Retooled Rangers ready to focus on making playoffs
NEW YORK >> Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers are ready to put their struggles from the last two seasons behind them.
After finishing 20 points out of a playoff spot for the second straight year, the Rangers added some new players and are looking toward returning to the postseason.
“The past is the past, you move on,” veteran goalie Henrik Lundqvist said. “We have a new team. You got to look at the possibilities and the good things we can accomplish this year, not so much what happened last year where we were as a team. We’re moving forward.”
Signing left wing Artemi Panarin in free agency was the big splash to boost the team’s rebuild, and New York also acquired defenseman Jacob Trouba in a trade and drafted forward Kaapo Kakko with the second overall pick. Now the Rangers believe they are ready to make big strides in the second year under coach David Quinn.
“We got some new players and some really good players coming in, and young guys coming in,” center Mika Zibanejad said. “Obviously you want to take the next step in this whole process and just work from there, take it game by game.”
Panarin, who has totaled 116 goals and 204 assists in his first four seasons in the NHL, will be counted on to set the tone for the entire lineup. He will join Zibanejad (career highs of 30 goals and 44 assists last season) on the top line, with fellow Russian Pavel Buchnevich getting the early nod on the right side of the trio.
Chris Kreider will be on the left side of the second line, joined by either Filip Chytil or Lias Andersson — 20-year-olds who were the team’s first-round picks in 2017 —in the middle, and Kakko, 18, or Vitali Kravtsov, 19, on the right side.
“Having Panarin in here gives us a true first line,” Quinn said. “They take an awful lot of pressure off the other three lines. We hope they take some pressure off some of our younger players that are put in key positions.”
Brett Howden showed flashes last year and Ryan Strome was solid after coming over in a midseason trade. Oth will be counted on to be key players among the bottom six forwards.