Exploring Drury's Options After Sending His 2025 Pick to Pittsburgh

Earlier today, the New York Rangers announced that they were sending their 2025 first round draft pick - 12th overall - to the Pittsburgh Penguins and retaining their 2026 first rounder. The move completes the trade in which the Rangers acquired J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks back in February for a top-13 protected number one. The Rangers had until 48 hours before the Draft to decided which pick they were keeping. The reason it's going to Pittsburgh and not Vancouver is because the Canucks traded it to the Pens in the Marcus Pettersson deal.

So what does this mean?

For starters, I don't think it means that Chris Drury believes next year's pick will be higher, e.g., better. For his sake, it better not be. Indeed, the prevailing sentiment around the NHL is that this team, even with all its flaws, is much better than what it showed last season. That doesn't mean the Rangers will win the Presidents' Trophy, but it does mean they should make the playoffs. Why else would Drury hire Mike Sullivan to coach the team if he didn't feel that way?

That's why this move was so vital. Holding onto next year's first round pick provides Drury with five possible options.

One: An Offer Sheet. For almost a month now the scuttlebutt around the league has had the Rangers signing J.J. Peterka of the Buffalo Sabres to an offer sheet. There was just one hitch. If they kept their '25 first rounder, the Rangers wouldn't have one to send to Buffalo in the event the Sabres couldn't match the offer. An offer sheet with an AAV of $7.02 million per would require a first and third round pick as compensation. Here's the thing, though: based on the CBA, even if Drury front loaded the offer sheet with signing bonuses in each year, the highest salary he can pay Peterka in year one is $8.775m: $8m signing bonus and $775k base. Difficult, but hardly insurmountable for Buffalo. But in the end, why would the Sabres bother matching an offer for a player who has made it clear he doesn't want to be there?

Two: Leverage. Drury doesn't actually have to sign Peterka to an offer sheet; he can just threaten to do so. Indeed, if he plays his cards right, he might be able to negotiate a deal with his counterpart Kevyn Adams in which he keeps his first rounder and gives up, say, Gabe Perrault, Brennan Othmann and a third round pick for Peterka or Alexis Lafreniere and Braden Schneider for Peterka and Bowen Byram. Drury would then have to sign both players to long-term deals.

Three: Trade deadline acquisition. If the Rangers have the kind of season Drury expects them to have, he can use that pick to land a player at the deadline that can hopefully put them over the top. And with the salary cap going up to $104 million in the 2026-27 season and $113.5 million the following season, he could acquire a player with term without worrying about going over the cap, something he couldn't do in past years.

Four: Keep it. There's no law that says you have to trade your pick. If the Rangers unexpectedly shit the bed again this coming season, that first round pick will come in handy along with all the other picks the Rangers will accumulate by being sellers at the deadline. But, I stress, this is unlikely. 

Five: Trade a player on the roster for another player or pick in this year's draft. K'Andre Miller's name has been mentioned as a possible trade chip to acquire a forward or perhaps a draft pick in the upcoming draft. As I mentioned in an earlier piece, the defenseman has regressed over the last couple of seasons and remains an enigma. Perhaps a change of scenery would be best for both parties. 

The drama continues. 

We'll know soon enough what Drury's intentions are.

Drury's Real Problem Isn't Behind the Bench, It's in the Locker Room

Before I go any further, I wanted to take this time to personally express my gratitude to Sam Rosen for all the joy and smiles he brought Rangers fans throughout his illustrious career.

Let's step back for a moment and appreciate the enormity of what we were all privileged to witness. The man was behind the mic for forty years. To put that in perspective, Johnny Carson was on the air for thirty and Gunsmoke twenty. Whatever your favorite among all his memorable calls may be - and there are literally dozens to choose from - know this: there will never be another like him. 

From the bottom of my heart, Sam, thanks for the memories. 

Enjoy your retirement. No one has earned it more.

Now onto the main topic.

Stop me if you notice a pattern.

After David Quinn was fired as Rangers coach, the players said "We need someone who will let us play."

So Chris Drury hired Gerard Gallant.

