2024 Report Card: The One Game Wonders
The diagonal R A N G E R S that spans New York's home and road sweaters has become one of the NHL's most iconic looks. Three players have donned the Blueshirt over 1,000 times in the regular season, with Hall of Famer and former captain Brian Leetch being the most recent player to cross that mark.
Chris Kreider is moving his way up the leaderboard, as his 815 regular season games have him ninth in franchise history, and a clean bill of health next season would see him pass Vic Hadfield, Jean Ratelle, and Marc Staal to claim the #6 spot on the list.
For all of the Leetch's and Kreider's to come into the organization, there are also those who only pulled the Rangers' sweater over their head for a single game. The One Game Wonders, as they're known, are on oft-forgotten part of Blueshirts' lore.
Today, we pay homage to the half a dozen men that were One Game Wonders during the 2023-24 campaign. A full unit of three forwards, two defenseman, and a goaltender, these six players' time on Broadway may have been brief, and their contributions minimal, but they are now members of the Blueshirts' brotherhood.
Louis Domingue
Domingue was the first to become a One Game Wonder last season. Best known to Rangers fans as the sleeper agent who sabotaged the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2022 playoffs, Domingue was thrust into action against the Minnesota Wild on November 9th with both Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick sidelined.
The veteran netminder made 25 saves in a 4-1 victory to help the Rangers avenge their previous defeat against Minnesota days prior. Domingue later agreed to a one-year contract extension with the Rangers in March, and scored an empty net goal for Hartford in April. Domingue gets a A- for going undefeated as a Ranger last season.
Riley Nash
No relation to Rick Nash, Riley signed a two-year deal with the Rangers on the opening day of free agency after spending the entirety of the 2022-23 season in AHL Charlotte. Nash was recalled to skate in the December 9th contest against the Washington Capitals in place of Barclay Goodrow. Nash registered a shot on goal in 11:05 of ice time in a 4-0 defeat and was returned to Hartford afterwards. Injuries and another NHL recall in the upcoming season could result in Nash losing his One Game Wonder status, but he gets a C for his showing.
Jake Leschyshyn
January was a busy month for the One Game Wonders as three of the six took the ice for their lone Broadway appearance in 2023-24. Jake Leschyshyn was up first when skated against the St. Louis Blues on January 11th, a 5-2 loss where the Rangers opted for an 11 forward, 7 defenseman lineup that did not feature Mika Zibanejad among the 11 forwards.
Leschyshyn skated 6:28, did not record a shot on goal or point, and finished -1. The effort extended Leschyshyn's comically long scoring drought to 41 NHL games without a point dating back to his time as a Vegas Golden Knight in April 2022. Jake Leschyshyn is very bad, his last name is alphabet soup, and he isn't a true One Game Wonder due to having played 13 games for the Rangers in 2022-23, so he gets an F-.
Anton Blidh
As the Rangers traveled from St. Louis to Washington, Leschyshyn was swapped out for Anton Blidh. Blidh took the ice for New York's 3-2 loss to the Capitals on January 13th and saw the ice for 5:21. In that time, Blidh took a cross checking penalty in a post-whistle scrum, was on the ice for a goal against, and did not find the score sheet otherwise. For putting up essentially the same performance as Leschyshyn did in the previous game, but not having a previous' season's worth of annoyance to go with his poor play, Blidh receives a D.
Connor Mackey
If there's a player who put the "wonder" into One Game Wonder during the season, it was Mackey. The 27 year old defenseman was recalled for the final game before the All-Star break, the January 27th contest against the Ottawa Senators. The Rangers were limping into the break, sporting a 4-7-2 January record and were well on their way to another regulation defeat.
And then Connor Mackey happened.
After Mackey dropped the gloves with Brady Tkachuk, the Rangers took control of the action. The 2-0 deficit became a 5-2 lead by the end of the period following the scrap, and a 7-2 victory to end the first half of the season on a high note.
Mackey received the Broadway Hat for his efforts, and signed a two-year contract extension in March. The Rangers played to a strong 104 point pace prior to Mackey's appearance, but took it to another level by playing to a 127 point pace the rest of the way. Pretty cut and dry here, Mackey gets an A+++++ for sparking New York's second half surge.
Brandon Scanlin
Scanlin was the 35th and final Ranger to make his season debut in 2023-24. In what was also his NHL debut after parts of three seasons in Hartford, Scanlin skated 10:46, primarily paired up on defense with Chad Ruhwedel, on March 26th against the Philadelphia Flyers. Adam Fox scored an overtime winner as the Blueshirts became the first team to punch their ticket to the 2024 playoffs, and Scanlin got to enjoy the spoils of a playoff clinching victory before returning to the Wolf Pack. Scanlin didn't do anything of note in the contest, so he'll get a C- for his first taste of NHL action.
Dylan Garand gets a special shout out for sitting on the bench during Domingue's lone start, he dressed for a game but did not see the ice. All six (well, five because alphabet soup guy technically isn't one) of the One Game Wonders remain under contract for 2024-25. Whether they remain One Game Wonders remains to be seen, but if any or all of the six do not get another NHL opportunity with the Rangers, their spots in franchise lore are already secured.
All Data via NHL.com
