2017–18 New York Rangers season

The 2017–18 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 91st season of play and their 92nd season overall. This season saw the Rangers struggle with inconsistency for much of the season, with the team going 4–7–2 in October. Despite going 9–3–0 in November, the team's struggles would be amplified in later months with injuries to Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Kevin Shattenkirk, the latter of whom had season-ending knee surgery. After winning the 2018 Winter Classic over the Buffalo Sabres, the team would go 6–16–2 up to the trade deadline. On February 8, the Rangers announced their intention to rebuild, and then weeks later traded away many key players such as Ryan McDonagh, Rick Nash, J. T. Miller, Nick Holden, and Michael Grabner. They also acquired Rob O'Gara, Vladislav Namestnikov and Ryan Spooner. The Rangers ultimately missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2009–10 season, placed last in the Metropolitan Division and finished under .500 for the first time since the 2003–04 season. At the conclusion of the 2017–18 season, head coach Alain Vigneault was fired by the team.
==Standings==
===Divisional standings===
===Conference standings===
==Schedule and results==
===Pre-season===
The team's pre-season schedule was revealed on June 13, 2017.
2017 pre-season game log: 3–2–1 (Home: 3–0–0; Road: 0–2–1)
{| class="wikitable"	 	 	 	
Game	Date 	Opponent 	Score	Record
1 	September 18	New York Islanders 	1–0 	1–0–0
2 	September 20	New Jersey Devils 	4–3 	2–0–0
3 	September 22	@ New York Islanders 	1–2 	2–1–0
4 	September 23	@ New Jersey Devils 	1–2 	2–2–0
5 	September 25	Philadelphia Flyers 	3–2 	3–2–0
6 	September 26	@ Philadelphia Flyers	3–4 	3–2–1
===Regular season===
The regular season schedule was made public on June 22, 2017.
2017–18 game log	2017–18 game log	2017–18 game log	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
October: 4–7–2, 10 points (Home: 4–4–2; Road: 0–3–0)
{| class="wikitable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Game 	Date 	Opponent 	Score	OT	Decision 	Location 	Attendance	Record	Points	Recap
1 	October 5 	Colorado 	2–4 	 	Lundqvist	Madison Square Garden	18,006 	0–1–0 	0 	Recap
2 	October 7 	@ Toronto 	5–8 	 	Pavelec 	Air Canada Centre 	19,621 	0–2–0 	0 	Recap
3 	October 8 	Montreal 	2–0 	 	Lundqvist	Madison Square Garden	18,006 	1–2–0 	2 	Recap
4 	October 10 	St. Louis 	1–3 	 	Lundqvist	Madison Square Garden	18,006 	1–3–0 	2 	Recap
5 	October 13 	@ Columbus 	1–3 	 	Lundqvist	Nationwide Arena 	15,342 	1–4–0 	2 	Recap
6 	October 14 	New Jersey 	2–3 	 	Pavelec 	Madison Square Garden	18,006 	1–5–0 	2 	Recap
7 	October 17 	Pittsburgh 	4–5 	OT	Lundqvist	Madison Square Garden	18,006 	1–5–1 	3 	Recap
8 	October 19 	NY Islanders 	3–4 	SO	Lundqvist	Madison Square Garden	18,006 	1–5–2 	4 	Recap
9 	October 21 	Nashville 	4–2 	 	Lundqvist	Madison Square Garden	17,181 	2–5–2 	6 	Recap
10 	October 23 	San Jose 	1–4 	 	Lundqvist	Madison Square Garden	18,006 	2–6–2 	6 	Recap
11 	October 26 	Arizona 	5–2 	 	Pavelec 	Madison Square Garden	18,006 	3–6–2 	8 	Recap
12 	October 28 	@ Montreal 	4–5 	 	Pavelec 	Bell Centre 	21,302 	3–7–2 	8 	Recap
13 	October 31 	Vegas 	6–4 	 	Lundqvist	Madison Square Garden	17,294 	4–7–2 	10 	Recap
==Player statistics==
Final
;Skaters
 Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	80	16	37	53	–10	36
 	72	27	20	47	–23	14
 	76	25	19	44	1 	18
 	74	14	29	43	–3 	20
‡ 	63	13	27	40	–1 	28
 	58	16	21	37	–2 	44
 	71	13	20	33	–10	26
‡ 	59	26	6 	31	11 	12
‡ 	60	18	10	28	–8 	24
 	79	17	11	28	–18	20
 	71	6 	22	28	–22	18
‡ 	49	2 	24	26	7 	20
 	82	4 	21	25	–27	39
 	46	5 	18	23	–14	44
† 	20	4 	12	16	–4 	2
 	60	7 	7 	14	–13	20
 	28	1 	13	14	–1 	12
‡ 	55	3 	9 	12	–3 	14
 	28	1 	8 	9 	6 	12
 	72	1 	7 	8 	11 	18
 	44	1 	7 	8 	2 	69
 	32	0 	8 	8 	–18	11
 	28	2 	3 	5 	–11	14
 	19	1 	4 	5 	–12	0
 	16	1 	4 	5 	–6 	6
† 	19	2 	2 	4 	–5 	10
 	23	1 	3 	4 	–10	7
 	9 	1 	2 	3 	–5 	4
† 	22	0 	3 	3 	–2 	6
 	7 	1 	1 	2 	1 	0
† 	25	0 	2 	2 	–11	39
 	22	0 	1 	1 	–7 	20
‡ 	4 	0 	0 	0 	–1 	0
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	–1 	0
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	2
† 	1 	0 	0 	0 	–1 	4
;Goaltenders
 Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	63	61	3,502:32	26	26	7	174	2.98	2036	.915	2	0	1	0
 	19	12	903:42 	4 	9 	1	46 	3.05	510 	.910	1	0	0	2
 	10	9 	514:46 	4 	4 	1	27 	3.15	331 	.918	0	0	0	0
 	1 	0 	12:33 	0 	0 	0	1 	4.78	6 	.833	0	0	0	0
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Rangers. Statistics reflect time with the Rangers only.
‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Statistics reflect time with the Rangers only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.
==Awards and honors==
===Milestones===
 Regular season
Player 	Milestone 	Reached
 	1st career NHL game 	October 5, 2017
 	1,000th career NHL game 	October 26, 2017
 	700th career NHL game 	October 26, 2017
 	1st career NHL assist1st career NHL point 	October 26, 2017
 	100th career NHL game 	October 31, 2017
 	300th career NHL game 	November 22, 2017
Boo Nieves 	1st career NHL goal 	December 5, 2017
 	100th career NHL point 	December 19, 2017
 	1st career NHL game1st career NHL goal1st career NHL point	December 29, 2017
Vinni Lettieri 	1st career NHL assist 	January 7, 2018
 	200th career NHL assist 	January 13, 2018
Mats Zuccarello 	300th career NHL point 	February 3, 2018
 	1st career NHL game 	February 9, 2018
 	1st career NHL game 	February 9, 2018
John Gilmour 	1st career NHL goal1st career NHL point 	February 13, 2018
Neal Pionk 	1st career NHL assist1st career NHL point 	February 13, 2018
 	1st career NHL game 	February 17, 2018
 	1st career NHL game 	February 22, 2018
John Gilmour 	1st career NHL assist 	March 3, 2018
Alexandar Georgiev	1st career NHL win 	March 3, 2018
 	1st career NHL assist1st career NHL point 	March 8, 2018
Mats Zuccarello 	100th career NHL goal 	March 12, 2018
 	1st career NHL hat trick 	March 12, 2018
Neal Pionk 	1st career NHL goal 	March 24, 2018
 	1st career NHL game1st career NHL goal1st career NHL point	March 26, 2018
Lias Andersson 	1st career NHL assist 	March 28, 2018
Filip Chytil 	1st career NHL assist1st career NHL point 	March 26, 2018
Filip Chytil 	1st career NHL goal 	March 30, 2018
===Records===
 Regular season
Player 	Record 	Reached
 	62nd career NHL shutout (16th all-time)	October 8, 2017
Henrik Lundqvist	408th career NHL win (9th all-time) 	October 31, 2017
Henrik Lundqvist	63rd career NHL shutout (16th all-time)	November 19, 2017
Henrik Lundqvist	424th career NHL win (8th all-time) 	January 6, 2018
==Transactions==
The Rangers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2017–18 season.
===Trades===
Date	Details 	Details 	Ref
 	To Arizona CoyotesAntti RaantaDerek Stepan 	To New York RangersAnthony DeAngeloARI's 1st-round pick (7th overall) in 2017 	
 	To Detroit Red WingsMatt Puempel 	To New York RangersRyan Sproul 	
 	To Montreal CanadiensAdam Cracknell 	To New York RangersPeter Holland 	
 	To Washington CapitalsAdam ChapieJoe Whitney 	To New York RangersJohn AlbertHubert Labrie 	
 	To Boston BruinsNick Holden 	To New York RangersRob O'Gara3rd-round pick in 2018 	
 	To New Jersey DevilsMichael Grabner 	To New York RangersYegor Rykov2nd-round pick in 2018 	
 	To Boston BruinsRick Nash 	To New York RangersMatt BeleskeyRyan LindgrenRyan Spooner1st-round pick in 20187th-round pick in 2019 	
 	To Tampa Bay LightningRyan McDonaghJ. T. Miller	To New York RangersLibor HajekBrett HowdenVladislav Namestnikov1st-round pick in 2018Conditional 2nd-round pick in 2019	
 	To Colorado AvalancheRyan Graves 	To New York RangersChris Bigras 	
Notes:
