The New York Rangers youngsters have, in some cases, been showing skill for a while on both offence and defence. Collecting and burying rebounds, accurate shooting, goal-tipping, and prolific offensive production are items on today’s agenda. Rangers fans count on the consistent greatness of their team, and sometimes relapses and losses make us lose hope. But right now, fear not! The future is now, and the only way to go is up. The Blueshirts are catching up to their division’s hot teams and rivals the Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, and Washington Capitals, and here’s how the continued development of the young stars can help the Rangers pass them!
Will Cuylle And The New York Rangers Young Guys
Losses are tough, and sadly, Calgary now has the winning streak that New York had up until Thursday night. The red hot, no pun intended, Calgary Flames broke the New York Rangers’ three-game winning streak in Thursdays 3-2 win.
That being said, left-winger Will Cuylle, a 22-year-old born in Toronto, is easily on his way to an NHL career season alongside his star teammate Alexis Lafreniere. Three goals in Cuylle’s past five games is one thing, but he is now six points away from his point total in a whopping 81 games last regular season. In 2023-24, he notched 21 points (13 goals & 8 assists) in 81 games. But in just 18 games this year, he’s got 15 points, seven of them goals, already! Here’s what this obviously means for the future. Elite Prospects projects Cuylle to notch 68 points, 32 goals and 36 assists, at an 82-game pace this year. This would be an NHL career high and a breakout and a half for the rising young star. Fingers crossed he stays healthy and keeps his good trend up.
As for Thursdays game, is the young man Cuylle turning into a Chris Kreider goal tipper? Seeing his youngster linemate Kaapo Kakko play centre and beat star and veteran centreman Nazem Kadri on the faceoff was cool enough. But it was great to see star Blueshirts blueliner K’Andre Miller shoot from close to the blue line and Cuylle deflect in the shot in the lower faceoff circle through Flames traffic. Essentially, Cuylle provided competition to the traffic that could’ve blocked the shot.
All this is complimented by Cuylle’s excellent 19.4 shooting percentage so far this year, in the league’s 82nd percentile.
Alexis Lafreniere’s Continued Outstanding Performance
We also saw the good individual performance of the Blueshirts second forward lineup, Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere. The 23-year-old Quebecker Alexis Lafreniere is the elephant in the room in terms of New York Rangers youngsters rising up the ranks. To say that he is red hot at the moment would be an understatement.
Like Cuylle, Lafreniere got assists from two Rangers defencemen (albeit different guys). We’ll begin analyzing the play with star Blueshirts blueliner Ryan Lindgren‘s pass to captain and fellow D-man Jacob Trouba along the blue line. Trouba took the shot, and star Flames centreman Jonathan Huberdeau attempted to stick block it. Unsuccessful, the puck reached Flames netminder Dustin Wolf who made the save. Either Lafreniere or Vincent Trocheck could’ve collected it at close range to the net, but the young winger got it first. Lafreniere collected the loose puck off the rebound and put it home to open the Rangers’ scoring. Lafreniere’s accurate shooting trends are going up this year as well, with a 21.2 shooting percentage, in the league’s 88th percentile.
Keeping Up A Red Hot Start By Veteran Goalie Jonathan Quick
Finally, on the flip side to the New York Rangers youngsters, here’s a great veteran presence for the young guys. But he’s also still an outstanding player. An excellent start can equal momentum for the rest of the year. Jonathan “Quicker” Quick has played just five games this season and started four. But we’ve already seen the 38-year-old veteran-and-a-half notch two shutouts in a row in his last two games, four wins, a .970 save percentage and 0.91 goals-against average this season. The less-than-one goals-against average speaks volumes.
Quicker excellently highlighted the chemistry between him and the New York Rangers roster. The Connecticut native said he is very proud to have those numbers but also emphasized the greatness of the players who skate before him.
“At the end of the day, as a goalie, you’re very dependent on your team in front of you. So, all those numbers really mean is I play with some great players and teams that value winning more than anything,” Quick said in a postgame media availability in Seattle on November 17 after his second consecutive shutout win.
“So, you know, I consider myself very grateful and lucky to have played with all those guys over the course of my career.”
That being said, in the Rangers 4-0 shutout win against the Detroit Red Wings on November 9, Quicker made a whopping 37 saves. So, evidently, his goaltending is a key factor in some of the Rangers successes. What this means for the Blueshirts future is that Quick adds depth in goaltending. They already have the legendary and Vezina Trophy-winning Igor “Shesty” Shesterkin. If Shesty gets injured, overworked, or has a rough night between the pipes, Quicker can quickly help him out.
Main Photo:Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images
