New York City is built for stars. The New York Rangers have had no shortage of them in their 97-year history, boasting all-time greats like Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr, Mark Messier, Henrik Lundqvist and Brian Leetch, as well as modern superstars like Artemi Panarin and Igor Shesterkin.
But behind every team’s stars are productive players who, for whatever reason, don’t get the love they deserve, either from their own fanbase or the national media. So let’s take a look at some of the best Rangers in recent memory who flew under the radar or have been forgotten as the years go on.
Here are the 10 most underrated Rangers since 2000.
Rankings are determined by production, length of tenure in New York, impact on their respective teams, and current relevancy.
10. Benoit Pouliot (2013-14)
Benoit Pouliot only spent one season in New York, but he made the most of it. Coming over on a steal of a 1-year, $1.3 million contract in the 2013-14 season, Pouliot gelled immediately on a third line with Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello. The trio led all Rangers lines (minimum 100 TOI) with a 62.4 xGF% and Pouliot recorded an NHL career-high 36 points. The grouping maintained that production in the postseason, scoring 13 goals — nine more than any of the other forward lines deployed by coach Alain Vigneault. Pouliot contributed five goals and 10 points in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs, helping the Blueshirts reach their first Stanley Cup Final since 1994, although they lost to the Los Angeles Kings in five games. Pouliot earned himself a five-year, $4 million AAV deal with the Edmonton Oilers that offseason, so his stay with the Blueshirts can be easily forgotten as a one-and-done. It shouldn’t be, however, as he was a vital part of the Rangers’ best line in their most recent Cup Final appearance.
9. Dominic Moore (2003-06 / 2013-16)
A third-round pick by the Rangers in the 2000 NHL Draft, Moore played five seasons in New York, and though the journeyman played for 10 different teams in his 13-year NHL career, his 322 games with the Blueshirts are double that of any other team. His initial two-year stint lasted just 87 games, but he returned to New York as a 33-year-old veteran in 2013-14. A stalwart defensively and excellent in the circle, Moore won the Masterson Trophy that season, received Selke Trophy votes, and won face-offs at a 54.8 percent clip in his final three-year stint with the Blueshirts. While never putting up more than 10 goals or 27 points, Moore provided valuable depth to the bottom six and helped the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Final and Eastern Conference final in consecutive seasons. He famously scored the only goal in New York’s 1-0 win in the decisive Game 6 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens that vaulted the Rangers into the Stanley Cup Final.
8. Petr Prucha (2005-09)
Rangers fans’ memories of Petr Prucha are likely bittersweet as the 240th overall pick was unable to build off of a promising first two NHL seasons and become a core piece of the future. In fact, his career, in general, is a sad tale as injuries forced him into retirement after just six seasons and 346 NHL games. Nonetheless, Prucha was a delightful surprise, bursting onto the scene as a 23-year-old rookie in 2005-06 to score 30 goals under the tutelage of Jaromir Jagr. After finishing 10th in Calder Trophy voting as NHL rookie of the year, Prucha followed that with a 22-goal season in 2006-07. His production continued to dip and Prucha was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2008-09 season. Prucha never became the staple fans hoped he’d become after his strong start, but was still an exciting surprise and boasts the best Blueshirts rookie season of the 21st century.
7. Carl Hagelin (2011-15)
Though Carl Hagelin never topped 17 goals nor 38 points in his four years with the Rangers, the speedy winger was a valuable member of the early 2010s Blueshirts. Bringing elite speed and defense to the table, Hagelin won the Fastest Skater competition as a rookie at the 2012 NHL All-Star game and received Selke Trophy votes in two of his four seasons, seeing consistent time on the penalty kill. His relationship with coach John Tortorella was not always the smoothest, but Hagelin was a fun and productive asset as a youngster and helped the Rangers reach the conference final in three of his four seasons in New York, and the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. He went on to win the Stanley Cup twice with the Pittsburgh Penguins after leaving the Rangers.
6. Cam Talbot (2013-15)
Cam Talbot backed up Henrik Lundqvist to start his NHL career, but it likely gets overlooked just how good he was in his two years with the Rangers. As an undrafted 26-year-old, Talbot appeared in 21 games as a rookie in 2013-14, with an absurd .941 save percentage and 1.64 goals-against average. The following season, he finished seventh in Vezina Trophy voting with a .926 save percentage and 2.21 GAA in 36 games, helping carry the Rangers to the Presidents’ Trophy when he filled in for an extended period when Lundqvist was injured. Outperforming a backup role, Talbot was traded to Edmonton in the 2015 offseason. In 57 games with the Blueshirts, he recorded a 2.00 GAA and .931 save percentage, technically making him one of the best Rangers goalies in his short-lived tenure.
