Over and Out

It's finally over. The New York Rangers' season came to a merciless end Saturday night in Tampa. After falling behind 0-2 in the series, the Lightning swept the last four games to close out the Blueshirts in six. Not even a 5-0 record when facing elimination was enough to save them. In the end, the most resilient team in the NHL simply ran out of gas. Igor Shesterkin was the only thing keeping this game from getting ugly. 

So now what?

Well for starters, let's state the obvious. This was a very successful season. Seriously, if you had the Rangers six wins away from a Stanley Cup in October, you're either a time traveler or high. Chris Drury should be commended for the moves he made both at the trade deadline and before the start of the season. They made this team deeper and harder to play against. And while we're at it, let's also give a shoutout to Jeff Gorton. Most of the players on that ice were acquired by him one way or the other. His decision in 2018 to rebuild was, in retrospect, the correct one, and it is because of his vision and courage that this franchise is on solid footing for the foreseeable future.

And despite some puzzling moves, particularly the benching of Kaapo Kakko in favor of Dryden Hunt in an elimination game, Gerard Gallant did an incredible job behind the bench all year. After three years of David Quinn, this team needed a breath of fresh air and Gallant was the perfect choice. I still maintain he should've won the Jack Adams award.

But as successful as this season was, the real work begins immediately. That's because the Rangers have a number of holes to fill and not a lot of resources with which to fill them. Indeed, they have just over $12* million in available cap space next year with only 14 players under contract. Given that the league allows each team up to 23 players, that doesn't leave a lot of room for Drury to construct a roster. If he can move Patrik Nemeth's contract in the off season, that'd give him an additional $2.5 million to play with.

The first hole is second-line center. It's practically a given that UFA Ryan Strome will not be returning. The fact that Drury didn't lock him up before the season began was a bad omen; that they traded for Andrew Copp at the deadline was a hint that they were willing to move on. But while Copp would be an improvement over Strome, Drury may elect to look outside the organization, especially if he feels Filip Chytil, who had a solid postseason, isn't up to the challenge. Mark Scheifele's name continues to pop up. The Winnipeg Jets center has two years remaining on a $6.125 AAV contract. A package of Kakko, Chytil, Nils Lundkvist and a future draft pick might be enough to pry him away.

Then there's right wing, a sore spot all season long that Drury was able to address in March with the acquisitions of Frank Vatrano and Copp. Vatrano will likely be too expensive to retain, and Copp, if he stays, it will be as a center. The news that Vitali Kravtsov was re-signed to a one-year contract at $875k, makes it clear that Drury is trying to get as creative as he can to shore up his lineup's deficiencies. The Russian winger had a falling out with the organization last fall that led him to bolt for the KHL this season. If both sides can bury the hatchet, the Rangers may have struck pay dirt here. The kid's got talent; it's just a matter of whether Gallant can harness it. And if Alexis Lafreniere can successfully make the transition to right wing, the first two lines should be set next season, regardless of what happens with Kakko.

But while plugging both these holes is essential for Drury, a more glaring and pressing need emerged in these playoffs. Put succinctly, the Rangers do not have a bonafide checking line. Let's face it, Kevin Rooney and Ryan Reaves were ostensibly useless. Turns out the former isn't much of a checker and the latter is way too slow to keep up with the league's elite-level forwards. In the Pittsburgh series, Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust did pretty much whatever the hell they wanted; and in the Tampa series, Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat looked like they were running a track meet. In neither instance did the Rangers appear to have an answer.

If you're thinking checking lines are overrated, consider this: Anthony Cirelli, Alex Killorn and Brandon Hagel didn't score an even strength goal against the Rangers the entire series, and Jon Cooper could not have cared less. They collectively held Mika Zibanejad's line to three even-strength goals, none in the final four games. And against the Florida Panthers, they completely shut down Alexander Barkov's line. That might explain why Drury was so interested in signing Phillip Danault over the summer. The former Montreal center played an integral role in the Canadiens drive to the finals last season. Can you imagine what a line of Danault, Barclay Goodrow and Tyler Motte would've done for the Rangers in this year's playoffs? Perhaps they wouldn't have needed a full seven games to dispatch the Penguins and Hurricanes. Perhaps they'd be playing the Colorado Avalanche this week for the Cup.

Yes, there's a lot on Drury's plate. The draft is coming up, and after that, free agency. The expectations will be high for this franchise going into next season. That's what happens when you advance to the conference finals after a five-year hiatus from the playoffs. The core is pretty much set: Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba and, of course, Harry Houdini himself, Igor Shesterkin. But cores don't win Stanley Cups. If they did, both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers would have at least two a piece.

In the end, the Lightning reminded the Rangers that championships are earned, not awarded.

* An earlier version of this post reported that the Rangers have just over $13 million of available cap space next season, but that doesn't include Braden Schneider's contract which pays $925k. That brings the number down to just over $12 million, and that will be reduced further if Vitali Kravtsov makes the team next year. I have made the correction.