# 2020–21 New York Rangers season

The 2020–21 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 94th season of play and their 95th season overall. Following the buyout of his contract on September 30, 2020, Henrik Lundqvist was not on the roster for the first time since the 2005–06 season. Before the season, the Rangers received the first overall pick in the draft lottery of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. They drafted Alexis Lafreniere, who became only the second player to be drafted first overall by the Rangers, after Andre Veilleux in 1965. On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment, the Rangers played this season in the East Division and only played games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season.
Fan attendance in home games was prohibited until February 23, 2021, per an executive order from Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo. The Rangers reopened Madison Square Garden to spectators on February 26.
On March 17, head coach David Quinn and his assistant coaches, Jacques Martin, David Oliver, and Greg Brown were unavailable to coach the Rangers' game against the Philadelphia Flyers because of COVID-19 protocols and health and safety guidelines. A temporary coaching staff was called in and the team was coached by head coach Kris Knoblauch and assistant coach Gord Murphy from the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, and the team's associate general manager Chris Drury. This was the first time in the NHL an entire coaching staff was not allowed to be in the arena to coach a game due to a pandemic. The Rangers won the game 9–0, which was the largest margin of victory since March 31, 1986, when they won 9–0 against the New Jersey Devils.
The Rangers scored the most hat tricks of any NHL team during the season. The players were – Mika Zibanejad (3), Chris Kreider (2), and Pavel Buchnevich (1). This was the most since the 1991–92 season when the team had eight.
On May 3, the Rangers were eliminated from playoff contention after a 6–3 loss to the Washington Capitals. Two days later, Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton and president/alternative governor John Davidson were both relieved of their duties by the organization. They were replaced by former Rangers captain Chris Drury who was named the new president and general manager.
On May 12, the Rangers fired head coach David Quinn after the team failed to make the playoffs. Assistant coaches Jacques Martin, David Oliver and Greg Brown were also fired.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

East Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Pittsburgh Penguins | 56 | 37 | 16 | 3 | 29 | 196 | 156 | +40 | 77 |
| 2 | x – Washington Capitals | 56 | 36 | 15 | 5 | 29 | 191 | 163 | +28 | 77 |
| 3 | x – Boston Bruins | 56 | 33 | 16 | 7 | 25 | 168 | 136 | +32 | 73 |
| 4 | x – New York Islanders | 56 | 32 | 17 | 7 | 24 | 156 | 128 | +28 | 71 |
| 5 | e – New York Rangers | 56 | 27 | 23 | 6 | 24 | 177 | 157 | +20 | 60 |
| 6 | e – Philadelphia Flyers | 56 | 25 | 23 | 8 | 17 | 163 | 201 | −38 | 58 |
| 7 | e – New Jersey Devils | 56 | 19 | 30 | 7 | 15 | 145 | 194 | −49 | 45 |
| 8 | e – Buffalo Sabres | 56 | 15 | 34 | 7 | 11 | 138 | 199 | −61 | 37 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.
2020–21 game log :
January: 2–4–2, 6 points (Home: 1–2–1; Road: 1–2–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
1January 14NY Islanders0–4ShesterkinMadison Square Garden00–1–00
2January 16NY Islanders5–0GeorgievMadison Square Garden01–1–02
3January 19New Jersey3–4GeorgievMadison Square Garden01–2–02
4January 22@ Pittsburgh3–4SOShesterkinPPG Paints Arena01–2–13
5January 24@ Pittsburgh2–3ShesterkinPPG Paints Arena01–3–13
6January 26@ Buffalo2–3GeorgievKeyBank Center01–4–13
7January 28@ Buffalo3–2OTShesterkinKeyBank Center02–4–15
8January 30Pittsburgh4–5OTGeorgievMadison Square Garden02–4–26 :
February: 5–5–1, 11 points (Home: 3–4–1; Road: 2–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
9February 1Pittsburgh3–1ShesterkinMadison Square Garden03–4–28
10February 4Washington4–2ShesterkinMadison Square Garden04–4–210
—February 6@ New Jersey–Postponed due to COVID-19 protocol; moved to March 4
11February 8NY Islanders0–2ShesterkinMadison Square Garden04–5–210
12February 10Boston2–3OTGeorgievMadison Square Garden04–5–311
13February 12Boston0–1ShesterkinMadison Square Garden04–6–311
—February 14Philadelphia–Postponed due to COVID-19 protocol; moved to April 22
14February 16New Jersey2–5ShesterkinMadison Square Garden04–7–311
15February 18@ Philadelphia3–2SOGeorgievWells Fargo Center05–7–313
16February 20@ Washington4–1ShesterkinCapital One Arena06–7–315
17February 24@ Philadelphia3–4ShesterkinWells Fargo Center06–8–315
18February 26Boston6–2GeorgievMadison Square Garden1,8007–8–317
19February 28Boston1–4ShesterkinMadison Square Garden1,8007–9–317 :
March: 9–6–1, 19 points (Home: 4–0–1; Road: 5–6–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
20March 2Buffalo3–2ShesterkinMadison Square Garden1,8008–9–319
21March 4@ New Jersey6–1ShesterkinPrudential Center1,8009–9–321
22March 6@ New Jersey6–3GeorgievPrudential Center1,80010–9–323
23March 7@ Pittsburgh1–5GeorgievPPG Paints Arena2,80010–10–323
24March 9@ Pittsburgh2–4KinkaidPPG Paints Arena2,80010–11–323
25March 11@ Boston0–4GeorgievTD Garden010–12–323
26March 13@ Boston4–0KinkaidTD Garden011–12–325
27March 15Philadelphia4–5OTKinkaidMadison Square Garden1,63911–12–426
28March 17Philadelphia9–0GeorgievMadison Square Garden1,72312–12–428
29March 19@ Washington1–2GeorgievCapital One Arena012–13–428
30March 20@ Washington3–1KinkaidCapital One Arena013–13–430
31March 22Buffalo5–3KinkaidMadison Square Garden1,80014–13–432
32March 25@ Philadelphia8–3ShesterkinWells Fargo Center2,85415–13–434
33March 27@ Philadelphia1–2ShesterkinWells Fargo Center3,06915–14–434
34March 28@ Washington4–5KinkaidCapital One Arena015–15–434
35March 30Washington5–2ShesterkinMadison Square Garden1,76116–15–436 :
April: 10–4–2, 22 points (Home: 6–3–0; Road: 4–1–2)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
36April 1@ Buffalo3–2OTShesterkinKeyBank Center017–15–438
37April 3@ Buffalo2–3SOShesterkinKeyBank Center30217–15–539
38April 6Pittsburgh8–4ShesterkinMadison Square Garden1,69318–15–541
39April 8Pittsburgh2–5ShesterkinMadison Square Garden1,80018–16–541
40April 9@ NY Islanders4–1GeorgievNassau Coliseum1,40019–16–543
41April 11@ NY Islanders2–3OTShesterkinNassau Coliseum1,40019–16–644
42April 13@ New Jersey3–0ShesterkinPrudential Center3,60020–16–646
43April 15New Jersey4–0ShesterkinMadison Square Garden1,68821–16–648
44April 17New Jersey6–3ShesterkinMadison Square Garden1,80022–16–650
45April 18@ New Jersey5–3GeorgievPrudential Center3,50023–16–652
46April 20@ NY Islanders1–6ShesterkinNassau Coliseum1,40023–17–652
47April 22Philadelphia2–3ShesterkinMadison Square Garden1,80023–18–652
48April 23Philadelphia4–1GeorgievMadison Square Garden1,80024–18–654
49April 25Buffalo6–3ShesterkinMadison Square Garden1,80025–18–656
50April 27Buffalo3–1ShesterkinMadison Square Garden1,79626–18–658
51April 29NY Islanders0–4ShesterkinMadison Square Garden1,80026–19–658 :
May: 1–4–0, 2 points (Home: 0–2–0; Road: 1–2–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
52May 1@ NY Islanders0–3GeorgievNassau Coliseum1,40026–20–658
53May 3Washington3–6ShesterkinMadison Square Garden1,80026–21–658
54May 5Washington2–4GeorgievMadison Square Garden1,80026–22–658
55May 6@ Boston0–4ShesterkinTD Garden2,19126–23–658
56May 8@ Boston5–4ShesterkinTD Garden2,19127–23–660 :
Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)
  Postponement :

