2020–21 New York Rangers season

The 2020–21 New York Rangers season is the franchise's 94th season of play and their 95th season overall. Following the buyout of his contract on September 30, 2020, Henrik Lundqvist will not be on the roster for the first time since the 2005–06 season.[1] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 cross-border travel restrictions imposed by the Government of Canada, the Rangers are scheduled to play a shortened 56-game regular season, which will consist of divisional play only, with the Rangers being temporarily realigned from the Metropolitan Division to the East Division.[2]

2020–21 New York Rangers
2020–21 record	4–4–2
Home record	3–2–1
Road record	1–2–1
Goals for	29
Goals against	28
Team information
General manager	Jeff Gorton
Coach	David Quinn
Captain	Vacant
Alternate captains	Chris Kreider Artemi Panarin Jacob Trouba Mika Zibanejad
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Minor league affiliate(s)	Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) Maine Mariners (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Artemi Panarin (5)
Assists	Artemi Panarin (10)
Points	Artemi Panarin (15)
Penalty minutes	4 tied (8)
Plus/minus	K'Andre Miller (+7)
Wins	Igor Shestyorkin (3)
Goals against average	Igor Shestyorkin (2.35)

Standings

Divisional standings

East Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Boston Bruins	11	8	1	2	4	36	24	+12	18
2	Philadelphia Flyers	12	7	3	2	5	39	37	+2	16
3	Washington Capitals	11	6	2	3	4	40	38	+2	15
4	Pittsburgh Penguins	10	5	4	1	1	30	37	−7	11
5	New Jersey Devils	9	4	3	2	3	23	26	−3	10
6	New York Rangers	10	4	4	2	3	29	28	+1	10
7	Buffalo Sabres	10	4	4	2	2	30	32	−2	10
8	New York Islanders	9	3	4	2	3	19	24	−5	8

Updated to game(s) played on February 5, 2021. Source: National Hockey League[3]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater amount of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater amount of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater amount of goals scored (GF)

Schedule and results

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.[4]

2020–21 game log
January: 2–4–2, 6 points (Home: 1–2–1; Road: 1–2–1) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 1 January 14 NY Islanders 0–4 Shestyorkin Madison Square Garden 0 0–1–0 0 Recap 2 January 16 NY Islanders 5–0 Georgiev Madison Square Garden 0 1–1–0 2 Recap 3 January 19 New Jersey 3–4 Georgiev Madison Square Garden 0 1–2–0 2 Recap 4 January 22 @ Pittsburgh 3–4 SO Shestyorkin PPG Paints Arena 0 1–2–1 3 Recap 5 January 24 @ Pittsburgh 2–3 Shestyorkin PPG Paints Arena 0 1–3–1 3 Recap 6 January 26 @ Buffalo 2–3 Georgiev KeyBank Center 0 1–4–1 3 Recap 7 January 28 @ Buffalo 3–2 OT Shestyorkin KeyBank Center 0 2–4–1 5 Recap 8 January 30 Pittsburgh 4–5 OT Georgiev Madison Square Garden 0 2–4–2 6 Recap
February: 2–0–0, 4 points (Home: 2–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 9 February 1 Pittsburgh 3–1 Shestyorkin Madison Square Garden 0 3–4–2 8 Recap 10 February 4 Washington 4–2 Shestyorkin Madison Square Garden 0 4–4–2 10 Recap 11 February 6 @ New Jersey – Postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic[5] 12 February 8 NY Islanders – Madison Square Garden 13 February 10 Boston – Madison Square Garden 14 February 12 Boston – Madison Square Garden 15 February 16 Philadelphia – Madison Square Garden 16 February 18 @ Philadelphia – Wells Fargo Center 17 February 20 @ Washington – Capital One Arena 18 February 21 @ Washington – Capital One Arena 19 February 24 @ Philadelphia – Wells Fargo Center 20 February 26 Boston – Madison Square Garden 21 February 28 Boston – Madison Square Garden
March: 0–0–0, 0 points (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 22 March 2 Buffalo – Madison Square Garden 23 March 4 New Jersey – Madison Square Garden 24 March 5 @ New Jersey – Prudential Center 25 March 7 @ Pittsburgh – PPG Paints Arena 26 March 9 @ Pittsburgh – PPG Paints Arena 27 March 11 @ Boston – TD Garden 28 March 13 @ Boston – TD Garden 29 March 15 Philadelphia – Madison Square Garden 30 March 17 Philadelphia – Madison Square Garden 31 March 19 @ Washington – Capital One Arena 32 March 22 Buffalo – Madison Square Garden 33 March 25 @ Philadelphia – Wells Fargo Center 34 March 27 @ Philadelphia – Wells Fargo Center 35 March 28 @ Washington – Capital One Arena 36 March 30 Washington – Madison Square Garden
April: 0–0–0, 0 points (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 37 April 1 @ Buffalo – KeyBank Center 38 April 3 @ Buffalo – KeyBank Center 39 April 6 Pittsburgh – Madison Square Garden 40 April 8 Pittsburgh – Madison Square Garden 41 April 9 @ NY Islanders – Nassau Coliseum 42 April 11 @ NY Islanders – Nassau Coliseum 43 April 13 @ New Jersey – Prudential Center 44 April 15 New Jersey – Madison Square Garden 45 April 17 New Jersey – Madison Square Garden 46 April 18 @ New Jersey – Prudential Center 47 April 20 @ NY Islanders – Nassau Coliseum 48 April 23 Philadelphia – Madison Square Garden 49 April 25 Buffalo – Madison Square Garden 50 April 27 Buffalo – Madison Square Garden 51 April 29 NY Islanders – Madison Square Garden
May: 0–0–0, 0 points (Home: 0–0–0; Road: 0–0–0) Game Date Opponent Score OT Decision Location Attendance Record Points Recap 52 May 1 @ NY Islanders – Nassau Coliseum 53 May 3 Washington – Madison Square Garden 54 May 5 Washington – Madison Square Garden 55 May 6 @ Boston – TD Garden 56 May 8 @ Boston – TD Garden
Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)   Postponement

