In 2018, Ryan Strome was traded to the New York Rangers from the Edmonton Oilers for Ryan Spooner. At the time, it was a simple change-of-scenery deal exchanging two struggling centers. Fast-forward a few years and Strome has become a key contributor on the Rangers offence. With many fans claiming that he is “carried by Artemi Panarin,” Strome’s offensive productivity goes under the radar. During superstar Panarin’s leave of absence and Mika Zibanejad‘s stretch of underperformance, Ryan Strome stepped up big-time for his team.
Why Ryan Strome Deserves More Credit
More Than Just A Product of Panarin
During the stretch where Panarin was out of the lineup, it was possible to individually assess Strome. He played most of this time with Chris Kreider on his left and Colin Blackwell on his right. He developed chemistry with Kreider and assisted him on multiple hat tricks during that span. Together, they created many rebound chances, rush chances, and other high danger scoring chances. Per Natural Stat Trick, Strome had an xGF% over 50% for 8 out of 11 games played without Panarin this season. This means that even without Panarin the Rangers dominated the share of quality chances when Strome was on the ice.
Moreover, Strome has had a very high rate of scoring this year even without Panarin in the lineup. In 11 games played without Panarin, he had 9 points for a points/games-played (P/GP) rate of 0.82. Comparatively, in 29 games besides Panarin, Strome has 28 points for a P/GP rate of 0.97. Although his rate of scoring is obviously higher alongside Panarin (as it should be), he still puts up impressive numbers away from Panarin, especially compared to players of his caliber. His rate of scoring away from Panarin is 0.82 points per game. This is higher than that of Tomas Hertl (0.77 P/GP) and Brayden Schenn (0.70 P/GP). Evidently, Strome’s offensive production is reflective of his own abilities and not just of playing alongside Panarin.
Ryan Strome and Artemi Panarin’s Chemistry
Any player will benefit if given the opportunity to play alongside Panarin. With his unbelievable transition ability, unmatched playmaking, creativity, and vision, Panarin always inflates his linemates totals. However, Strome is unique as he complements Panarin’s abilities with his own. He uses his versatile skill set, vision, and body to set up shooting opportunities and generate chances in the slot. Strome uses decisive moves and puck protection to set up high danger chances. He demonstrates this in a 9-0 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers, with an excellent pass to Panarin.
On the whole, it is simply unfair to suggest that Strome is nothing without Panarin. On the contrary, they both help one another in different aspects of the game. Overall, despite the obvious impact Panarin has on his point-totals, Strome has proven to be a bonafide second-line center with his own strengths.
Ryan Strome’s Effective On-Ice Abilities
Offence
In terms of point totals, he had 33 points in 63 games with the Rangers in 2018-19. The following year, in 2019-20, he improved his scoring rates for an excellent 59 points in 70 games. Now, this year, he has 34 points in 37 games for nearly a point per game pace. The best part is that he carries his own weight and does the work to create scoring chances.
Throughout his Rangers career, he has been nothing short of elite at creating high-quality opportunities. In 2019-20, he ranked 8th in the entire league in xGF/60, meaning he was the 8th best player at generating quality scoring chances. Additionally, he ranked 25th among league skaters in GF/60, which is reflective of his abilities to actually finish on his scoring chances. While he scored on fewer chances than he generates, this is quite common and ultimately means that he still had an excellent impact on the team’s offence last season, which ranked sixth in the league in goals for per game. However, last season Strome was abysmal defensively and was certainly helped by the defensive effectiveness displayed by Panarin and Jesper Fast.
Defence
With that in mind, Strome has now elevated his defensive game while picking up where he left off offensively. Last season, Strome had an xGA/60 (expected goals-against per 60 minutes- negative is better and positive is worse) of 0.127, but this season it has improved to -0.056. This improvement from being one of the worse defensive forwards on the team to one who contributes in both ends has been instrumental to the team’s overall defensive improvement.
As shown by the RAPM chart above, Strome has really rounded out his two-way abilities.
This is especially significant due to the decline in Panarin’s defensive game, as he is Strome’s most common linemate. For statistical reference, Panarin’s xGA/60 went from -0.08 to 0.042. This is not to say that Panarin is reliant on Strome or that he makes the team worse when on the ice. To suggest either of things would be unequivocally false, as his world-class offensive abilities and contributions are atop of the league. However, this shows with certainty that Ryan Strome is indeed a very adept hockey player himself, and one that belongs in the top-six forward group of just about any team in the league.
Future Outlook In New York For Ryan Strome
Many still consider Ryan Strome to be a stopgap 2C that has no long-lasting future with the team. Although his future in New York is not guaranteed, keeping Strome is worth consideration. The top three centers on the roster at the moment are Mika Zibanejad, Strome himself, and Filip Chytil. Other centers of potential long-term significance in the Rangers system include Brett Howden, Morgan Barron, Karl Henrikkson.
Zibanejad’s future with the team is still undecided. Next season at age 29 will be the last of his contract, forcing the Rangers to make a difficult decision. 21-year-old Chytil has incredible raw skill and has shown encouraging abilities on both ends of the ice. However, his game still lacks consistency and his decision-making can be questionable, making it tough to predict the trajectory of his development. Brett Howden has not shown any reason to believe he will be a top-six center in the NHL, despite the fact that he continues to be given opportunities by Head Coach David Quinn. Morgan Barron and Karl Henrikkson are both promising, but it would be excessive to project them as top-six centers.
Additionally, the Rangers have been linked to Jack Eichel and Aleksander Barkovw—two superstar centers that further complicate the situation. At the end of the day, Ryan Strome’s future in New York is definitely not set in stone, but he has proved that he is effective as a second-line center (especially alongside Panarin). Perhaps he could be the right one for the role going forward.
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