3 Upgrades New York Rangers Need In The New Year

The New York Rangers have proven to be a powerhouse this season in almost all aspects. Even with some injuries, they have held strong and lead their division. But, that doesn't mean they can't do with some upgrades for the playoffs in order to actually win this time. They can't have a repeat of last season when they lost in the first round with a very good looking team. This is what they can upgrade.

Fourth Liner

As there are a couple of injuries to the forward group, when healthy, I expect the lines to look stronger. But there is no guarantee that will happen or others won't get injured along the way. There are no timetables for Kappo Kakko and Filip Chytil right now. As far as the fourth line goes, the Rangers will want to upgrade over Tyler Pitlick at the very least. He has just a goal and three points in 27 games and there aren't any other good options to fill in for a playoff run in the system.

Bottom-Six Forward

While the fourth line is part of the bottom-six, the Rangers may need more work than that. There's no problems with the top-six, but with Nick Bonino and Jonny Brodzinski on the third line, the Rangers will be outmanned in the playoffs by stronger third lines. This could change with the return of the injured forwards, but depth is always needed.

Depth D

Speaking of depth, the defense could also use some of that. Yes, they have Zachary Jones as the seventh defenseman and he has gotten into 13 games, but he is inexperienced and not someone the Rangers would trust in the playoffs to fill in if needed. I would add one more piece, likely a defense first veteran, as the other spare defenseman.