For the first time last season, Ranger fans were confronted with Henrik Lundqvist’s mortality. The King endured his worst statistical season in the NHL and while that certainly doesn’t lie only at his feet, there are signs that Lundqvist is no longer capable of being a magic eraser for New York every single night.
So while the thought of life after Lundqvist is extremely unpleasant, it’s a reality the Blueshirts are beginning to confront, much as the Football Giants began to do this spring with the drafting of Davis Webb in preparation for the eventual retirement of Eli Manning.