
As a new season draws near, the New York Rangers’ goal remains the same. Following a second-round exit in the playoffs, New York is looking to take it a step further and win its first Stanley Cup since 1994.
The blue shirts return the majority of their core, which has experience winning, but the team also parted ways with defenseman Dan Girardi and center Derek Stepan, who finished second on the team with 38 assists and third on the team with 55 points last season. Both players played key roles in the team’s success. New York also lost forward Oscar Lindberg in the expansion draft.
As the team gets ready for training camp and the start of a new season, the Rangers will need some of their returnees to step up and replace the losses of Stepan and Lindberg up the middle, and will look to newcomer Kevin Shattenkirk (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and the newly improved back end to lead the team to the top of the Eastern Conference.