After Gallant was fired, they said, "We need someone who will provide more structure."

So Chris Drury hired Peter Laviolette. 

After Laviolette was fired, now they're saying, "We need someone who'll communicate more with us."

So I guess Chris Drury will soon hire Dr. Phil. 

You know, my parents never took me to Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey when I was a kid, but having watched the Rangers this season, I now know what a circus looks like. 

It takes a certain amount of chutzpah to shit the bed the way these players did and NOT be embarrassed. But based on their exit interviews with Chris Drury that appears to be the case.

Here are some quotes from some of the players on break up day.

Mika Zibanaejad: "I think there was frustration. I think it's just when you don't know everything, we don't know what's going on. I feel like mentally, what I went through the first few months, was probably the toughest I’ve ever been through in my career."

Alexis Lafreniere: "I thought I had a good start and then struggled to be consistent in my game. Didn’t really make a difference."

K'Andre Miller: "Kind of hard to talk about my future here, obviously. I have a great agent that is going to help me throughout this summer’s process."

Not everybody was that tone-deaf. 

Vincent Trocheck: "I think it’s on us, inside this room, in order to make sure that the outside noise doesn’t get to us. Whether that’s talking to somebody individually or if it’s just sticking together as a team and as a family and I think we can get better at that. Lifting guys up instead of bringing guys down, I think that goes a long way."

Igor Shesterkin: "In my mind, something broke during the season, and went the other way. We couldn’t handle it. It was our job to try to find a way to get back."

For those unfamiliar with how flow charts work, I'll explain: the players are answerable to the coach; the coach is answerable to the GM; and the GM is answerable to the owner. And in case you're wondering, the chart only flows in one direction. Nowhere does it say that management is required to communicate what is going on to the players. Even if you believe it wouldn't kill Drury to learn a thing or two about business etiquette, the fact is he's not a fucking guidance counselor, and Mika Zibanaejad is not a patient in a group therapy session.

Of all the seasons in which the Rangers failed to make the playoffs, this was by far the most frustrating. And that's because unlike all those other teams, this one had no excuses. They were not in rebuild mode; there were no major injuries; and they had won the Presidents' trophy the year before. By all accounts they should be in the postseason right now.

The fact is no matter who Drury hires to replace Laviolette, if he isn't able to hold his players accountable, that coach will suffer the same fate as his predecessors. He will have a good first season, followed by the inevitable sophomore jinx. And that's because the real problem with this team isn't behind the bench, it's in the locker room. That isn't to suggest that Quinn, Gallant and Laviolette were blameless. Far from it. Quinn never quite made the adjustment from college to the pros; Gallant took the term "player's coach" way too literally; and Laviolette was stubborn to a fault. But as I wrote in an earlier piece, Scotty Bowman would have a hard time coaching this group.

And that's why it wouldn't shock me one bit if Drury brings back John Tortorella. Of all the coaches this franchise has had in its illustrious history, only Mike Keenan did a better job lighting a fire under his players butts. One thing you can count on: that putrid power play would never be allowed to stay intact. Torts would dismantle it after a couple of games. The man has all the patience of a compulsive overeater at a Chinese buffet. 

Of course with James Dolan interjecting himself into the process - he attended all the exit interviews - anything is possible. If the Pittsburgh Penguins decide to part ways with Mike Sullivan, he would definitely top the list of available coaches. While Sullivan does have an impressive resume, and is certainly qualified, the question begs why would you replace one underperforming coach with another? True, the problem in Pittsburgh is a front office that is in denial over the sorry state of its roster. But how much of that denial is to appease Sydney Crosby? And how much of that appeasement is on Sullivan's shoulders? Frankly, I'd be leery of hiring him. 

But that's just me.

