New York Rangers

Metropolitan Division, Eastern Conference · 22 reports in the 2023-24 edition.

This is the 2023-24 edition — an archived read, written from that season alone. Read the 2026-27 club page →

The club

2022-23 · 82 games · 210 for, 213 against

How it played

Shot attempts share, five-on-five: 49.8% 17th of 32
Expected goals share, five-on-five: 49.2% 21st of 32
Power play expected goals per sixty: 8.13 6th of 32
Penalty kill expected goals allowed per sixty: 7.71 23rd of 32

Where the record lies

Finishing goals scored above what the chances were worth: +14.8 6th of 32
Goaltending goals prevented beyond what the chances allowed were worth: +17.3 5th of 32

New York Rangers scored 14.8 more goals than their chances were worth and got 17.3 more saves than the chances they faced warranted — 32 goals of the record that the underlying play does not explain. Both halves regress.

Roster shape

Points-weighted, so these are the ages and origins of the production rather than of the sweaters.

Average age: 28.4; weighted by points
From 33 and up: 9.2%; of skater points
From under 26: 34.3%; of skater points
Homegrown: 29.8%; drafted by this club
Continuity: 69.1%; of last season's five-on-five minutes

The read

the numbers, and the eye

Second in the league on the power play, twenty-first at creating chances at even strength, and thirty-two goals of finishing and goaltending on top of what the chances were worth.

Who this names 10 of 22 on the roster · 36% of their five-on-five minutes details

Both columns above are searched, and a name counts on the same terms the page links it: in full always, by surname only when one man in the edition wears it. Nothing here says who ought to be named — only who was, so the weighting can be seen rather than guessed at.

Not named here: Filip Chytil, Barclay Goodrow, Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafrenière, Jake Leschyshyn, Ryan Lindgren, K'Andre Miller, Artemi Panarin, Braden Schneider, Vincent Trocheck, Jacob Trouba, Jimmy Vesey.

What the Quant Says

47-22-13, 107 points, 9th in the league and third in the Metropolitan.

277 goals for, 12th. 219 against, 4th. Second in the league on the power play, 9th on the penalty kill, 17th in shot-attempt share, 21st at creating chances at even strength and 16th at suppressing them.

At five-on-five: 180 goals scored against 165.2 expected, and 153 conceded against 170.3. The finishing was 6th at plus-14.8 and the goaltending 5th at plus-17.3. Thirty-two goals of edge over what the chances were worth, on a club that was twenty-first at making them.

The Rangers lost the first round to New Jersey in seven.

Mika Zibanejad scored 39 goals with 20 of them on the power play and took 126 slap shots, third in the league. Chris Kreider registered 98 tip-ins, the most in the league. Adam Fox had 60 assists at the 4th percentile in top speed.

Blake Wheeler, Erik Gustafsson, Jonathan Quick, Nick Bonino, Tyler Pitlick and Connor Mackey arrive. Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Niko Mikkola, Tyler Motte, Julien Gauthier, Ryan Carpenter and Jaroslav Halak do not.

This is a club whose record is a good deal better than its play, and the two departments carrying it — finishing and goaltending — are the two that move most from season to season. The power play is real and so is Shesterkin; the twenty-first-best rate of chance creation is the thing that has to change.

What the Scout Says

The second-best power play in hockey, and the twenty-first-best rate of chance creation at even strength.

The Rangers produced 8.360 expected goals per 60 on the power play, second in the league. They created 2.571 per 60 at even strength, 21st. Thirty-two goals of finishing and goaltending sat on top of what the chances were worth.

There is an enormous amount of talent here and it is arranged badly. Two of the best special-teams weapons in the league, a Norris-winning defenceman with 60 assists, an elite goaltender — and a five-on-five game that produces chances at the rate of a bottom-third club.

