makes are unbelievable. He has a gift for both the offensive and defensive sides of the puck, and one simply can’t find those kinds of players easily. While it is his right to ask for a trade if he doesn’t think the team is going in the right direction, it would be hard to say goodbye to a player who grew up a Rangers fan and wanted to come play for his childhood team. So, if these are his last 19 games as a Blueshirt, fans should be tuning in to watch him play.
The Rangers were not expecting to be in such a dismal spot this season. So many things went wrong for them and way below the playoff line is where they have ended up. While it has been an overall bad season, there have still been some bright spots that have given fans some hope. These three players should be reasons fans tune into the last 19 games of the regular season.
