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Why the New York Rangers Will Beat the Odds And Win the Stanley Cup

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By @MatthewBlittner

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Last season, the New York Rangers surprised everybody and made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, only to lose to the Los Angeles Kings in five games. During the offseason, the Rangers made several transactions they believed would help put them over the top in order to win the Stanley Cup this season. Just a few days ago, the Las Vegas odds-makers released their odds on who would win the Cup this year. According to Vegas, the Rangers’ odds are 18-1, with roughly 10 teams having better odds to win it all.

Since 1970, only the 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers and the 2008-09 Pittsburgh Penguins have gone on to win the Stanley Cup the season after they lost in the Cup Finals. With recent history against them, it doesn’t seem likely that the Rangers will win the Cup this year, but here is why I believe they will buck the recent trend and take home Lord Stanley.

Last season saw many of the young players on the Rangers come of age. In doing so, they helped propel the team on a deep playoff run that next to nobody thought was possible. Last year started badly — with Madison Square Garden’s renovations not yet complete, the Rangers opened their season on the road with a grueling 10-game west coast trip.

In the midst of their struggles, several things happened that changed the shape of the Rangers’ season. Cam Talbot was called up to be the back-up goalie and he thrived, which allowed him to stabilize the team’s goalie situation while Henrik Lundqvist struggled. Ryan McDonagh was putting together a brilliant first-half, while still managing to fly under the radar. However, once the Olympic break ended, he didn’t fly under the radar anymore. His breakout season was beginning to attract quite a bit of attention, as McDonagh was starting to be mentioned in the Norris Trophy debate even though few expected he would win it.

McDonagh’s partner on defense, Dan Girardi, was signed to a six-year, $33 million contract extension just days before the trade deadline. Lundqvist also received a contract extension; his would be a seven-year, $59.5 million deal. Team captain Ryan Callahan would not be so lucky. Callahan was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for their captain, Martin St. Louis. St. Louis would go on to struggle at the onset of his Rangers’ career.

The Rangers ended up making the playoffs as the N0. 2 seed in their division. During the playoffs, something miraculous occurred — their delicate blend of youth and veteran presence started to mesh, and they started to play at a level which had been unseen during the regular season. Veteran forwards Brad Richards and St. Louis had productive series after productive series in the Eastern Conference playoffs, and were also a strong presence in the captainless locker room.

Heading into this season, the Rangers shored up their power play by bringing in veteran defenseman Dan Boyle to man the point in place of Richards, who ended up signing with the Chicago Blackhawks after the Rangers bought him out. During the preseason, the Rangers have seen several of their young prospects grow into potentially viable offensive weapons for them this season. Among these prospects are: Anthony Duclair, Kevin Hayes and Ryan Haggerty.

Duclair has been so outstanding in the preseason that GM Glenn Sather has gone on public record saying he is attempting to unload a contract from the team’s roster in order to make room for the 19-year-old forward. Hayes will almost certainly make the team as a center in order to weather the storm of Derek Stepan’s injury. Haggerty will likely function as depth in the AHL should anybody get injured or underperform on the Rangers’ roster.

The Rangers have their core in place with McDonagh, Lundqvist, St. Louis, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello and Derick Brassard. To go along with their core, they also have their outstanding prospect trio. They’re more comfortable in Vigneault’s system and do not have a brutal extended west coast road trip to begin the season. With these factors, as well as another year of postseason experience and a burning desire to win in place, the Rangers have the look of a team that wants to finally be the last one standing for the first time since their magical Cup run in 1994.

Matthew Blittner is a New York Rangers writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @MatthewBlittner and like him on Facebook.

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