Pre-Game Talk: 2021-22 Season Predictions

EdJovanovski

#RempeForCalder
Apr 26, 2016
28,816
57,049
The Rempire State
46-29-7
4th in Metro
Make it to 2nd Round


NameGPGAPTS
Artemi Panarin823975114
Mika Zibanejad79414384
Vitali Kravtsov79343670
Alexis Lafreniere82333265
Adam Fox8175461
Filip Chytil80242852
Kaapo Kakko79183048
Chris Kreider76222244
Ryan Strome78122840
Barclay Goodrow82141731
Nils Lundkvist6562329
Jacob Trouba8051924
Sammy Blais5991423
Morgan Barron6391221
K'Andre Miller8041620
Julien Gauthier49 9 918
Ryan Lindgren7611617
Zac Jones4421416
Ryan Reaves70358
Patrik Nemeth54077
Kevin Rooney19011
Jared Tinordi13000
Justin Richards5011
Dryden Hunt1000
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
NameGPWLOTLSV%GAASO GAPTS
Igor Shesterkin6539213.9262.915 1 34
Keith Kinkaid17652.9023.4900 0 0
Alexander Georgiev7132.8564.8310 0 0
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
 
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eco's bones

Registered User
Jul 21, 2005
26,127
12,523
Elmira NY
46-29-7
4th in Metro
Make it to 2nd Round


NameGPGAPTS
Artemi Panarin823975114
Mika Zibanejad79513586
Vitali Kravtsov78343670
Alexis Lafreniere82333265
Adam Fox8185563
Filip Chytil80243054
Kaapo Kakko79183351
Chris Kreider76242246
Ryan Strome78152843
Barclay Goodrow82141731
Nils Lundkvist6562329
Jacob Trouba8052025
Sammy Blais5991524
Morgan Barron63101323
K'Andre Miller8041721
Julien Gauthier49 9 1019
Ryan Lindgren7611819
Ryan Reaves7061218
Zac Jones44 215 17
Patrik Nemeth54077
Kevin Rooney19033
Jared Tinordi13000
Justin Richards5022
Dryden Hunt1000
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
NameGPWLOTLSV%GAASO GAPTS
Igor Shesterkin6539213.9302.545 1 34
Keith Kinkaid17652.9092.9600 0 0
Alexander Georgiev7132.8864.0210 0 0
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

In your scenario the Rangers are going to score 312 goals and give up somewhere in the neighborhood of 230. Those numbers and they will be a first place team in their division for sure—maybe even best record in the league in the regular season. The last time the NHL played a full regular season in 2018-19 only one team cracked 300 goals—Tampa Bay with 325 and Tampa gave up 222 goals that season and won the President’s Trophy.
 

EdJovanovski

#RempeForCalder
Apr 26, 2016
28,816
57,049
The Rempire State
In your scenario the Rangers are going to score 312 goals and give up somewhere in the neighborhood of 230. Those numbers and they will be a first place team in their division for sure—maybe even best record in the league in the regular season. The last time the NHL played a full regular season in 2018-19 only one team cracked 300 goals—Tampa Bay with 325 and Tampa gave up 222 goals that season and won the President’s Trophy.
Pfft who does math anyway :sarcasm:
Perhaps make the defensive numbers worse then, I think we will be near the very top for goals scored. I’d guess 2nd or 3rd in the league
 

mas0764

Registered User
Jul 16, 2005
13,843
11,207
OP seems like he has us scoring a lot of goals. I'd knock ten off Panarin and Zibanejad and fifteen to twenty off Kravtsov and call it a massive success.

Would like Kakko to pot some more goals and Lafreniere to get some more assists though.
 

EdJovanovski

#RempeForCalder
Apr 26, 2016
28,816
57,049
The Rempire State
OP seems like he has us scoring a lot of goals. I'd knock ten off Panarin and Zibanejad and fifteen to twenty off Kravtsov and call it a massive success.