Meanwhile, even though I don't have a horse in the race, here are my playoff predictions:

First round: 

Eastern Conference:

Caps over Habs 4-1 

Canes over Devils 4-2 

Leafs over Sens 4-2 

Bolts over Panthers 4-3 

Western Conference:

Jets over Blues 4-3 

Avs over Stars 4-2 

Golden Knights over Wild 4-2 

Kings over Oilers 4-3

Second round: 

Eastern Conference:

Caps over Canes 4-2 

Bolts over Leafs 4-3 

Western Conference: 

Avs over Jets 4-1 

Knights over Kings 4-1 

Conference finals: 

East: Bolts over Caps 4-2 

West: Avs over Knights 4-3 

Finals: Bolts over Avs 4-3

For the Rangers, the Inevitable Becomes Reality

Come on now, you didn't really think the Rangers were going to win out, did you? A team that hasn't had a three-game win streak since mid-November was somehow going to miraculously run the table while the Montreal Canadiens simultaneously were going to lose out? 

That team? 

Seriously? 

Right, and your kid's gonna get a personal visit from the Easter Bunny next Sunday. 

THE Easter Bunny. 

You heard it here first.

Throughout this hellscape of a season, the Blueshirts have had numerous opportunities to take charge of their own destiny and they failed to do so every time. You can point all you want to the horrific December they had - and it was pretty horrific - but there was still plenty of time to climb out of the hole they dug. 

The talent was there. Please spare me the bullshit about how they suddenly got old. Teams don't go from winning the Presidents' Trophy one season to the retirement home the next. That's not how it works. True, several key players had off years, but even allowing for that, the talent on this roster was still better than the one that beat it out for the last wild card spot; in fact, it was better than both wild card rosters.

But then talent was never the problem, was it? To quote former head coach Gerard Gallant, "I love to have talent, but you love to have a work ethic." Tragically for this group, work ethic proved to be its kryptonite. In a league that values grit over glitter, the Rangers were simply unwilling to pay the price to win. The last two games epitomized how their season has gone. Against an Islanders team that was badly outclassed, they had their way with them; against a Hurricanes team that is a genuine playoff contender, they were exposed. Poker players can bluff all they want, but not hockey players. You either have a Royal Flush in your hand or you have a pair of deuces. There's no in-between.

So where do we go from here? For starters, don't expect Chris Drury to go anywhere. James Dolan may not like how this team unravelled this season, but from everything we've heard coming out of the Garden, his job appears to be safe - for now. That's more than can be said for Peter Laviolette. Frankly, I would be shocked if he wasn't relieved of his duties shortly after the season is over.

I've said it before, and it bears repeating, Laviolette doesn't deserve all the blame here. As I wrote back in March, "Coaches can scream till they're blue in the face, but the last time I checked, they're not the ones wearing the jerseys."

But they do make out the lineup cards. And as long as we're being totally honest here, it was Laviolette's refusal to hold his veteran players accountable that proved to be his undoing. The power play was a case in point. It was painfully obvious that the first unit was struggling most of the season, especially down the stretch. But rather than swap out units, he simply moved a few players around, which was the equivalent of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Why Laviolette was this stubborn, we may never know. At this point, it's academic. Barring a last-minute change of heart - doubtful - there will be a new coaching staff behind the bench next season. Whoever it is better be able to motivate this core or next time it'll be Drury who gets the pink slip. 

And speaking of Drury, picking a new coach isn't the only thing on his plate. It's clear this core has some major issues that cannot be resolved with a mere pep talk or shouting match. As I also wrote in that piece back in March, "Scotty Bowman would have a hard time coaching this group." You can fault Drury for the manner in which he moved out Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba, but you can't fault him for realizing that both players had outlived their usefulness to the team. And in the cap era, the Rangers simply couldn't afford to keep either of them. If anything, Drury should've played hardball with Trouba in July rather than let things simmer the way they did over the course of the season.

But that's water over the dam now. Drury doesn't have the luxury of indulging in hindsight. He has more "dead weight" on this roster to contend with. Chris Kreider will almost certainly be the next player shown the door. But where? The thirteen-year veteran has played his entire career with the Rangers. But his 26 points in 66 games was a career low for him. Moving him will not be easy, especially since he has a 15-team No Trade Clause. If Drury can find a team willing to take on his entire $6.5 million contract, he can use the cap savings to go shopping for an impact player that can move the needle on this team; someone like Sam Bennett, who's an unrestricted free agent after this season. 

