# 2018–19 New York Rangers season

The 2018–19 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 92nd season of play and their 93rd season overall. The Rangers were eliminated from playoff contention on March 23, 2019.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Metropolitan Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Washington Capitals | 82 | 48 | 26 | 8 | 44 | 278 | 249 | +29 | 104 |
| 2 | x – New York Islanders | 82 | 48 | 27 | 7 | 43 | 228 | 196 | +32 | 103 |
| 3 | x – Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 44 | 26 | 12 | 42 | 273 | 241 | +32 | 100 |
| 4 | x – Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 44 | 245 | 223 | +22 | 99 |
| 5 | x – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 47 | 31 | 4 | 45 | 258 | 232 | +26 | 98 |
| 6 | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 37 | 37 | 8 | 34 | 244 | 281 | −37 | 82 |
| 7 | New York Rangers | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 26 | 227 | 272 | −45 | 78 |
| 8 | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 31 | 41 | 10 | 28 | 222 | 275 | −53 | 72 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | ME | x – Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 44 | 245 | 223 | +22 | 99 |
| 2 | ME | x – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 47 | 31 | 4 | 45 | 258 | 232 | +26 | 98 |
| 3 | AT | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 44 | 30 | 8 | 41 | 249 | 236 | +13 | 96 |
| 4 | AT | Florida Panthers | 82 | 36 | 32 | 14 | 33 | 267 | 280 | −13 | 86 |
| 5 | ME | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 37 | 37 | 8 | 34 | 244 | 281 | −37 | 82 |
| 6 | ME | New York Rangers | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 26 | 227 | 272 | −45 | 78 |
| 7 | AT | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 33 | 39 | 10 | 28 | 226 | 271 | −45 | 76 |
| 8 | AT | Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 29 | 227 | 277 | −50 | 74 |
| 9 | ME | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 31 | 41 | 10 | 28 | 222 | 275 | −53 | 72 |
| 10 | AT | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 29 | 47 | 6 | 29 | 242 | 302 | −60 | 64 |

## Schedule and results
### Pre-season

The pre-season schedule was published on June 19, 2018.
2018 pre-season game log: 3–2–1 (Home: 1–1–1; Road: 2–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecord
1September 17@ New Jersey Devils4–3 OT1–0–0
2September 19Philadelphia Flyers4–61–1–0
3September 22@ New York Islanders2–51–2–0
4September 24New Jersey Devils4–3 OT2–2–0
5September 26New York Islanders3–4 OT2–2–1
6September 27@ Philadelphia Flyers4–23–2–1 :

