The New York Rangers have some high -level talent, and these talented players are those who get the most money from everyone else in the team. They are expected to perform at a high level every time they get on the ice, and the fans have the right to get angry with them if they do not meet those expectations. In this piece we are about the five best -paid players in the Rangers and we discuss what the expectations are for them this season after a disaster has become a disaster last season.
#5: JT Miller: $ 8 million for 5 more seasons
In one of the biggest transactions of the NHL last season, the Rangers JT Miller brought back from the Vancouver Canucks. He immediately became an impact player and scored two goals back in his first game with the team that originally set him up in the NHL Draft 2011. He closed the season with 13 goals and played 35 points in 32 games as a ranger. He was one of the better attacking artists in the team to end the season, and in this season he will be familiar to be an attacking force again.
Miller will again Take the role of primary care centerAnd that means that he goes against the top players in every other team on most nights. He will still have to offer an attack, while he also ensures that he plays a good defense game, because if a top center in the NHL a two -way style is the best way to succeed. If he can play a full season and stay healthy, he could again hit 90-100 points, as he did in Vancouver two seasons ago when he had 103 points. Miller was brought back to New York to be a leader and an attacking force, and that is exactly what they need him this season.
#4: Mika Zibanejad: $ 8.5 million for 5 more seasons
One of the players who benefited the most from Miller’s arrival last season was Mika Zibanejad. In general, the worst of his nine seasons in New York was last season, because it seemed as if he lost the ability to be an overall impactful player as he had been before many seasons before. He closed the season with only 20 goals and 62 points, six fewer goals and 10 fewer points than the season before. He scored 11 of those goals and 33 of those points in the 32 games after he had brought a line with Miller to end the season. That was the only light place for Zibanejad last season, his new chemistry with Miller and on the right side of that line.
If the Rangers will get the most out of him this season, Start back on the right wing And playing with Miller is the best place to start. You now know that they have chemistry, and playing with Miller has really elevated Zibanejad his game, so it is probably the best use for him, at least to have the season on the same line, at least to start the season. If his season goes bad again, the fans will make him disappear even more than this season. Zibanejad has to put behind him last season and concentrate on playing at a high level this season, and helping the Rangers to return to the play -offs.
#3: Adam Fox: $ 9.5 million for 4 more seasons
Again, this season Adam Fox will be the backbone for the defense of the Rangers. After attacking from a Down season, plus a bad performance at the 4 Nations Face-Off for Team USA, many ask if Fox is still one of the best defenders in the competition. However, these doubters can be silenced very quickly if he can bounce back this season on the way many think he will do that. With a new coach in Mike Sullivan and a new defensive partner in Vladislav Gavrikov, this can be the season that Fox finally proves that he is the best defender in the NHL if everything will plan for him and the Rangers this season.
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In recent seasons, Fox has not been lucky with the defensive partners with whom he had to play and wear practically. Ryan Lindgren was his partner for many seasons, and they were very good together for a while, but when Lindgren’s game started to take, Fox had to wear that combination. When Lindgren was traded, Carson Soucy became his new partner, and that was not better. With Gavrikov who now comes in and is one of the best defensive defenders in the competition, FOX does not have to worry about whether his partner is playing badly and can simply concentrate on his own game on both sides of the puck. The Rangers need Fox to bounce back this season, because he is the glue that holds the defense together.
#2: Igor Shesterkin: $ 11.5 million for 8 more seasons
The title of the best paid keeper in the NHL is now by Igor Shestinin. This season is the first of an eight -year -old deal to pay him $ 11.5 million per season, and now expectations will be higher than ever before. Nobody can question his game when the play -offs come, because he has been one of the best Playoff elevals in recent seasons. What fans are worried about, his game is in the regular season, because his figures have fallen every season since he won the Vezina trophy during the 2021-22 season, when he had a record of 36-13-4 with a 2.07 goals-op average (GAA) and a .935 Save percentage (SV%). Those figures have since fallen in the three seasons, with a 2.48, 2.56 and 2.86 GAA, and a .916, .913 and a .905 SV% to go with it. If he wants to prove that he is worth this contract, he will have to have a better season, and he must play more consistently at a high level instead of going through several cold pieces throughout the season as he has done in the past.
For so many seasons, Shesterkin is now the backbone of the Rangers, and even if the team is playing badly for him, only his game gives them a chance to win on a certain night. If the Rangers go back to the play -offs this season, they will need him to perform his game of what it was last season and play at the high level that they know he can play on a more consistent base. Shesterkin will probably be far from the most important problem for the Rangers this season, but with this new contract all eyes will be on him to see if he can live up to his new deal.
#1: Artemi Panarin: $ 11,642,857 Only for this season
It is hard to believe that Artemi Panarin will participate in the last year of the seven -year contract that he signed with the Rangers in 2019. He has been worth every cent of this deal and is the best attacking player and pointed leader of the team in every season he has been in the team. Although he could not return to the 49 goal, 120-point season that he had two years ago, he was still able to set 37 goals and 89 points last season in a team that was actually a no-show from November to the end of the season. Again, he will have to be the top -offensive player in the team and will probably lead the team in goals and points, assuming that he has a healthy season. Despite the fact that he does not yet have a contract extension, if he can reach a hot start of the season, the Rangers may have no choice but to sign him for a new deal.
He will probably start again and plays with Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere. This line two seasons ago was the best in the entire competition, and no other team had an answer to stop them. Last season was a complete 180, because it seemed as if this line was already lost its magic, and they did not produce at the same level. Trocheck and Lafreniere will have to bounce back from their poor seasons in 2024-25, and maybe Panarin can help them play again at the high level that they played two seasons ago. If this is the last season of Panarin in New York, fans hope that he can help the team to return to the play -offs and maybe even win a Stanley Cup.
The pressure this season on the Rangers is being higher than ever before. They are expected to bounce back and return to the play -offs, but nothing is guaranteed in this competition. They went from the NHL’s best to one of the worst in just one season, and now they will trust these five players to bring them back to the top of the competition. If all these players can play their expectations, this season should be a fun in New York. If they cannot do that, expect more changes to be made as the season continues and to the next low season.
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