Will Cuylle: The One Unlikely Shining Star on the Slumping New York Rangers
The New York Rangers were last year’s President’s Trophy victors, and with all the star power they possess, there is one unlikely gem that is outplaying his competition in nearly every category during this downfall of a season.
Who is the best/worst team in the NHL? If you didn’t say the New York Rangers, then we haven’t been following the same sports team.
Prior to the Christmas break, the New York Rangers are sixth in their division with a 16-17-1 record. That’s good enough for a whopping 22nd in the league. Well, “that’s not too bad” - you might say - or “they still have a chance to make the playoffs if they turn things around.” That’s true!
But let’s not forget that the Rangers were an absolute powerhouse last year, winning their division and have been considered ‘Cup Contenders’ for some time now. Not to mention the defending Presidents Trophy champions - although you may say (and be right) that winning the President’s trophy comes with a curse limiting playoff success - but for fantasy leagues, you are banking on a strong regular season showing.
Either way, their progress is not without its warts this year aside, but we’ll get to that. The point is what happened, and who is still left that you can bank on? The captain is gone in Jacob Trouba, and so is 2019 second round pick Kappo Kakko (who has already started to bury the puck in his new home of Seattle).
Since moving Trouba, they signed their franchise goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who should instill confidence to his defenders, but they continue to fall flat. Shersterkin since signing his ‘big boy’ contract has put up a record of 2-4-0 before the Christmas break, falling well behind expectations of the highest tendie in NHL history (see ya, Price!).
Now we could sit and continue to pile up the L’s on this poor suffering franchise, but let’s look to the one, admittedly unlikely shining star, that despite his team’s horrendous efforts around him, continues to shine bright. That player is Will Cuylle.
Somehow, this third line mainstay (although he’s seen some increased ice time due to injury, benching, and poor performance of his peers) has put up some solid numbers. Further, he has battled himself onto the second powerplay unit, and is seeing penalty kill time, too.
If you are in a Bangers League, or your league is counting hits - then this gem should be on your roster. If you were clever and picked him up as a streamer early on before the Rangers' woes began and decided not to drop him - give yourself a pat on the back.
Statistic Trends
This might be old news to many, but he is still under 50% rostered in ESPN despite his solid peripherals. Not only that, for those who have categories such as +/- and playing for a team that has been struggling for months, Cuylle is still +12. Adding to this, while not as much of a monster as Kiefer Sherwood, he’s racking up hits with a team leading 126.
Continuing the trend of his underrated third liner are his points total. Still a great depth option for deeper leagues or points leagues who need depth - Cuylle sits at 11 goals and 13 assists, with one power play point. If you’d like comparables from the New York Rangers, let's put those totals next to these highly sought after players with more than 90% ownership.
Let’s make a direct comparison prior to the Christmas break:
Will Cuylle: 11 goals, 13 assists, 24 points
Vincent Trocheck: 9 goals, 11 assists, 20 points
Mika Zibanejad: 6 goals, 15 assists, 21 points
Chris Kreider: 11 goals, 1 assist, 12 points
Alexis Lafreniere: 9 goals, 12 assists, 21 points
It is clear that any fantasy player should A) ride the hot streaks and break out years (more often not when not in dynasty), and B) not have unwavering loyalty to “brand names”. Do you draft players because you have followed them for years or believe they are great players, or do you pick lesser known gems because only performance matters.
A great example of this is Miro Heiskanen. He is an incredible elite player on the ice, and most certainly passes the “eye test”, but generally underperforms in any type of league because he just does not produce the numbers that match his talent level.
With this in mind, and the above stats to back him, will you hang on to a player like Lafreniere year over year because he was a high draft pick and you keep hoping he will be a key piece to your team? Or will you put egos aside and grab someone like Cuylle to round out your team and look past the guys (and gals!) in your league who have their nose so high that they look right past the potential and hot streak he has been on?
Closing Thoughts
Let’s face it, the once mighty Rangers have wavered this year - be that because of how MSG has treated the captain and star of the Amazon Prime Series: Faceoff: Inside the NHL, uncertainty of how the rest of the locker room will be treated, broken confidence, or all of the above.
Most every player on the roster has had a terrible year - and these players generally all are gone in high draft positions or are kept in dynasty because of past performance and anticipation of the Rangers having another stellar year in competition for Lord Stanley - one player this year who is a gem that you should definitely roster is Will Cuylle.
Look past the big names, and dig into the analytics and take your budget star who will keep your roster afloat and ride out the Rangers’ storm with him until they can turn things back around and start stacking W’s.
