The New York Rangers are off to a quick start to the 2024-2025 regular season. Two convincing, albeit imperfect, wins sandwiching a bit of a stinker where they managed to eke out a point is nothing to scoff at. But with the New York Yankees and New York Mets both on a playoff run and the usual drama afoot for the Jets and Giants, the Rangers have a chance to operate just under the city’s collective radar. In a media market like New York, it can seem like playing in a fishbowl, even when all the other sports teams are active like they are now. However, with so much of the collective attention of New York sports fans focused elsewhere, the Rangers have an opportunity to settle into the regular season.
A little less attention could be just what the doctor ordered for a host of Rangers. Mika Zibanejad, who had three points in Monday night’s game (which competed with Mets, Yankees, and Jets games), can get his season off on the right foot without the micro-dissection of the media and fans that can be overbearing in New York. Sure, there were a few critics after a couple of zero-point games to start the season, but it was more a whisper than the full-throated critique of which the New York market is capable.
Reilly Smith netted his first as a Ranger on Monday, and the line that features Smith, Zibanejad, and Kreider is looking to capitalize on any momentum that can be seized from Monday’s game to prove that they are still the top line. Smith, who by some accounts had a hard time settling in Pittsburgh with the Penguins after a trade from the Vegas Golden Knights, would very much like to get things going in a positive direction before the full focus of the New York media and fanbase is on him and the Rangers.
Kappo Kakko is surely happy to cede the spotlight to high draft picks who are struggling on other New York teams while he and his linemates Filip Chytil and Will Cuylle continue to gel. Their fast start has hardly raised a New York eyebrow, which suits them just fine, I’d be willing to bet.
Even Igor Shesterkin turning down a $88 million contract that would have made him the highest paid goalie in NHL history created barely more than a ripple in the ocean, which is New York sports in the late Fall of 2024. That’s fine too.
I know what you’re thinking…players come to New York, at least in part, to stand out. Just like the song says, if they can make it here, etc. But having a few weeks or, playoff baseball gods willing, a month to settle into the long grind of a regular season, where always-high New York-level expectations have been raised to a fever pitch by two runs to the Eastern Conference Finals in the past three years, could be viewed as a blessing. Now it’s on the Rangers to take full advantage of the respite.
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