## Player statistics

As of May 8, 2021

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Artemi Panarin | 42 | 17 | 41 | 58 | +14 | 6 |
| Mika Zibanejad | 56 | 24 | 26 | 50 | +2 | 18 |
| Ryan Strome | 56 | 14 | 35 | 49 | +6 | 39 |
| Pavel Buchnevich | 54 | 20 | 28 | 48 | +12 | 42 |
| Adam Fox | 55 | 5 | 42 | 47 | +19 | 14 |
| Chris Kreider | 50 | 20 | 10 | 30 | –1 | 34 |
| Colin Blackwell | 47 | 12 | 10 | 22 | +2 | 15 |
| Filip Chytil | 42 | 8 | 14 | 22 | +9 | 10 |
| Alexis Lafreniere | 56 | 12 | 9 | 21 | –7 | 8 |
| Kaapo Kakko | 48 | 9 | 8 | 17 | +3 | 10 |
| Ryan Lindgren | 51 | 1 | 15 | 16 | +20 | 35 |
| Kevin Rooney | 54 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 54 |
| K'Andre Miller | 53 | 5 | 7 | 12 | +9 | 20 |
| Jacob Trouba | 38 | 2 | 10 | 12 | +3 | 22 |
| Brendan Smith | 48 | 5 | 5 | 10 | +3 | 73 |
| Julien Gauthier | 30 | 2 | 6 | 8 | –6 | 14 |
| Phillip Di Giuseppe | 31 | 1 | 7 | 8 | +2 | 13 |
| Brendan Lemieux$^‡$ | 31 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 59 |
| Brett Howden | 42 | 1 | 6 | 7 | –2 | 11 |
| Vitali Kravtsov | 20 | 2 | 2 | 4 | –6 | 4 |
| Libor Hajek | 44 | 2 | 2 | 4 | +2 | 10 |
| Anthony Bitetto | 14 | 1 | 3 | 4 | –8 | 20 |
| Zac Jones | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | –2 | 2 |
| Jack Johnson | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | –5 | 8 |
| Jonny Brodzinski | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Morgan Barron | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Tony DeAngelo | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | –6 | 4 |
| Tarmo Reunanen | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 0 |
| Justin Richards | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 0 |
| Tim Gettinger | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Igor Shesterkin | 35 | 31 | 1,899:01 | 16 | 14 | 3 | 83 | 2.62 | 987 | .916 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alexandar Georgiev | 19 | 18 | 973:56 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 44 | 2.71 | 465 | .905 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Keith Kinkaid | 9 | 7 | 485:53 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 2.59 | 205 | .898 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* $^†$ Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Rangers. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.
* $^‡$ Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.
* Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

## Awards and honors
### Awards

Regular season :
| Player | Award | Date |
| Adam Fox | Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award | April 29, 2021 |
| Adam Fox | James Norris Memorial Trophy | June 29, 2021 |