Then there's Brady Tkachuk. While the Ottawa Senators have publicly said they're not interested in trading him, perhaps a package of Alexis Lafreniere, Gabe Perrault, Brennan Othmann and a first rounder - which could conceivably become a lottery pick if the Rangers lose out - might be enough to change their minds. Imagine a line with both Sam Bennett and Brady Tkachuk on it. Hey, a fella can dream, can't he?

But before Drury does any of this, he has some unfinished business at home. Calvin de Haan, the defenseman he acquired from the Colorado Avalanche for Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey, apparently wasn't too thrilled with being benched the final 15 games of the season, in which the Rangers went 6-8-1, a fact he emphasized in front of the beat reporters yesterday, and later tweeted about. de Haan isn't the only player who has a beef about the way he was utilized, or underutilized. Zac Jones was benched in favor of Carson Soucy, even though it was painfully obvious Soucy was having problems in his own end since his arrival from the Vancouver Canucks at the trade deadline. And then there was Perrault, the highly-touted prospect Drury was forced to burn a year of his ELC in order to keep him from going back to Boston College. For some strange reason, he was a healthy scratch the last couple of games. Thankfully, the kid never said anything about it.

Yes, this will be a busy offseason for Chris Drury. His team shit the bed; it's on him to clean the sheets.

Rangers At the Break

Heading into the break, the New York Rangers record stands at 27-24-4. Their 58 points puts them just three behind the Detroit Red Wings for the final Wild Card spot. After a horrific December in which they went 3-10-0, the Rangers have gone 11-5-3 in 2025. The power play was 26.8 percent (7th best), while the penalty kill was 75.6 percent (tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Anaheim Dicks for 16th best). The team's save percentage was .897 (5th best).

Now before I get into what the Rangers need to do going forward, I wanted to take a moment or two to give a shout out to the NHL and the NHLPA. Regardless of what happens tonight in Boston, the Four Nations Face-Off Tournament has been an unqualified success. Not since 1996 have fans been treated to this kind of competitiveness within the sport in what basically amounts to an exhibition series. Kudos all around.

The only blemish has been Charlie McAvoy. The Boston Bruin and Team USA defenseman sustained an injury on a cross check in the game against Finland, which was apparently misdiagnosed by Team USA physicians. He subsequently developed an infection and was hospitalized in Boston. His presence will be sorely missed tonight against Team Canada.

Apart from that, though, if I were Gary Bettman and Marty Walsh, I would do everything in my power to make sure something like this becomes an annual event. You don't necessarily need a round robin like we saw in this tournament; but perhaps a best 2 out of 3 featuring a team from North America vs. a team from Europe would suffice.

Imagine what the lineups would look like:

Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Sam Reinhart, Branden Pointe, Mitch Marner, Cale Makar, Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, both Tkachuk brothers, Jake Guentzel, Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy and Connor Hellebuyck going up against Sebastian Aho, Aleksander Barkov, Mikko Rantanen, William Nylander, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Artemi Panarin, Filip Forsberg, Jesper Bratt, Mikael Granlund, Kirill Kaprizov, Andrei Svechnikov, Rasmus Dahlin and Andrei Vasilevskiy. I'll gladly take that any day over what the NHL laughingly calls an All-Star game.

Now back to the Rangers.

If this team is going to make the playoffs, they need to get serious. No more blown leads like they had against the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens, all of which became OT losses. No more sleepwalking against a Pittsburgh Penguins team that was missing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. And no more reckless cross-ice passes in the offensive zone with 30 seconds left in the third period of a tie game that directly led to a regulation loss to the Avs. All told, the Blueshirts have given up six points over the last six weeks; six points they can ill afford to give up. If they had just three of those points back, they'd be tied with the Red Wings right now.

Starting Saturday, the Rangers need to go on a win streak. They play the Sabres in Buffalo, the Penguins in Pittsburgh and the Islanders at UBS Arena. Anything less than 3-0 against those teams is inexcusable. Indeed, between now and the end of the regular season, they probably need to go 20-7. If that seems like a tall order, it is. But that's what happens when you dig a hole as deep as the Blueshirts have.

