Blueshirt Banter Power Rankings: November 4th Edition
The Rangers completed another week of hockey so it is time for another edition of Power Rankings. In this stretch of games the Blueshirts faced off against the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks. Through those three games, they went 2-1-0 scoring eight goals and allowing nine.
Here is how the players shifted over the last week of action.
Biggest Risers
Tony DeAngelo — +7
DeAngelo returned to the lineup due to an injury to Adam McQuaid, and has a goal and a primary assist in the three games he’s played since. During that period he was sixth among skaters —second among defense— in CF% with a mark of 52.75 which translates to 48 for and 43 against. He also a positive mark when it comes to shot differential as he finished +4 (26 for and 22 against) and a SF% of 54.17. His 5v5 goal differential was also positive at +3 as the Blueshirts scored four and allowed one with DeAngelo on the ice.
Brett Howden and Jimmy Vesey — +3
Howden has been one of the Rangers’ more impressive youngsters this year, and he had a great road trip in California. From an underlying numbers perspective, Howden posted a CF% of 53.73 in the three game stretch. He had a GF% of 75 (3 for and 1 against) and a HDCF% of 81.82 (9 for and 2 against).
His boxcar stats include a goal and two assists, one of which was a primary assist. The one concerning number for Howden is a PDO of 108, and that suggests he is in line for a bit of a correction in the near future.
Vesey hasn’t put up a lot of numbers that show up in the score sheet as of late, but his last three games have seen him drive possession and generate chances. He finished second among all skaters in CF% with 44 chances for and 32 against for a 57.89 CF%. Vesey had a primary assist and was on the ice for 9 High Danger Chances and 3 High Danger Chances against. Like Howden, Vesey’s PDO of 105 is quite high, and suggests that he is due for a bit of a correction.
Vladislav Namestnikov and Alexandar Georgiev — +2
Namestnikov received a promotion into the top six, and rewarded David Quinn with a goal and primary assist.
His underlying numbers, however, were dreadful. In terms of chances for and against, Vlad was minus 14, and had a CF% of 39.39. He didn’t generate many scoring chances either, and finished the three games with a differential of -8 for a SCF% of 30. This is a situation of a player producing offensively via the eye test, but struggling a bit when looking at the numbers. It is only a three game sample, but it is positive to see that he responded offensively after receiving a promotion.
Georgiev was sensational against the Anaheim Ducks, and stopped 28 of 30 shots in a shootout victory. The Blueshirts’ backup has rebounded quite nicely after getting shelled in his first start of the season, and has stopped 64 of the last 68 shots he’s faced. The Rangers will lean on Georgiev at some point, and the brief stint in Hartford appears to have been just what he needed.
Biggest Droppers
Fredrik Claesson — -7
Claesson continues to be sidelined with an injury, and he’s been dropped accordingly.
Pavel Buchnevich — -4
There isn’t much more to be said about Buchnevich at this point. He remains a touchy subject at this point, but is expected to be back in the lineup for the Rangers vs. the Buffalo Sabres. His numbers haven’t been great this year, but his track record suggests that he can produce at this level. It is a matter of doing what the coaching staff is asking him, and we don’t exactly know what that is. Personally, I feel the root of Buchnevich’s struggles are tied to the Rangers’ use of him as a left winger when he’s played right wing predominantly at the NHL level. That aside, he drops here from being a healthy scratch for two games in a row, and others playing well around him and moving up on this list.
Brendan Smith, Filip Chytil and Adam McQuaid — - 3
Smith has played very well for the Rangers, and he drops here because there were a few Rangers who deserved to be high up on this list. During this stretch he was positive in terms of chances generated with a CF% of 51.11, but he was shelled in terms of shots. Smith had a -10 differential with 18 shots for and 28 against. This is somewhat explained by the fact that the Rangers were trading chance for chance, as explained by his SCF% of 49.06 (26 for and 27 against.)
Chytil is in an interesting spot right now where he is pressing, but not getting the results. Joe recently wrote a story on this, and I will link to it here. The Rangers’ top prospect played on the fourth line and picked up a secondary assist out in California, but really it was his work that got the play started.
In terms of chances, he finished with a differential of -9 and a CF% of 41.82. His PDO in that stretch was 93.8, and you get the sense that he just needs that one goal to shake the monkey from his back to get things going.
McQuaid remained sidelined with an injury and he drops down due to inactivity.
Stats via Natural Stat Trick unless otherwise noted.