### Milestones

Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Alexis Lafreniere | 1st NHL career game | January 14, 2021 |
| K'Andre Miller | 1st NHL career game | January 14, 2021 |
| K'Andre Miller | 1st NHL career point | January 22, 2021 |
| K'Andre Miller | 1st NHL career goal | January 26, 2021 |
| Alexis Lafreniere | 1st NHL career goal | January 28, 2021 |
| Kevin Rooney | 100th NHL career game | January 28, 2021 |
| Artem Panarin | 400th NHL career game | February 1, 2021 |
| Julien Gauthier | 1st NHL career goal | February 10, 2021 |
| Ryan Strome | 100th NHL career goal 200th NHL career point | February 20, 2021 |
| Alexis Lafreniere | 1st NHL career assist | February 26, 2021 |
| Pavel Buchnevich | 100th NHL career assist | March 7, 2021 |
| Tarmo Reunanen | 1st NHL career game 1st NHL career assist 1st NHL career point | March 15, 2021 |
| Jacob Trouba | 50th NHL career goal | March 17, 2021 |
| Brendan Smith | 500th NHL career game | March 19, 2021 |
| Adam Fox | 100th NHL career game | March 22, 2021 |
| Vitali Kravtsov | 1st NHL career game | April 3, 2021 |
| Vitali Kravtsov | 1st NHL career assist 1st NHL career point | April 11, 2021 |
| Pavel Buchnevich | Scored the 20,000th goal in Rangers franchise history | April 13, 2021 |
| Igor Shesterkin | 1st NHL career shutout | April 13, 2021 |
| Artem Panarin | 300th NHL career assist | April 17, 2021 |
| Pavel Buchnevich | 1st NHL career hat trick | April 17, 2021 |
| Vitali Kravtsov | 1st NHL career goal | April 18, 2021 |
| Zac Jones | 1st NHL career game | April 22, 2021 |
| Zac Jones | 1st NHL career point | April 25, 2021 |
| Ryan Strome | 300th NHL career point | April 27, 2021 |
| Morgan Barron | 1st NHL career game | May 1, 2021 |
| Morgan Barron | 1st NHL career goal 1st NHL career point | May 5, 2021 |
| Justin Richards | 1st NHL career game 1st NHL career assist 1st NHL career point | May 8, 2021 |
| Mika Zibanejad | 200th NHL career goal | May 8, 2021 |

### Records

Regular season :
| Player | Record | Reached |
| Chris Kreider | 161st NHL career goal (2nd most goals by American-born Ranger) | February 1, 2021 |
| Mika Zibanejad | Most points in one period with 6 (tied with Bryan Trottier) | March 17, 2021 |
| Mika Zibanejad | 1st player in NHL history to record 6+ points in consecutive games vs. one opponent within a regular season (6 goals, 6 assists against Philadelphia Flyers) | March 25, 2021 |
| Artemi Panarin | Most assists (93) in first 100 games (98) in Rangers history (passing Mark Messier) | April 9, 2021 |