Who this names 8 of 13 forwards · 71% of their five-on-five minutes details

Not named here: Nick Bonino, Barclay Goodrow, Jake Leschyshyn, Tyler Pitlick, Jimmy Vesey.

What the Quant Says

277 goals, 12th in the league.

The Rangers created 2.571 expected goals per 60 at even strength, 21st, and took 49.8 per cent of the shot attempts at five-on-five, 17th, and 49.2 per cent of the expected goals, 21st.

At five-on-five it scored 180 goals against an expectation of 165.2 — a surplus of 14.8, 6th in the league. Twenty-first at making chances and sixth at converting them.

Artemi Panarin had 29 goals and 92 points in all 82 games, Mika Zibanejad 39 and 91 with 20 power-play goals, Adam Fox 12 goals and 60 assists from the blue line at 24:23 a night, Vincent Trocheck 22 and 64, Chris Kreider 36 goals with 98 tip-ins — the most in the league — and Filip Chytil 22 goals at 23.

Blake Wheeler arrives from Winnipeg with 16 goals and 55 points at 36. Kaapo Kakko had 18 goals and 8 penalty minutes in all 82 games.

What the Scout Says

Ninety-eight tip-ins from one winger, and a hundred and twenty-six slap shots from one centre.

Chris Kreider is 6-3 and 232 and registered 98 tip-ins, the most in the league, taking 60 per cent of his shots from inside 20 feet at a median of 14. Thirty-two of his 36 goals came from in there. He does one thing and nobody in hockey does it better.

Mika Zibanejad is 6-2 and 208 and took 126 slap shots, third in the league, with 20 of his 39 goals on the power play and 101 career power-play goals in 767 games.

Artemi Panarin is 6-0 and 176, undrafted, with 661 points in 590 games and 19 per cent from twenty to forty feet against a league rate of 11. He is the most creative forward in this chapter by a distance.

Vincent Trocheck took 331 attacking-zone starts and 331 defensive — the most exactly balanced deployment in this book — and had 64 points. Filip Chytil scored 22 goals at 23 and Kaapo Kakko had 18 with 8 penalty minutes in 82 games off 25 per cent conversion from inside 20 feet.

Blake Wheeler arrives at 6-5 with 1,118 games, 922 points and the 85th percentile in bursts of speed at 36. Alexis Lafrenière is 22 and held a 49 per cent chance share from the 89th percentile of zone starts.

Who this names 6 of 7 defencemen · 95% of their five-on-five minutes details

Not named here: Connor Mackey.

What the Quant Says

The Rangers allowed 2.633 expected goals per 60 at even strength, 16th in the league, and conceded 219 goals, 4th. Seventeenth at preventing chances and fourth in goals against.

At five-on-five it conceded 153 goals against an expectation of 170.3, and the club's goaltending came in 17.3 goals better than the chances it faced, 5th in the league.

Adam Fox had 60 assists and 72 points at 24:23 a night from the 4th percentile of measured top speed and the 93rd of ground covered — 3.14 miles a game at 21.8 mph.

K'Andre Miller is 6-5 and played 79 games at 21:57 on the most five-on-five ice of any Ranger. Jacob Trouba played all 82 at 21:12 and took 150 shots on goal from beyond 40 feet for 2 goals off a 98.6 mph shot. Ryan Lindgren finished plus-29 on one goal from 72 shots, the best figure on the club.

Braden Schneider is 22 and scored 5 goals on 55 long shots at nearly three times the positional rate, on the worst chance share on the club. Erik Gustafsson arrives with 42 points from the 98th percentile of zone starts, having played the season between Washington and Toronto.

What the Scout Says

Sixty assists at twenty-four minutes a night, from the fourth percentile in top speed.

Adam Fox is 5-11 and 185 and had 12 goals and 60 assists at 24:23, covering 3.14 miles a game at the 93rd percentile off a 21.8 mph top speed at the 4th. He is 199 assists into 285 career games. This book has repeatedly recorded that a defenceman covering a great deal of ground at a modest maximum is the ordinary shape of a first-pair defenceman, and he is the most extreme version of it.

