Rate the Rangers - 2020-2021 Season

Unfortunately, the Rangers' season is over. But now we get to give the Rangers a grade on their seasons. Use a school grading structure - A through F (+ and - are allowed). If you can, give a sentence or two to add context. Rate the whole team or rate some of them.

Let's hear it!

NOTE: I limited the number of games for players to be considered to 7GP. If you want to add in the players under that amount of games played, be my guest.

Forwards

Pavel Buchnevich - A

This was his best season of his career. He took on a new role on the PK and succeeded beyond expectation. He also plays with an edge, which is surprising for a pretty slight guy. Love Buch.

Phillip Di Giuseppe - B-

Not much expectation with PDG. He started off pretty good, but tapered off. He lost his roster spot eventually, but I've got no problem with how he played.

Chris Kreider - C+

Obviously it's crazy to say C+ right now given how bad the last part of his season was. He had 4 goals in his last 19 games. But he had 16 in the 31 before that. Overall, he wasn't effective enough when it really mattered. It's infuriating with him.

Alexis Lafreniere - C+

About as bad a start as you could imagine to his NHL career. In that time, he failed to show any sort of skill, dynamic ability, or anything that made him #1 overall. He improved as the season went on for sure though and there's some hope for next season.

Brendan Lemieux - D-

Was a decent bulldog for NYR, but... he stinks

Artemi Panarin - B

He's the best player on the team most nights. If he's on the Rangers are on. But he missed so much time because of the Russia story that it seriously hurt the Rangers this season. Not his fault really, but it can't be discounted.

Colin Blackwell - A

He's the Jesper Fast clone Quinn really wanted. He can do pretty much everything out there, slot up and down the lineup. You really can't ask for much more from Blackwell.

Filip Chytil - D

Good start to the season for Chytil. Then he got hurt. He hasn't been the same since. His development has really stalled out and it wouldn't to be surprising to see him get traded.

Brett Howden - D-

You don't notice him most nights, but he's a totally inconsequential player.

Kevin Rooney - B-

Good fourth liner. He's a hard worker and he plays a solid game. Good on the PK.

Ryan Strome - A-

Strome has been incredible this season. He was fairly consistent in production and you can tell he's a real leader on this team. He's going to get a minus here because he simply cannot win a faceoff.

Mika Zibanejad - B

Kinda the same as Panarin, but for different reasons. He's had a season where he was non-existent for a month. And then he turned it on. He actually leads the team in goals, which is pretty incredible when you consider he had 2 goals in his first 22. Overall though, too hot and cold this year. And his disappearing act in the start of the season really hurt the Rangers. But 21 goals in the last 29 games though... Ugh.

Julien Gauthier - D

Not sure what I'm supposed to see here. He's got some tools, but he doesn't seem to be able to put more than two of them together at any particular moment. Lots of debate among the fan base about his ice time, but it's really inconsequential IMO. He's JAG.

Kaapo Kakko - B

Kakko should win the award for most improved. His statlines have been infuriatingly low, but his improvement from last season to this one is so marked is pretty incredible. He still looks like shit when he skates, but at least there's some clear development.

Vitali Kravtsov - B

Only 20 games, but I really enjoyed watching Kravtsov play. He plays bigger than he is and he seems to have pretty good instincts. He's definitely grown on me beyond his original stint here in the pre-season and in Hartford last season.

Defensemen

Anthony Bitetto - D

Nice story. Fantasy camp is over for him, hope he enjoyed it.

Adam Fox - A+

Should win the Norris Trophy. He does it all. What more can you say?

Libor Hajek - F

He's pretty terrible, constantly losing puck battles, constantly losing coverage in the D-zone. He's statistically one of the worst defensemen in the league.

Jack Johnson - C

He was fine when he played. Can't say much more. His signing was met with much consternation, but he didn't cost the Rangers a whole lot.

Zac Jones - C+

Only played a handful of games, but looked alright. He looks like a child. Not sure I see the "Foxyness" that was purported yet, but only a small sample.

