At the time of this writing, the New York Rangers are less than 24 hours away from playing their first game of the 2024-25 regular season, as they begin their season on the road against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now, while the main goal for the entire team is to win the Stanley Cup, it doesn’t mean that certain individual players can’t try and win some awards of their own. In this piece, we are going to look at 4 Rangers players that could each win a different award by the time this season is over.
Artemi Panarin: Hart Trophy/Art Ross Trophy
Last season was a massive offensive jump for Artemi Panarin. While he had always been good for around 30 goals and 90 to 95 points, he never had gotten to the 100 point mark until last season. He smashed his previous career highs in all offensive categories. He scored 49 goals and 120 points, which was good for fifth and fourth in the entire league respectively. If other players didn’t also have more goals and points than him, he could’ve been in the conversation for both the Hart and Art Ross trophies. Both of these achievements could once again be possible this season.
Panarin has been nominated once before for the Hart Trophy back in the 2019-20 season, his first as a Ranger. While he didn’t win the trophy, he showed that he truly is one of best players in the entire NHL and has proven that every year since. IF he can replicate or even improve upon what he did last season, he should be in the conversation for the MVP of the league. If he is in that conversation, he should also be in the one for the Art Ross trophy for most points by a player in the 2024-25 season. It is going to be very interesting to see if Panarin can build off his success from last season and try to be even better for a Rangers team that has a Cup or Bust mentality.
Adam Fox: Norris Trophy
It is crazy to think that Adam Fox has only won one Norris Trophy in his career so far. While he has been nominated for more, he could never quite get enough votes even though he is arguably the best two-way defenseman in the NHL. He can put up great offensive numbers while also being a great defender in his own end. This is what you look for out of the best defensemen in the league, but since he hasn’t been able to put up as many points as the other recent defensemen who have won the trophy, he hasn’t been able to win the award again.
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Fox is coming off a season in which he missed 10 games, but still put up the most goals of his career(17) and the second most points of his career(73). He is now looking to build off of what he did last season and if he can stay healthy, there is no doubt that he can be a point-per-game player this season and finally get over the 80 point mark. Fox won the Norris Trophy in just his second season in the NHL and now, he is going to be looking to add some more hardware to his collection when this season is over.
Igor Shesterkin: Vezina Trophy
Even though he is not signed to a contract extension, the Rangers will have Igor Shesterkin once again leading the team this season. Despite all the drama surrounding his next contract and how much it will end up being, the focus is on this season and as long as the Rangers have Shesterkin healthy and on his game, they have a chance to win a Stanley Cup. He last won the Vezina Trophy during the 2021-22 season and while he hasn’t put up similar numbers to those in the regular season, he turns into a different beast in the playoffs and has been almost unbeatable.
With this being a contract season and Shesterkin wanting to prove that he is worth all the money he is reportedly asking for, he is going to need to have an amazing all-around season. He can’t through slumps of poor play like he has the past two seasons. He needs to be playoff Shesterkin all season long if he wants to earn his next contract. If he does play like that, there is no doubt that he could be a favorite for the Vezina Trophy and be recognized as the overall best goalie in the NHL.
Mika Zibanejad: Selke Trophy
While Mika Zibanejad is known more for his offensive game, he has become a very reliable defensive player as well over the years with the Rangers. He is the on the teams’ top penalty killing unit with Chris Kreider and an argument can be made that they are the best PK duo in the league. They know when it’s time to defend and when to take a chance and try to score a short-handed-goal. Even when he isn’t on the PK, Zibanejad is still very good in the defensive zone as he has improved his face-off winning ability, will block shots and is most of the time in the right position to block the oppositions passes.
The Selke Trophy is awarded to the best defensive forward in the NHL. While players like Alexander Barkov and Patrice Bergeron have each won the award twice the last four seasons, Zibanejad has seen his name come up on the ballots more often than not during these four seasons. If he can still provide offense while also being an elite defensive forward, he should be considered a favorite for the Selke Trophy for this season and for years to come.
The Rangers have a very talented group of players once again this season and even if the ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup, you need these players to start playing well now as the season gets going. If these four players can have amazing seasons for the Rangers, they should be one of the favorites for the Stanley Cup and they might also take home some individual awards as well.
