As we gear up for another season, I have been thinking a lot about what success in the NHL looks like. For me, a fan, for a player, for an organization, the way or ways in which we measure success can make all the difference. For the New York Rangers, the team that I spend the most time covering for Inside the Rink, much of the off-season debate has been about how to finally capture the Stanley Cup championship that has eluded the team since 1994. But to say that anything short of a Cup victory would be less than a success is the surest way to rob fans of the joy of NHL hockey. There can only be one Stanley Cup champion every year, after all.
The exercise of thinking about what success means has forced me to look back at the past few Ranger seasons through a different lens. Each of them ended with some measure of disappointment, to be sure. But there have been so many highlights as well. The first-round loss to the New Jersey Devils in the 2023 playoffs is sandwiched by exciting runs to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 and 2024. The agony of watching Filip Chytil and Blake Wheeler suffer injuries that kept them out for extended periods is balanced with Chytil making in back for the playoffs, Wheeler cheering on the team a few days before making his own unlikely return to the lineup. Examples of joy and heartbreak alternate in my consciousness.
It is easy to lose sight of the fact that hockey, and sports in general, have a lot more to offer than simply measuring the results, especially as a fan. When I was playing, there were so many lessons to be learned. How to win. How to lose. How to be a good teammate. There was the exertion and exercise. The time in the car on road trips with parents (for better and worse). There were moments of sheer bliss and tremendous agony. But in truth, the measure of my athletic success never came down to wins and losses. It was significantly more nuanced, thankfully. If we as fans are to maintain our sanity, I believe the same must be true for us.
There are a handful of things that, if they happen, will surely mean that the Rangers season was a success, even if they don’t get all those lucky breaks and magical moments it takes to win the Stanley Cup. Finally, solving the right-wing riddle on the Kreider/Zibanejad line with Reilly Smith, for example. Watching Matt Rempe grow as a player, all the while he can keep the joy that has been predominantly displayed would be a treat. Kappo Kakko can create a redemption story of Sam Darnold proportions.
And there are issues with this team, to be sure. How will the team’s captain react to the off-season hullabaloo and potentially playing his last year as a Ranger? Will Shesterkin get a contract before the season? If so, what’s the number? If not, what’s the plan? Can coach Peter Laviolette strike the right tone again in 2024-2025?
There will be wins and there will be losses. Good games and bad. Through it all there will be the drama that an NHL season brings to every team. For the Rangers, with their window of contention wide open, will it be good drama or bad drama? Either way, as a fan, simply having the season back is a success in my book. The rest is gravy.