In order to accomplish this herculean feat, the big boys are going to have to come through. Assuming Chris Drury doesn't clean house at the trade deadline - unlikely - it's time for Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider to pull their respective heads out their asses and wake the fuck up. Since the arrival of J.T. Miller, Zibanejad has 2 goals and 6 assists over his last 5 games. He needs to keep that pace up if this team has any chance of making the postseason. Likewise for Kreider, whose shorthanded goal against the Bruins proved to be the game winner.

Adam Fox also needs to step it up. It is unacceptable for a player as gifted as he is to have only four goals on the season, and keep in mind two of those goals were empty netters. Though he was never a particularly fast skater, this season he's looked more like Carol Vadnais than the former Norris trophy winner we all know and love. Vincent Trocheck has filled the leadership void created after Jacob Trouba was sent packing admirably, but even he needs to step it up offensively.

But while the players must ultimately bear the lion's share of responsibility for this nightmare of a season, their head coach isn't without blame. The fact is Peter Laviolette has been way too patient with this group. Case in point: Alexis Lafreniere. Over the last few weeks, the young winger has looked lost; his failure to back check has led to several glaring goals against. It is high time Laviolette employed some tough love and sat him for a game or two, if not for his sake than to send a message loud and clear that lack of effort will not be tolerated. You don't have to be John Tortorella to get your team's attention. 

Bottom line: The Rangers have the horses to make the playoffs. Whether or not they do depends on how badly they want it.

It's Time We Talked About Zibanejad

From October through December of this season, the New York Rangers had the number one power play in the NHL at 30.9%. Since then, they have the 6th worst power play at 16.0%. Among playoff teams, only the Philadelphia Flyers (15.7%) and the Vegas Golden Knights (13.8%) are worse.

For a team that isn't exactly known for its 5v5 play, that's a non-starter. Put succinctly, the Rangers have no shot at a deep run in the playoffs if they can't score with the man advantage. So what happened? Why has one of the most potent power plays in the league gone ice cold over the last two months?

Last season, Mika Zibanejad scored 39 goals; 20 of them coming on the power play. He was the team leader in both categories. The year before that he had 29 goals and 15 power play tallies. Only Chris Kreider - 52 and 26 respectively - had more. This season, Zibanejad has struggled both at even strength and with the man advantage. He has only 19 goals, 9 on the power play.

With all the talk about Zibanejad's lack of production at even strength - his last 5v5 goal came against the Buffalo Sabres at the Garden on December 23 - it's his lack of production on the power play that has been the biggest mystery. His signature one-timer from the left face off circle has been off. When it isn't being blocked, it's missing the net altogether. And because the Rangers have become so dependent on that one-timer, when it doesn't connect, the power play struggles. In short, the Rangers don't have a Plan B when their Plan A doesn't work.

Head coach Peter Laviolette has been patient to a fault. His reluctance to replace Zibanejad on the first power play unit has only made a bad situation worse. And while no one can fault him for having faith in his players, especially with the team going 10-1 in February, that misplaced loyalty could prove costly in March, where the Rangers play 10 games against playoff caliber teams. One of those teams - the Toronto Maple Leafs - beat them 4-3 in a shoot out on Saturday. The Rangers went 0-3 on the power play against one of the worst penalty kill teams in the league. Only a goal by Vincent Trocheck with 1:07 left and the goalie pulled allowed the Blueshirts to come away with a point.

They are not going to be so lucky against the likes of the Florida Panthers - who they play twice - the Carolina Hurricanes, the Boston Bruins, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Winnipeg Jets, the Flyers or the Colorado Avalanche. With the exception of the Flyers, every one of those teams are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. If the Rangers can't get their power play going, their hopes of holding onto first place in the Metropolitan division, not to mention their Cup aspirations, will go up in smoke.

