Rangers one of league’s biggest mysteries going into camp
Henrik Lundqvist wants training camp to begin with an honest conversation.
The longtime face of the New York Rangers sees this as an important time to define expectations for this season after watching the team fasttrack a rebuild by signing winger Artemi Panarin, trading for defensemen Jacob Trouba and Adam Fox, and drafting Finnish sensation Kaapo Kakko.
“What type of pressure can we put on this team now? Where are we?” Lundqvist said. “What you want and what the reality is is sometimes very different. I want to win games. I want to play playoff hockey. And I hope within the group and coaching staff, we talk about it before camp starts. ‘OK, this is what we’ve got?’ What’s realistic? You set the goal and then you work toward that.”
The Rangers will be watched closely as NHL training camps begin this week, a curiosity amid the traditional Eastern Conference powers in Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington and Pittsburgh. Across the river from New York, the New Jersey Devils look similarly primed to turn things around, but New York seems a threat to contend again after missing the playoffs the past two seasons.
“It was exciting to see the big steps we’re taking in the right direction,” Lundqvist said. “We should be able to take that next step now with the additions and the younger guys need to take another step here in their development. But there’s so many teams I feel like in similar situations where if they do really well, they can get in.”
Signing Panarin to an $81.5 million, sevenyear contract is the biggest reason to think the Rangers can get in. Now it’s a question of how the Russian pointagame producer jells with center Mika Zibanejad and the rest of the forwards within coach David Quinn’s system. Kakko, the second overall pick, dazzled in a prospects tournament and New York’s blue line got a major boost with the trade for Trouba.
“There’s no question that we improved a lot over the summer,” Lundqvist said. “Changes, big and small, can turn things around pretty quickly.”
MCDAVID’S KNEE
Connor McDavid is five months removed from tearing the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, which might now be the most scrutinized body part in the league. The Edmonton captain has surpassed 100 points each of the past three seasons, seems to skate at a different gear than his peers and is widely considered the best hockey player in the world.
There are plenty of questions about how the injury will affect all that.
“It’s tough to see anyone get hurt, especially a player of his caliber,” said Chicago forward Alex DeBrincat, who played junior hockey with McDavid. “He said it’s getting better. Hope he’s ready for camp and would love to see him back on the ice.”
The Oilers said they won’t rush McDavid back. That’s a common refrain but easier said than done after missing the playoffs in backtoback years and knowing what McDavid can do.