The Rangers are one of a handful of teams in the East with legitimate hopes of going to the Stanley Cup finals. There’s been an arms race in the East with teams such as Columbus, Pittsburgh and Washington tooling up over the summer (not to mentioned Eastern conference powerhouse Tampa Bay)but the Rangers still have one of the best 
cores and most balanced squads in the conference, if not the entire league. That said, the Rangers like most teams, face several questions ahead of the October kick off.
Waiver wire beware
New general manager Jeff Gorton had a fine first offseason taking over from veteran kingpin Glen Sather. Gorton handled the Derek Stepan contract situation well, and got a solid return for Cam Talbot in a draft season trade. Now Gorton faces another test. The Rangers face losing several assets for nothing via waivers if certain players don’t make the opening night roster. Imminent draft bust Dylan McIlrath and bit part roster players such as Raphael Diaz face waivers if they cannot break the line-up. Losing a former top ten pick such as McIlrath would particularly hurt. Gorton needs to do some proactive roster management and get something for the players that Alain Vigneault doesn’t have a use for. A team with a shallow prospect pool such as the Rangers need assets. It’s Gorton’s job to get them.
Which rookies – if any – will make the roster?
For a team with a shallow roster pool (thanks to five years of contention) the Rangers do have some solid NHL ready prospects. Oscar Lindberg looks a keeper and first round pick Brady Skjei continues to look like a stud on the blueline. Will he skip extended time in the AHL and make the roster after just a handful of minor league pro-games? His training camp and preseason start certainly suggest Skjei won’t be a minor leaguer for long. The Rangers have a handful of low ceiling, high floor prospects such as Ryan Bourque and Marek Hrivik who could grab a depth position in the short term.
Is Mats Zuccarello healthy?
File photo by Jack Lima
The Rangers limped out of the post season after a game seven dud in the East finals to Tampa Bay in part because of their stuttering offense. The team never coped when they lost Mats Zuccarello to a season ending injury but now he’s back. His first preseason game showed promise (1+1 in a loss to Boston) but Zuccarello will need to show he can find his form quickly. The Rangers need one of their best playmakers and best passers to help cover the loss of Marty St Louis to retirement and Carl Hagelin to trade.
What to do with JT Miller?
How the Rangers handle JT Miller has been an ongoing question for a few seasons now but the young talented first round pick started to mature last season. Miller can play all over the top nine, has skill and uses his body well but his role on the team is still in flux. Is he a top six winger? Is he buried in a depth role? Can he help out at center? And what is his offensive ceiling? Miller has a lot of questions to answer this season but if he can continue his recent develop that the Rangers will be that much deeper – and dangerous – for it.
Do the Rangers have enough goal scoring?
The Rangers lost their second best goalscorer (and future Hall of Famer) Marty St Louis to retirement and traded their fourth highest goal scorer and speed merchant Carl Hagelin to Anaheim. With those moves, the Rangers lost 38 goals and two top nine wingers. The Rangers will need Derek Stepan, Zuccarello and maybe even Derick Brassard to score more. They will need Chris Kreider to continue his emergence and maybe hope Kevin Hayes and Miller continue to grow. There’s a lot of uncertainty as to where the Rangers will continue get the goals from with Rick Nash their only top end scorer. The Rangers don’t have the same amount of All Star, high end talent that Pittsburgh and Tampa do and have been a ‘by committee’ team for a few years now. The problem is the committee has a new, younger look. Will it yield the same results?
For a contending team, the Rangers face a lot of questions and this hasn’t even touched on how they replace uber-back up Cam Talbot, how they resolve the log jam in the bottom six or how they remedy a stuttering powerplay. That said, the Rangers are deep and still have (arguably) the best goaltender in the world. Many of the questions they face are also nice problems to have (several young players continuing to grow, which stud rookie makes an impact etc). An interesting few weeks ahead for the Rangers.
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