Rangers Score With Youth

The New York Rangers are one of the NHL teams to power up with youth this season, and Jimmy Vesey is the face of that movement in Ranger land. In August we were wondering how much of a difference Vesey and the young ones might affect the Rangers in NHL betting. Well, after a few outings, the returns are beginning to trickle in - and things look pretty good.

The Youth Movement

We centered a lot of talk on Vesey over the summer, because he was the free agent who won the Hobey Baker Award last season as the best player in college hockey. He was team captain his senior season, when he had 46 points (24 goals, 22 assists) in 33 games at Harvard. Of course, that was college. But Vesey still drew attention, and a lot of teams courted him before the Rangers reeled him in. Since then we've discovered a penchant for more than just awards and attention with Vesey. He's displayed a strong work ethic, gained respect of his teammates and shown savvy on the ice. Playing on the left wing, along with center Derek Stepan and right winger Mats Zuccarello, he's registered one of three goals that line produced in the first four games. And he's just part of the youth story for this Rangers team. Rookie Pavel Buchnevich, young Mika Zibanejad, and second-year man Kevin Hayes are also among the 23-and-under crowd with the Rangers. All have been contributing. Just those three names accounted for four goals in the Rangers' first four games.

NHL Betting on The Rangers

The Rangers are among several teams who loaded up this year on young, heady stars with scoring potential. That kind of energy I think bodes well for the over in NHL betting. It's still uncertain how the young guns will affect the Rangers win percentage. But the team has unloaded against the Islanders (5 goals) and San Jose (7 goals) already this year in hitting the over during their 2-2-0 start. Keep an eye on them for upcoming games against Arizona, Carolina and Edmonton, other similarly stocked teams. The over should be good.