Would like Kakko to pot some more goals and Lafreniere to get some more assists though.
Those Panarin numbers are in line with what he paced for the past 2 seasons. That is actually a lot worse pace than Zibanejad had in 19-20 & in the second half of 20-21; plus it’s Zibanejad’s contract year. We were already like what, top 5? In goals the past 2 years. Now going from one of the most poorly regarded coaches in the league to one of the best, and with the 1st & 2nd overall picks under a new coach with another year of development & a proper offseason (Laf didn’t play for a full calendar year prior to his first NHL game because of lockdowns). They should take a big step forward offensively and we were already one of the best, I think we should be 2nd in goals behind Tampa. Maybe I am too big of an optimist lol
 

Irishguy42

Mr. Preachy
Sep 11, 2015
26,839
19,124
NJ
*opens EdJov stat prediction thread*

*doesn't see wildly inflated numbers*

the-simpsons-bart-simpson.gif
 

mas0764

Registered User
Jul 16, 2005
13,843
11,207
I'm not gonna pretend this is a realistic accounting of anything - just my rough feelings. So don't blame me if the numbers don't quite add up.

But I'd like to see Panarin break 100 points in a full season, and I think he can. He's still elite and he has scorers galore around him. Call it 30 and 70. I don't think he will necessarily continue his torrid 120 point paces, maybe not least of all because he doesn't have to. But 100 should be doable.

Zibanejad will not score 50. He might not even score 40, but I don't want to go quite that low yet. Let's say he's roughly 40-40 for 80; but I think this is his statistical high water mark. He probably was overall more lethal the past 2 seasons but they were cut short due to covid.

Because I want him to, I'm going to predict a Kakko break out. It beats being pessimistic. 25-35 for 60. I think he gets reliable top 6 minutes and special team time. I think Lafreniere does similarly. I hope they are both in the 55-70 point range. Well, I mean, I *hope* they are both over 100 points, but realistically, if they can both break 60 I will feel ecstatic about them as future building blocks. If Kakko against struggles to break 40, I will start to be concerned about winning any Cups the next decade. Both Kakko and Lafreniere started out abysmally last season - Laf with 8 points in 31 games, Kakko with a horrific 4 points in 23 games (he missed some time). But both rebounded to respectability - both netting an identical 13 points in their last 25 games. I'll optimistically say by the end of the season they were both competent 0.5 ppg players and I will project that to jump to more like 0.75 ppg players.

As far as building blocks go, if Chytil also cracks 50, I think that's both doable and fantastic. I would continue to pencil him in as a future elite #2 with 60-70 point upside in that scenario (if not, we have a ton more work to do at center). Let's hope he's more like that rather than 40, which has been his pace recently. He was already 0.52 ppg last year, so really what he has to do is just stay healthy and have a slight uptick.

Fox being in the high 50s to low 60s makes sense. I don't think he will have to do literally everything as time goes on simply because he is going to end up with a very good defensive grouping around him eventually. He will awe, but be used less as time goes on, to give him a break and keep him fresh. He does not repeat as Norris winner, but is still an All Star.

Kreider will continue to be Kreider. Inconsistent. Will fail to break 30 goals, especially with getting lesser time, but will still be a valuable player and will find a nice home in more of a support role on the third line.

Strome will see his stats inch down as Kakko and Lafreniere take away some of his usage.

Lundkvist will make you all fall in love with him and he will stop being thrown into every trade package because you people think he's "redundant," with Fox here.

Kravtsov I dunno. I'm scared. He won't get anywhere close to 70, that would be a dream that just can't come true.

But if he can get 40 I'll be ecstatic.
 
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Roo Returns

Skjeikspeare No More
Mar 4, 2010
9,288
4,821
Westchester, NY
Laf, Kaako, and Kravstov all show progress but not to superstar levels. K. Miller has the biggest overall improvement.

Trouba misses around 10-15 games and Robertson gets a crack.

Rangers finish third in the division but lose in round 1.
 