# New York to retain 50% of salary as part of trade.
# Boston to retain 50% of salary as part of trade.
===Free agents acquired===
Date	Player 	Former team 	Contract terms(in U.S. dollars) 	Ref
 	Paul Carey 	Washington Capitals	1-year, $650,000 	
 	Ondrej Pavelec 	Winnipeg Jets 	1-year, $1.3 million 	
 	Cole Schneider 	Buffalo Sabres 	2-year, $1.3 million 	
 	Kevin Shattenkirk 	Washington Capitals	4-year, $26.6 million 	
 	David Desharnais 	Edmonton Oilers 	1-year, $1 million 	
 	Alexandar Georgiev	TPS 	3-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract	
 	Marek Mazanec 	Slovan Bratislava 	1-year, $650,000 	
 	Michael Lindqvist 	Färjestad BK 	1-year, $1.775 million entry-level contract	
 	Ville Meskanen 	Ilves 	2-year, $2.275 million entry-level contract	
===Free agents lost===
Date	Player 	New team 	Contract terms(in U.S. dollars)	Ref
 	Magnus Hellberg 	Kunlun Red Star 	1-year 	
 	Taylor Beck 	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg	1-year 	
 	Adam Clendening 	Arizona Coyotes 	1 year, $650,000 	
 	Dan Girardi 	Tampa Bay Lightning 	2-year, $6 million 	
 	Marek Hrivik 	Calgary Flames 	1-year, $650,000 	
 	Chris Summers 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	2-year, $1.3 million 	
 	Nicklas Jensen 	Jokerit 	1-year 	
 	Michael Paliotta	Toronto Marlies 	1-year 	
 	Chris Brown 	Iserlohn Roosters 	1-year 	
 	Tommy Hughes 	Hershey Bears 	1-year 	
 	Troy Donnay 	Kansas City Mavericks 	1-year 	
 	Tanner Glass 	Calgary Flames 	1-year, $650,000 	
 	Brandon Pirri 	Vegas Golden Knights 	1-year, $650,000 	
 	Robin Kovacs 	Luleå HF 	2-year 	
 	Malte Stromwall 	Luleå HF 	2-year 	
===Claimed via waivers===
Player 	Previous team 	Date	Ref
Adam Cracknell	Dallas Stars 	 	
Cody McLeod 	Nashville Predators	 	
===Lost via waivers===
Player	New team	Date	Ref
===Players released===
Date	Player 	Via 	Ref
 	Robin Kovacs 	Contract termination	
 	Malte Stromwall 	Contract termination	
 	Alexei Bereglazov	Contract termination	
 	Sergei Zborovsky 	Contract termination	
===Lost via retirement===
Date 	Player 	Ref
July 7, 2017	Kevin Klein	
===Player signings===
Date	Player 	Contract terms(in U.S. dollars) 	Ref
 	Brendan Smith 	4-year, $17.4 million 	
 	Jesper Fast 	3-year, $5.55 million 	
 	Lias Andersson 	3-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract 	
 	Filip Chytil 	3-year, $2.775 million entry-level contract 	
 	Daniel Catenacci	1-year, $650,000 	
 	Mika Zibanejad 	5-year, $26.75 million 	
 	Brandon Crawley 	3-year, $2.6 million entry-level contract 	
 	Ty Ronning 	3-year, $2.2525 million entry-level contract	
 	Ryan Lindgren 	3-year, $3.3 million entry-level contract 	
 	Marek Mazanec 	1-year, $650,000 contract extension 	
==Draft picks==
Below are the New York Rangers' selections at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 23 and 24, 2017, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Round	# 	Player 	Pos	Nationality 	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 	71 	Lias Andersson 	C 	Sweden 	HV71 (SHL)
1 	21 	Filip Chytil 	C 	Czech Republic	PSG Zlín (ELH)
4 	1232	Brandon Crawley	D 	United States 	London Knights (OHL)
5 	145 	Calle Sjalin 	D 	Sweden 	Östersunds IK (Hockeyettan)
6 	1573	Dominik Lakatos	C 	Czech Republic	HC Bílí Tygři Liberec (ELH)
6 	1744	Morgan Barron 	C 	Canada 	St. Andrew's College (CISAA)
7 	207 	Patrik Virta 	C 	Finland 	HC TPS (Liiga)
Notes:
# The Arizona Coyotes' first-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on June 23, 2017, that sent Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta to Arizona in exchange for Anthony DeAngelo and this pick.
# The Nashville Predators' fourth-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on June 24, 2017, that sent Florida's fourth-round pick in 2017 (102nd overall) to San Jose in exchange for a sixth-round pick in 2017 (174th overall) and this pick.
# The Vancouver Canucks' sixth-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on January 8, 2016 that sent Emerson Etem to Vancouver in exchange for Nicklas Jensen and this pick.
# The San Jose Sharks' sixth-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on June 24, 2017, that sent Florida's fourth-round pick in 2017 (102nd overall) to San Jose in exchange for Nashville's fourth-round pick in 2017 (123rd overall) and this pick.
==References==
Category:New York Rangers seasons
New York Rangers