Carl Hagelin’s strong season

Photo: Chris O’Meara/AP

The Rangers haven’t struggled to score goals this year, they’ve simply struggled to spread the goals around. Thanks in large part to Rick Nash and Marty St Louis, the Rangers have scored enough to stay in the playoff race while the defense and the goaltenders (up until recently) have struggled through injury, fluctuating form and suspensions.

One of the lesser discussed players this year has been Carl Hagelin. Hagelin scored against the Canadiens Sunday night and has been having a solid season despite bouncing around the line-up and playing very much in a depth role. Recently, he has been matched up with rookies Kevin Hayes and Anthony Duclair and still, Hagelin has delivered.

Hagelin has been a mainstay on the penalty kill unit, ranking second only to the equally underappreciated Dominic Moore in ice time amongst the forwards. He’s been a mainstay on a unit that is middle of the NHL pack largely only because of the injuries the PK has suffered (Stepan, McDonagh etc).

On course for his first 20 goal season, Hagelin is providing the Rangers with essential depth up front while Alain Vigneault tries to roll four lines and manage ice time evenly. Hagelin has also improved his efficiency, finishing at a .122% clip and is chipping in offensively despite starting less than 47% of his shifts in the offensive zone. Hagelin has provided a stabilizing presence to the third line which is crucial when factoring in the obvious learning curves of prospects such as Hayes and Duclair.

While Hagelin didn’t have the best start to the season he has started to show some consistency as he has now chipped in with six points in his last ten games which has helped hide the offensive struggles of players such as Chris Kreider who recently had a six game pointless streak. When you factor in his always dangerous speed and his defensive ability, Hagelin is having an underappreciated season. Which brings us to seasons end.

Hagelin is a restricted free agent after this season and has earned every bit of his $2.25m salary especially when you factor in his contributions over the past two post-seasons. If Hagelin can maintain his form, or even build on it, he will be due a nice raise on his current salary. If he can pot 25 goals there’s even a chance Hagelin could double his salary. Good for him, not so good for the Rangers’ cap situation.

Players with Hagelin’s speed, defensive ability as well as ability to play up and down the line-up are not easy to find. Throw into the mix his potential 20-25 goal season and the aforementioned performances in the postseason and Hagelin will have himself quite the resume come the end of the season to be able to argue for a new contract.

As it stands, there’s plenty of motivation for Hagelin to build on his solid season to date. If Hagelin continues to perform, the Rangers will obviously benefit. It just might cost them a few more of Mr Dolan’s dollars this coming offseason. Consider it a nice problem to have.