NEW YORK RANGERS QUARTER CENTURY TEAMS
First team
Attackers
Defenders
Goalkeeper
Advantages: Kreider, Panarin and Zibanejad have been the Rangers’ all-time leading scorers over the quarter-century, and it’s not even close. Kreider led the Rangers with 565 points in 847 games, including a team-high 316 goals. Zibanejad finished second with 548 points in 603 games. He also finished second in goals (236) and assists (312). Panarin was third on the team this century with 500 points, but in 384 games. The next closest Rangers player in points was Derek Stepan, with 360. There were 13 players, including eight forwards, who played more games than Panarin, but he led all Rangers players with 335 assists. He finished third with 165 goals. Kreider, Zibanejad and Panarin are the leaders of the Rangers’ current forward group, having taken the team to the Eastern Conference Finals twice in the last three seasons. The Rangers selected Kreider 19th overall in the 2009 NHL Draft. He made his debut in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs and has appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals once (2014) and the Conference Finals five times (2012, 2014, 2015, 2022, 2024). Kreider is the Rangers’ all-time leader among skaters in playoff games played (123) and goals (48). Zibanejad is second with 55 points (17 goals, 38 assists) in 58 playoff games with the Rangers, and Panarin has 35 points (12 goals, 23 assists) in 46 games, including an overtime goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7 of the 2022 first round.
Defenders: Fox and McDonagh finished first and second, respectively, among Rangers defensemen over the quarter-century. Fox had 336 points, including 282 assists, in 393 games. McDonagh had 238 points (51 goals, 187 assists) in 516 games from 2010 to 2018. Fox won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman for the 2020-21 season, when he had 47 points (five goals, 42 assists) in 55 games (the season was shortened to 56 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Fox’s 74 points in 2021-22 were the most by a Rangers defenseman since Brian Leetch had 79 points in 2000-01. This is the ninth most points in a single season by a Rangers defenseman in team history. Fox remains an important part of the Rangers core. He helped them reach the conference finals in 2022 and 2024. He is second to McDonagh in Rangers all-time scoring among defensemen with 39 points in 46 Stanley Cup Playoff games. McDonagh captained the Rangers from the start of the 2014–15 season until he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 25, 2018. He had 41 points in 96 playoff games, helping the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2014 and the Conference Finals in 2012 and 2015. He was traded as part of the rebuild that accelerated with the arrival of Fox thanks to a trade from Carolina. Hurricanes of April 30, 2019.
Goalkeeper: Lundqvist is not only the greatest goaltender in Rangers history, he is also one of the best goaltenders in NHL history. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2023. Lundqvist, who entered the NHL in the 2005-06 season, played his entire 15-year career with the Rangers and is sixth all-time in NHL history with 459 wins in 887 games. He is the all-time leader in wins among European-born goalies in NHL history. He had a career goals-against average of 2.43 and a save percentage of .918 with 64 shutouts, which placed him 17th in NHL history. Lundqvist had 61 playoff wins with 10 shutouts, a 2.30 GAA and a .921 save percentage. He was 6-2 in Game 7.
