Rangers chasing milestones in 2024-25 NHL season
As the New York Rangers gear up for their 99th season, several players are chasing significant milestones in 2024-25.Â
Outside of a player dressing in their 100th game or scoring their first point, our goal with this list is to highlight some big names and the milestones they hope to achieve this coming season. Ultimately, this list has no particular order since every milestone deserves a celebration and acknowledgment.Â
Related: Rangers history with No. 91, Reilly Smith’s new digits
Rangers milestones within reach in 2024-25
Here’s a list of milestones that Rangers players could reach this upcoming season.
Artemi Panarin
Artemi Panarin had the best season of his career in 2023-24, also coming close to recording the best statistical campaign of any Rangers player in history. Because of his recent successes, the 32-year-old is now on the cusp of obtaining several personal milestones, including 700 games played (678), 300 goals scored (265), and reaching 800 points (721).
Panarin has not missed a contest in the past two seasons, has tallied at least 20 goals in all but one season of his NHL career, and is a four-time 30-goal scorer. Outside of the shortened 2020-21 season, when he had 58 points, the Breadman has averaged 92 points a season with the Rangers.
Chris Kreider
The late great Hall of Famer Rod Gilbert may be “Mr. Ranger,” but veteran Chris Kreider is making the case to be the modern-day version of “Mr. Ranger.” As Kreider begins his 13th season on Broadway, he’s climbing the all-time leader boards in Rangers history.
Even though Kreider will fall short of reaching 900 games in 2024-25, since he needs 85, if he stays healthy and skates in the whole campaign, he’ll surpass Vic Hadfield (841), Jean Ratelle (861), Henrik Lundqvist (887), and Marc Staal (892) and sit in sixth place for most games played in franchise history.
Kreider is sitting at 304 goals and only needs 32 to tie Ratelle (336) for second place behind Gilbert (406) in Rangers history. Over the past three seasons, he’s averaged 68 points, which gives him a chance to catch Ron Greschner (610) for seventh place on the team’s leaderboard since he starts 2024-25 with 552 points.
Mika Zibanejad
Mika Zibanejad has got a chance to reach 900 NHL games (848), score his 300th goal (294), pick up his 400th assist (384), and reach 700 points (678).
Given that Zibanejad often plays the entire season, missing only one game over the past four years, it’s almost a lock that he reaches 900 games. Meanwhile, since coming to the Rangers in 2016-17, the 31-year-old has averaged 28 goals and 37 assists each season. When Zibanejad reaches 700 points, he’ll become only the 15th Sweden-born player in NHL history to reach the plateau.
Jonathan Quick
Future Hall of Famer Jonathan Quick can cross a handful of personal achievements off his list this season. With a resume loaded with accolades, he’s about to see his name move up the all-time leaderboard when he skates in his 800th game (780) and wins his 400th game (393). During his first season with New York, he defied the odds and dressed in 27 games, compiling an 18-6-2 record with two shutouts.
The winningest American-born goalie in NHL history will become the 15th goalie all-time to win 400 games, behind Sergei Bobrovsky, who only needs four wins to become the 14th. And when he skates in his 800th game, he’ll move up to 17th all-time.
Igor Shesterkin
Igor Shesterkin needs just 15 wins to reach 150 in the NHL and 23 wins to pass Dave Kerr (157) for sixth place on the Rangers all-time list. With two shutouts, Shesterkin will pass John Vanbiesbrouck (16) for ninth most in franchise history.
Vincent Trocheck
Vincent Trocheck won’t have a chance to have the campaigns that Zibanejad, Kreider, and Panarin are slated to have, but he is 81 games shy of 800 for his career and needs three goals to reach 200 in the NHL. Moreover, he’s almost guaranteed to reach 350 assists (329) and 550 points (519).
Adam Fox
Adam Fox is only 26 and needs 43 games to reach 400. Considering he’s averaged 59 assists over the past three campaigns, he’s on pace to collect his 300th helper since he needs just 45. Right now, Panarin holds down 10th place for assists in a Rangers sweater with 310, but he’ll move up the list this season, leaving Steve Vickers in that spot with 312 and Fox just 57 away from passing him.
Alexis Lafreniere
Former No. 1 overall pick Alexis Lafreniere had a breakout season in 2023-24 with 28 goals, 29 assists, and 57 points. If the 22-year-old can duplicate that production this year, he’ll collect his 100th goal, 100th assist, and 200th point in the NHL. He needs two games to reach 300 in the NHL.
Honorable Mentions
As mentioned, every time a player reaches a milestone, the moment deserves to be celebrated. However, some moments are more significant than others. During the upcoming season, Jimmy Vesey can skate in his 600th game and reach 100 goals, 100 assists, and 200 points. Meanwhile, captain Jacob Trouba is on track to skate in his 800th game, and Ryan Lindgren needs 67 games to reach 400. If the recently re-signed Rangers defenseman manages to have a career year of 20 points, he’ll reach 100.
Note: Stats via Hockey-Reference
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