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Bruner4329

Registered User
Apr 24, 2016
574
445
Based on current roster, 5th in Metro behind Washington, Canes, Isles and Penguins and miss playoffs. Also end up with less points than at least 4 if not all of the following Bruins, Tampa, Florida, Toronto and Montreal.
 

Machinehead

GoAwayTrouba
Jan 21, 2011
143,055
114,279
NYC
I'll take a stab at it but I'm only doing starters because I'm not gonna try to guess how many games non-starters play.

Panarin - 82/32/69/101
Zibanejad - 55/36/31/67
Lafreniere - 82/26/34/60
Fox - 82/7/52/59
Strome - 70/19/33/52
Kreider - 68/24/20/44
Kakko - 75/22/21/43
Kravtsov - 82/15/23/38
Chytil - 77/19/19/38
Trouba - 79/7/28/35
Lindgren - 82/2/32/34
Goodrow - 82 14/15/29
Lundkvist - 65/4/22/26
Blais - 70/12/13/25
Miller - 65/7/6/23
Rooney - 82/9/12/21
Nemeth - 75/1/10/11
Reaves - 58/4/3/7

46-27-9, 101 points - 2nd in Metro

I see Barron in the AHL getting significant time rather than spot duty but he could easily end up playing a lot depending on how things go. Like I said, that's something I didn't wanna just guess. Lafreniere will eventually wrestle a PP1 spot away from Strome but not to start the year, so he has a big second half. If Zibanejad misses less than 25 games, I'll fart in a sock and put the sock on my nose. Reaves scores in the home opener -- just a hunch.

The Caps are gonna fall off, Columbus is rebuilding, Carolina lost key pieces, New Jersey lol, and the Islanders don't try in the regular season, so I think we have a chance to win some games.
 

GoAwayPanarin

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May 27, 2008
41,918
52,326
In High Altitoad
46-29-7
4th in Metro
Make it to 2nd Round


NameGPGAPTS
Artemi Panarin823975114
Mika Zibanejad79513586
Vitali Kravtsov78343670
Alexis Lafreniere82333265
Adam Fox8185563
Filip Chytil80243054
Kaapo Kakko79183351
Chris Kreider76242246
Ryan Strome78152843
Barclay Goodrow82141731
Nils Lundkvist6562329
Jacob Trouba8052025
Sammy Blais5991524
Morgan Barron63101323
K'Andre Miller8041721
Julien Gauthier49 9 1019
Ryan Lindgren7611819
Ryan Reaves7061218
Zac Jones44 215 17
Patrik Nemeth54077
Kevin Rooney19033
Jared Tinordi13000
Justin Richards5022
Dryden Hunt1000
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
NameGPWLOTLSV%GAASO GAPTS
Igor Shesterkin6539213.9262.915 1 34
Keith Kinkaid17652.9023.4900 0 0
Alexander Georgiev7132.8564.8310 0 0
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

these results would lead to them running way with the presidents trophy
 

Machinehead

GoAwayTrouba
Jan 21, 2011
143,055
114,279
NYC
I see Kakko and Lafreniere finally getting legit minutes which is great but also comes with a learning curve. Harder matchups and the potential to run out of gas over 82 games. Because of the virus, neither of them have played anywhere near that.

But they'll have seasons where we're like "ok, I see you..." and then 22-23 is where they go off.
 

will1066

Your positivity is not welcomed
Oct 12, 2008
44,583
61,147
In your scenario the Rangers are going to score 312 goals and give up somewhere in the neighborhood of 230. Those numbers and they will be a first place team in their division for sure—maybe even best record in the league in the regular season. The last time the NHL played a full regular season in 2018-19 only one team cracked 300 goals—Tampa Bay with 325 and Tampa gave up 222 goals that season and won the President’s Trophy.
I just knew someone was gonna shoot holes in EdJovo's math.
 

