There are many reasons for the Rangers’ early-season success, but chief among them is the emergence of a group of Blueshirts that are thriving in the second stage of their careers.
J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad have been in the NHL for several years now and seen varying degrees of success. But all have now gotten past most of their growing pains and are really beginning to come into their own.
Miller and Hayes in particular have seen a giant leap in production and responsibility that we hoped would come last season.