New York Rangers Quarter-Century Teams unveiled

With 2025 underway, the NHL is celebrating the best of the past 25 years by revealing Quarter-Century Teams for each of the League's 32 franchises and the Arizona Coyotes.

Each club will be represented by a First Team and Second Team of six players -- three forwards, two defensemen and one goalie -- who played for the franchise from Jan. 1, 2000 - Dec. 31, 2024. The first and second teams were selected by broadcasters, national, local and NHL.com writers who have covered the respective teams, in addition to select former players.

The six players voted to each First Team will be on the ballot for the NHL All Quarter-Century Team that will be chosen via a fan vote that will start in February.

Today, the First and Second Quarter-Century Teams for the New York Rangers. Players are listed in alphabetical order.

NEW YORK RANGERS QUARTER-CENTURY TEAMS

First Team

Forwards

Chris Kreider

Artemi Panarin

Mika Zibanejad

Defensemen

Adam Fox

Ryan McDonagh

Goalie

Henrik Lundqvist

Forwards: Kreider, Panarin and Zibanejad were the Rangers’ all-time leading scorers in the quarter-century, and it's not even close. Kreider led the Rangers with 565 points in 847 games, including a team-high 316 goals. Zibanejad was second with 548 points in 603 games. He was also second in goals (236) and assists (312). Panarin was third on the team this century with 500 points, but in 384 games. The next closest Rangers player in points was Derek Stepan, with 360. There were 13 players, including eight forwards, who played in more games than Panarin, but he led all Rangers players with 335 assists. He was third with 165 goals. Kreider, Zibanejad and Panarin are the leaders of the Rangers current core group of forwards, bringing the team to the Eastern Conference Final twice in the past three seasons. The Rangers selected Kreider with the No. 19 pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. He made his debut in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs and has been to the Stanley Cup Final once (2014), and the conference final five times (2012, 2014, 2015, 2022, 2024). Kreider is the Rangers’ all-time leader among skaters in playoff games played (123) and goals (48). Zibanejad is second with 55 points (17 goals, 38 assists) in 58 playoff games with the Rangers, and Panarin has 35 points (12 goals, 23 assists) in 46 games, including an overtime goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7 of the 2022 first round.

Defensemen: Fox and McDonagh were first and second, respectively, in scoring among Rangers defensemen in the quarter-century. Fox had 336 points, including a team-best 282 assists, in 393 games. McDonagh had 238 points (51 goals, 187 assists) in 516 games from 2010-18. Fox won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman for the 2020-21 season, when he had 47 points (five goals, 42 assists) in 55 games (the season was shortened to 56 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic). Fox's 74 points in 2021-22 were the most by a Rangers defenseman since Brian Leetch had 79 points in 2000-01. It was the ninth-most points in a single season by a Rangers defenseman in team history. Fox remains a big part of the Rangers core. He helped them reach the conference final in 2022 and 2024. He is second to McDonagh in Rangers all-time scoring among defensemen with 39 points in 46 Stanley Cup Playoff games. McDonagh was the Rangers captain from the start of the 2014-15 season until he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 25, 2018. He had 41 points in 96 playoff games, helping the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2014, and the conference final in 2012 and 2015. He was traded as part of the rebuild that accelerated with Fox's arrival through a trade from the Carolina Hurricanes on April 30, 2019.

Goalie: Lundqvist is not only the greatest goalie in Rangers history, he's one of the best goalies in NHL history. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2023. Lundqvist, who broke into the NHL in the 2005-06 season, played his entire 15-year career with the Rangers, and is sixth all-time in NHL history with 459 wins in 887 games. He is the all-time leader in wins among Europe-born goalies in NHL history. He had a career 2.43 goals-against average and .918 save percentage with 64 shutouts, which is 17th in NHL history. Lundqvist had 61 wins in the playoffs with 10 shutouts, a 2.30 GAA and .921 save percentage. He was 6-2 in Game 7s.

Second Team

Forwards

Jaromir Jagr

Derek Stepan

Mats Zuccarello

Defensemen

Dan Girardi

Marc Staal

Goalie

Igor Shesterkin

Forwards: Jagr played only 277 games with the Rangers from 2004-08 but his impact was huge. He had 319 points (124 goals, 195 assists) in those 277 games, including 123 points (54 goals, 69 assists) in 82 games in 2005-06. That is still the most points by a Rangers player in a single season. The Rangers did not make the playoffs from 1998-2004 but helped by Jagr's dominance they made it in 2006 (there was no 2004-05 season), 2007 and 2008. Stepan was the Rangers’ No. 1 center during their run in the 2010s that included the 2014 Cup Final appearance and runs to the conference final in 2012 and 2015. He had 360 points (128 goals, 232 assists) in 515 games from 2010-17. Stepan also had 49 points (19 goals, 30 assists) in 97 playoff games, the fourth-most played by a skater in team history. His most memorable moment was scoring in overtime of Game 7 against the Washington Capitals in the second round of the playoffs in 2015. Zuccarello played 509 games with the Rangers from 2010-19; he had 352 points (113 goals, 239 assists). He also appeared in 60 playoff games, getting 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists).

Defensemen: No skater played more games for the Rangers in the quarter-century than Staal (892). Girardi is third with 788. They were never stat machines in their NHL careers, but both were stalwarts on the back end of successful teams in the 2010s. Girardi played in 122 playoff games from 2007-17 and Staal played in 107 from 2008-20. Staal had 188 points in the regular season and was a plus-46. Girardi had 230 points and was a plus-54. Girardi leads all Rangers this century with 1,798 hits and 1,691 blocks. Staal had 1,308 hits -- which ranked fourth -- and was second behind Girardi with 1,162 blocks. In the playoffs, Girardi is first with 357 hits and 347 blocks. Staal had 178 hits (fourth among defensemen) and 193 blocks (third).

Goalie: Shesterkin is in his fifth full season and sixth overall with the Rangers, and he was second behind Lundqvist in the quarter-century in games played (240) and wins (146). Shesterkin, who took over as the Rangers' No. 1 for Lundqvist in 2020, won the Vezina Trophy in 2021-22, when he was also third in the voting for the Hart Trophy as the League's most valuable player to his team. He was 36-13-4 with a 2.07 GAA and .935 save percentage in 53 games that season. Shesterkin has twice led the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Final. He is 23-20 with a 2.41 GAA and .928 save percentage in 44 playoff games. Shesterkin signed the most lucrative contract for a goalie in NHL history, $92 million over eight years, on Dec. 8. He is New York's goalie of the present and the future.