The Eastern Conference, once you get past the power house teams, is a plethora of mediocre and bubble teams fighting for a spot in the bottom four seeds in the playoffs. The battle is going to be so tight, that a puck bounce here or there may spell success (or doom) for any teams playoffs dreams. Ryan Dixon of The Hockey News analyzes what key scenarios would be that successful, or fatal, factor for any teams hopes. For the Rangers, Dixon says:

NEW YORK RANGERS
IN Martin Biron holds the fort for 15 games, allowing a fresh Henrik Lundqvist to shine brighter than ever in the remaining 67. The Rangers got a healthy, productive campaign from Marian Gaborik during his first season on Broadway; will they be lucky enough to get an encore plus a bounce-back year from Alexander Frolov in his Ranger debut?

OUT Gaborik once again fails to stay in the lineup consistently and the Blueshirts are completely dominated up the middle thanks to a shocking dearth of impact centers.

Dixon hits the nail on the head for the Rangers. Martin Biron is one of the biggest keys for the Rangers, as Henrik Lundqvist was gassed down the stretch, having played 72 regular season games. If Biron is good enough to spell Lundqvist for 15-20 games, then the Rangers can lean on one of the best in the world during that final push for the playoffs.

Naturally, you can’t analyze the Rangers season without looking at Marian Gaborik and his wonky groin. That’s a given. However, with the addition of Alex Frolov, the Rangers have a legitimate secondary scoring threat that will hopefully ease the pressure on the Slovak winger, making it easier for him to repeat his performance last season. Another 40-goal campaign from Gaborik, combined with a 30-goal performance by Frolov, will give the Rangers that one-two punch they have lacked since the line of Straka-Nylander-Jagr was broken up.

One other factor that Dixon fails to mention is the continued improvement of Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky. Both players are going to need to at least eclipse the 20-goal, 30-assist mark this year for it to be considered a successful year for either forward. The time has come for both players to step up. Now, the status quo for both players is just fine by me, but only when they play on the third line. Top six minutes are expected from both Callahan and Dubinsky, and now it is time for them to produce like top six wingers.

With the Eastern Conference wide open, the Rangers could feasibly sneak into the playoffs, and as a relatively high seed too. To do so, they are going to need their off-season acquisitions to pan out, and will need the continued development of their youth. Some may not be too thrilled with the Rangers entering the playoffs in the bottom half, but we’ve seen what a hot goalie can do for a team (see: Halak, Jaroslav), and the Rangers have one of the best in the world. The playoffs change everything, but getting there is the first priority for the Rangers.

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