Last year at this time, the Rangers were considered to be one of the NHL’s finest teams, with numerous publications (including this one) projecting them to capture Lord Stanley’s chalice. With goaltender Henrik Lundqvist coming off two consecutive seasons as a Vezina Trophy finalist — and with all-world Czech star Jaromir Jagr pacing the offense — the sky seemed the limit for the Blueshirts, whose seeming embarrassment of riches was expanded to include free agent signees Scott Gomez and Chris Drury.

Unfortunately, though Lundqvist gamely held up his end of the bargain, earning a nod as a Vezina finalist for the third straight year, the rest of the team struggled to find consistent chemistry. Most notably, Jagr clicked with neither Gomez nor Drury, instead finding a comfort zone alongside young Brandon Dubinsky on what became a decent if not fearsome scoring line during the season’s final months. And though Jagr and Dubinsky played well together, having the team’s best winger (Jagr) on a different line than either of the team’s top two centers (Gomez and Drury) left the Blueshirts ill-equipped to match up against Sidney Crosby and the high-flying Penguins in the playoffs.

The blue-line corps was problematic as well, largely because the Rangers’ best offensive rearguard was Michal Rozsival. Though he put up respectable numbers (13 goals, 38 points, even rating), those numbers are not consistent with what should be accumulated by the top defenseman on a legitimate Cup contender. The NHL’s top-scoring defenseman, Nicklas Lidstrom, severely outperformed Rozsival (70 points, plus-40 rating) during the regular season and then led the Red Wings to the Cup. And the second-highest-scoring defenseman, Sergei Gonchar (65 points), was the backbone of the Penguins’ defense throughout their run to the Cup Finals.

With all this in mind, the Rangers made some major changes, and all indications are that the results should be good. Jagr is gone after signing a two-year deal with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia. Although Jagr’s powerful down-low game will be missed, his replacement — veteran free agent signee Markus Naslund — should be a much better fit on these Rangers. While Naslund isn’t capable of carrying a team on his back — as Jagr did for much of the final months of the 2007-08 season — his potential to mesh with Drury on the Rangers’ second line should render such heroics unnecessary.

Another newcomer, speedster Nikolai Zherdev, is well positioned to emerge as a star playing alongside Gomez on the top line. The fourth overall pick in the extremely deep 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Zherdev is one of the NHL’s finest skaters. During his time in Columbus — by all accounts a huge disappointment — Zherdev never got the opportunity to skate alongside a similarly swift playmaker like Gomez. If his productivity in 2007-08 is any indication (61 points in 82 games), a breakout season is in store for the blazingly fast Zherdev, especially if head coach Tom Renney gives him the requisite time to develop chemistry with Gomez.

Perhaps the biggest changes of all came on the blue line. Free agent signee Wade Redden endured a rough year with the Ottawa Senators but should rebound nicely quarterbacking the Rangers’ power play. Redden has averaged about 0.6 points per game over the past three seasons and has been a plus-player in all but one of his 11 NHL seasons. A steady skater and an excellent passer, Redden’s stabilizing presence in the Rangers’ zone should make life far easier for Lundqvist.

Another newcomer, Dmitri Kalinin, has at times demonstrated very solid puck-moving skills. At 6 feet, 3 inches and 206 pounds, he’s not afraid to get physical, and his experience with the Sabres makes him a perfect fit for these new-look Rangers. Both Kalinin and Redden are excellent at making the first pass out of the zone, and their ability to kick-start the Blueshirts’ breakouts will have a hugely positive effect on the team’s pace of play. Perhaps just as importantly, their presence will enable the Rangers to take a more patient approach to the development of rising prospect Bobby Sanguinetti, who promises to become the team’s finest home-grown offensive defenseman since Sergei Zubov arrived during the 1992-93 season.

With speed now permeating throughout the lineup — and slow-down players like Jagr and blueliner Marek Malik gone from the equation — the Rangers should be both a better team and meaningfully more exciting to watch. That’s good news for a Blueshirts fan base ready to see their team take another leap forward toward Cup contention.

When the Rangers announced that Adam Graves’s jersey would be retired on February 3, the first thought that crossed my mind was whether the unfailingly gracious Graves would insist that Andy Bathgate (who also wore no. 9) would also be honored during the ceremony. Perhaps with that in mind, the Blueshirts took proactive steps and announced that Bathgate’s no. 9 (along with Harry Howell’s no. 3) would be raised to the Garden rafters on February 22. The ceremonies for Bathgate and Howell — two Hall of Famers who enjoyed their finest seasons with the Rangers — are long overdue. Graves, one of the classiest athletes ever to perform under the bright lights of Broadway, will be justly celebrated for both his blue-collar efforts on the ice and his ceaselessly charitable contributions off it.

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.