Since NHL ’13 might be the closest we get to NHL hockey for a few months, it seems appropriate that we post the NHL ’13 ratings for the Rangers roster.

Kevin touched on this in Thursday’s musings, but there are a few complaints regarding these rankings. While many are focusing on Chris Kreider’s 68 rating, I’m actually more focused on the 73 rating shared by Anton Stralman and Stu Bickel.

Obviously we don’t know the full details of the ratings, but the fact that Stralman is considered to be the same rating as Bickel is a bit intriguing. Stralman was counted on for big minutes in the playoffs, and Bickel was exploited for his weaknesses and spent much of his playoff time on the bench. That’s not a slight against Bickel, but it’s just the facts from the playoffs.

From NHL ’12, we saw that there were three categories for players: offense, defense, and athleticism. Obviously, Stralman has Bickel beat in all three of these categories, and it should reflect in the games detailed ratings. However there were ratings for toughness, fighting, and aggression that Bickel would obviously have Stralman beat by a mile. Perhaps those are the ratings that boost Bickel up to Stralman’s level.

For those focused on Kreider’s 68 rating, let’s remember that Kreider has very little NHL experience, and that while he’s a top prospect, you would have to assume they are taking lack of experience into account. I’m going to venture a guess and say that Kreider’s potential is off the charts, and that 68 will turn into mid-80s in no time.

It’s also worth noting that there appears to be a much bigger gap between the elite players and the third line players. In past games, you could compile a bottom-six of players with an 80 rating or higher. That doesn’t appear to be the case anymore, as the third line players –including Brian Boyle– are in the mid-high 70s. Fourth line players like Arron Asham are even lower.

The ratings gap is a nice touch, and something that was sorely missing from the previous games. It’ll be interesting to see how the gameplay is.

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