Ryan Lindgren - B+

Love Lindgren. He brings a lot to the table and he definitely punches above his weight.

K'Andre Miller - C

Incredible start to the season. He looked super poised and like he could be a stud on the back end. Then his play started to slip... and slip.. and slip. Since the first 20 games or so of the season, he's looked pretty bad. Tons of turnovers, failure to read plays.

Brendan Smith - B-

I really enjoyed Smith's arc with the Rangers. The only knock against him is his contract. He was decent this season and one of the only guys willing to stick up for teammates.

Jacob Trouba - C+

He's such an infuriating player. He's another guy whose biggest knock is his contract, but it's a big knock. He's an $8M defensemen, but he lost his spot on PP2. He doesn't do enough on the defensive side of the puck to make up for it and he's been known to make bad turnovers. He plays big though, which is nice.

Goaltenders

Alexandar Georgiev - C-

He had his moments of brilliance and moments where here couldn't stop a beachball. Lost his job as backup for a little while there. Plus, he fought a teammate. Not sure where to go with him.

Keith Kinkaid - B

Decent third option - he played fine when called upon. Cool emojis bro.

Igor Shesterkin - B-

Good enough rookie season. He has been statistically pretty solid. He didn't play super well against the higher tier teams, but he definitely kept the Rangers in games against some lesser opponents when the Rangers were sleep walking. He's got the tools. He's got to stop it with the splits. It's nice to have a guy who can handle the puck as well as he can.

I kept a few of yours, Morph, as I agreed with what you wrote, but here are my grades.

Forwards

Pavel Buchnevich - A+

I don't know what else I could have asked for this season.

Phillip Di Giuseppe - C

He just existed. Never really did too much, but didn't really hurt the team either.

Chris Kreider - B

Tied for 2nd in goals. He's a streaky goal scorer. When he's not scoring, he's labeled invisible, yet he's one of the only guys who parks in front of the net and screens shots. I think he gets a bit too much hate in Rangers land.

Alexis Lafreniere - C+

About as bad a start as you could imagine to his NHL career. In that time, he failed to show any sort of skill, dynamic ability, or anything that made him #1 overall. BUT, 5 goals, 3 assists for 8 points in his last 12 games salvaged his season and gives momentum going into next year.

Brendan Lemieux - C

Just ok. Neither good nor bad. Ice time and role decreased this year, so naturally he was less impactful.

Artemi Panarin - A+

Awesome. Our best player. Another 110+ point. No complaints. Not his fault Russia fucked him.

Colin Blackwell - A+

From AHL fodder to 6th in goals on a high scoring team.

Filip Chytil - B

Great start to season. Slow coming back, but finished with 12 points in the final 21 games (.55 ppg, 45 point pace), and 22 points in all 42 games he played (.52 ppg, 43 point pace). 45 point production @ 21 years of age, while dealing with COVID aftereffects, basically no PP time, all of his production came at even strength. Good for 3rd on the team in P/60 at even strength (Panarin, Buchnevich 1/2). If he was any good at faceoffs, I wouldn't consider trading him. Maybe he can get better, but do I think he'll be gone in a trade.

Brett Howden - D-

You don't notice him most nights, but he's a totally inconsequential player.

Kevin Rooney - B-

Good fourth liner. He's a hard worker and he plays a solid game. Good on the PK.

Ryan Strome - A

Exceeded all expectations. I didn't notice nearly as many lazy penalties or line changes like I did last year. He even had a 9 game stint without Panarin and still produced. Showed balls in the post-Wilson game against the Caps. Half-tick grade deduction only because he is so utterly awful at faceoffs.

Mika Zibanejad - B

It's so weird, because his start was the number one reason we missed the playoffs. But then he put up 22 goals and 44 points in the last 37 games of the season, and was pretty much the main reason they were even able to make a run. He turned an F into a B for me, but man, I wish he played like an A+ all year. We'd be talking about our playoff matchup right now.

Julien Gauthier - C+

Showed some initiative driving to the net on several occasions. Should have received more ice time (6th on team in P/60), but because of that he had little opportunity to get a grade higher than this.

