Henrik Lundqvist is the team’s most valuable player, Rick Nash is having a career season and Ryan McDonagh leads an elite defensive unit, but Derek Stepan is glue guy to the New York Rangers‘ success this season. Joe Micheletti said on the pregame show that “Stepan makes everyone he plays with better.”
Chris Kreider has stated that Stepan enables him to “kick it into another gear.” While Kreider has proven that he can be a dynamic player, the Rangers would like to see Kreider at that level on a more consistent basis and not have to rely too heavily on his center to get him involved in the game
Martin St. Louis has discovered the fountain of youth during his past year in New York. Often forgotten is the 14-game goalless drought upon arriving in the Big Apple. During that time, St. Louis was partnered with Brad Richards, hoping to reignite their glory days in Tampa Bay. When that failed, head coach Alain Vigneault paired St. Louis with Stepan and the winger caught fire, scoring eight goals and posting seven assists in the Rangers’ run to the cup.
Moreover, Stepan’s ability forces the opponent to often play their top defensive pairing against his line. That allows Derick Brassard, Nash and Mats Zuccarello to match up against a second defensive line. The Rangers are one of the few teams in the league that has the luxury of two shutdown defensive pairs. Thus, Nash is able to make plays.
Stepan is also New York’s most versatile forward. One will find No. 21 on the ice in every major situation. He can play the point on the power play, down low, kill penalties and take faceoffs at the end of games. The Blueshirts must find a way to sign him to a long-term deal now because his stock will skyrocket in the playoffs.
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