To paraphrase that classic line from the Mel Brooks movie Blazing Saddles: "Memo? We don't need no stinkin' memo!"
Regardless of how you feel about Chris Drury, he's never been one to pussyfoot around when it comes to making changes to the roster. Coming off a season in which the New York Rangers won the Presidents' trophy for the first time in nine years, Drury took a long, hard look at his team and concluded it wasn't good enough to win the Stanley Cup. So he went to work.
Barclay Goodrow was waived in June; Jacob Trouba was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in December for Urho Vaakanainen and a 2025 fourth-round pick; Kaapo Kakko was traded to the Seattle Kraken - also in December - for Will Borgen and a '25 third and sixth-round pick; Filip Chytil was traded to the Vancouver Canucks, along with Victor Mancini and a conditional first-round pick, at the end of January for J.T. Miller; Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey were traded to the Colorado Avalanche in March for Calvin de Haan, Juuso Parssinen and a '25 second and fourth-round pick; Reilly Smith, who was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins over the summer, was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights the day before the trade deadline for Brendan Brisson and a '25 third-round pick from the San Jose Sharks; and, then Drury sent that third-rounder to Vancouver yesterday for Carson Soucy.
In just nine months, Drury has turned over almost a third of his roster. Think about it: Jeff Gorton needed two years to "rebuild" the Rangers; his successor appears to have "retooled" it in less than half that time. More importantly, by resisting the urge to give up draft capital going after high-priced rentals at the deadline, he has put himself in position to add the pieces he needs over the summer to get this team back into contention for the 2025-26 season. And unlike that 2017-18 team, this team still has a chance to make the playoffs, even with the last two disappointing OT losses.
Really, if you think Drury sucks as a GM, all I can say is you either haven't been paying attention or you don't know much about hockey. The fact is this is a tougher, grittier team than the one that got eliminated by the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference finals last year. If anything, Drury should get credit for smelling the caffeine and cutting his losses. I guarantee you the same people who are calling for his head now will erect a statue to him if this team goes on to win a Cup in the near future.
The more I think about it, the more this Rangers team reminds me of the 1992-93 team. If you recall, that team also struggled after winning the Presidents' trophy the year before. Neil Smith acquired Kevin Lowe and Esa Tikkanen during the season, and even though the Blueshirts missed the playoffs, they went on to win the Cup in 1994.
Now I'm not predicting history will repeat itself here; after all, that Rangers team had Mark Messier. And as good as J.T. Miller is, no one who isn't high on crack would ever confuse him for The Captain. But there is a quality Miller possesses that this core has sadly lacked the last few seasons that is already beginning to rub off on his teammates. If Drury can add a few more players like him over the summer, who knows what could happen. If I had to grade his moves, I'd give him an A minus.
Which leads me to my first NHL post trade deadline rankings in two years. I'll just do the top five teams in each conference.
Eastern Conference:
Florida Panthers: They were already the front runners going into the deadline. With the addition of Seth Jones and Brad Marchant, they are the prohibitive favorites to come out of the conference.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Julien BriseBois reacquired Yanni Gourde and landed Oliver Bjorkstrand to beef up his bottom six. The goaltending speaks for itself.
Washington Capitals: What a turnaround for a team that barely squeaked into the playoffs last season. They're big and explosive, and they're well coached.
Toronto Maple Leafs: They added some beef on the blue line, but as always, it'll come down to what the fab four do.
Carolina Hurricanes: They traded a point per game player for a player who scored 6 points in 13 games. Then when that player said he wouldn't re-up with them, they traded him for a player who's scored 29 points in 59 games. BTW, they still don't have a 2C or an elite goalie, but then you already knew that.
Western Conference:
Vegas Golden Knights: They reacquired Reilly Smith, but that's about it. Truth is, they didn't need to do much to this roster. They're already loaded.
Dallas Stars: They stole Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes for two first rounders and a bottom six forward. I see a Dallas / Vegas conference final.
Colorado Avalanche: The additions of Brock Nelson and Charlie Coyle give them badly needed depth at center. Were it not for the Stars and Knights, they'd be the favorites in this conference.
Winnipeg Jets: They might very well win the Presidents' trophy, and Connor Hellebuyck the Vezina. But I'll believe they're legit when I actually see them win in the playoffs.
Edmonton Oilers: Jake Walman will help them on the blue line, and Trent Frederic will give them some badly needed muscle up front. But Stan Bowman would've done better getting a goalie.
And my pick for the Stanley Cup finals:
Panthers over Golden Knights 4-3
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