As we get closer to the start of the 2024-25 NHL season, it means another season nears in which the New York Rangers will try to win a Stanley Cup and end the franchise’s 31-year drought. They got to the Eastern Conference finals last season and have been there two of the past three seasons, but have not been able to take the next step.
Now, as we enter the likely last chance the core has of winning together, the pressure will be higher than even to get the job done. After some disappointing performances last season, there are a few players who need to step it up this season. Here are four players on the Rangers who are facing the most pressure this season.
Jacob Trouba
After an offseason full of trade rumors and drama, Jacob Trouba will be returning to the Rangers and entering his third season as the captain. After getting injured near the end of last season, Trouba came back into the lineup and looked absolutely terrible. He was demoted to the third defensive pairing as the playoffs began and his performance did not get better in the playoffs as he was one of the worst players on the ice. Now, he is coming into this season with something to prove after it seemed as if he was going to be traded earlier this summer.
He is projected to start on the third pairing once again, playing alongside Zac Jones, who is getting his first real chance at playing consistent NHL minutes. If Trouba can complement Jones’ game and be a steady and reliable defensive defenseman, he should have himself a bounce-back season. However, if he continues to try doing too much or is put in a position that is too much for him, it’s going to be another bad season for him in New York. No matter how he plays this season, this will likely be his last season with the Rangers due to lack of cap space heading into the 2025-26 season.
Mika Zibanejad
Mika Zibanejad had a down season offensively in 2023-24 and it didn’t get much better when the playoffs came around. He went from scoring 39 goals in the 2022-23 season to just 26 last season. In the playoffs, he only managed to score three goals and two of those goals came in one game. He went on a 10-game goalless drought to end the playoffs and did not score at all in the Eastern Conference finals. He is now facing the most criticism has had to deal with in his time with the Rangers and this season needs to be a complete 180 from how he played last season.
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The Rangers need Zibanejad to find his goal scoring touch once again. He has been one of the most underrated goal scorers over the past few seasons and he has a very dangerous shot when he chooses to use it. Since the 2019-20 season, he has scored the sixteenth most goals in the entire league. He needs to become that player again because even though he plays a really great defensive game, as the Rangers’ “number-one center”, he needs to provide more offense than he did last season. If he can’t produce at a high level this season, some difficult conversations need to be had about his long-term future with the Rangers.
Kaapo Kakko
Just like with Trouba, many thought that Kaapo Kakko would have been traded this offseason after another season of not living up to his potential. Even though he did miss time with injury, he still never took his game to the next level and it seemed as if it was time to move on from the 2019 second-overall pick. However, the Rangers opted to give him a one-year “prove-it” contract and now, this season is truly his last chance to prove why he deserves to be in New York for the foreseeable future.
Kakko showed promise during the 2022-23 season when he scored 18 goals and recorded 40 points, but he took a step back last season with just 13 goals and 19 points. He needs to take the next step offensively because he has shown flashes of being a great player with all the tools to succeed, but has never been able to put it al together. He will likely start on the third line, but if he can show he has grown his game and can become more of a threat offensively, he might get the chance to play higher in the lineup.
Artemi Panarin
While this might be the most questionable choice of the players chosen for this list, it’s safe to say many are expecting Artemi Panarin to replicate what he did last season, and that will put a lot of pressure on him once again this season. His playoff performance left much to be desired once again, but now, he has to show that last season was not a one off for him and that he can be a consistent 40 goal, 100 point player in the league.
His line with Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere was one of the best in the league last season and they will likely be together to start this season. If they can find renewed chemistry, they should be dominant once again and Panarin is the player who drives that line. He changed up his game last season and was shooting the puck more than he had before. He needs to continue to shoot the puck this season and the Rangers are going to need him and his offense if Zibanejad struggles once again. Panarin is one of the top players to watch this season.
The Rangers have Stanley Cup aspirations once again this season and this is the last chance for these core players to get the job done together. If they have any chance of succeeding, they need these players to step up and to not crack under the pressure.
