1980–81 New York Rangers season
The 1980–81 New York Rangers season was the 55th season for the team in the National Hockey League. In the regular season, the Rangers finished in fourth place in the Patrick Division with 74 points and earned a berth in the playoffs. New York won series with the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues to reach the NHL semi-finals, where the team was defeated by the New York Islanders in a four-game sweep.
Regular season
, citing a drinking problem, chose to resign as coach. Craig Patrick, the Rangers' director of operations, replaced him. Craig Patrick became the third generation of the Patrick family to coach the Rangers, after Lester Patrick, Lynn Patrick and Muzz Patrick.Halfway through the season, veteran Phil Esposito decided to retire. He retired after 18 seasons, the last six with the Rangers. He finished his career with 717 goals and 1,590 points.
Final standings
Schedule and results
Playoffs
Key: Win LossPlayer statistics
;Skaters| Player | ||||||
| 80 | 30 | 40 | 70 | 0 | 52 | |
| 80 | 30 | 38 | 68 | 15 | 100 | |
| 74 | 27 | 41 | 68 | 0 | 112 | |
| 75 | 26 | 38 | 64 | 12 | 83 | |
| 73 | 19 | 39 | 58 | 7 | 40 | |
| 61 | 29 | 23 | 52 | 17 | 99 | |
| 79 | 11 | 36 | 47 | 24 | 132 | |
| 51 | 14 | 25 | 39 | −3 | 42 | |
| 50 | 17 | 21 | 38 | 2 | 83 | |
| 75 | 11 | 23 | 34 | 9 | 231 | |
| 50 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 2 | 28 | |
| 80 | 6 | 23 | 29 | 0 | 100 | |
| 43 | 6 | 22 | 28 | 13 | 28 | |
| 59 | 14 | 12 | 26 | −24 | 58 | |
| 33 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 0 | 12 | |
| 74 | 3 | 20 | 23 | 19 | 91 | |
| † | 35 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 6 | 4 |
| 41 | 7 | 13 | 20 | −13 | 20 | |
| 61 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 10 | 214 | |
| 54 | 4 | 12 | 16 | −10 | 153 | |
| † | 27 | 5 | 6 | 11 | −6 | 91 |
| 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 2 | |
| 32 | 4 | 1 | 5 | −9 | 32 | |
| 5 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |
| 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −9 | 18 | |
| 15 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 15 | |
| 15 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 44 | |
| ‡ | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −5 | 46 |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 0 | |
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Player | |||||
| 14 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 16 | |
| 14 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 23 | |
| 14 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 6 | |
| 14 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 32 | |
| 14 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 17 | |
| 12 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 14 | |
| 14 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 | |
| 14 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 9 | |
| 14 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 | |
| 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 9 | |
| 13 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 13 | |
| 14 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 18 | |
| 14 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 26 | |
| 14 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 20 | |
| 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| 14 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 63 | |
| 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 93 | |
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
;Goaltenders
| Player | ||||||||
| 39 | 2320 | 16 | 16 | 7 | 152 | 3.93 | 0 | |
| 21 | 1260 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 73 | 3.48 | 2 | |
| 10 | 560 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 48 | 5.14 | 0 | |
| 10 | 600 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 34 | 3.40 | 0 | |
| 1 | 60 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2.00 | 0 |
| Player | |||||||
| 14 | 826 | 7 | 7 | 55 | 4.00 | 0 | |
| 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.29 | 0 |
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
Awards and records
Transactions
Roster
Draft picks
New York's picks at the 1980 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the Montreal Forum.| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club Team |
| 1 | 14 | Jim Malone | F | Toronto Marlboros | |
| 2 | 35 | Mike Allison | RW | Sudbury Wolves | |
| 4 | 77 | Kurt Kleinendorst | C | Providence College | |
| 5 | 98 | Scot Kleinendorst | D | Providence College | |
| 6 | 119 | Reijo Ruotsalainen | D | Karpat | |
| 7 | 140 | Bob Scurfield | C | Western Michigan University | |
| 8 | 161 | Bart Wilson | D | Toronto Marlboros | |
| 9 | 182 | Chris Wray | RW | Boston College | |
| 10 | 203 | Anders Backstrom | D | Brynas |