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.
2018–19 game log :
October: 4–7–1, 9 points (Home: 3–3–0; Road: 1–4–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
1October 4Nashville2–3LundqvistMadison Square Garden17,1170–1–00Recap
2October 6@ Buffalo1–3LundqvistKeyBank Center16,8240–2–00Recap
3October 7@ Carolina5–8GeorgievPNC Arena13,5260–3–00Recap
4October 11San Jose3–2OTLundqvistMadison Square Garden17,0041–3–02Recap
5October 13Edmonton1–2LundqvistMadison Square Garden17,0851–4–02Recap
6October 16Colorado3–2SOLundqvistMadison Square Garden17,2512–4–04Recap
7October 17@ Washington3–4OTLundqvistCapital One Arena18,5062–4–15Recap
8October 21Calgary1–4LundqvistMadison Square Garden17,4042–5–15Recap
9October 23Florida5–2GeorgievMadison Square Garden17,0163–5–17Recap
10October 25@ Chicago1–4LundqvistUnited Center21,2803–6–17Recap
11October 28@ Los Angeles3–4LundqvistStaples Center18,2303–7–17Recap
12October 30@ San Jose4–3SOLundqvistSAP Center17,5624–7–19Recap :
November: 9–4–1, 19 points (Home: 7–1–0; Road: 2–3–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
13November 1@ Anaheim3–2SOGeorgievHonda Center16,1015–7–111Recap
14November 4Buffalo3–1LundqvistMadison Square Garden16,9046–7–113Recap
15November 6Montreal5–3LundqvistMadison Square Garden17,4287–7–115Recap
16November 9@ Detroit2–3OTLundqvistLittle Caesars Arena19,5157–7–216Recap
17November 10@ Columbus5–4SOGeorgievNationwide Arena18,3848–7–218Recap
18November 12Vancouver2–1LundqvistMadison Square Garden17,1009–7–220Recap
19November 15@ NY Islanders5–7GeorgievBarclays Center13,4729–8–220Recap
20November 17Florida4–2LundqvistMadison Square Garden18,00610–8–222Recap
21November 19Dallas2–1LundqvistMadison Square Garden17,07111–8–224Recap
22November 21NY Islanders5–0GeorgievMadison Square Garden17,29712–8–226Recap
23November 23@ Philadelphia0–4LundqvistWells Fargo Center19,52312–9–226Recap
24November 24Washington3–5GeorgievMadison Square Garden16,88412–10–226Recap
25November 26Ottawa4–2LundqvistMadison Square Garden16,70913–10–228Recap
26November 29@ Ottawa0–3LundqvistCanadian Tire Centre10,92113–11–228Recap :
December: 4–3–5, 13 points (Home: 1–0–5; Road: 3–3–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
27December 1@ Montreal2–5GeorgievBell Centre21,30213–12–228Recap
28December 2Winnipeg3–4SOLundqvistMadison Square Garden17,46413–12–329Recap
29December 8@ Florida5–4SOLundqvistBB&T Center15,29514–12–331Recap
30December 10@ Tampa Bay3–6LundqvistAmalie Arena19,09214–13–331Recap
31December 14Arizona3–4OTLundqvistMadison Square Garden17,44114–13–432Recap
32December 16Vegas3–4OTLundqvistMadison Square Garden17,66014–13–533Recap
33December 18Anaheim3–1GerogievMadison Square Garden17,59015–13–535Recap
34December 22@ Toronto3–5GeorgievScotiabank Arena19,46615–14–535Recap
35December 23Philadelphia2–3SOLundqvistMadison Square Garden17,51515–14–636Recap
36December 27Columbus3–4OTLundqvistMadison Square Garden18,00615–14–737Recap
37December 29@ Nashville4–3LundqvistBridgestone Arena17,67316–14–739Recap
38December 31@ St. Louis2–1LundqvistEnterprise Center16,84917–14–741Recap :
January: 5–7–0, 10 points (Home: 2–3–0; Road: 3–4–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
39January 2Pittsburgh2–7LundqvistMadison Square Garden18,00617–15–741Recap
40January 4@ Colorado1–6GeorgievPepsi Center17,28717–16–741Recap
41January 6@ Arizona0–5LundqvistGila River Arena12,39617–17–741Recap
