NHL: New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins — Looking at three improvements the New York Rangers must make during the offseason (Image credit: Imagn)

3 issues New York Rangers must address in 2024 offseason

Modified Jul 09, 2024 17:28 GMT

Despite the New York Rangers making it to the Eastern Conference Final of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the team still has room to improve. Throughout last season, and in the playoffs, the Rangers showed flashes of brilliance, finishing the regular season with a 55-23-4 record that saw them win the Metropolitan Division.

Their record, and first-place finish in their division, marked an improvement from the 2022-23 season, where they finished third in the division with a 47-22-13 record.

Despite the growth last season, when the Rangers matched up with the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Finals, it was clear they were outmanned. If the team wants to make a push past the ECF, the front office will have to make some moves this summer.

With that in mind, let's look at three issues the team needs to address this offseason.

Three issues the New York Rangers need to address this summer

#3: Toughness

NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-New York Rangers at Florida Panthers (Image credit: Imagn)

While becoming a tougher team may not turn the New York Rangers into Stanley Cup favorites next season, the ECF showed that the team couldn't keep up with the Panthers' physical play.

Because of that, some of the team's best players were unable to produce at the same rate as they did during the regular season. Given that, if the team has any hopes of beating the Panthers in a potential rematch next year during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they'll have to add some hard-nosed defensive-minded players.

#2: Defense

Building on the previous point, the New York Rangers need to bolster their defensive lines, and not just with size and strength. In addition to adding physical players to their roster, the team needs to add depth to their defensive lines.

When looking at their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Florida Panthers, the team struggled to maintain possession, turning the puck over at an alarming rate. This offseason, in addition to adding enforcers to their roster, they'll also need to add defenders who can take care of the puck and make great passes.

#1: Right Winger

NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-Florida Panthers at New York Rangers (Image credit: Imagn)

The one area where the Rangers need to improve the most is on offense, specifically in the form of a goal-scoring right winger. This shouldn't come as a surprise to fans given that Chris Drury has been open about the team needing to add to their starting line.

Given the lack of goal-scoring from the duo of Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad in the playoffs a scoring RW1 seems to be their biggest need, however, they could look to add a playmaker to get Panarin and Zibanejad some easier looks.