Henrik Lundqvist, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin lead Rangers All-Quarter Century team

Goaltenders

Henrik Lundqvist and Igor Shesterkin

Lundqvist, a seventh-round pick in the 2000 NHL Draft, is the greatest goaltender in Rangers history. He almost literally walked in off the street at training camp in 2005, quickly took the starting job and held it for 15 years. “The King” is sixth in NHL history and tops among Rangers goaltenders with 459 wins. His .918 save percentage is also the best in Rangers history, and his 2.43 goals-against average is the best among Rangers goaltender since World War II. He won the Vezina Trophy as the top NHL goalie in 2011-12 after being a finalist in his first three seasons, and set an NHL record by winning six consecutive Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

But when it’s time to do the All-Half Century team, it’s not impossible that Igor Shesterkin will own at least some of the records Lundqvist now holds. He’s already won the Vezina Trophy (in 2021-22) and has 162 wins in his first six seasons. The Rangers bet that Shesterkin will remain among the League’s elite by signing him to a record-setting eight-year, $92 million contract ($11.5 million average annual value), richest for a goalie in NHL history. The Rangers are hoping he’ll do the one thing Lundqvist couldn’t do – lead them to the Stanley Cup.

Defensemen

First pair: Adam Fox and Ryan McDonagh

Fox, a native of Jericho, New York, was adamant that he was going to play for the Rangers. Happily for the Blueshirts, he was successful forcing his way to Broadway after a pair of trades before he had had even played a single NHL minute. He’s by far the highest-scoring Rangers defenseman so far this century (369 points; 63 goals, 306 assists in 431 games), won the Norris Trophy as the League’s top defenseman in 2020-21, and has been as First-Team All-Star twice (2021 and 2023).

McDonagh was the fruit of one of the great trades in Rangers history – they got him from the Montreal Canadiens in a 2009 deal that also shed the salary of veteran center Scott Gomez. He played seven-plus seasons with the Rangers and was their captain before being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he won two Stanley Cup championships. He was plus-141 with the Rangers, the best mark by any Blueshirt in the 21st century.

Second pair: Marc Staal and Brian Leetch

Staal played more games on the blue line that any Rangers defenseman since 2000 (892 in 13 seasons), even though he sustained a pair of serious injuries earlier in his career (concussion, eye). He was never a great scorer but was a reliable top-four blue-liner who could play effectively for 20-22 minutes and appeared in 72 or more games 10 times. He’s second in blocked shots (1,162) and hits (1,308).

Leetch’s prime seasons were in the 1990s, but he was still effective even as the team around him collapsed until the Rangers sent him to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2004 NHL Trade Deadline. His 200 points from 2000-04 are fourth among Blueshirts defensemen, and his 0.74 points per game is second.

Third pair: Dan Girardi and Michal Rozsival

Every team needs a defenseman to do the dirty work. That describes Girardi to a T. No Rangers defenseman in the first 25 years of this century had more hits (1,798) and blocked shots (1,691). Despite all that grunt work, he averaged 22:15 of ice time in 788 games.

Rozsival is often overlooked, but was an effective and unheralded defenseman who averaged 22:52 of ice time in 432 games with 42 goals and 176 points. He helped the Rangers return to the playoffs in 2005-06 with 30 points (five goals, 25 assists) and a plus-35 rating.

Forwards

First line: Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad

Kreider is the Rangers third-leading career goal-scorer (and tops in the 21st century) with 326 and one of only two 50-goal scorers (52 in 2021-22) this century. He’s also tops among forwards since 2000 at plus-121, led all Rangers with 13 shorthanded goals and is tied with Camille Henry for the franchise’s all-time record with 116 power-play goals.

Panarin is the best free-agent signing in Rangers history. He’s led them in scoring in each of his six seasons in New York, his 1.28 points per game are the best in team history, and his 120-point performance in 2023-24 is second behind Jaromir Jagr.

The trade that brough Zibanejad to the Rangers from the Ottawa Senators in July 2016 is one of the great deals in franchise  history. Though he’s struggled in the past couple of seasons, the 32-year-old’s 589 points are the most by a Ranger since 2000, and he’s scored at least 20 goals in eight straight seasons.

Second line: Mats Zuccarello, Derek Stepan, Jaromir Jagr

“Zuc” was one of the most popular players in team history as well as one of the best this century. His 352 points (113 goals, 239 assists) are fifth among all Rangers since 2000, and he led them in scoring in 2013-14, the last time the Blueshirts reached the Stanley Cup Final.

It was easy to overlook Stepan, a fine middle-six center who scored 17-22 goals and 44-57 points in each of his eight seasons with the Rangers. He was also at least plus-5 in all eight seasons, and his plus-109 total is second among forwards.

Jagr was the biggest reason the Rangers ended their seven-season playoff drought in 2005-06; he set franchise single-season records that still stand with 54 goals and 123 points. His 1.15 ppg is second to Panarin all-time.

Third line: Rick Nash, Ryan Callahan, Marian Gaborik

The Rangers acquired Nash from the Columbus Blue Jackets in July 2012, and never quite lived up to his superstar status. But Nash did help the Blueshirts reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2014 and scored 42 goals in 2014-15, when they won the Presidents’ Trophy. He finished his time in New York with 145 goals in 375 games.

“Cally” was the Rangers captain from 2011-12 until he was traded to the Lightning before the 2014 trade deadline. He was a heart-and-soul player, who also had three 20-goal seasons in a four-year span and held the team record with 285 hits until Will Cuylle surpassed him with 301 last season.

The Rangers got their money’s worth from Gaborik during his three full seasons in New York after signing as a free agent in July 2009. He scored 44 goals in 2009-10 and 42 in 2011-12. His goal against the Washington Capitals at 14:41 of the third overtime against the Washington Capitals in Game 3 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals is still the latest in team history.

Fourth line: Brandon Dubinsky, Vincent Trocheck, J.T. Miller

Dubinsky had the only two 20-goal seasons of his career during his six years in New York — as well as his only three seasons with at least 100 penalty minutes. Like Callahan, he was no fun to play against.

The addition of Trocheck as a free agent in the summer of 2022 has paid off handsomely for the Rangers. He has 200 points (73 goals, 127 assists) in 246 games and has been one of the League’s top face-off men during that time. His 52 assists and 77 points in 2023-24 were career highs.

The Rangers brought Miller back in late January in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks, just short of seven years after they traded away their 2011 first-round pick. He became one of the NHL’s most productive centers with the Canucks in the 2020s and averaged more than a point a game after his return to Broadway, where he figures to be the first-line center this season. Miller had a pair of 22-goal seasons with the Rangers before they traded him to the Lightning ahead of the 2018 deadline.