Rangers' Breadman hardly found on the score sheet.
The hope that the Rangers would make it to the Stanley Cup final this year was riding quite high on Madison Ave. The Rangers felt that they had a great chance of moving on with all this talent they acquired at the trade deadline. As all fans of the NHL know there isn't a guarantee that this will work and most of the time trade deadline deals don't work in the team's favor that want to move on.
The Rangers learned that lesson yet again after being ousted from the playoffs by the New Jersey Devils in a 4-0 loss in Game 7. It was expected that the Rangers' vaunted offence should pulverize the Devils, especially with their rookie goaltender that came into the series later on, but that was not the case.
One such player that was absent, especially on five on five was former Blackhawks forward Artemi Panarin.
During the seven-game series he only amassed 2 assists total. However, during the season in which he played all 82 games, he scored 29 goals, with 63 assists for 92 points and was a + 4. The Devils did a great job snuffing out his offence and making him invisible which is the recipe for winning.
The Rangers have Panarin's contract for another three seasons after this one concludes, holds a cap hit of $11.6 million per season. He's expected to become a UFA in 2026-27.
| POLL | ||
Will Panarin win a Stanley Cup with the Rangers? | ||
| Yes | 50 | 12.3 % |
| No | 355 | 87.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
