Will the New York Rangers Win a Cup During King Henrik’s Reign?
Even with how difficult it is to win a Stanley Cup, the league’s superstars usually manage to get their names on it at least once during their careers. Still, there always seem to be players who, despite careers full of accolades, never manage that pinnacle achievement. This feels especially hard to accept when that player is a goaltender of Henrik Lundqvist‘s caliber, given the stats he has put up since joining the league in 2005. In the 2014-15 NHL playoffs, Lundqvist did everything he could to help the New York Rangers win the Cup short of scoring the goals himself, posting a mind-boggling 1.6 goals-against average and .944 save percentage through the first two rounds. If the rest of his team had played up to his level, the Rangers would have won, hands down. Whether a Henrik Lundqvist Stanley Cup is even possible remains the defining question hanging over his career.
A Franchise Goaltender for the Ages
Even though he hasn’t yet won a Cup, 33-year-old Lundqvist has brought home his fair share of accolades. He was nicknamed “King Henrik” by his second month in the NHL because of his remarkable skill and athleticism. He’s the only goaltender in NHL history to reach 30 wins in each of his first seven seasons and the first New York Ranger named the Most Valuable Player in five consecutive seasons, from 2006-07 to 2010-11. He’s been nominated for the Vezina Trophy three times and has won it once, and among active goaltenders he ranks second in career regular-season shutouts (56) and wins (348), behind only Roberto Luongo. Since adding Lundqvist to their lineup, the New York Rangers have missed the playoffs only once, in 2009-10, and have consistently allowed among the fewest goals in the league in any given season, typically ranking between third and fifth (and still ranking ninth, well above their station, in their 2009-10 playoff miss). Hockey is, of course, a team sport, and you can’t attribute all of this solely to the goaltender — but having someone like King Henrik minding the net certainly helps.
Regular-Season Dominance, Postseason Heartbreak
Lundqvist is signed with the Rangers through the 2020-21 NHL season, meaning that if he’s going to win a Cup, the Rangers are probably the team he’ll do it with. Flip that around, and if the New York Rangers want to bring home the Stanley Cup, they should probably aim to do it during Lundqvist’s tenure — a Henrik Lundqvist Stanley Cup win becomes less likely with every season that passes without one. Goaltenders of this quality are few and far between, and a high-quality net-minding performance is necessary for any successful postseason run.
Consistently successful in the regular season, the Rangers will be the first to tell you those stats don’t count for much once playoff hockey starts. The Rangers have won the Presidents’ Trophy three times in their history, including once with Lundqvist in net, in 2014-15; only once, in the 1993-94 NHL season, has a league-leading regular-season tally converted into a Rangers Stanley Cup victory. The two division titles and one conference title the team earned between 2005 and 2015 resulted in moderate playoff success, translating into deep runs — the Conference Finals in 2011-12 and 2014-15, and the Stanley Cup Final in 2013-14 — but no championship victories. Everybody knows the Rangers are good in the regular season. The question is what it will take to get them to a Stanley Cup victory.
Where the Rangers Fall Short: Scoring in the Playoffs
Offensive consistency has been the Rangers’ main sticking point in postseason play. It doesn’t matter how well Lundqvist tends the net if the team in front of him can’t manage to score. Scoring is more difficult in the playoffs overall given the higher level of play, but the Rangers’ top five scorers have consistently seen a significant drop in goal production between the regular season and the playoffs. Rick Nash is especially guilty on this front. He scored 26 goals in the 2013-14 NHL season and 42 in the 2014-15 NHL season — and only 8 in both years’ playoffs combined. That averages out to a little less than one goal every five games, not enough to lead any team to the Stanley Cup. Still, if the Rangers can increase their postseason production, it seems like only a matter of time before they win it all. Until then, the search for a Henrik Lundqvist Stanley Cup continues, one long postseason at a time — if they can’t win it for the city of New York, you have to think they’re at least trying to do it for their King.