Player statistics

As of January 31, 2021[6]

Skaters

Regular season[7]

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Artemi Panarin	8	4	5	9	–1	0
Pavel Buchnevich	8	2	5	7	–2	0
Adam Fox	8	1	4	5	+1	4
Phillip Di Giuseppe	7	0	5	5	+3	2
K'Andre Miller	8	1	3	4	+7	2
Chris Kreider	8	3	0	3	–3	8
Filip Chytil	5	2	1	3	+3	0
Ryan Strome	8	2	1	3	+3	2
Colin Blackwell	4	1	2	3	+2	2
Kaapo Kakko	8	2	0	2	0	2
Mika Zibanejad	8	1	1	2	–4	4
Brendan Lemieux	7	1	1	2	+1	6
Jacob Trouba	8	0	2	2	+1	4
Alexis Lafreniere	8	1	0	1	–3	2
Kevin Rooney	6	1	0	1	+2	2
Tony DeAngelo	6	0	1	1	–6	4
Brendan Smith	5	0	1	1	+1	4
Brett Howden	8	0	1	1	–1	0
Ryan Lindgren	8	0	1	1	0	6
Jack Johnson	5	0	0	0	–4	4
Julien Gauthier	3	0	0	0	–2	0

Goaltenders

Regular season[8]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Igor Shestyorkin	5	4	263:58	1	2	1	12	2.73	113	.894	0	0	0	0
Alexandar Georgiev	4	4	219:57	1	2	1	12	3.27	105	.886	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.

Roster

Updated February 1, 2021[9][10]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
22		Anthony Bitetto	D	L	30	2020	Island Park, New York
43		Colin Blackwell	C	R	27	2020	Lawrence, Massachusetts
89		Pavel Buchnevich	RW	L	25	2013	Cherepovets, Russia
72		Filip Chytil	C	L	21	2017	Kromeriz, Czech Republic
77		Tony DeAngelo	D	R	25	2017	Sewell, New Jersey
33		Phillip Di Giuseppe	LW	L	27	2019	Maple, Ontario
23		Adam Fox	D	R	22	2019	Jericho, New York
12		Julien Gauthier	RW	R	23	2020	Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec
40		Alexandar Georgiev	G	L	24	2017	Ruse, Bulgaria
25		Libor Hajek	D	L	23	2018	Smrček, Czech Republic
21		Brett Howden	C	L	22	2018	Oakbank, Manitoba
27		Jack Johnson	D	L	34	2020	Indianapolis, Indiana
24		Kaapo Kakko	RW	L	19	2019	Turku, Finland
71		Keith Kinkaid	G	L	31	2020	Farmingville, New York
20		Chris Kreider (A)	LW	L	29	2009	Boxford, Massachusetts
13		Alexis Lafreniere	LW	L	19	2020	Saint-Eustache, Quebec
48		Brendan Lemieux	LW	L	24	2019	Denver, Colorado
55		Ryan Lindgren	D	L	22	2018	Minneapolis, Minnesota
79		K'Andre Miller	D	L	21	2018	Saint Paul, Minnesota
10		Artemi Panarin (A)	LW	R	29	2019	Korkino, Soviet Union
17		Kevin Rooney	C	L	27	2020	Canton, Massachusetts
31		Igor Shestyorkin	G	L	25	2014	Moscow, Russia
42		Brendan Smith	D	L	31	2017	Etobicoke, Ontario
16		Ryan Strome	C	R	27	2018	Mississauga, Ontario
8		Jacob Trouba (A)	D	R	26	2019	Rochester, Michigan
93		Mika Zibanejad (A)	C	R	27	2016	Huddinge, Sweden

