2020 Report Card: Ryan Strome

Expectations

When Ryan Strome was acquired by the New York Rangers back on November 16, 2018, not many people expected much of the trade at the time. It boiled down to two teams swapping diminished assets and the hope was that a change of scenery would be enough to rejuvenate their careers. Fortunately for the Rangers, they were clearly on the better end of that deal as Ryan Strome immediately started producing the moment he arrived in New York.

There were some obvious concerns following the completion of Strome’s first partial season in New York, however. A good chunk of those concerns stemmed from an insanely high shooting percentage, head-scratching penalty differential, and his questionable play away from the puck. Many weren’t anticipating Strome to sustain his production over a full 82-game schedule, so it’s fair to say expectations were pretty timid heading into the 2019-20 season.

Performance

Even with mild expectations, Ryan Strome took everyone by surprise when he developed instant chemistry with left winger Artemiy Panarin. For the second straight season, Strome hit the ground running and registered 19 points in his first 20 games of the regular season.

Not matter how you slice it up, the Rangers were a much better team offensively when Strome was on the ice compared to when he wasn’t. Artemiy Panarin obviously played a large part in that success, but overall, the Rangers were a team that was severely carried by their top-six, so that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

On the defensive side of the puck, there are obviously still some concerns as the Rangers as a whole performed better behind their own blue line. Even with those concerns in mind though, you take those slight marks defensively if you can get solid production at the other end of the ice.

Now we move on to the part of Strome’s game that....isn’t so pretty. The one knock against Strome since he has arrived in New York has been his tendency to get into penalty trouble. Unfortunately, that trend continued for yet another season. His -14 penalty differential at 5-on-5 led all forwards by a pretty considerable margin, with the next closest being Brett Howden with a -3 differential.

It’s never a good habit to consistently put your team down a man, so if there’s one area that Strome needs to clean up, it’s definitely his penalty taking tendencies.

Final Grade: A-
Banter Consensus: B+

Since we are grading strictly on performance from this season alone, it’s hard to argue against the grades given above. There were obviously some questions about Strome’s future production coming into this season, and he quieted the critics quite admirably with another strong outing. He tied his career high in goals for a second straight season, and sat third on the team in scoring behind only Artemiy Panarin and Mika Zibanejad.

Strome is now currently in need of a new contract after finishing up the final year of his two-year, $3.1 million per year deal. His career has reached an important crossroad, and there is still some uncertainty surrounding his immediate future in New York. From a production standpoint, the Rangers would obviously love to welcome back Strome with open arms. However, with the Alexis Lafreniere on the way in October, and other prospects making the transition, the forward group is quickly becoming crowded.

Jeff Gorton will need weigh his options this upcoming offseason, and decide whether it’s worth investing a large of chunk of change in the 27-year old center or finding value elsewhere. In the end though, Strome has held up his end of the bargain thus far in New York and his future should have some answers in the coming weeks ahead.

Data courtesy of evolving-hockey.com and hockeyviz.com. Contract data via capfriendly.com.