Adam Proteau at The Hockey News gives his pre-season predictions and puts the Rangers at #7 in the East…
7. New York Rangers
Yet again, the Rangers are coming off a season in which they looked good at times, but ultimately fizzled in the first round of the playoffs. The reason for that is simple: they had a world-class goalie in Henrik Lundqvist and impact forwards including Marian Gaborik, Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky – but they didn’t have enough depth to keep pushing when injuries struck Gaborik and Callahan. Bringing in Brad Richards and Mike Rupp will help in that regard, but their defense still seems like a work-in-progress – especially with troubling news about Marc Staal and his post-concussion symptoms – and that could, once again, be enough to make them a one-series-and-done playoff team.
…while I agree with Proteau putting the Rangers at #7 (I’ve got them finishing at #6), I think he is grossly short-changing the Rangers defensemen, with or without Staal. They were a strength of the team last year and now they’re all a year older. The Rangers young defensive corps is one of the last things I’m worried about. The power play? Well that’s something different.
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