## Transactions

The Rangers were involved in the following transactions during the 2020–21 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| October 6, 2020 (2020-10-06) | To Calgary FlamesCAR's 1st-round pick in 2020 3rd-round pick in 2020 | To New York Rangers1st-round pick in 2020 |
| October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07) | To Los Angeles KingsLias Andersson | To New York RangersVGK's 2nd-round pick in 2020 |
| October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07) | To San Jose Sharks7th-round pick in 2020 VAN's 7th-round pick in 2020 | To New York Rangers5th-round pick in 2020 |
| March 27, 2021 (2021-03-27) | To Los Angeles KingsBrendan Lemieux | To New York Rangers4th-round pick in 2021 |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09) | Anthony Bitetto | from Winnipeg Jets | 2-year |
| October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09) | Colin Blackwell | from Nashville Predators | 2-year |
| October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09) | Jonny Brodzinski | from San Jose Sharks | 1-year |
| October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09) | Anthony Greco | from San Jose Sharks | 2-year |
| October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09) | Jack Johnson | from Pittsburgh Penguins | 1-year |
| October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09) | Keith Kinkaid | from Montreal Canadiens | 2-year |
| October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09) | Kevin Rooney | from New Jersey Devils | 2-year |
| October 10, 2020 (2020-10-10) | Jesper Fast | to Carolina Hurricanes | 3-year |
| October 10, 2020 (2020-10-10) | Vinni Lettieri | to Anaheim Ducks | 1-year |
| October 11, 2020 (2020-10-11) | Danny O'Regan | to Vegas Golden Knights | 1-year |
| October 14, 2020 (2020-10-14) | Greg McKegg | to Boston Bruins | 1-year |
| October 19, 2020 (2020-10-19) | Steven Fogarty | to Buffalo Sabres | 1-year |
| November 13, 2020 (2020-11-13) | Micheal Haley | to Ottawa Senators | 1-year |
| December 31, 2020 (2020-12-31) | Jean-Francois Berube | to Ontario Reign (AHL) | 1-year |
| January 9, 2021 (2021-01-09) | Ryan Gropp | to Västerviks IK (HockeyAllsvenskan) | 1-year |
| January 12, 2021 (2021-01-12) | Boo Nieves | to Tampa Bay Lightning | 1-year |
| March 4, 2021 (2021-03-04) | Mason Geertsen | from Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) | 2-year |
| June 4, 2021 (2021-06-04) | Yegor Rykov | to Severstal Cherepovets (KHL) | 2-year |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Contract term |
| October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09) | Brandon Crawley | 1-year |
| October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12) | Alexis Lafreniere | 3-year |
| October 13, 2020 (2020-10-13) | Phillip Di Giuseppe | 1-year |
| October 15, 2020 (2020-10-15) | Tony DeAngelo | 2-year |
| October 15, 2020 (2020-10-15) | Alexandar Georgiev | 2-year |
| October 16, 2020 (2020-10-16) | Gabriel Fontaine | 1-year |
| October 16, 2020 (2020-10-16) | Darren Raddysh | 1-year |
| November 6, 2020 (2020-11-06) | Brendan Lemieux | 2-year |
| November 6, 2020 (2020-11-06) | Ryan Strome | 2-year |
| March 4, 2021 (2021-03-04) | Braden Schneider | 3-year |
| March 29, 2021 (2021-03-29) | Hunter Skinner | 3-year |
| April 13, 2021 (2021-04-13) | Zachary Jones | 3-year |
| April 19, 2021 (2021-04-19) | William Cuylle | 3-year |
| April 21, 2021 (2021-04-21) | Karl Henriksson | 3-year |
| April 29, 2021 (2021-04-29) | Lauri Pajuniemi | 2-year |
| May 10, 2021 (2021-05-10) | Ryan Lindgren | 3-year |
| June 3, 2021 (2021-06-03) | Nils Lundkvist | 3-year |

## Draft picks

Below are the New York Rangers' selections at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on October 6 and 7, 2020, in a remote format, with teams convening via videoconferencing, and Commissioner Gary Bettman announcing selections from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. It was originally scheduled to be held on June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the conclusion of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/junior/club team |
| 1 | 1 | Alexis Lafreniere | LW | Canada | Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL) |
| 1 | 19$^1$ | Braden Schneider | D | Canada | Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) |
| 2 | 60$^2$ | William Cuylle | LW | Canada | Windsor Spitfires (OHL) |
| 3 | 92$^3$ | Oliver Tarnstrom | C | Sweden | AIK IF J20 (J20 SuperElit) |
| 4 | 103 | Dylan Garand | G | Canada | Kamloops Blazers (WHL) |
| 5 | 127$^4$ | Evan Vierling | C | Canada | Barrie Colts (OHL) |
| 5 | 134 | Brett Berard | LW | United States | U.S. NTDP U-18 (USDP) |
| 6 | 165 | Matt Rempe | C | Canada | Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) |
| 7 | 197$^5$ | Hugo Ollas | G | Sweden | Linköping HC J20 (J20 SuperElit) |
* The Calgary Flames' first-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on October 6, 2020, that sent Carolina Hurricanes' first-round pick and a third-round pick both in 2020 (22nd and 72nd overall) to Calgary in exchange for this pick.
* The Los Angeles Kings' second-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on October 7, 2020, that sent Lias Andersson to Los Angeles in exchange for this pick.
* The Dallas Stars' third-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on February 23, 2019, that sent Mats Zuccarello to Dallas in exchange for a conditional second-round pick in 2019 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).
* The San Jose Sharks' fifth-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on October 7, 2020, that sent a seventh-round pick and Vancouver Canucks' seventh-round pick both in 2020 (196th and 206th overall) to San Jose in exchange for this pick.
* The Nashville Predators' seventh-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on February 6, 2019, that sent Cody McLeod to Nashville in exchange for this pick.