It is time for Laviolette to show some tough love; it is time for him to hold one of the leaders of this team accountable. More importantly, it's time for him to reward a player who has done everything the coaching staff has asked of him. In his fourth season in the NHL, Alexis Lafreniere is finally coming into his own. He had one of his best games of the season in Toronto with a goal and two assists. His 16 even-strength goals are 3rd on the team, and his two power play goals lead all players not on the first unit. If anyone deserves a promotion, it is him.

Swapping Zibanejad for Lafreniere makes sense. He's already playing with Trocheck and Artemi Panarin, so the three are familiar with each other. And Laviolette would be sending a very important and powerful message to his players: the team comes first. His predecessor Gerard Gallant sometimes had a problem with that, and the result was an early exit last Spring. If Laviolette wishes to avoid a repeat performance, he needs to act now before it's too late.

No one knows when, or if, Zibanejad will snap out of his funk. His resume suggests he will. But let's be honest: if he doesn't come around, if that one-timer of his continues to misfire, Chris Drury can resurrect the spirit of Guy Lafleur at the trade deadline; it won't make a difference. As great a season as Panarin is having, he can't will this team to a Cup all by himself. He needs help.

In the end, Number 93 has got to hold up his end.

Drury Can't Afford To Wait For Chytil

Normally, I'm not one to overreact to a bad loss - and let's just call what happened Tuesday night at the Garden a bad loss - but the New York Rangers have a problem; one that President and General Manager Chris Drury would do well to address before this incredible season begins to unravel.

Just to be clear, the Blueshirts are still in first place in the Metropolitan Division. Their 25 wins lead the NHL. Nor are they the only team to have gone through a slump. For instance, since getting off to an 11-0-1 start, the Vegas Golden Knights, last season's Stanley Cup winners, have gone 11-11-4. The Atlantic Division leading Boston Bruins have had losing streaks of three in a row and four in a row this season. Both teams, so far as anyone knows, are still considered contenders, as are the Rangers.

But unlike those two teams, the Rangers problem is primarily one of personnel, or a lack thereof. At the risk of beating a dead horse, the loss of Filip Chytil to a concussion and Kaapo Kakko to a leg injury has put a strain on a lineup that wasn't exactly bursting with depth to begin with.

When the season started, the Rangers forward lines were:

Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Kaapo Kakko

Artemi Panarin - Filip Chytil - Alexis Lafreniere

Will Cuylle - Vincent Trocheck - Blake Wheeler

Barclay Goodrow - Nick Bonino - Jimmy Vesey

Not quite the 1985 Edmonton Oilers but more than respectable. Since Chytil and Kakko went down, the Rangers forward lines have looked like this:

Kreider - Zibanejad - Wheeler

Panarin - Trocheck - Lafreniere

Cuylle - Bonino - Jonnny Brodzinski

Vesey - Goodrow - Tyler Pitlick

Pitlick was supposed to be the 13th forward on this team; Brodziński is a 30 year old career AHLer who on an average team would have a hard time cracking the lineup. Neither has any business getting the amount of minutes they're getting. As for Bonino, Drury signed him to be a checking center. He belongs on a third line the way Nick Fotiu would belong on a line with Jacques Lemaire and Steve Shutt. 

Drury is undoubtedly aware of this. He knows he's pushing the envelope having Pitlick and Brodzinski on this roster. And he isn't blind. Every shift Bonino takes at 3C is as excruciating to watch as it is a lesson in futility. That the Rangers are currently in first place is a testament to Peter Laviolette's coaching ability and Panarin having a career year. Absent that, this team would likely be struggling to stay in the playoff hunt.

So now that we know what the problem is, how will Drury address it? With Kakko not expected back until February and Chytil returning to his native Czechia in what the team is calling a "reset," they need help now. Some of that help is on its way, via Hartford. The Rangers have recalled Brennan Othmann to replace Pitlick, who is listed as week-to-week with a lower body injury. Where he plays will be up to Laviolette. I'm sure Drury would've preferred to have Othmann spend an entire season in the AHL, however circumstances forced his hand.

But the real need is at center. If Chytil is indeed lost for the season, Drury will have to look outside the organization for a replacement. But who, that's the question.

