New York Rangers Announce 2015-16 Team Award Winners
The New York Rangers announced their team award winners for the 2015-16 season today. Henrik Lundqvist has been named the Rangers’ Most Valuable Player and Jesper Fast has been selected as the recipient of the Players’ Player Award.
Lundqvist was selected as the Rangers’ MVP for the eighth time in his career, which marks a franchise record. The award was voted on by members of the New York Rangers media and has been given annually since the conclusion of the 1941-42 season. Lundqvist had previously been named the Rangers’ MVP in seven consecutive seasons from 2006-07 to 2012-13.
Lundqvist has posted a 35-20-7 record, along with a 2.46 GAA, a .921 SV%, and 4 SO in 64 appearances this season. He leads the NHL in saves (1,775), is tied for fourth in wins and appearances, is tied for fifth in even strength SV% (.935), is tied for eighth in SO, and is tied for 10th in SV% this season. Over the course of the 2015-16 season, Lundqvist has established several franchise records, including career regular season appearances, career regular season saves, career overall (regular season and playoff) appearances, and career overall (regular season and playoff) saves. He posted a 12-3-2 record, along with a 1.74 GAA, a .946 SV%, and 2 SO in his first 17 appearances this season and helped the Blueshirts register their best record through the first 21 games of one season in franchise history.
Fast was selected as the recipient of the Players’ Player Award for the first time in his career. The Players’ Player Award has been given annually since the conclusion of the 1958-59 season and recognizes the Ranger, as selected by his teammates, who best exemplifies what it means to be a team player. Fast, who has played parts of three seasons with the Rangers, is the first European-born player to receive the award since Reijo Ruotsalainen in 1984-85.
The 24-year-old has registered 10 goals and 19 assists for 29 points, along with a plus-nine rating and 18 penalty minutes in 77 games this season. Fast has established career-highs in games played, goals, assists, points, and game-winning goals (three) in 2015-16. He ranks fourth on the Rangers (min. 10 games played) in average shorthanded ice time (2:11), is tied for fourth in even strength assists (19), ranks fifth in total shorthanded ice time (168:54), ranks sixth in takeaways (35), and is tied for sixth in even strength points (29) in 2015-16. In addition, he leads Rangers forwards in average shorthanded ice time, and he ranks second among team forwards in blocked shots (54) and total shorthanded ice time this season.
