The lesson that applies to the Rangers was reinforced by the Islanders in their surprising but not necessarily stunning sweep of the Penguins. That is, it is not the quantity of young players in the lineup that counts, but their quality.
You might have been able to guess that the Islanders finished the season as the NHL’s seventh-oldest team, per analysis of 20-man lineups by RosterResource.com. They have only five players aged 25 and under who made an impact. Yet the team somehow was able to get by in a league that practices Darwinism and has all but eradicated fossil fuel.