K'Andre Miller is 6-5 and 210 and at the 75th percentile of measured speed and the 86th of ground covered — a very large defenceman who skates, on the most five-on-five ice of any Ranger at 23.

Jacob Trouba is 6-3 and 212 with 531 career penalty minutes and took 150 shots on goal from beyond 40 feet for 2 goals, off a shot at the 94th percentile. The sentence this book had been telling about the point shot does not explain it.

Ryan Lindgren is 6-0 and 194 and finished plus-29 on one goal from 72 shots — the best figure on the club, from a defenceman who does nothing at the attacking end at all.

Braden Schneider is 22 and scored 5 on 55 long shots at nearly three times the positional rate, on the worst chance share on the club. Erik Gustafsson arrives with 42 points from the 98th percentile of zone starts.

Who this names 2 of 2 goaltenders details

What the Quant Says

The club's goaltending came in 17.3 goals better than the chances it faced, 5th in the league.

Igor Shesterkin went 37-13-8 with a .9162 and a 2.48 in 58 games, facing 1,719 shots with 3 shutouts. That was tenth of forty-two among goaltenders who played twenty-five games, a season after the best save percentage in the league. His career line across 158 games is a .9238.

Jonathan Quick arrives with 16-15-6, an .8824 and a 3.41 in 41 games — forty-first of forty-two. He has 753 NHL games and a career .9111, with two Stanley Cups in it.

Jaroslav Halak played 25 games and does not return.

The Rangers have replaced a 38-year-old backup with a 37-year-old backup coming off the second-worst save percentage of any goaltender who played twenty-five games. Behind Shesterkin that may not matter, and the club is betting that it will not.

What the Scout Says

Tenth of forty-two, a season after the best save percentage in the league.

Igor Shesterkin is 6-1 and 199 and went 37-13-8 with a .9162 in 58 games. His career line across 158 games is a .9238, which is a good deal better than the season, and the season was still tenth of the forty-two goaltenders who played twenty-five games. He is quick, deep and reads plays a beat before they happen.

Jonathan Quick arrives at 37 with 753 NHL games, two Stanley Cups and a career .9111, having posted an .8824 last season — forty-first of forty-two. He is one of the great goaltenders of his generation and the recent record is what it is.

Jaroslav Halak does not return. The Rangers have the fifth-best goaltending in the league and have replaced one thirty-something backup with another. Behind a goaltender who plays sixty games, that may never be tested.

Who this names 10 men details

The data does not say who takes these minutes, so there is no denominator to hold this against — a count of names is all it can honestly be. Both columns above are searched, and a name counts on the same terms the page links it.

What the Quant Says

2nd in the league at 8.360 expected goals per 60, over 4:56 a night, 18th in power-play time. The second-best rate in hockey on ordinary ice.

Mika Zibanejad scored 20 power-play goals, Vincent Trocheck 9, Artemi Panarin 9, Chris Kreider 8, Alexis Lafrenière 3, Filip Chytil 3, Jacob Trouba 2, Adam Fox 1 and Barclay Goodrow 1. Blake Wheeler scored 7 elsewhere.

RW · New York Rangers

One thousand one hundred and eighteen games, 922 points, and the 85th percentile in bursts of speed at thirty-six.

Mika Zibanejad

C · New York Rangers

One hundred and twenty-six slap shots, third in the league, and twenty of his thirty-nine goals on the power play.

How they were used

2022-23 · 82 games

Measured from shift charts at five-on-five, not projected. Units are built from the strongest partnership outward and ordered by how much they were used; the percentage is the share of the first player’s five-on-five ice time spent alongside each linemate. A low number means the club never settled on a combination. Players who have gone are marked — either to another club, or off an NHL roster altogether, which covers retirement and an unsigned summer alike.