The New York Rangers do not have any expectations in 2018-19, and Henrik Lundqvist is the first to admit it.
Perhaps for the first time in his 13-year career, Henrik Lundqvist is entering a season with no expectations.
He and the New York Rangers enter a year with a significant amount of young talent and will continue to rebuild. That leaves the 36-year-old goaltender trying to figure out where the team will be, at the start of the regular season.
In an interview in Sweden, Lundqvist spoke about that uncertainty.
“I feel it’s not ideal to look too far ahead, do not think too much. Every year, there’s feelings in some way, there’s expectations, there’s prerequisites, but … now, I actually do not know where we are. We will see under camp, who will play where, how shall we play?”
Obviously, there has been plenty of change for the Blueshirts’ throughout 2018. It saw the team trade away several key players including captain Ryan McDonagh, J.T. Miller, and Rick Nash. There were even reports that the team approached Lundqvist about waiving his no-movement clause.
With all of the change, the Blueshirts have endured, everyone on the outside has no idea what to expect and apparently so does the face of the franchise.
Despite all of the uncertainty, Lundqvist is still excited about what 2018-19 has to bring and has seemed to really embraced the rebuild.
“It will be exciting this. The idea is that we will start over.”
Lundqvist also passed along a very important message that he and the fans need to embrace the next couple of seasons, patience.
“I think … you may have to take it year by year, do not think about how long it can take without … now this year applies. There is nothing saying that it can not be reversed quickly, but this year will be important, since next year there is also room for development. In order for us as a team to take the next step, the young players must take several steps.
Lundqvist is clearly saying all of the right things but, what happens when the Rangers are down 4-0 after one? Will he be able to keep that frustration inside? Or, will he show it on the ice like he has done in the past?
With young players like Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson, Brady Skjei and much more on the way, there is a reason for the Blueshirt faithful to be excited. Along with Lundqvist, they look to be part of a new era in Rangerstown. An era that has been fully embraced.
“The King” is back in New York and will look to rebound from a tough second half following an All-Star first half od 2017-18. His workload might change under newly hired David Quinn, but that will not stop him from wanting to compete.
Pre-season action begins on Sept. 17, as the start of the hockey season is quickly approaching.