Kaapo Kakko - B

Kakko should win the award for most improved. His statlines have been infuriatingly low, but his improvement from last season to this one is so marked is pretty incredible. He still looks like shit when he skates, but at least there's some clear development.

Vitali Kravtsov - B

Only 20 games, but I really enjoyed watching Kravtsov play. He plays bigger than he is and he seems to have pretty good instincts. He's definitely grown on me beyond his original stint here in the pre-season and in Hartford last season.

Defensemen

Anthony Bitetto - D

Nice story. Fantasy camp is over for him, hope he enjoyed it.

Adam Fox - A+

Should win the Norris Trophy. He does it all. What more can you say?

Libor Hajek - D-

Kind of similar to Howden for me. He's just there, except it's usually a net negative.

Jack Johnson - F

Wasted signing and money from the get go. A checkmark in the failure box for former GM Jeff Gorton.

Zac Jones - B-

Didn't do anything that wowed me, but I didn't see many glaring mistakes. I think he'll find a groove and be good next year.

Ryan Lindgren - A

Steady stalwart for Fox. Smart, physical player. I'd make sure he's on the left side for the next 5 or 6 years.

K'Andre Miller - C

Talented, but soft for a big frame. I think the hype was overblown, but he certainly has some offensive abilities. He is not untouchable as he's been made out to be. I wouldn't necessarily say no to trading him in a package deal if it's for a great player. I think I was more impressed by Zac Jones' overall game in his brief stint to be honest, and I trusted Jones more in his own zone.

Brendan Smith - B-

He was decent this season and one of the only guys willing to stick up for teammates. Shows up when the games mean more, but kind of crappy half the other time. I'd bring him back as a 7D for cheap, but he's not in my starting lineup next year.

Jacob Trouba - B+

I'm not rating him based on whether or not he lives up to the contract. I doubt he ever will, but he means a hell of a lot to the team even if he's overpaid. The team was absolute dogshit without him. I won't give him an A because of some mental lapses in coverage and the fact he has no puck skills and shouldn't be on the PP. He's not built for it.

Goaltenders

Alexandar Georgiev - D+

Way too inconsistent.

Keith Kinkaid - B-

Didn't see much difference between him and Georgiev to be honest, which means find someone to take Georgiev and save the money. Higher grade than Georgiev because Kinkaid played above expectations on a cheap deal.

Igor Shesterkin - B+

He was excellent for 90% of the season. The first few games and the last few games were horrendous. The first few were on him. The last few was on the team. Either way, a real nice showing.

Failure

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I’m giving this thread and the player grade posting a A+

My overall team grade? C+

There were nights these guys were valedictorians and other nights dunces.

Forwards

Pavel Buchnevich - A+

Really came into his own, love his edge, and is shooting more. Just when he won me over, I expect him traded at the draft.

Phillip Di Giuseppe - C

PDG = JAG

Chris Kreider - C-

Completely accept his lack of consistency and physicality, but when you only play half a season and hover between A and F, you get a C-.

Alexis Lafreniere - C

Showed some promise as the season went on, was pretty clear that he was completely out of shape and unprepared for the NHL. Let's hope he learns for next year.

Brendan Lemieux - D-

He stinks

Artemi Panarin - B

Until it becomes clear just why he needed 2 weeks off, seems like that helped so this team in as much as Zib's first half. I give him a pass on the nights he didn't "show up" because I think he's been pretty banged up all year.

Colin Blackwell - A

I know he doesn't "fit" due to "age" but I'd love to keep him for the 4th line.

Filip Chytil - D

He's not an NHL player. He's creative 1 on 1 off the rush but he lacks vision and hockey sense. Honestly I'd be surprised if he were still in the NHL in 3 years, think he'll be a Euro league KHL player though.

Brett Howden - D-

Whoden?

Kevin Rooney - B-

Agree with Morph, good 4th liner. Maybe we can move him to wing or Barron moves to wing, with Blackwell for the 4th line.