42January 8@ Vegas2–4GeorgievT-Mobile Arena18,24917–18–741Recap
43January 10NY Islanders3–4LundqvistMadison Square Garden17,93817–19–741Recap
44January 12@ NY Islanders2–1GeorgievBarclays Center15,49718–19–743Recap
45January 13@ Columbus5–7GeorgievNationwide Arena17,41718–20–743Recap
46January 15Carolina6–2LundqvistMadison Square Garden17,63619–20–745Recap
47January 17Chicago4–3LundqvistMadison Square Garden17,43420–20–747Recap
48January 19@ Boston3–2LundqvistTD Garden17,56521–20–749Recap
49January 29Philadelphia0–1GeorgievMadison Square Garden17,16321–21–749Recap
50January 31@ New Jersey4–3LundqvistPrudential Center16,51422–21–751Recap :
February: 5–5–3, 13 points (Home: 3–3–2; Road: 2–2–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
51February 2Tampa Bay2–3LundqvistMadison Square Garden17,46822–22–751Recap
52February 4Los Angeles3–4OTLundqvistMadison Square Garden16,23322–22–852Recap
53February 6Boston4–3SOGeorgievMadison Square Garden16,84823–22–854Recap
54February 8Carolina0–3LundqvistMadison Square Garden18,00623–23–854Recap
55February 10Toronto4–1GeorgievMadison Square Garden17,44524–23–856Recap
56February 12@ Winnipeg3–4LundqvistBell MTS Place15,32124–24–856Recap
57February 15@ Buffalo6–2GeorgievKeyBank Center19,07025–24–858Recap
58February 17@ Pittsburgh5–6GeorgievPPG Paints Arena18,64625–25–858Recap
59February 19@ Carolina2–1LundqvistPNC Arena13,34326–25–860Recap
60February 21Minnesota4–1LundqvistMadison Square Garden17,27126–26–860Recap
61February 23New Jersey5–2GeorgievMadison Square Garden17,37127–26–862Recap
62February 24@ Washington5–6OTLundqvistCapital One Arena18,50627–26–963Recap
63February 27Tampa Bay3–4OTGeorgievMadison Square Garden17,01227–26–1064Recap :
March: 4–8–3, 11 points (Home: 2–3–1; Road: 2–5–2)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
64March 1Montreal2–4LundqvistMadison Square Garden17,33427–27–1064Recap
65March 3Washington2–3SOGeorgievMadison Square Garden17,51727–27–1165Recap
66March 5@ Dallas0–1GeorgievAmerican Airlines Center17,97427–28–1165Recap
67March 7@ Detroit2–3SOLundqvistLittle Caesars Arena18,33327–28–1266Recap
68March 9New Jersey4–2LundqvistMadison Square Garden17,38628–28–1268Recap
69March 11@ Edmonton2–3OTGeorgievRogers Place18,34728–28–1369Recap
70March 13@ Vancouver1–4LundqvistRogers Arena18,22528–29–1369Recap
71March 15@ Calgary1–5GeorgievScotiabank Saddledome18,95628–30–1369Recap
72March 16@ Minnesota2–5LundqvistXcel Energy Center18,84428–31–1369Recap
73March 19Detroit2–3LundqvistMadison Square Garden17,18328–32–1369Recap
74March 23@ Toronto2–1OTGeorgievScotiabank Arena19,25129–32–1371Recap
75March 25Pittsburgh2–5GeorgievMadison Square Garden17,40129–33–1371Recap
76March 27@ Boston3–6LundqvistTD Garden17,56529–34–1371Recap
77March 29St. Louis4–2GeorgievMadison Square Garden17,56730–34–1373Recap
78March 31@ Philadelphia3–0GeorgievWells Fargo Center19,43731–34–1375Recap :
April: 1–2–1, 3 points (Home: 0–1–1; Road: 1–1–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreOTDecisionLocationAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
79April 1@ New Jersey2–4LundqvistPrudential Center14,77631–35–1375Recap
80April 3Ottawa1–4LundqvistMadison Square Garden16,56231–36–1375Recap
81April 5Columbus2–3SOGeorgievMadison Square Garden17,34131–36–1476Recap
82April 6@ Pittsburgh4–3OTGeorgievPPG Paints Arena18,66032–36–1478Recap :
Win (2 Points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics

As of April 6, 2019

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Mika Zibanejad | 82 | 30 | 44 | 74 | –12 | 47 |
| Chris Kreider | 79 | 28 | 24 | 52 | +4 | 57 |
| Kevin Hayes$^‡$ | 51 | 14 | 28 | 42 | +1 | 10 |
| Pavel Buchnevich | 64 | 21 | 17 | 38 | –10 | 13 |
| Mats Zuccarello$^‡$ | 46 | 11 | 26 | 37 | –11 | 24 |
| Jimmy Vesey | 81 | 17 | 18 | 35 | –6 | 21 |
| Ryan Strome$^†$ | 63 | 18 | 15 | 33 | –2 | 50 |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 78 | 11 | 20 | 31 | –7 | 44 |
| Tony DeAngelo | 61 | 4 | 26 | 30 | +6 | 77 |
| Kevin Shattenkirk | 73 | 2 | 26 | 28 | –15 | 20 |
| Neal Pionk | 73 | 6 | 20 | 26 | –16 | 35 |
| Brady Skjei | 78 | 8 | 17 | 25 | –4 | 44 |
| Filip Chytil | 75 | 11 | 12 | 23 | –22 | 8 |
| Brett Howden | 66 | 6 | 17 | 23 | –16 | 14 |
| Jesper Fast | 66 | 8 | 12 | 20 | –3 | 26 |
| Brendan Smith | 63 | 4 | 9 | 13 | –7 | 71 |
| Marc Staal | 79 | 3 | 10 | 13 | –9 | 32 |
| Boo Nieves | 43 | 4 | 6 | 10 | –4 | 8 |
| Brendan Lemieux$^†$ | 19 | 3 | 3 | 6 | –4 | 44 |
| Fredrik Claesson | 37 | 2 | 4 | 6 | +3 | 9 |
| Lias Andersson | 42 | 2 | 4 | 6 | –13 | 29 |
| Adam McQuaid$^‡$ | 36 | 2 | 3 | 5 | +3 | 33 |
| Connor Brickley$^†$ | 14 | 1 | 3 | 4 | +3 | 9 |
| Vinni Lettieri | 27 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –7 | 14 |
| Ryan Spooner$^‡$ | 16 | 1 | 1 | 2 | –5 | 0 |
| Libor Hajek | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 6 |
| Cody McLeod$^‡$ | 31 | 1 | 0 | 1 | –10 | 60 |
| Matt Beleskey | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 5 |
| Ryan Lindgren | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –6 | 8 |
| Steven Fogarty | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 0 |
| John Gilmour | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –3 | 4 |
| Tim Gettinger | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Henrik Lundqvist | 52 | 52 | 3,088:53 | 18 | 23 | 10 | 158 | 3.07 | 1,699 | .907 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Alexandar Georgiev | 33 | 30 | 1,874:10 | 14 | 13 | 4 | 91 | 2.91 | 1,057 | .914 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
* $^†$ 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
### Milestones

Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Brett Howden | 1st career NHL game | October 4, 2018 |
| Brett Howden | 1st career NHL goal | October 6, 2018 |
| Brett Howden | 1st career NHL assist | October 7, 2018 |
| Jesper Fast | 100th career NHL point | October 7, 2018 |
| David Quinn | 1st career NHL win | October 11, 2018 |
| Alexandar Georgiev | 1st career NHL shutout | November 21, 2018 |
| Ryan Lindgren | 1st career NHL game | January 15, 2019 |
| Ryan Strome | 400th career NHL game | February 23, 2019 |
| Libor Hajek | 1st career NHL game | March 1, 2019 |
| Libor Hajek | 1st career NHL goal | March 9, 2019 |

### Records

Regular season :
| Player | Record | Reached |
| Henrik Lundqvist | 435th career NHL win (8th all-time) | November 4, 2018 |
| Henrik Lundqvist | 438th career NHL win (7th all-time) | November 17, 2018 |
| Henrik Lundqvist | 445th career NHL win (tied 6th all-time) | January 17, 2019 |
| Henrik Lundqvist | 446th career NHL win (6th all-time) | January 19, 2019 |

## Transactions

The Rangers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 22, 2018 (2018-06-22) | To Ottawa SenatorsBOS's 1st-round pick in 2018 NJD's 2nd-round pick in 2018 | To New York RangersPIT's 1st-round pick in 2018 |
| June 23, 2018 (2018-06-23) | To Carolina HurricanesBOS' 7th-round pick in 2019 | To New York RangersVGK's 7th-round pick in 2018 |
| September 11, 2018 (2018-09-11) | To Boston BruinsSteven Kampfer 4th-round pick in 2019 Conditional 7th-round pick | To New York RangersAdam McQuaid |
| November 16, 2018 (2018-11-16) | To Edmonton OilersRyan Spooner | To New York RangersRyan Strome |
| January 14, 2019 (2019-01-14) | To Nashville PredatorsCole Schneider | To New York RangersConnor Brickley |
| February 6, 2019 (2019-02-06) | To Nashville PredatorsCody McLeod | To New York Rangers7th-round pick in 2020 |
| February 12, 2019 (2019-02-12) | To Vancouver CanucksMarek Mazanec | To New York Rangers7th-round pick in 2020 |
| February 18, 2019 (2019-02-18) | To Chicago BlackhawksPeter Holland | To New York RangersDarren Raddysh |
| February 23, 2019 (2019-02-23) | To Dallas StarsMats Zuccarello | To New York RangersConditional 2nd-round pick in 2019 Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2020 |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Columbus Blue JacketsAdam McQuaid | To New York RangersJulius Bergman 4th-round pick in 2019 7th-round pick in 2019 |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Winnipeg JetsKevin Hayes | To New York RangersBrendan Lemieux 1st-round pick in 2019 Conditional 4th-round pick in 2022 |
| April 30, 2019 (2019-04-30) | To Carolina Hurricanes2nd-round pick in 2019 Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2020 | To New York RangersAdam Fox |
| June 17, 2019 (2019-06-17) | To Winnipeg JetsNeal Pionk WPG's 1st-round pick in 2019 | To New York RangersJacob Trouba |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| June 23, 2018 (2018-06-23) | Sergei Zborovsky | to Sochi (KHL) | 2-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Paul Carey | to Ottawa Senators | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Fredrik Claesson | from Ottawa Senators | 1-year |
| July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02) | David Desharnais | to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (KHL) | 1-year |
| July 3, 2018 (2018-07-03) | John Albert | to Grizzlys Wolfsburg (DEL) | 1-year |
| July 3, 2018 (2018-07-03) | Daniel Catenacci | to Bolzano-Bozen Foxes (EBEL) | Unknown |
| July 25, 2018 (2018-07-25) | Adam Tambellini | to Ottawa Senators | 1-year |
| August 20, 2018 (2018-08-20) | Dustin Tokarski | from Philadelphia Flyers | 1-year |
| March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15) | Jacob Elmer | from Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL) | 3-year |
| March 30, 2019 (2019-03-30) | Patrick Newell | from St. Cloud State Huskies (NCHC) | 2-year |
| May 8, 2019 (2019-05-08) | Julius Bergman | Frölunda (SHL) | 2-year |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Contract term |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Vladislav Namestnikov | 2-year |
| July 12, 2018 (2018-07-12) | Cody McLeod | 1-year |
| July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16) | Chris Bigras | 1-year |
| July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16) | Steven Fogarty | 1-year |
| July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16) | John Gilmour | 1-year |
| July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16) | Boo Nieves | 1-year |
| July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16) | Rob O'Gara | 1-year |
| July 17, 2018 (2018-07-17) | Jimmy Vesey | 2-year |
| July 28, 2018 (2018-07-28) | Brady Skjei | 6-year |
| July 31, 2018 (2018-07-31) | Kevin Hayes | 1-year |
| July 31, 2018 (2018-07-31) | Ryan Spooner | 2-year |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | Steven Fogarty | 1-year |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | Boo Nieves | 1-year |
| March 4, 2019 (2019-03-04) | Joey Keane | 3-year |
| March 9, 2019 (2019-03-09) | Adam Huska | 2-year |
| May 2, 2019 (2019-05-02) | Adam Fox | 3-year |
| May 3, 2019 (2019-05-03) | Vitali Kravtsov | 3-year |
| May 3, 2019 (2019-05-03) | Igor Shesterkin | 2-year |
| May 20, 2019 (2019-05-20) | Yegor Rykov | 2-year |
| June 5, 2019 (2019-06-05) | Tarmo Reunanen | 2-year |

## Draft picks

Below are the New York Rangers' selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/junior/club team |
| 1 | 9 | Vitali Kravtsov | RW | Russia | Traktor Chelyabinsk (KHL) |
| 1 | 22$^1$ | K'Andre Miller | D | United States | U.S. NTDP (USHL) |
| 1 | 28$^2$ | Nils Lundkvist | D | Sweden | Luleå HF (SHL) |
| 2 | 39 | Olof Lindbom | G | Sweden | Djurgardens IF J20 (J20 SuperElit) |
| 3 | 70 | Jacob Ragnarsson | D | Sweden | Almtuna IS (Allsvenskan) |
| 3 | 88$^3$ | Joey Keane | D | United States | Barrie Colts (OHL) |
| 4 | 101 | Nico Gross | D | Switzerland | Oshawa Generals (OHL) |
| 5 | 132 | Lauri Pajuniemi | RW | Finland | TPS (Liiga) |
| 6 | 163 | Simon Kjellberg | D | Sweden | Rögle BK J20 (J20 SuperElit) |
| 7 | 216$^4$ | Riley Hughes | RW | United States | St. Sebastian's School (USHS) |
* The Pittsburgh Penguins' first-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on June 22, 2018, that sent Boston's first-round pick and New Jersey's second-round pick (22nd and 48th overall) both in 2018 to Ottawa in exchange for this pick.
* The Tampa Bay Lightning's first-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on February 26, 2018, that sent Ryan McDonagh and J. T. Miller to Tampa Bay in exchange for Vladislav Namestnikov, Libor Hajek, Brett Howden, a conditional first-round pick in 2019 and this pick.
* The Boston Bruins' third-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on February 20, 2018, that sent Nick Holden to Boston in exchange for Rob O'Gara and this pick.
* The Vegas Golden Knights' seventh-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on June 23, 2018, that sent Boston's seventh-round pick in 2019 to Carolina in exchange for this pick.