This week resulted in a great amount of change for the New York Rangers. Despite those changes, there were still games to be played.
The New York Rangers rebuild was in full force this week. Key players have departed which means younger players got the chance to impress, and they did.
This week saw two impressive debuts. Even though the Rangers could not win a game this week, their contributions could not go unnoticed.
With that here are the three stars of the week from 2/19-2/25.
3. Kevin Hayes
Kevin Hayes has continued to put up an all-around solid season.
Hayes will be asked to play a larger role with the departures of Michael Grabner and Rick Nash. The Rangers will be counting on him to increase his point production as well as continuing to play a solid all-around game.
This week Hayes scored two points, including the Rangers lone goal against the Montreal Canadiens. He would add an assist in the Rangers 3-2 overtime loss Sunday against Detroit.
2. Alexandar Georgiev
It was quite an NHL debut for Alexandar Georgiev.
Georgiev was supposed to make his NHL debut against the Senators but could not because of the flu. Plans change, and Georgiev is probably happy about the way things worked out.
He would go onto make 38 saves against the Canadiens but the Rangers could not get enough offense to support the 22-year-old. Georgiev was so impressive that he got a chance to start in the Rangers next game against Minnesota. The results weren’t as impressive but it was still a great step. If Georgiev can play solid, they might be able to give Henrik Lundqvist the rest he has not had this season.
1. Ryan Spooner
Talk about making an impressive debut on Broadway, Ryan Spooner did just that.
The Rangers acquired Spooner in the Nash trade earlier Sunday morning. He would make his debut on a special night in Rangers history as they honored legend Jean Ratelle and would impress right away.
He would collect two assists in his debut. Both of those assists showed great puck handling skills and awareness around him. He worked well with Hayes and Jesper Fast. If that can keep up the Rangers will be set up pretty nicely down the stretch.