5. Anton Stralman (2011-14)
When you think of New York Rangers defensemen from the 2010s, typically Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal, and Dan Girardi are the first names that come to mind. But Anton Stralman very quietly put up three excellent seasons as a Rangers defenseman from 2011-12 to 2013-14. Spending the majority of his time next to Staal and Michael Del Zotto, he was a reliable top-four D-man with well-above-average metrics. Despite never receiving Norris Trophy votes with the Rangers, Stralman posted a plus-32 rating in his three seasons in New York and ranked in the 96th percentile defensively in the 2013-14 season.
4. Blair Betts (2005-09)
TSN hockey analyst Pierre McGuire once lauded Blair Betts as “the most underrated player in the League.” Betts only scored 25 goals and 40 points in 304 games with the Blueshirts, spanning four seasons. But his value didn’t come on the offensive end. Playing next to Ryan Hollweg and Colton Orr, Betts centered the Rangers’ top-checking line in the mid-2000s, bringing energy, grit and solid defensive play to the lineup. He received Selke Trophy votes in two of his four seasons with New York and was one of their best centers in the circle, winning 51.4 percent of faceoffs during his tenure. Betts lasted nine seasons and 477 games in the NHL, making his tenure with the Rangers the highlight of his career, when he earned himself a special place in the hearts of hard-nosed Rangers fans.
3. Marian Gaborik (2009-13)
Marian Gaborik has a case as one of the most underrated NHL players in the 21st century, not once finishing top-10 in Hart Trophy voting despite some very strong seasons. Arguably his best seasons came with the Rangers, surpassing the 40-goal mark twice in his three-and-a-half-year tenure and recording an NHL career-high 86 points in 2009-10. Jaromir Jagr had departed for the KHL by the time Gaborik arrived in New York, making him one of the few true offensive threats on the team. It didn’t necessarily translate to the postseason, when he scored six goals and 13 points in 25 games, ultimately leading coach John Tortorella to call for him to be traded. Gaborik found postseason success with the Los Angeles Kings, scoring a team-high 14 goals in their Stanley Cup run in 2014, ironically taking down his former Blueshirts teammates to hoist the Cup — but that doesn’t factor into this ranking. Despite his lack of postseason scoring, Gaborik was a pure goal scorer for Rangers teams that desperately needed it at the time. And worth noting, his 42 goals in 2009-10 are still fourth-most in a single Rangers season since 2000, trailing only Jagr, Chris Kreider, and Panarin.
2. Derick Brassard (2013-16)
Derick Brassard was likely not given his due praise League-wide but was thoroughly appreciated by Rangers fans — and for good reason. Along with Derek Stepan, the former No. 6 overall pick was part of one of the strongest 1-2 punches down the middle for the Rangers in recent memory. Brassard enjoyed the peak of his career in New York, recording an NHL career-high 60 points in 2014-15 and a career-best 27 goals in 2015-16 with the Blueshirts. Most importantly, he’s remembered for his consistency and success in the postseason. Brassard recorded 12 points centering Benoit Pouliot and Mats Zuccarello in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final run and led the team in points in both the 2013 and 2015 postseasons, scoring a team-high nine goals as well in the 2015 trip to the Eastern Conference Final. He finished his Blueshirts career with 18 goals and 44 points in 59 postseason games, and while he may never have been considered a truly elite center, it’s hard to picture the Rangers’ mid-2010s postseason success without him down the middle.
1. Michael Nylander (2005-07)
Michael Nylander spent just two seasons of a 15-year NHL career that lasted from age 20 to age 36 in New York. But it was his age-33 and 34 seasons with the Blueshirts that ended up being his best. Centering the Rangers top line from 2005-06 to 2006-07, Nylander helped the Blueshirts reach their first 100-point season since 1994 and helped Jaromir Jagr set a franchise record with 54 goals and 123 points. Nylander was no slouch himself, recording an NHL career-high 26 goals and 83 points in 2006-07 and playing at a point-per-game pace in his two-year stint with 162 points in 160 games. It was ultimately a brief stay that didn’t result in a championship nor any historic personal records, so Nylander gets buried beneath bigger names of his time. That might not be fair — his 1.01 points-per-game is the fifth-highest mark in the Rangers’ 97 years of existence. That’s no small feat and likely indicates that his time in New York doesn’t get nearly enough love.
