Comeback King: An excited Henrik Lundqvist celebrates the Rangers 3-1 series comeback. He made 35 saves in their 2-1 Game 7 win elimination of the Pens and stopped 102 of the final 105 shots.
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Officially, it all begins tonight. The dawn of a new season has arrived. For the Rangers, they’ll start tomorrow at perennial West contender St. Louis. Right off the bat, the defending Eastern Conference champs will get tested. Before returning to MSG for Sunday’s home opener against Toronto, they’ll visit Metropolitan contender Columbus. It won’t be easy early without top center Derek Stepan, who will miss the first 10 games after being put on Long Term Injured Reserve.

In a brand new year, that’s expected. This time, the ’14-15 Blueshirts will have a target on their back. That’s what happens when you make a run to the Stanley Cup Final. The franchise’s first appearance in 20 years. Even though it didn’t end with the storybook Hollywood script, they battled valiantly falling to the Kings in a closely fought five games featuring three overtime defeats all at Staples Center including Alec Martinez’ sudden death clincher. The memory is still fresh. Once they drop the puck tomorrow, it no longer matters.

With over half last year’s roster back, the sting should serve as a springboard for one giant leap. Coach Alain Vigneault’s new cast looks to take that final step. Gone are key pieces Brad Richards, Brian Boyle and Anton Stralman. Such is life in the cap era. General manager Glen Sather replaced Stralman with Dan Boyle, who should aid the power play while sliding in on the second pair with Marc Staal. Richards and Boyle won’t be easily replaced with Vigneault emphasizing young pups J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes. Without Stepan, he has a dilemma. Does he really shift Martin St. Louis to center? If so, how long does that experiment last?

What about 19-year old rookie Anthony Duclair, who wowed everyone during preseason? The 2013 third round pick made the club forcing them to dump a contract by moving Steve Kampfer and Andrew Yogan to Florida for Joey Crabb. How they handle Duke will be crucial to his development. If after nine games he isn’t ready for prime time, they can send him back to Quebec (QMJHL). However, he’d have to really struggle to change the organization’s mind. They feel he’s ready. His offensive skills are first class. He’ll start on a line with Miller and veteran Lee Stempniak, who was signed to help offset the loss of Benoit Pouliot. A strong support player, he should fit in along with camp surprise Ryan Malone, who made the team beating out Chris Mueller and Matt Lombardi.

FORWARDS: Up front, a strong core remains intact with holdovers Derick Brassard, Carl Hagelin, Chris Kreider, Dominic Moore, Rick Nash, St. Louis, Stepan and Mats Zuccarello leading a talented group of forwards that can transition to offense quickly. Jesper Fast and Miller should have bigger roles. Fast made the club for a second straight year and will look to stay on Broadway permanently. The bulk of the scoring will be left to Kreider, Nash, St. Louis and Zuccarello. All extremely fast skaters capable of finishing and setting up. Hagelin also could finally blossom into a 20-goalscorer. With Stepan out, the pressure’s on Brassard to produce more consistently. He must for them to have any success. Rookies Duclair and Hayes along with vets Tanner Glass, Malone and Stempniak round it out. It’ll be interesting to see how Vigneault manages Duclair and Hayes with the latter still needing to improve his skating.

DEFENSE: New captain Ryan McDonagh anchors a strong blueline that brings five of six regulars back. That includes partner Dan Girardi, who was named one of four alternates alongside Staal, St. Louis and Stepan. Girardi does the nuts and bolts. Despite a poor showing against LA, he shouldn’t be taken for granted. He’s irreplaceable. As noted earlier, Boyle replaces Stralman, who was a strong defensive defenseman as opposed to an offensive rover. The Blueshirts might lose defensively but gain offensively especially on the power play. Boyle is experienced enough to handle key minutes and should fit in with Staal, who needs a bounce back in a contract year. The third tandem of John Moore and Klein could be the key. Moore has untapped potential possessing great skating ability and a lethal shot. Is this the year he breaks out? Klein is your classic stay at home type who shouldn’t stand out. Veteran Matt Hunwick beat out Michael Kostka for seventh D. He’s no great shakes. Maybe by 2015, we see Dylan McIlrath or Conor Allen.

GOALIES: Henrik Lundqvist is as good as it gets. A Vezina winner who carried his team last Spring, King Henrik would love nothing more than leading the franchise to their first Cup since 1994. He came close only losing out to Jonathan Quick, who had a stronger cast. Hank should be even better than last year. He recovered from a poor first half turning in a heroic performance. The key again will be giving him enough rest. That way he stays fresh. Cam Talbot should supply that as Vigneault trusts him. He gave up a couple of bad goals in preseason. So, he’ll want to clean it up. Not many teams boast a better 1-2.

COACHING: Alain Vigneault preached patience after a sluggish start last year. He was proven right. Even after Sather risked trading Ryan Callahan for St. Louis, the team came together rallying around the death of St. Louis’ Mom to make a great run. Vigneault has new assistant Darryl Williams, who worked with him in Vancouver. Added to Scott Arniel, Ulf Samuelsson and Benoit Allaire, Vigneault has a strong staff. Vigneault isn’t a great in-game coach as the Cup Final proved when Darryl Sutter out-coached him. But he is excellent at handling different personalities. Something that got John Tortorella canned in consecutive years. There’s a lot to like about Vigneault. Last year, he took over an experienced team. Some of that leadership is gone. It’ll be interesting to see how he does with such great expectations.

ANALYSIS: Even minus Stepan at the start, the Rangers are stacked. Offensively, they should be good. Defensively, they might take a step back. But strong goaltending more than makes up for it. The division is interesting with the Devils and Islanders improving while the Pens got worse. The Blue Jackets are coming but have injuries. The Caps are banking on Barry Trotz to get the ship righted. The Hurricanes could be in for a long year. There’s no reason this roster shouldn’t challenge for the Metro. They’re plenty good enough.

Prediction: 1st Metropolitan Division