Why the NHL Should Take Good Notice of the Hagelin-Richards-Gaborik Line

Tonight in Madison Square Garden, the Rangers took on the Carolina Hurricanes and managed to put up four goals on the 'Canes which lead to a win to the score of 4-2. All four goals from the Rangers came from their top forward unit consisting of Carl Hagelin on left-wing, Brad Richards in the middle, and Marian Gaborik on the right. Brad Richards had two goals, and Hagelin and Gaborik split the other two.

Not going off of just one night of performance, but this line has the potential to be the next big threatening line in the NHL. Carl Hagelin is being mentored every single game that he plays with Richards and Gaborik, and is thriving with them. Not only that, but he is fueling the veterans as well. Tonight, Hagelin had two assists on both Brad Richards goals. Gaborik had two assists on one Richards goal, and Hagelin's goal. There is chemistry on this line, and it is obvious.

The Rebirth of Marian Gaborik

In 2009, the Rangers signed Wild superstar Marian Gaborik to a free-agent deal, and everyone was very happy and anxious. Happy because this was going to be potentially the first step toward building the team up for a good future, and anxious because of his injury prone history.

In the 2009-10 season, Gaborik reached everyone's expectations by scoring 42 goals and 44 assists for 86 total points on the year. However, the lack of a supporting cast caused the Rangers to narrowly miss the playoffs on the last day of the season to the Flyers.

In 2010, the Rangers signed Alex Frolov, a potential centerman for Gaborik that could propel him to bigger points totals that could jump the Rangers over the playoff hump.  However, Gaborik's injury proneness came up again when he sat out 20 games to start the season, and only tallied 22 goals, his lowest total ever when playing more than 40 games in a season. Gaborik came back mid way through the season, but never got in a groove, and that caused many Rangers fans to think of him as another lost-cause signing made by the Rangers. The Rangers eventually made it to the 2011 playoffs that year, never got out of the first round. Gaborik only had one goal and one assist in the five game series against the Capitals.