The best Rangers by jersey number

Ever wonder who the best Rangers by jersey number were? Well given that it’s the end of August, we are in a bit of a dead zone for content, and this was something that I thought would be fun, you’re about to go on this journey with me. Of the 100 possible numbers, including 00, only 90 numbers have been used. Doing one long list will be tough to read, so let’s break this down by 10 numbers at a time, shall we.

Best Rangers by jersey number: 00-09

00 – John Davidson, the best answer and also the default answer
1-Eddie Giacomin, but Gump Worsley should get some love here
2-Brian Leetch, with Brad Park as an honorable mention
3-Harry Howell, with much love to Tom Poti and Michal Rozsival, as they were so beloved by Ranger fans
4-Ron Greshner, but this number seems cursed (Mottau, de Vries, Ward, Reitz, Del Zotto, Diaz, Kostka, Clendening)
5-Dan Girardi
6-This one is a dead zone. 46 players have worn it, only 2 were with the Rangers for more than 3 years (Malholtra, Kasparaitis). Darius gets the nod here.
7-Rod Gilbert
8-Steve Vickers, with honorable mentions to Darren Turcotte and Jacob Trouba
9-I love Adam Graves, but Andy Bathgate was the better #9. Also Pavel Bure put up 31-19-50 in 51 games. Too bad his knee couldn’t hold up.

Numbers 10-19

10-Artemiy Panarin over Ron Duguay and Marian Gaborik. This one should get the ole debate train rolling.
11-Mark Messier and Vic Hadfield get 1A/1B. This one should be a good debate too.
12-Patrik Nemeth. Julien Gauthier. Peter Holland. Matt Puempel, Eric Staal. Dan Paille. Lee Stempniak. Todd White. Ales Kotalik. Olli Jokinen. Patrick Rissmiller. Alex Daigle.
- I guess Don Maloney wins here? It’s him or Andy Hebenton. Andy Bathgate had this number for a hot second too.
- Retire this number so no one else gets it.
13-Sergei Nemchinov, but Alexis Lafreniere will take over soon enough.
14-I guess Don Murdoch? Maybe Brendan Shanahan? Greg McKegg?
- Did you know 45 players have worn this number?
15-Anders Hedberg I guess. But Jim Neilson spent 12 years with the Rangers long before I was born. I’ll leave this to some of our older crowd to decide.
16-A lot of people are going to say Sean Avery, but my answer is Derick Brassard. Rod Seiling should garner some votes too.
17-Dean Prentice I guess?
- This was the last number Jesper Fast wore for the Rangers (12, 19, 17). Unsure where he should go, but if you want to give his seasons to #17, go for it.
18-Marc Staal or Walt Tkachuk, take your pick.
19-Jean Ratelle

Numbers 20-29

20-Chris Kreider, but honorable mention to the tan one, Vinny Prospal.
21-Derek Stepan and Camille Henry had similar scoring lines. Pete Stemkowski should get some love too. Sergei Zubov is the one that got away, and he was the most skilled at this number by far.
22-Nick Fotiu
23-Adam Fox, but love me some Jeff Beukeboom
24-As of now, it’s Ryan Callahan, but Kaapo Kakko will hopefully take this over soon.
25-Libor Hajek. Ryan Sproul. Viktor Stalberg. Ryan Bourque. Chad Kolarik. Anders Eriksson. Garth Murray, Paul Healey. Peter Smrek. Alexei Gusarov. Jason Doig. Mathieu Schneider.
- It feels like the Rangers have certain numbers dedicated to one-off players, doesn’t it? Numbers 4, 12, and 25 so far seem like bad numbers in Rangers history.
- I guess Alex Karpotsev takes this number.
26-Dave Maloney, but love Martin St. Louis
27-You can’t make me pick between Alexei Kovalev and Ryan McDonagh. It’s not fair and I won’t do it.
28-Tomas Sandstrom
29-Reijo Ruotsalainen is probably the best defenseman from Rangers history you’ve never heard of. Five seasons of 56, 69, 59, 73, and 59 points, with a pair of 20 goal seasons.

