{"id":450920,"date":"2024-09-19T09:05:06","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T13:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=450920"},"modified":"2024-09-18T10:51:03","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T14:51:03","slug":"puck-drop-preview-2024-25-new-york-rangers-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/09\/19\/puck-drop-preview-2024-25-new-york-rangers-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Puck Drop Preview: 2024-25 New York Rangers Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Word on Hockey\u2019s Puck Drop Previews are back for the 2024-25 campaign. As the season gets closer, Last Word<\/em> will preview each team\u2019s current outlook and stories to watch for the upcoming year. We\u2019ll also project how things will go for each team throughout the season. Today, we\u2019re previewing the 2024-25 edition of the New York Rangers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2024-25 New York Rangers Season<\/h2>\n

A Recap of the 2023-24 New York Rangers Season<\/h3>\n

How good were the Rangers last year? Where do we even begin? We’re optimistic about the Blueshirts <\/em>potential in the upcoming 2024-25 campaign, and it’s easy to picture another deep playoff run<\/a>. They are coming off a season winning their fourth President’s Trophy<\/a> as the league leader in team points. They won previous ones in 2015, 1994 and 1992. It’s no secret last season was a good one for the Blueshirts <\/i>overall, since they had more wins<\/a> than any other team in the league (55). Their goaltending and defence were potent, as they were one of the teams that got scored on the least (229 goals against). But let’s also emphasize their offence, since they scored 282 goals<\/a>, in sixth place in the league last season.<\/p>\n

We can thank Rangers general manager and president Chris Drury for roster additions such as star veteran centreman, 31-year-old Vincent Trocheck (who won’t be a UFA<\/a> until 2029), goaltender Jonathan Quick, and following the 2023-24 season, veteran forwards Reilly Smith and Sam Carrick. Hopefully, their great vets plus their promising young players such as Alexis Lafreniere, K’Andre Miller, and Will Cuylle will give them a good shot at another deep playoff run and possibly Prince of Wales Trophy and Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n

Competition in the Metropolitan Division<\/h3>\n

The Blueshirts <\/em>dominated most of their division in the 2023-24 regular season. Aside from their east coast rival the Carolina Hurricanes, who had 111 points with a record of 52 wins, 23 losses and seven overtime losses, the Rangers were well ahead<\/a> of the remainder of the Metropolitan Division in points. This should give us high hopes for making the playoffs again.<\/p>\n

A Recap of the 2023-24 Off-Season<\/h3>\n

On June 18, the Blueshirts\u00a0<\/em>placed 31-year-old right-winger Barclay Goodrow on waivers<\/a>.\u00a0The very next day, his former long-time team, the San Jose Sharks, claimed the Toronto native. The Blueshirts\u00a0<\/em>2024 playoff run was the best playoffs offensively of Goodrow’s NHL career, with him notching eight points (six goals & two assists) in 16 games, with a remarkable 40.0 shooting percentage in that time. Two of those goals were game-winners. He also notched an overtime goal to beat the Florida Panthers during Game 2 of this year’s Eastern Final.<\/p>\n

Also, a big re-signing<\/a> that happened over the summer was that of 26-year-old blueliner Ryan Lindgren. On July 30, 2024, he signed his current one-year contract worth $4.5M.<\/p>\n