Danny Wild-Imagn ImagesTalk is cheap when discussing the Rangers. So is optimism.
But that doesn't mean that optimism is bad. In fact it could make your day. Here's how a lucky ten positive things could happen to your Blueshirts and even put them in the playoffs.
REPEAT; EVEN PUT THEM IN THE PLAYOFFS
1. No matter how you shake it, the Rangers – in Igor Shesterkin – have one of the NHL's beststoppers.
2. Adam Fox will be injury-free and a Norris Trophy finalist.
3. Braden Schenider will show his critics that he was worth drafting after all.
4. Mika Zibanejad may not look like a No. 1 center; but, at last, he'll play like one.
5. Alexis Lafrenière will pick up where he left off late last season and prove that he was worth being an overall first draft pick.
6. Miracles Happen: J.T. Miller will recall his halcyon days in Vancouver and play his heart out for Old New York. And Newer Slobbovia. I'll go three steps further – he'll be a captain's captain!
7. Gabe Perreault will emerge as a monster playmaker, power play pivot and penalty-killer all in one. (In fact he'll turn out to be a better player than his Old Man!)
8. Slava (Smiley) Gavrikov will not only be one of the NHL's best shutdown defenders but he'll go neck and neck with his pal Foxy as an offensive force.
9. Tye Kartye will be such a boisterously pleasant surprise that by season's end everyone will know how to spell his name.
10. Rookie owner – ergo boss' son – Quentin Dolan will burst out of the shadows and show both fans and media that he is THE BOSS!.
GUESS WHAT? It could happen.
