New York Rangers will need 19 wins to hoist the Stanley Cup

Oct 3, 2019; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Brendan Smith (42) celebrates with teammates after scoring an empty net goal during the third period against the Winnipeg Jets at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Rangers road to the Stanley Cup will be one of the hardest to achieve in its rich history.

The National Hockey League announced the playoff format should the time come that teams can get back on the ice. It appears the New York Rangers, who will play in a best of five qualifying round, will need to win a total of 19 games to hoist there first Stankey Cup since 1994.

The New York Rangers organization now sees what is in their way of pursuing their first Stanley Cup in 26 years.

The @NHL has announced more details of the playoff format for the Return to Play Plan following approval by the League’s Board of Governors and the @NHLPA.

The agreement is subject to the NHL and NHLPA reaching an overall agreement on resuming play. https://t.co/KThKX88JBb pic.twitter.com/8GLKgYoYfN

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 4, 2020

The NHL and NHLPA have been working out the details for the playoffs over the last two weeks. The two sides have been on the same page throughout the process and worked out the following details announced on Thursday afternoon.

Â There will be a Qualifying Round consisting of a best-of-five series. Â Following that series, all rounds will be a best-of-seven format.
Seeding Format- In each round, the highest remaining seed in each conference will face the lowest seed, the second-highest seed will face. the second-lowest seed on so on.
The Round Robin tiebreaker will be broken by the regular-season points percentage. The seeding order for these teams will remain the same throughout the playoffs.

If you add up the wins needed to advance to the next round, which is now at five rounds for the qualifying clubs, 19 is the magic number. The Rangers will have their work cut out for them with this format.

The scarier number is the number of games that might be needed to reach their championship goals. Should the Blueshirts need all five games of the qualifying round and every game of the next four rounds, the Rangers could potentially play in 33 more games this year.

The Rangers may need to use all three of their goalies at one time or another to get the job done.