This season is nuts. The current top 10 teams are all killers. Washington has slid down the rankings because they’ve hit a slump while Pittsburgh and Boston (who are just outside the top 10) are on ridiculous runs.

The Rangers are holding strong at 28-11-4. The last 10 game record is 7-3-0. The best record they’ve had in a long time. A lot of people are hating them, expecting a collapse to happen every single game. Much of their record is due to Igor Shesterkin being one of the best goalies on earth but how can you hate a guy for doing his job? When the team has been down he’s been able to keep the score close to give his team a chance. Many times they’ve responded in kind, turning bad starts into victories. In the past few years, those wins never happened. The team is way better than they’ve been but there are still problems.

Not enough 5 on 5 goals for and not enough scoring depth. More players need to be making goals, many guys have strange, lengthy goal droughts. The Rangers special teams are really good and that’s swung a few games in their favor.

Too many slow starts. Sometimes it’s like they are just trying to survive the first 20 minutes. This has been a problem for years and it’s really weird. They hit the ice and it’s like no one told them they were playing a regular-season game. This ain’t practice guys, get moving. This frequently puts them in a game of catch-up.

Too many breakaways against. This leaves all the pressure on the goaltenders too frequently.

The fourth-line D pair is really weak. Patrik Nemeth is straight-up not doing what they wanted him to do. This means he hasn’t been able to help Nils grow, which is why he’s been sent to the AHL to cook some more. Nils is very young so this isn’t too surprising.

Defense in general has been too spotty. K’Andre has been making more mistakes than usual. He does everything he can to make up for each one though. Libor Hajek is okay at best. Braden Schneider could fill in the void. Very new but very promising and it looks like he’s getting more ice time. Thank god Trouba has been playing so well recently.

On offense, both Kakko and Chytil are injured. Sounds like Chytil will be back much sooner, but he’s more of famine than feast player. He just can’t seem to get everything to click. It always feels like he’s one step away from breaking through and he never does. This is like his 4th season. Kakko’s points totals are a tiny bit higher, he was on a bit of an assist streak before he got hurt.

Lafrenière is the same, everyone is waiting for him to pop off and he’s not. But for Kakko and Lafrenière, I think the expectations are really too high for them. Drafted 2nd and 1st in their respective classes everyone expects them to be Sidney Crosby right away but that’s not realistic. Especially for Lafrenière, this is his first full season. Kakko is on his 3rd. Lafrenière made a fantastic goal in OT against LA this week so that one is a feather in his cap and a super boost to his confidence. We just can’t be impatient about developing players.

I’m not sure how much Dryden Hunt is doing. Let’s hope Morgan Barron can help out. He’s in the same boat as Julien Gauthier; they both have amazing potential. You can see a powerful pro player is stirring inside them. Zac Jones has been called back up so he’s another one for that barrel. Zac’s played less than 20 pro games I think. Again, have to wait for these developing players and not pressure them to the point of cracking.

Chris Kreider is having a god-like season. He got a huge re-up contract and gad zooks is he living up to it. He’s having the best season of his career. First in goals in the league (with Washington and Edmundton in a slump, Kreider went by Ovechkin, Draisaitl, and McDavid) with 30, 15 of them powerplay goals!

No matter what happens though, the team is a lot of fun to watch.

In the grand total of things, Colorado, Florida, Carolina, and Tampa Bay seem unstoppable. Colorado is averaging like 5 points a game and their goaltending is getting better. Carolina steamrolled the Rangers in their first meeting. They are crazy fast and aggressive. Pittsburgh has had the depth to keep them from falling behind with their best players out for months. Now that they’re basically at full strength, the team that many people during the off-season thought were at the point of being washed up are racking up the points. It looks like they’ll be in the playoffs no problem. Now if they choke in the playoffs again is another issue. There’s still a lot of the season left and games are already feeling like they are playoff games. Every point matters. The level of talent in the NHL is nuts.

Look at that! After beating the Oilers last night (4-1, what a revenge!) the New York Rangers are in first place in the entire league. This is incredible. The team hit a bit of a slump just before the Christmas break, something like 1-2-1. Then coming back from the break (which was more than a week of no games), lost in a shootout to the Panthers after losing control in the 3rd period and giving up the lead. Rough loss. A few guys got sidelined because of Covid protocol in the following three games. But every single game was won. Shootout win vs Tampa, then a clean win against Tampa again in a home-and-home contest which went right into playing Edmonton.

The Oilers have been struggling for at least 3 weeks now and the Rangers picked up what other teams have been doing to them. Stay close to McDavid and Draisaitl to slow them down because stick checking doesn’t do enough, they’re too skilled (especially McDavid). That pairing is a huge part of their scoring power, the rest of the team isn’t producing enough. Stay out of the penalty box and that takes away a huge advantage with–again–that pair.

The Rangers are absolutely clicking now. Amazing defense, especially last night. Fantastic communication and effort from everyone. If a mistake is made, others are there to help out. Rock solid goaltending from both Shesterkin and Georgiev. More players are getting points. If Chytil and Gauthier can break through…hoo boy. Zac Jones is on the taxi squad and has been put in twice and he did really well. He was thrown in the deep end to defend against some of the best players in the league and he stood strong. He’s been doing great in the AHL and it’s translating into the NHL. Really promising.

Now it’s to the west coast for a 5 game road trip. Exciting times, to say the least. The margin for error is razor-thin, just like at those standings. There are only 5 points between first and 8th place. 2 points for first to fourth place! The Rangers are in first because they have more regulation wins over Washington. Every game is important but the momentum is behind the Rangers now. We’re seeing team depth on ice now and that’s the key to success (just look at Edmonton).