Believe it or not, Sam Carrick has jumped into the role as the New York Rangers’ main enforcer.
When the Rangers signed Carrick to a three-year, $3 million contract during the 2024 offseason, expectations were relatively low, as it wasn’t even known if he would serve an everyday role in the lineup.
Through the course of the 2024-25 season, Carrick built an identity on being a gritty, hard-knosed, two-way center, which allowed him to carve out a consistent bottom-six role.
He played a career-high 80 games while recording a career-high 20 points. More importantly though, the energy that Carrick brought each and every game made a tremendous impact.
Carrick always played hard. He’s the kind of player who puts his heart on his sleeve, and that was fully prevalent last season.
He’s used that same mentality and has taken it to a whole other level to open up the 2025-26 campaign.
The 33-year-old forward is delivering big hits on what seems like every night, and he’s already been in multiple fights, holding his own against players with significant height advantages.
Despite standing at just 6’0’’, Carrick plays fearlessly and is often the toughest player on the ice.
Mike Sullivan trusts Carrick to play in all sorts of situations, making him even more valuable and critical for the Rangers.
Mike Sullivan Feels Alexis Lafrenière's Generational-Talent Expectations Are Unfair
The topic of Alexis Lafrenière is a complicated one for the New York <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers/">Rangers</a>.
“I think he's an important part of this team with the role he plays,” Sullivan said of Carrick. “He gets defensive zone starts, he's conscientious defensively, he's part of the penalty kill. He's a huge momentum guy for us, whether it be his physicality and sticking up for his teammates, or just by nature, how he plays the game with the line that he's on… He’s been an important part of this early season.”
Carrick personifies what Sullivan wants the Rangers to eventually blossom into. Carrick’s tough and rugged play also perfectly represents New York, as it’s nice to see him finally getting the recognition he deserves.