Rangers Ryan Strome has silenced the haters for now

Leading by example

It may still be November, a month infamous for New York Rangers fans to get ahead of themselves in both the stats and standings department. However, it is worth noting that Strome has displayed consistency, as not only a goal-scorer and playmaker but as a complete 200-foot player (the most valuable asset of an NHL center).

He’s averaging the fifth most time on ice per game among skaters and third-most among Blueshirts forwards, behind Panarin and Zibanejad at 18:27.

The Rangers are the youngest team in the NHL, currently with seven players who are 21-years-old or younger on the roster. Strome is the perfect presence for the team’s chemistry. At 26, he’s a guy just discovering his prime at a ripe age. A positive high-energy player, the Mississauga, Ontario native has used his intangibles to be the glue of the Blueshirts locker room.

If there has been one thing apparent to me so far, it’s Strome’s uncanny ability to get the puck to the right people at the right time. He’s set up first career goals for Kaapo Kakko, Ryan Lindgren, and Libor Hajek so far this season.

Which is funny, because one of the most common complaints from New York Rangers fans was that they didn’t want him to hinder the development of the team’s elite prospects. However, now it seems as though the Strome pessimists have redirected their energy to happy emotions because his stock is rising. By turning it up this season, the restricted free-agent to be has made himself tradable at the deadline.