Regarding the Rangers:
1. You start with Igor Shesterkin’s superlative goaltending through the first five months of the season because there is really nowhere else to begin.
But K’Andre Miller’s dramatic ascension in his second year of professional hockey has perhaps represented the second most important development of the season.
That is because in conjunction with the stout work on the right from Jacob Trouba — who has been precisely what the past regime’s hierarchy envisioned when trading for him in 2019 and then granting him a seven-year, $56 million contract — the Rangers have an alternate matchup pair on which to rely.
They need one because the Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox pair has leveled off and has not been close to peak performance since the All-Star break — and since Fox sustained an upper-body injury that caused him to miss the three games leading into the break.
Fox may or may not be fatigued and he may or may not benefit from resting a game or two, but he has not been overworked. Indeed, he is 51st in even-strength time, at 18:52 per, and Trouba is 38th, at 19:11 per. Since the Blueshirts came out of the break 28 games ago, Miller leads the club in five-on-five ice time at 18:36 per, with Trouba at 18:08 and Fox at 17:29.
Miller’s confidence with the puck and his offensive attributes are meshing well with his improved rush reads and his ability to use his body and long reach to defend down low and win battles. His skating ability allows him to track back after leading or joining the rush. His poise both on and off the ice is striking. There is surely a power-play role in his future.
There is obviously a ways to go with this 6-foot-5, 22-year-old, but Miller should be no less than a top-four staple for years.
2. Forget about the game Wednesday night in Philadelphia. It is inconceivable that Alexis Lafreniere could wind up as a healthy scratch for Game 1 of the first round. The narrative surrounding that decision would be overwhelming and would all but certainly invite a consequential fallout.
So heavily hyped in precincts across the continent, Lafreniere has not yet been as advertised. That doesn’t mean that he can’t or won’t grow into that, but for various reasons, No. 13 has not been a phenomenon.
But here is this. Lafreniere, who turned 20 two days before the season commenced, has scored 15 goals at five-on-five, making him one of only five players age 21 or younger (as of Jan. 31) to have scored that many. That is not nothing. Neither are the bursts he has displayed at different junctions of the season.
There is work to be done with Lafreniere, which includes a skating and conditioning regimen over the summer that hopefully will include extended time in the New York area. But there is no doubt that he is a work in progress.
But with Chris Kreider and Artemi Panarin ensconced at left wing on the top two lines for years into the future, if Lafreniere cannot make the transition to the right side, I’m not at all sure what we’re looking at here.
3. The cost of acquiring rental property Andrew Copp from the Jets could turn out to be a rather pricey one if the Rangers advance to the conference finals. Hypothetically, it would be a first-rounder in 2022, a second-rounder in either 2022 or 2023 and Morgan Barron, but in this case the Rangers are getting what they paid for.
Copp, whom the Rangers will surely attempt to sign to a contract extension, has all but mastered the accelerated course of Playing with Artemi Panarin and has fit into the slot on the right side with No. 10 and Ryan Strome more seamlessly than any candidate for the job since Jesper Fast’s departure.
He is a hybrid skill-grit guy with a high hockey IQ who has the talent and instincts to party with Panarin and the blue-collar mentality to be effective in the greasy areas. He has the versatility to play the middle or wing, can move up and down the lineup, and has become half of a very effective penalty-kill tandem with Barclay Goodrow.
The 27-year-old may prove to be the prize of the deadline.
4. Alexandar Georgiev’s late-season revival, in which he has gone 6-0 over his last half-dozen starts with a 2.19 goals-against average and .916 save percentage, may allow the Rangers to get something in return for the pending restricted free agent’s rights rather than to lose him for nothing by failing to give him a qualifying offer they would not be able to accommodate within their cozy cap confines.
If there is a goaltender-needy team that believes in Georgiev’s ability to compete for the No. 1 job and is willing to take on at least the $2.65 million qualifier he is due, that club might be inclined to trade for the 26-year-old netminder rather than take a chance on bidding for him on the open market.
In fact, it is even possible that general manager Chris Drury might recoup more for Georgiev this offseason than he could have last summer.
