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Boston Bruins: Getting to Know the New Division Opponents for 2021

By Scott Roche

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 10: Tyler Pitlick #18 of the Philadelphia Flyers and Connor Clifton #75 of the Boston Bruins collide in the third period at Wells Fargo Center on March 10, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Bruins won 2-0. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 10: Tyler Pitlick #18 of the Philadelphia Flyers and Connor Clifton #75 of the Boston Bruins collide in the third period at Wells Fargo Center on March 10, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Bruins won 2-0. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images) /
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DALLAS, TEXAS – MARCH 10: Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers celebrates his goal against the Dallas Stars during the first period at American Airlines Center on March 10, 2020 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TEXAS – MARCH 10: Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers celebrates his goal against the Dallas Stars during the first period at American Airlines Center on March 10, 2020 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

New York Rangers

Of all the new opponents on the Bruins schedule this season, the Rangers might be the most intriguing. At the Return to Play in the summer, they were swept in the Qualifying Round by the Carolina Hurricanes, but in reality, they became the winners.

The Rangers were awarded the top pick after winning the second draft lottery of the eight teams that were eliminated in the Qualifying Round. With that pick, they got the prized top prospect in Alexis Lafreniere. He will be joining veterans Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, and Artemi Panarin.

Last season, Zibanejad scored 41 goals and had 34 assists in just 57 games. Panarin finished third in the Hart Trophy voting after scoring 32 goals and dishing out 63 assists in his first year in the Big Apple. In his eighth season with the Blue Shirts, Kreider had 24 goals and 21 assists.

Leading the way on defense for the Rangers is Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren. In goal, New York moved on from Henrik Lundqvist and are going with the young tandem of Alexander Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin.

Former Boston University coach David Quinn begins his third season behind the bench for the Rangers after two sub-par seasons. The talent is there for the Rangers to be good and score a lot of goals. Their defense, however, after Lundgren and Fox, have enough questions that they could be the group that holds them back this season.

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