Rounding out the forward grades, we turn to the guys who didn’t play a full season with the Rangers. This will include any forward that played at least 10 games for the Rangers last season. This will include players like Jonny Brodzinski and Ryan Reaves, but not Will Cuylle or Dryden Hunt. It’s easier to lump all these guys together, as they had one of two roles: Injury replacement/spare forward or Rangers trade deadline acquisitions with a specific role in mind.
Patrick Kane
The Rangers had to play cap gymnastics to land Kane and his one good hip. It was disappointing that the NHL wouldn’t allow an emergency call up and made rules up on the spot, but what’s done is done. The Rangers had an opportunity to bring in Kane at a discount, and they did just that.
Coming in, there weren’t many high expectations for Kane. He had one hip, but was still able to score and do Kane-like things. He met expectations, putting up 5 goals and 12 points (2-2-4 on the powerplay) in 19 regular season games. He was mostly fine in the playoffs, completely taking over Game 2 (1-2-3) and points in the first four games. He, like the rest of the Rangers took the rest of the series off, unfortunately.
I’m torn with how to grade Kane. I had no expectations because he had one hip, so by my expectations he was fine. On the other hand, the cap gymnastics needed to acquire him broke all rhythm and momentum the Rangers had. Plus there was arguably a bigger need on the fourth line. But that’s more on the coaching staff and Chris Drury than on Kane.
For what it’s worth, Kane’s regular season (with the Rangers) shot share and xG shares were sub-45%. That’s bad.
Grade: B
Vladimir Tarasenko
Vladimir Tarasenko was originally the only big name the Rangers were going to acquire at the trade deadline. He was brought in to solidify the top-six, and was mostly fine in that regard. He put up 8-13-21 in 31 games, including a stretch at the end where he had points in five straight games.
Tarasenko was originally put on a line with Artemi Panarin, and it worked. Then the Kane trade happened, and the aforementioned momentum was destroyed by trying to force Kane and Panarin together. It took a while to realize that wasn’t working, and neither was Tarasenko with Kreider and Zibanejad. It took the coaching staff a bit too long to realize this.
Tarasenko put up a line of 3-1-4 in the playoffs. He, like Kane, was fine. They did their jobs in the regular season. Everyone was a disappointment in the playoffs except for 2 players.
Like Kane, Tarasenko was also sub-45% in his shot share and xG share.
Grade: B
Tyler Motte
For the second year in a row, the Rangers brought in Tyler Motte as a trade deadline acquisition to stabilize the fourth line. His 5-5-10 in 24 games was nice, and while it wasn’t the reason he was brought it, it’s certainly a bonus. That’s close to a 40 point pace!
Motte spent most of his time on the fourth line with Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey. On paper it’s a fine fourth line, although the execution was lacking at times. It also lacked a true center, but that’s not on any of them. Motte was fine, and definitely not one of the reasons why the Rangers collapsed in the playoffs.
Grade: B+
Julien Gauthier
So much potential. So much inability to put it all together. Before he was sent to Ottawa in the Motte deal, Gauthier had just 6 goals and 9 points in 40 games with the Blueshirts. He couldn’t hold down a roster spot, and despite the flashes, was never truly in the running for a scoring role. He was a player without a role.
Grade: C
Vitali Kravtsov
The kid got a chance. Couldn’t cut it. Three goals and six points in 28 games isn’t enough. He’s back in Russia now. We can debate what happened all we want, but the fact is he isn’t in the NHL anymore. Whether it was him, the Rangers, both, or neither, it doesn’t matter.
Grade: F
Sammy Blais
Five assists in 40 games while being unable to skate was a problem. This was doomed from the start.
Grade: F
Ryan Carpenter
Ryan Carpenter gets a lot of flack from people, but he wasn’t truly that bad. His numbers look rough on the surface, but it’s hard to be efficient when you’re spending most of your ice time with Blais, Gauthier, or Ryan Reaves. Carpenter didn’t look overly great, but he was more the victim of a poorly constructed fourth line early in the season.
Grade: D
Ryan Reaves
I liked Reaves, but it was clear he shouldn’t have been with the Rangers to start the season. Losing him did help the cap concerns, but it hurt them in the locker room. Still, he did what was expected, which was basically help the room while being a net-negative on the ice.
Grade: C
Jonny Brodzinski
Talk about a guy that did everything possible to stick in the lineup, Jonny Brodzinski really deserved a shot. His 1-1-2 in 17 games isn’t sexy, but his 50% shot share rate and his 47% xG rate were actually fine. They were some of the better numbers on the fourth line as well. Not really sure what was missing and why he didn’t get a longer look.
Grade: C+
Jake Leschyshyn
Questionable waiver claim. Questionable usage. Horrible results. What a bad idea from the start.
Grade: F