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It’s going to be another year of blockbusters and huge flops in the NHL. Which teams blew out their budgets for big name stars and gigantic special effects to score Michael Bay-levels of box office gold? Which teams are bloated action retreads and terrible sequels? Find out in Puck Daddy’s 2011-12 NHL Season Previews, running throughout the month.

In an up-and-down season that saw the New York Rangers on the playoff bubble near the end, they won when it counted: Rallying against the New Jersey Devils in Game No. 82, and then watching the Tampa Bay Lightning upset the Carolina Hurricanes on their home ice to give the Rangers a playoff berth — one year after the Flyers beat them out with a shootout win on the last day of the season.

Alas, the Rangers’ playoff stay would be short, losing to the Washington Capitals in five games, partially because they went 1-for-20 on the power play.

The solution to that and other offensive issues? Win the derby for Brad Richards, the prized free agent from the Dallas Stars, who gives the Rangers the No. 1 center they’ve needed.

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