Ryan Strome - A-

I root hard for Strome because every other Ranger fan seems to be rooting against him. Just remember we got a player who's very close to P/G for Ryan Spooner. Stromer is wearing an A now and he's a success story no matter how you slice it. IMO, Rangers would be stupid to mess with Panarin's sidekick to try and "improve" at 2C.

Mika Zibanejad - C

C, same reason as Kreids. You play half a year at A and the other half at F, this is what you get. I love him as a player, but something seemed "off" with him this year. There were rumors that folks in the room weren't happy with the (4) A's setup, and if I were totally speculating I'd say Mika was really disappointed at not getting the C and it showed.

Julien Gauthier - D

This guy sucks.

Kaapo Kakko - B

Next year is the year he puts it all together, IMO. Especially if there are no/less COVID protocols in place. His PDO does not suggest he was unlucky, but his defensive play was light years better and he passes the eyeball test. If he doesn't start producing at a reasonable clip next year, you have to worry.

Vitali Kravtsov - A

For how many games her played, and who he was playing with, he gets an A. He came back over a completely different player than last season and it was very apparent. Goes to show the team made the right call last year, and he reacted poorly. Very happy to see his mindset shift.

Defensemen

Anthony Bitetto - G

G for glue guy.

Adam Fox - A+

Should win Norris, but won't. No sophomore slump for him, I'm hoping he doesn't let good get to him.

Libor Hajek - F

He'll be a good 7th defenseman in the DEL.

Jack Johnson - C

Just leaving Morph's writeup...He was fine when he played. Can't say much more. His signing was met with much consternation, but he didn't cost the Rangers a whole lot.

Zac Jones - B+

Came in at a really shitty time in the season and didn't look rattled. To me, he looks exactly like a left handed Fox in terms of playing style (they move similarly, on the ice).

Ryan Lindgren - A

Perfect compliment to Fox. It's a lot to ask that they stay together, but I hope the Rangers find a way to make it happen.

K'Andre Miller - C

Bright future ahead. Started strong, cannon of a shot, don't think he was quite as bad in 2nd half as some say. I think he missed Trouba's partnership.

Brendan Smith - B-

Leaving Morph's write up here. I really enjoyed Smith's arc with the Rangers. The only knock against him is his contract. He was decent this season and one of the only guys willing to stick up for teammates.

Jacob Trouba - C

He thought he was a big fish in a small pond in WIN, now he's a small fish in a big pond. This guy wouldn't get $6M on the open market right now and we're paying him $8 for how much longer? Gotta get him out of here, he's just going to be blocked better players in 2-3 years.

Goaltenders

Alexandar Georgiev - C-

Good enough to be a cheap backup.

Keith Kinkaid - B

Decent third option - he played fine when called upon. Cool emojis bro.

Igor Shesterkin - B-

Agree with Morph, he's not going to steal you games. I don't know if he's going to develop into "that guy", but if he continues to be just above average, then at least we won't have to pay him. Cuz right now, he's not lived up to "as advertised".

Added grades for coaching and leadership.

Coaching: B-

When you hear Vally talk about all the challenges, no practice time due to condensed schedule, players out with injury or COVID, etc., you kind of have to chalk it up to a shit situation. The homogeneous roster is not the coaching staff's fault. They improved defensively by leaps and bounds, and do I think there's room for further improvement, sure. But that leads me to...

Leadership: F

If you believe a coach has lost a room, then you can look directly to the leadership core who did not remind this team that they play for each other. You can blame Quinn for "not adapting his style", but the players bear that responsibility as well. There's no C on this team because there's no one fit to lead it. Zib can try and put the team on his back, but do they follow his lead? If they do...He needs to adapt as well.

Front Office: D

Bad contract decisions, poor roster construction, unable to remove ADA last summer or any time this year, etc. Then Dolan coming in with his bullshit just makes me completely lose faith in the front office right now...until Drury gives me a reason to believe.

snip

Good post, I think a lot of these rankings are spot on, in retrospect.