Numbers 30-39, the goalies?

30-Henrik Lundqvist
31-Igor Shesterkin
32-Stephane Matteau. Runner up is Antti Raanta.
33-Cam Talbot? Maybe Tony Amonte.
34-John Vanbiesbrouck. This number hasn’t been worn since John Mitchell 10 years ago.
35-Mike Richter
36-Mats Zuccarello
37-Only 12 players have worn this number in Rangers history, and all of them are bad. I guess Paul Broten wins here?
38-Mike Sauer. Man what could have been.
39-Doug Weight, but this is another black hole of numbers in Rangers history. Most of the 30’s are, which I guess makes sense since it’s the goalie range?

Numbers 40-49, what a wasteland this is

40-I’m going to get some hate for this, but the answer is obviously Alex Georgiev. Loved Michael Grabner though.
- Sorry Vally.
41-Jed Ortmeyer. But much love to the 5 minutes in a 3OT game Stu Bickel.
42-Artem Anisimov. Brendan Smith gets some votes here, either as a forward or a defenseman.
43-Martin Biron, but mostly by default.
44-Ryan Hollweg? Steve Eminger? Neal Pionk? Funny answer: Lindy Ruff.
45-Dale Purinton. Dmitri Kalinin. Jody Shelley. Kris Newbury. Arron Asham. James Sheppard. Magnus Hellberg. I guess Asham wins?
- Did you know that Vally wore this number for the Rangers in 2004?
- Braden Schneider should take over soon enough.
46-Dan Girardi wins this number too with 34 games at this number. He wins over Marek Hrivik and Rob O’Gara.
47-Rich Pilon I guess? I said this range was a wasteland.
48-Brendan Lemieux, but like JD, this is a by default answer. Oscar Lindberg’s 1 game with this number doesn’t count.
49-I’ll let you all duke it out in the comments between Greg Moore, Dan Fritsche, Ilkka Heikkinen, and Lauri Pajuniemi.

Numbers 50-59, another wasteland

50-Lias Andersson is the only Ranger to wear this number
51-Fedor Tyutin
52-No one. This number has never been worn by a Rangers player.
53-Derek Morris played 18 games and had 8 assists. Tim Erixon also played 18 games, just 2 assists. Morris wins.
- No, Layne Ulmer’s one game in 2004 doesn’t count.
54-Adam McQuaid, again by default over the 10 combined games between Brandon Dubinsky (2007), Dane Byers (2008), and Bobby Sanguinetti (2010)
55-Ryan Lindgren
56-Mike Sauer joins Dan Girardi to win two numbers
57-Never used by the Rangers
58-John Gilmour narrowly beats out…Christian Thomas.
59-Never used

Numbers 60-69 (nice), the ‘by default’ range

60-Never used
61-Rick Nash
62-Carl Hagelin
63-Anthony Duclair
64-Tyler Motte
65-Danny O’Regan
66-Never used
67-Benoit Pouliot
68-Jaromir Jagr
69-Never used, which is a shame

Only numbers 61 (Pascal Dupuis, Justin Braun) and 67 (Boo Nieves) had some level of competition.

Numbers 70-79, the preseason numbers

70-Mackenzie Skapski
71-Mike Rupp
72-Filip Chytil
73-Brandon Pirri
74-Joel Bouchard, but Vitali Kravtsov should take over this year
75-Ryan Reaves over Brandon Halverson
76-Brady Skjei
77-Phil Esposito, and don’t even try to say Tony DeAngelo is better
78-Never used
79-K’Andre Miller

Another range where only a few numbers (71, 76, 77) had someone else who wore the number for more than a game.

Numbers 90-99

90-Vlad Namestnikov
91-Markus Naslund
92-Michael Nylander
93-Mika Zibanejad, but much love to Petr Nedved
94-Derek Boogaard
95-Vinni Lettieri
96-Emerson Etem
97-Matt Gilroy
98-Never used
99-Wayne Gretzky

Boy, the end of the best Rangers by jersey number list got real easy real fast.

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