Awards and honours

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
Kevin Rooney	100th NHL career game	January 28, 2021
Alexis Lafreniere	1st NHL career goal	January 28, 2021
Artem Panarin	400th NHL career game	February 1, 2021

Records

Regular season

Player	Record	Reached
Chris Kreider	161st NHL career goal (2nd most goals by American-born Ranger)	February 1, 2021

Transactions

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

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
October 6, 2020	To Calgary Flames CAR's 1st-round pick in 2020 3rd-round pick in 2020	To New York Rangers 1st-round pick in 2020	[11][12]
October 7, 2020	To Los Angeles Kings Lias Andersson	To New York Rangers VGK's 2nd-round pick in 2020	[13]
October 7, 2020	To San Jose Sharks 7th-round pick in 2020 VAN's 7th-round pick in 2020	To New York Rangers 5th-round pick in 2020	[14]

Free agents

Date	Player	Team	Contract term	Ref
October 9, 2020	Anthony Bitetto	from Winnipeg Jets	2-year	[15]
October 9, 2020	Colin Blackwell	from Nashville Predators	2-year	[15]
October 9, 2020	Jonny Brodzinski	from San Jose Sharks	1-year	[15]
October 9, 2020	Anthony Greco	from San Jose Sharks	2-year	[15]
October 9, 2020	Jack Johnson	from Pittsburgh Penguins	1-year	[16]
October 9, 2020	Keith Kinkaid	from Montreal Canadiens	2-year	[15]
October 9, 2020	Kevin Rooney	from New Jersey Devils	2-year	[15]
October 10, 2020	Jesper Fast	to Carolina Hurricanes	3-year	[17]
October 10, 2020	Vinni Lettieri	to Anaheim Ducks	1-year	[18]
October 11, 2020	Danny O'Regan	to Vegas Golden Knights	1-year	[19]
October 14, 2020	Greg McKegg	to Boston Bruins	1-year	[20]
October 19, 2020	Steven Fogarty	to Buffalo Sabres	1-year	[21]
November 13, 2020	Micheal Haley	to Ottawa Senators	1-year	[22]
December 31, 2020	Jean-Francois Berube	to Ontario Reign (AHL)	1-year	[23]
January 9, 2021	Ryan Gropp	to Västerviks IK (HockeyAllsvenskan)	1-year	[24]
January 12, 2021	Boo Nieves	to Tampa Bay Lightning	1-year	[25]

Waivers

Date	Player	Team	Ref
October 9, 2020

Contract terminations Date Player Via Ref October 9, 2020

Retirement Date Player Ref October 9, 2020

Signings

Date	Player	Contract term	Ref
October 9, 2020	Brandon Crawley	1-year	[26]
October 12, 2020	Alexis Lafreniere	3-year	[27]
October 13, 2020	Phillip Di Giuseppe	1-year	[28]
October 15, 2020	Tony DeAngelo	2-year	[29]
October 15, 2020	Alexandar Georgiev	2-year	[30]
October 16, 2020	Gabriel Fontaine	1-year	[31]
October 16, 2020	Darren Raddysh	1-year	[31]
November 6, 2020	Brendan Lemieux	2-year	[32]
November 6, 2020	Ryan Strome	2-year	[33]

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.[34] It was originally scheduled to be held on June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec,[35][36] but was postponed on March 25, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the conclusion of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.[37]