eco's bones

Registered User
Jul 21, 2005
26,127
12,523
Elmira NY
The highest number of games Shesterkin has played in a season is 51 and that’s pre-KHL so a number of years back. 65 I think is a reach and especially if you want him taking us deep into the playoffs. If he can do 55 and playoffs I think that’s more in the realm of possibility. I don’t think it wise to burn him out. That means Alex is going to need to pick it up a bit from last year. Kinkaid is also there but really he’s a journeyman on the back end of his career. The Rangers really need for Alex to step it up this year as backup.
 

huerter

Registered User
Aug 16, 2020
4,209
2,170
The 8 million dollar #8 raises his game to a Mayfield type level. Gonna try my best to give him a clean slate.
 

EdJovanovski

#RempeForCalder
Apr 26, 2016
28,816
57,049
The Rempire State
I was gonna question his GPs per each player and force him to make things up. Why did Kreider sit out 6 games? Oh, he tried jumping out of a pool again but this time developed a hernia.
Zibanejad misses 2 games with concussion symptoms but rushes back because it's his contract year and wants to dispel the notion that he's injury prone. During the All Star break he takes a wild vacation to Thailand where he pulls his groin when with one of his many women, missing 1 game after the break.

The NHL introduces "The Kravtsov rule" because he starts the season too dominant, putting up 10 goals in the first 10 games, to go along with 12 assists. Opposing teams front offices are livid with his unexplainable production, fans of other teams are calling for him to be thrown out of the NHL. The league suspends him for 4 games to cool him off of the hot streak while they make him undergo an investigation to determine whether he's taking performance enhancing drugs.

Kakko starts the season with 0 points through his first 16 games, the Rangers send him down on a conditioning stint because they determine he came into camp too fat. They tell him to lose 10lbs in a week, he tries an experimental supplement that ends up containing gluten that triggers a celiac episode where he bloats up like a balloon and misses a 3rd game. He nearly misses a 4th game but the training staff were able to tailor new "Kakko-cut" shoulder pads & hockey pants for him. Kakko ends up landing a deal with Bauer to introduce a new body positive line of equipment named after him; ushering in a new era where plus sized hockey players become in vogue again after the league started embracing unrealistic beauty standards with rail thin models like Jack Hughes & Elias Pettersson.
 

eco's bones

Registered User
Jul 21, 2005
26,127
12,523
Elmira NY
I just knew someone was gonna shoot holes in EdJovo's math.

These kinds of threads have come up in previous years and it’s hardly the first time that someone has gone a little over exuberant in their projections. Higher production numbers almost always come with top two line and power play situations and there is only so much to go around and almost every year a power play is going to have its up and down times. For the Rangers power play I’m kind of expecting Fox, Panarin and Zibanejad are going to get as much as they can handle. Guys like Kakko and Lafreniere hopefully will get more than last year but we’ll see.
 
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PetahFromBensonhoist

Registered User
Jun 2, 2021
235
262
Brooklyn
Here are my predictions for the 2021-22 season. They are rather bold.

1. Rangers take the first wildcard spot.
2. Nils Lundkvist puts up a stellar rookie season, showing both offensive and defensive prowess.
3. Morgan Barron shines under Coach Gallant's tutelage, anchoring the fourth line as a LW/C. He drops the gloves at some point in the season.
4. Igor Shesterkin eclipses 30 wins with a 2.40 GAA.
5. Rangers have a surprisingly impressive playoff performance, advancing to the second round where they are eliminated in 6 games.


Top ten scorers, assuming each plays 82 games.
NameGoalsAssistsPoints
Artemi Panarin3375108
Mika Zibanejad414485
Ryan Strome215677
Adam Fox115970
Alexis Lafreniere243660
Kaapo Kakko174158
Vitali Kravtsov183755
Chris Kreider252449
Filip Chytil182038
Nils Lundkvist92533
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
 
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huerter

Registered User
Aug 16, 2020
4,209
2,170
I'd like to ask the OP who the hell are Ryan Strome's primary linemates in that scenario?
 

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