Six days after the Rangers fell 10-2 to the Bruins on Jan. 10, General Manager Chris Drury issued a letter to fans announcing a roster overhaul.
Drury began making aggressive moves thereafter, namely trading leading point-scorer Artemi Panarin to Los Angeles. In the months since, the franchise has adopted a fresh identity, trading Panarin’s trusty linemate Vincent Trocheck while acquiring sharp-shooter Pavel Dorofeyev.
With franchise cornerstones Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox healthy again, the new-look Rangers will debut Tuesday against the same Bruins team that spurred them.
The market isn’t sold on the Rangers, pricing them second-to-last to win the Metropolitan Division at 25/1. After all, we’ve all seen the Rangers wallpapering song and dance before; just take the last two seasons that began with playoff expectations and crumbled in disarray, for instance.
Rangers vs. Bruins prediction, best bet
Boston lived on the opposite side of the spectrum last year, entering the season as a long shot to make the playoffs and clinching a wild card spot with 100 points.
Marco Sturm’s first season as the bench boss triggered an unexpected chemistry between miscellaneous pieces. Jeremy Swayman rebounded heavily from a rough previous year as a Vezina finalist, and Charlie McAvoy’s health was critical in anchoring the club.
But oddsmakers see all that as a windfall: The Bruins’ market outlook is worse than the Blueshirts’, priced at 35/1 to win the Atlantic and at a longer price of 40/1 for the conference.
In this game, the Bruins are home-ice favorites despite going 1-2-0 against the Rangers last season.
This game is a marquee goaltending duel between Shesterkin and Swayman.
While Swayman was sensational in a full season, Shesterkin managed to accompany Swayman in the top five of goals saved above expected per 60 amongst players with at least 50 games. He did that with a significant amount of dysfunction around him.
His life should be easier with a revamped defense in front of him. Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi address glaring weaknesses as the new second pair. Pettersson adds the shutdown element that was missing behind Fox last season. Durzi can retrieve pucks and move them efficiently through the neutral zone.
Boston finished 10th in scoring at 3.27 goals per game last season, but repeating that production requires several things to go right again. Pavel Zacha, Morgan Geekie and McAvoy all produced career seasons. Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson also bounced back.
The Bruins replaced Arvidsson with JJ Peterka, but otherwise did little to deepen the offense. That leaves Mike Sullivan’s squad with a straightforward defensive priority: limit David Pastrnak.
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Alexis Lafrenière, Mika Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault outscored opponents 14-10 at five-on-five last season, with Perreault emerging as a legitimate creator down the stretch. From March 1 on, Perreault produced 19 points in 23 games, including nine goals and 15 even-strength points.
J.T. Miller’s chemistry with Doroveyev creates intriguing opportunities. Miller is excellent at creating offense below the circles, which could only feed the float-and-fire Russian in shooting areas.
Drury’s offseason moves are, at the very least, improvements. The chemistry remains to be seen, but the Rangers field the stronger hockey team with more incentive to put the dog days behind them.
THE PLAY: Rangers moneyline (+100, DraftKings)
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Sean Treppedi handicaps the NFL, NHL, MLB and college football for the New York Post. He primarily focuses on picks that reflect market value while tracking trends to mitigate risk.
