After finishing out of playoff contention last season, the New York Rangers added some much-needed firepower to give the team a kickstart in the new campaign. These additions have not only contributed to the Rangers’ newfound physical style of play but brought Stanley Cup playoff experience to a relatively young team. 

Barclay Goodrow was the Rangers’ first offseason acquisition after the Tampa Bay Lightning traded his signing rights in exchange for a 2022 seventh round draft pick. He signed a six year contract on July 22. 

The Toronto native brings in a lot of playoff experience, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Lightning in the past two seasons. He enters the ranks of the older players on the Rangers’ young team at 28 years old. Because of this, he was named one of the six alternate captains before the season began. 

He has recently found a spot on the first line alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. Head coach Gerard Gallant occasionally moves Goodrow to the second or third lines with other players. He has recorded three goals and an assist in 13 games this season. He also has contributed to the increased physicality with 28 hits. 

A week after Goodrow signed his contract, the Rangers traded a 2022 third round pick to the Vegas Golden Knights for Ryan Reaves in a move that aimed to provide protection for the Rangers’ stars and younger players. Reaves is known for his aggressive style of play, which was something the Rangers desperately needed last year after trading away their only semblance of an enforcer. 

Reaves also comes with playoff experience after reaching the Finals with the Knights in 2018 and making the playoffs in 2019. He has the potential to be a leader of this young squad due to his toughness and age. He is the oldest member of the team at 34.

The Rangers acquired Sammy Blais in a surprising trade that sent Pavel Buchneivich to the St. Louis Blues. He is a tenacious player who never hesitates to finish a check, evident from his 32 total hits in this early part of the season. He also won the Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019 and recorded an incredible 70 hits in 15 playoff games. 

At 25, Blais provides experience but also a lot of time for further development. He has recorded four points in 12 games playing mostly on the third line with Alexis Lafreniére and Filip Chytil. He has already proven himself to be an important physical presence for the new-look Rangers. 

Patrick Nemeth has proven to be a valuable defensive pickup, signing as a free agent in the offseason after a brief stint with the Colorado Avalanche. He has found a spot on the third defensive pairing with either Nils Lundkvist or Jarred Tinordi, another offseason addition. He is often on the ice when the Rangers are short handed because of his incredible shot-blocking skills. 

The 29-year-old is a pure defenseman, serving as a very valuable piece on his end of the ice despite contributing very little to the other. He has blocked 636 shots in 379 games, 35 of which have come after his first 13 games with the Rangers. He leads not only the Rangers but the entire NHL in blocked shots after Monday night. The team has been struggling on defense lately, allowing too many shots on Igor Shesterkin, but Nemeth is holding his own. 

One of the most important offseason additions was not a player. Rather, it was head coach Gerard Gallant. He has brought a new and refreshing set of eyes to the Rangers organization after David Quinn’s exit at the end of last season. He coached the Golden Knights from 2017 into 2020, but he was fired midway through the season. 

His first season with the Knights was impressive, to say the least. He won the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year and led Vegas to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they ultimately lost to the Capitals in five games. His team made the playoffs a year later and lost to the Sharks. Though he did not win a Stanley Cup, he led a brand new franchise to a Cup final in their first year and saw continued success in the following season. 

Gallant is known as a players’ coach who communicates well with the team. But when it comes down to it, he is not afraid to get tough with his players. He knows that his systems win games. His impressive resumé is solid proof of that. Gallant hopes to have better success than his predecessor, Quinn, who was never able to lead the Rangers to a top-three spot in the Metropolitan division. With the amount of talent on this team, combined with the new additions, Gallant will soon have that expectation ahead of him.

Chris Drury was clearly busy over the summer rising to the general manager and president positions just last season. He was promoted from his role as associate general manager and has spent the previous six years in different front office positions for the Blueshirts. The Connecticut native captained the team as a player from 2008 until 2011, when he retired because of a degenerative condition in his knee. In his new role, he will look to bring the Stanley Cup back to New York for the first time since 1994.