Mid-Season 2022-2023 Predictions for the Rangers

[fletch]

We are at about the mid-point of the NHL season - Rangers have played 39 games.  We've seen stretches of good play, and stretches of poor play.  It seems like a good time to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the team, and make predictions about the rest of the season for the Rangers.  Either individual or team predictions for the rest of the regular season and playoffs for the Rangers are fine.

 

Links to NHL standings and stats for individual players.  I'll copy some info below so there is a snapshot from when I started thread.

https://www.nhl.com/standings/2022/division

Eastern

Metropolitan	GP	W	L	OT	PTS	P%	RW	ROW	GF	GA	DIFF	HOME	AWAY	S/O	L10	STRK
1  Carolina	38	25	7	6	56	.737	18	22	121	99	+22	12-3-1	13-4-5	3-0	9-1-0	L1
2  New Jersey	38	24	11	3	51	.671	21	24	129	98	+31	10-9-2	14-2-1	0-1	3-6-1	W1
3  NY Rangers	39	21	12	6	48	.615	18	20	127	108	+19	9-7-4	12-5-2	1-2	7-2-1	W2
4  Washington	40	21	13	6	48	.600	18	21	131	113	+18	12-5-3	9-8-3	0-2	7-1-2	OT1
5  NY Islanders	39	22	15	2	46	.590	19	22	126	106	+20	12-6-0	10-9-2	0-2	5-3-2	W1
6  Pittsburgh	37	19	12	6	44	.595	17	18	122	111	+11	10-4-4	9-8-2	1-0	4-4-2	L2
7  Philadelphia	38	14	17	7	35	.461	13	14	102	125	-23	7-9-1	7-8-6	0-1	5-4-1	W3
8  Columbus	36	11	23	2	24	.333	8	11	94	142	-48	9-11-1	2-12-1	0-1	2-8-0	L1

 

 

 

https://www.nhl.com/rangers/stats?icmp=int_web_nyr_stats_topnav

Skaters

Player	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	PPP	SHG	SHP	GWG	OTG	S	S%	FO%
Artemi Panarin	39	11	33	44	-7	16	2	18	0	0	2	0	104	10.6	0
Mika Zibanejad	39	19	24	43	13	8	12	20	1	1	3	0	146	13	45.54
Adam Fox	39	7	31	38	13	12	1	14	0	1	3	0	80	8.8	0
Vincent Trocheck	39	13	17	30	-8	24	8	13	0	0	1	0	118	11	55.94
Chris Kreider	39	17	11	28	11	14	4	10	1	1	2	1	129	13.2	48.84
Filip Chytil	31	9	10	19	6	22	2	3	0	0	2	1	59	15.3	37.64
Kaapo Kakko	39	9	9	18	3	6	0	1	0	0	1	0	66	13.6	25
Barclay Goodrow	39	8	10	18	0	34	0	1	0	1	1	0	48	16.7	46.1
K'Andre Miller	39	3	15	18	-3	18	0	1	0	2	1	0	58	5.2	0
Alexis Lafrenière	38	5	12	17	0	10	0	1	0	0	1	0	67	7.5	45.45
Jacob Trouba	39	3	10	13	-7	37	1	2	1	2	0	0	107	2.8	0
Jimmy Vesey	38	6	6	12	4	4	0	0	1	1	2	0	62	9.7	30
Ryan Lindgren	37	0	12	12	15	35	0	0	0	0	0	0	45	0	0
Braden Schneider	39	4	5	9	11	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	37	10.8	0
Julien Gauthier	28	5	3	8	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	26	19.2	42.86
Sammy Blais	33	0	5	5	3	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	27	0	25
Vitali Kravtsov	19	2	2	4	5	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	16	12.5	0
Jonny Brodzinski	11	1	1	2	4	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	18	5.6	53.33
Ben Harpur	9	0	2	2	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0	0
Libor Hajek	16	1	0	1	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	7.7	0

 

Goalies

Player	GP	GS	W	L	T	OT	SA	GA	GAA	S	SV%	SO	MIN
Igor Shesterkin	29	29	18	6	0	5	853	71	2.43	782	.917	1	1,755
Jaroslav Halak	10	10	3	6	0	1	281	30	3.03	251	.893	0	594

 

 

 

 

[fletch]

Team prediction from me:

Rangers will finish in third place in the Metro.  They will beat the Penguins in the first round of the playoffs, before losing to the Hurricanes in the second round.  

 

I'm going to give some more thought to predictions about individual Rangers.

[fletch]

I've decided to have some optimism for my predictions for individual Rangers, and what I would like to see happen (caveat, I am not predicting the Rangers win the Stanley Cup - hope I'm wrong there).   Predictions are focused on the end of the regular season and the playoffs.

 

1. Shesterkin regains Vezina form in the last 5 games of the regular season, and into the playoffs.  Rangers overwhelm the Penguins, and battle the Hurricanes for 7 games, before losing in triple overtime.

2. Lafreniere is a key contributor down the stretch and into the playoffs.  He contributes clutch goals and assists in helping to eliminate the Penguins.

3. Kakko scores the GWG in eliminating the Penguins.

4. Kreider is a force as a net-front presence, particularly on the Power Play.  

5. Trouba knocks the snot out of some Penguins and Hurricanes in 2 consecutive series with clean hits.   He continues to show poise and leadership.

6.  Rangers develop a fourth line with an identity and purpose, without being a revolving door with who is in the lineup.  Not quite Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck, but better than it has been the last few years.

7.  Rangers continue to show improvement in defensive zone marking/coverage.  Especially in plays near Shesterkin, the Rangers are more physical in disrupting plays, and knocking down opponents.

8. Trocheck continues his productive run, shows that he was an excellent pickup, and will be a core member of the Rangers for the next few years.

https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/rangers

9.  Panarin and Zib add some grit to their game, as well as being catalysts for the offensive zone attack.

10.  Offseason moves this summer and player/team development this year lead to general optimism about the team.  Rangers become a trendy pick to win the Stanley Cup next year.