Between a volatile Metropolitan Division and the uncertainty surrounding Artemi Panarin’s next chapter, the Rangers are one move away from a breakthrough—or a breakdown.
Entering Game 39 of the season against the Washington Capitals just before the Christmas break, the question becomes: what is the current state of this New York Rangers team as it approaches the halfway mark of the NHL regular season?
To borrow Dennis Green’s famous line after the Arizona Cardinals lost to the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football in 2006: “They are who we thought they were.