Discussion of the Day: 10/04/23

Happy Wednesday everyone! The New York Rangers are back in action tonight and Thursday, and that means we’ll have more game action and results to think and talk about. In case you missed it, Derek Stepan announced his retirement from the NHL yesterday, and it got me thinking about the early to mid 2010s Rangers squads which leads to today’s prompt.

Excluding stars like Lundqvist and McDonagh, who was your favorite Ranger from the 2010s teams?

This is peak “remembering some guys” content, and there really are a lot of names to think about. Over the last little while we’ve seen Stepan, Michael Del Zotto, and Carl Hagelin announce their retirements, and it is wild to think that their careers are over. Wild to think about, but makes a lot of sense when considering the dates of their debut, and how long ago it actually was. I was a senior in college for the 2013-14 season, so this upcoming season being the 10 year anniversary of the team that went to the Cup Final has been a huge mind f*ck personally… even more so with Jonathan Quick being a member of the team… at least for now.

For me, my favorite player from that era who wasn’t a “star” in the traditional sense has to be Mats Zuccarello. He was just such a fun and productive player, and an absolute legend in the shootout.

If you consider Zuccarello a star, then my next pick is Jesper Fast given how hard a worker he was, and how he essentially was able to do whatever the team asked him.

He’s been very good since joining the Carolina Hurricanes, and financially I wish that the Rangers had been able to work things out. With that said, I am interested in who your favorites, and hope you have a great day.