MSG Sits Silent Yet Again - 2023 Edition

THE FALLOUT

The New York Rangers entered the 2022-2023 NHL season as one of the favorites to hoist the Stanley Cup at the end of the year. See for yourselves what was expectations for the The New York Rangers and rightfully so: Click Here For Prediction

But forget that for a second: what if they don’t make it to the end of the year?

At the start of the season, most would have had the Rangers making the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the team entered the year as one of favorites to win the Metropolitan Division. But, after a slow start to the year combined with other Metro teams playing as good as everyone expected, the Rangers miss the playoffs for second straight season by a single point. Rangers sold off most of their players at the deadline only to start playing the way the should have all year. A wake up call if you will. 

Expectations were high going into the season and that should be the case; the Rangers are one of the most talented teams in hockey. But, they did not show that this season. They struggled to put on a complete performance since the opener against Washington and each loss continued to sting more and more. There were no more excuses with this team. They were not dealing with injuries. They were not a rebuilding team waiting for the kids to emerge. Simply put by GM Martin Auzins:

"We were simply not good enough and that hurts"
 

But there is some hope for optimisim going forward, Rangers went with 14-5-3 to finish of the season and will look towards building back that confidence throught the off-season. 

Also, in the Metropolitan Division, the Rangers cannot afford to dig themselves a hole.

Look at the Metro: The Devils are playing their best hockey in years, the Islanders have just won 54 games, and the Flyers are essentially the same juggernaut it was last year. Furthermore, The Penguins look much better than they were supposed to against top team in the league and can you really count out Carolina and Columbus? There are a lot of competitive teams in the division that can hinder the Rangers’ chances of finishing at the top.

“It stings. An empty feeling, a little bit disbelief still,” forward Chris Kreider said at the team’s practice facility in Tarrytown, New York. 

“It’s up to us to take it and use it as fuel and come back and be a lot better next year.”

THE 2023 ENTRY DRAFT

The New York Rangers are still dealing with disappointment as they head into the offseason after missing the playoffs but have to look forward and with draft coming up soon - The Rangers hold 15 drafts picks this year:

FREE AGENTS

The Rangers have three unrestriced free agents - led by Nick Jensen (82 games - 19 points), Corey Perry (13 games - 5 points) and Backup goaltender Anthony Stolarz is also on the list after going 8-7-3 with a 2.69 GAA behind Shesterkin.

Also, Sam Bennett (Career high of 23 goals and assists 28) and Starting goalie Igor Shesterkin are key restriced free agents.

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THE PACK

 Hartford Wolf Pack have advanced to second round of the AHL playoffs and are waiting for their next opponent.