Regarding leadership: I think from what we heard late in the season Trouba is a real leader in that room. Then when he goes down they look shambolic. I guess that's no coincidence. I think they're devoid of leadership too, especially when Zib was as bad as he was to start the season.

I think Kreider fancies himself a leader, but he's definitely got some work to do.

Thanks for putting in the effort and adding the coaching, leadership, and FO stuff.

It became obvious to me (and probably everyone else here, and in the NHL) in January and February that this team was soft, and could not skate with the big teams. They did beat Washington a couple of times, granted, but against BOS, NYI, PIT, and the last 2 games against WAS, they were fleas to be swatted away. Gave everyone false hope feasting on a terrible NJ team. When I hear the name Jeff Gorton, I think of Lias Andersson. You or I could make the right pick(s) at 1 & 2 LOL, but due to poor coaching, those guys have not even approached the status of being a #1 and #2 overall, although Kakko did show some improvement this season, as did Laf near the end. The team got shut out on many nights and scored 8 goals on a few others so there is s o m e promise here, but overall, I would give this season, including the coaching staff, a solid D. If you add in the FO debacle this week, it goes to an F for total and complete failure. The timing was utterly ridiculous.

If they fire Quinn which I hope they do, I just hope they do not bring Tortorella back here, that would serve no purpose at all. Retreads never work and his act is so tired with the young millionaires playing in the NHL now. We are always too late for the ball so to speak, would love to have been able to get Trotts and Lamourello here.

Overall, the season was a C.

Some improvement from the kids but poor coaching decisions derailed them for large periods of time. No starting goalie was named. The PP was horrendous for the 1/2 the season and yet the lines were never changed. The team was flat in big moments. They didn't score until Quinn got COVID.

Defense improved.

Team finished where they were projected to finish, but it could have been better. Not a failure, but a C.

I see a lot of C grades at a team level. I don't really disagree, but should we really be shocked, then, that Gorton and JD were canned? I expect more than a C grade at this juncture.

Seems we are all surprised yet hand out a mediocre grade. Maybe Dolan was right.

I see a lot of C grades at a team level. I don't really disagree, but should we really be shocked, then, that Gorton and JD were canned? I expect more than a C grade at this juncture.

 

Seems we are all surprised yet hand out a mediocre grade. Maybe Dolan was right.

I think your'e giving Dolan too much credit. He's not known for well-thought out decisions. No matter how mediocre the season was, I think it only fair to give Gorton and JD another summer (one in which we have 30m in cap space, and potentially a trade for Eichel on the table) before kicking them to the curb. Even if the season was a C, I grade this rebuild an A -- and that's really the point of the last 4 years.

Good post, I think a lot of these rankings are spot on, in retrospect.

 

Regarding leadership: I think from what we heard late in the season Trouba is a real leader in that room. Then when he goes down they look shambolic. I guess that's no coincidence. I think they're devoid of leadership too, especially when Zib was as bad as he was to start the season.

 

I think Kreider fancies himself a leader, but he's definitely got some work to do.

 

Thanks for putting in the effort and adding the coaching, leadership, and FO stuff.

Solid job on the OP, I wrote that but think it got cut off when I pasted in your grades.

It became obvious to me (and probably everyone else here, and in the NHL) in January and February that this team was soft, and could not skate with the big teams. They did beat Washington a couple of times, granted, but against BOS, NYI, PIT, and the last 2 games against WAS, they were fleas to be swatted away. Gave everyone false hope feasting on a terrible NJ team. When I hear the name Jeff Gorton, I think of Lias Andersson. You or I could make the right pick(s) at 1 & 2 LOL, but due to poor coaching, those guys have not even approached the status of being a #1 and #2 overall, although Kakko did show some improvement this season, as did Laf near the end. The team got shut out on many nights and scored 8 goals on a few others so there is s o m e promise here, but overall, I would give this season, including the coaching staff, a solid D. If you add in the FO debacle this week, it goes to an F for total and complete failure. The timing was utterly ridiculous.