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
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)

Notes:

1. 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.[11]
2. 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 Vegas Golden Knights' second round-pick (60th overall) to Los Angeles in exchange for Alec Martinez and St. Louis Blues' second-round pick in 2021 and this pick.[13]
3. 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).[38]
4. 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.[14]
5. 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.[39]

References

1. "Rangers Buy Out Contract of Henrik Lundqvist". NHL.com. September 30, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
2. "NHL, NHLPA officially announce agreement for 2020-21 season". Sportsnet.ca. December 20, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
3. "NHL Hockey Standings". www.nhl.com. National Hockey League.
4. "2020-21 NHL schedule announced". NHL.com. December 23, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
5. "Devils games postponed through at least Saturday because of COVID-19". NHL.com. February 1, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
6. "New York Rangers Stats - 2020-2021 - Regular season". NHL.com. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
7. "NHL.com - Stats - New York Rangers Skaters - Regular season". NHL.com. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
8. "NHL.com - Stats - New York Rangers Goalies - Regular season". NHL.com. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
9. "New York Rangers Roster". National Hockey League. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
10. "New York Rangers Hockey Transactions". The Sports Network. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
11. Morreale, Mike G. (October 6, 2020). "Lafreniere No. 1 pick in 2020 NHL Draft by Rangers; Byfield makes history". NHL.com. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
12. "Flames select Connor Zary 24th overall after pair of trades - Sportsnet.ca". Sportsnet.ca. October 6, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
13. Rosen, Dan (October 7, 2020). "Andersson traded to Kings by Rangers for second-round pick". NHL.com. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
14. "Sharks Conclude 2020 NHL Draft with Nine Selections". NHL.com. October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
15. "Rangers Announce Six Free Agent Signings". NHL.com. October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
16. "Rangers Agree to Terms with Free Agent Defenseman Jack Johnson". NHL.com. October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
17. "Canes Agree to Terms With Forward Jesper Fast". NHL.com. October 10, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
18. "Ducks Sign De Leo, Welinski, Poturalski and Lettieri to Contracts". NHL.com. October 10, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
19. "Vegas Golden Knights Announce Roster Transactions". NHL.com. October 11, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
20. "Bruins Sign Jakub Zboril, Greg McKegg And Callum Booth". NHL.com. October 14, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
21. LaBarber, Jourdon (October 19, 2020). "Sabres sign Steven Fogarty to 1-year deal". NHL.com. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
22. "Ottawa Senators sign forward Micheal Haley to one-year, two-way contract". NHL.com. November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
23. "Reign sign J-F Berube to AHL contract". ontarioreign.com. December 31, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
24. "Ny forward klar för VIK". Västerviks IK (in Swedish). January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
25. "Lightning sign forward Cristoval Nieves to one-year contract". NHL.com. January 12, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
26. "Rangers Agree to Terms with Brandon Crawley". NHL.com. October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
27. "Rangers Agree to Terms with Alexis Lafrenière". NHL.com. October 12, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
28. "Rangers Agree to Terms with Phillip Di Giuseppe". NHL.com. October 13, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
29. "Rangers Agree to Terms with Tony DeAngelo". NHL.com. October 15, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
30. "Rangers Agree to Terms with Alexandar Georgiev". NHL.com. October 15, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
31. "Rangers Agree to Terms with Gabriel Fontaine and Darren Raddysh". NHL.com. October 16, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
32. "Rangers Agree to Terms with Brendan Lemieux". NHL.com. November 6, 2020. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
33. "Rangers Agree to Terms with Ryan Strome". NHL.com. November 6, 2020. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
34. Cotsonika, Nicholas J. (October 6, 2020). "2020 NHL Draft, being held virtually, will be unique for teams, viewers". NHL.com. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
35. "Canadiens to host 2020 NHL Draft". NHL.com. June 19, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
36. "NHL reveals tentative dates for Stanley Cup Final, draft". Sportsnet.ca. July 8, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
37. "NHL postpones Scouting Combine, Awards, Draft". NHL.com. March 25, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
38. "Rangers Acquire 2019 Conditional 2nd Rd & 2020 Conditional 3rd Rd Picks". NHL.com. February 23, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
39. "Rangers Acquire Seventh-Round Pick in 2020 NHL Entry Draft". NHL.com. February 6, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2020.