Eight Predictions for the New York Rangers' 2008-09 Season

During the past week, there's been a ton of talk, but not much movement in the Ranger camp.  Everything from the invite of Petr Nedved to the possibility of a gigantic three-way deal to eventually bring in Mats Sundin has been discussed. 

It seems that the majority of Glen Sather's work has been done, and unless something ridiculous occurs, I'm going to assume the Rangers are going to stand relatively pat for the next two months until the beginning of training camp. Taking that into consideration, here are eight quick predictions for the upcoming Ranger season:

1. Captain Chris Drury

Yes, I do believe that Connecticut's own Chris Drury will be given the captaincy of the New York Rangers. 

There are multiple reasons why this makes sense.

First, he's been a captain.  On his last team, Buffalo, he co-captained with Danny Briere, and was widely considered, as Stan Fischler once said, the "straw that stirs the drink."  Not sure what that exactly means, but I'll agree. 

Drury also has a Stanley Cup on his resume from his time in Colorado, and is known as one of the best clutch goal scorers in the game today.  That's the guy you want as captain—one who comes through in the clutch. 

On top of that, many people consider his 25 goals last year to be an "off year," but if you look at his numbers, that's basically on par with his career average.  I think he will improve this year, probably around the 30-goal range, but I see his assist total going way up. 

That's where he really had his decline.  If he can get back to the 40-assist range, that'll help to create more offense for the team in general.  He does a lot of little things on the ice, and one of them this year will be to wear the C.

2. No Mats Sundin

I'm not going to talk about this too much, but unless the Rangers do something drastic, like trade Scott Gomez, I'm not sure where he can fit. 

Plus, we don't need him!  Let him linger in Vancouver or Toronto. 

I'm sorry, he won't fit in Ranger blue, and there's no need to destroy any chemistry we might be building.  Forget him and move on.

3. The Career Plateau of Brandon Dubinsky

I'll start by saying I love this kid.  In my opinion, he was our best player last year. 

However, when you play with two of the best players to ever come out of Europe, I'm going to say that you won't get a lot of attention from checkers or the opponents' defense.  This year he'll have neither on his wing, and almost certainly will suffer for it. 

I was as surprised as any to see how well he played with Jagr last year, but who are they going to put on his wing now?  Sjostrom?  I like him a lot, but you can't compare him with his linemates last year. 

Dubinsky will continue to play hard, but will he match the 40 points he got last year?  Big maybe on that. 

I hope I'm wrong though.  I also hope Tom Renney just lets him work through it, and doesn't send him back to Hartford. 

So, a sophomore slump for the kid.  I like him a lot though, and Ranger fans will give him a break.

4. The Disappointment of Nik Zherdev

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