 

If they fire Quinn which I hope they do, I just hope they do not bring Tortorella back here, that would serve no purpose at all. Retreads never work and his act is so tired with the young millionaires playing in the NHL now. We are always too late for the ball so to speak, would love to have been able to get Trotts and Lamourello here.

Lol Chytil just put up .5 points per game as a 21 year old and he's not an NHL player?

Did a double take at that too. It's just wrong, really. Nothing else to say about it.

Lol Chytil just put up .5 points per game as a 21 year old and he's not an NHL player?

Did a double take at that too. It's just wrong, really. Nothing else to say about it.

Robbie Schremp put up similar numbers his third year in the league and two years later he was out of the NHL.

I would like to see chytil One more season to see if he puts up better numbers and better play (especially under a different coach) before I would say something like that about him. He’s got potential but I’m pretty sure he is a goner after this season. If I worry about anything it’s his durability. Maybe it just seems that way but he seems to be hurt a lot.

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Okay, he's in NHL player, just not a good one. I stick to my assessment of his play regardless of the points he put up. He doesn't make anyone else around him better, he's not good defensively, he's not good at face-offs, he's got no creativity or vision in terms of setting up others, he's got a decent shot good speed and is great one-on-one.

 

Robbie Schremp put up similar numbers his third year in the league and two years later he was out of the NHL.

So did Ryan Strome :shrug:

So did Ryan Strome :shrug:

Is this thread about what Chytil did this year and our assessment of him based on that, or is this the thread about what he might be in 5 years?

Okay, and there were plenty of people who wrote him off.

 

Is this thread about what he did this year and our assessment of him based on that, or is this the thread about what he might be in 5 years?

What was your expectation for a 3C getting 13 min a night, no PP time, and, without looking, it seemed like a carousel of linemates.

What was your expectation for a 3C getting 13 min a night, no PP time, and, without looking, it seemed like a carousel of linemates.

Or better yet, do you think he had a good season? Do you think he's shown as much progress as a third year player should be showing at this point? Is he any better now than he was last year? Because I don't think he is.

Calling this season a complete failure is just incredibly short sighted and not thinking about the big picture at all.

I think the nature of this season can give or take a grade in either direction, if next year starts on time/like normal it'll be interesting to see if everyone gets off on the right foot or stumbles out of the gate.

It's do or die for Quinn with playoffs as a minimum if that's the case.

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Agree most of your writeup and this statement, but I think the kids have shown a lot of promise, Chytil included. I don't think Chytil knows what his game is supposed to be, is he a wing, center, physical presence, dangler, distributor of the puck? That's on coaching too.

 

I think the nature of this season can give or take a grade in either direction, if next year starts on time/like normal it'll be interesting to see if everyone gets off on the right foot or stumbles out of the gate.

 

It's do or die for Quinn with playoffs as a minimum if that's the case.

 

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I was judging him as a center, a lot of what I don't like about his game would be eliminated if you were a winger. I'm hard on him because he doesn't make anyone else better, and he's not defensively responsible. A lot of that would be mitigated if he was on the wing, and let's not get started on faceoffs...

To show defensive responsibility, passing ability, get better at faceoffs... I mean is this not the guy that everybody thought was ready to take Strome's place?

 

Or better yet, do you think he had a good season? Do you think he's shown as much progress as a third year player should be showing at this point? Is he any better now than he was last year? Because I don't think he is.

You're asking him to play a role that doesn't align with his abilities. Strome to this day isn't anything to write home about defensively and almost as bad at faceoffs 8 years into his career. I just think it's a roster construction problem, not a Chytil problem, when you ask him to be something he is not. He still puts up numbers despite not getting much opportunity to do so, so it seems pretty clear he has a lot of offensive ability. I think a 43 pt pace playing 13 minutes (all even strength) a night is pretty damn good for a 21 y.o., especially when he didn't carry a top 3-5 draft pick pedigree. I bet if he goes to Buffalo or elsewhere in a trade, and gets 18 min a night with 3-4 min PP time, he's a 55-60 point player easy.