Gritty Players Stepping Up & A Potential Blake Wheeler Trade
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In today’s edition, we look at the Rangers’ depth stepping up, a potential Blake Wheeler trade, and more!
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Rangers’ Gritty Players Stepping up With Key Players Out
December 1, 2023 by Brian Abate
The New York Rangers are off to an impressive 16-4-1 start despite dealing with injuries to a lot of their top players. Igor Shesterkin missed a couple of weeks, Adam Fox missed 10 games, and both Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil are on long-term injured reserve. In their absence, the team’s gritty players have stepped up with captain Jacob Trouba leading the way, and the bottom-six forward group has played well too.
When Fox went down with a knee injury against the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 2, Erik Gustafsson did an excellent job replacing him on the Rangers’ top power-play unit and as a top-four defenseman. Additionally, Trouba and K’Andre Miller, the team’s top healthy defense pair, played at an extremely high level both at even strength and on the penalty kill.
3 Rangers’ Trade Partners in a Potential Blake Wheeler Deal
December 1, 2023 by Jesse Courville-Lynch
The New York Rangers have been electrifying to watch to start out the 2023-24 season and continue to be one of the hottest teams in the NHL this season. For them, a Stanley Cup is not out of the realm of possibility as they have shown no signs of slowing down, even after having to deal with major injuries to Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin.
Their recent 5-1 loss against the Buffalo Sabres should hopefully be a one-time event where they can bounce back and continue their dominance moving forward. One small negative to their season has been forward Blake Wheeler who has provided veteran leadership on and off the ice but has failed to be much of an asset offensively. With his contract being quite affordable, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Rangers decided to move him mid-season.
Panarin’s Scorching Start Adds to Complicated Rangers Legacy
November 30, 2023 by Tom Castro
Artemi Panarin has recorded at least 92 points in his three mostly full seasons with the New York Rangers, and he almost certainly would have hit the 100 mark in 2019-20, when the NHL shut down after 70 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic with Panarin at 95 points. At age 32, the Breadman might be on his way to his best season in 2023-24, with 31 points in 21 games to help power the Blueshirts toward the top of the league.
That kind of resume would ordinarily make a player the darling of a fan base, especially in New York. Yet when it comes to Panarin and the Rangers faithful, the relationship status is … complicated.