Going into the season, the Rangers had $675k in cap space. With Chytil and Kakko both on LTIR, they have around $7.1 million available to go shopping and still be cap compliant. I doubt Drury will use the whole wad, because if he does, Kakko can't return until the playoffs. So let's say for the sake of argument the number is $5 million. That should be more than enough.

Below is a list of possible candidates along with their cap hits and stat lines.

Elias Lindholm (Calgary) $4.85m / 37GP / 8G / 16A / 55.1% FO. Lindholm is a legit star who scored 42 goals in the 2021-22 season. With the Flames looking to sell, he won't come cheap. Figure multiple draft picks and a couple of prospects.

Boone Jenner (Columbus) $3.75m / 29GP / 13G / 5A / 55.9% FO. Jenner is out with broken jaw for the next six weeks, so Drury might be reluctant to pursue him. However, if the long-term prognosis on Chytil is as bleak as some have hinted, Jenner would be an ideal replacement. He's signed thru the 2025-26 season with a very manageable cap hit. Like Lindholm, he'll cost a pretty penny.

Kevin Hayes (St. Louis) $7.142m (50% retained by Philadelphia) 36GP / 9G / 10A / 56.4% FO. Would Drury bring Hayes back to Broadway? At $3.571m, he fits nicely. Plus, if Chytil does return by the playoffs, Hayes can switch to RW where Alain Vigneault often used him when he coached here.

Sean Monahan (Montreal) $1.985m / 9G / 13A / 57.5% FO. The thing that makes Monahan so attractive is his cap hit. In the event Chytil is cleared to return before the playoffs, Drury could move out Pitlick's contract and still fit him in under the cap, provided he can get the Canadiens to retain some salary. Don't be surprised if this is the move that gets made.

With Monahan, the Rangers forward lines would look like this, assuming Chytil is gone for the season:

Kreider - Zibanejad - Wheeler

Panarin - Trocheck - Lafreniere

Cuylle - Monahan - Othmann / Kakko

Goodrow - Bonino - Vesey

You can live with Wheeler on the first line. Going into the Carolina game, he had 9 points in his last 9 games; the second line speaks for itself; Monahan gives the Rangers a legitimate third line; and, best of all, Bonino returns to the fourth line where he belongs.

As far as a Patrick Kane reunion is concerned, it's highly unlikely that Drury would go down that road again. One look at how well the Detroit Red Wings have played since his arrival should be all you need to know. Despite his hall of fame credentials, he's not worth the disruption he brings to a locker room. Plus, he's a winger, not a center.

Seriously, Rangers fans, it's time to bring down the curtain on Showtime.

Rangers Have the Last Laf

The Rangers were trailing the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 late in the third period last night when they pulled goalie Jonathan Quick for an extra skater. The extra skater Head Coach Peter Laviolette sent out was none other than Alexis Lafreniere. And Lafreniere rewarded his coach's faith in him by scoring the game-tying goal with 11 seconds left in regulation. He then followed that up by scoring the eventual game-winner in the shoot out.

Last season, the words "extra skater" and "Lafreniere" appearing in the same sentence would've elicited a chorus of WTFs and double takes. Apart from the 2022 playoffs when he was part of that prolific "Kid Line" which turned so many heads, the overall number one pick in the 2020 NHL Draft has been an enigma. At times, showing flashes of brilliance; at other times confirming the worst of what his critics were saying about him.

But this is a different season and a different Lafreniere. Buoyed by the confidence his coach has shown in him, the 22 year old is finally delivering on his promise and silencing his critics. Not only has he successfully made the transition to right wing, he has become one of the team's best forwards. His 7 goals is third most on the team; only line-mate Artemi Panarin (8) and Chris Kreider (10) have scored more goals. Last night's game was his second multi-point game in a row; he converted a Vincent Trocheck pass in the second period to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

Lafreniere's development is a reminder that you can't judge all players equally. For the last three seasons all we kept hearing was how much better Tim Stützle was, despite the fact that the third overall pick in the 2020 draft was getting top six minutes and power play time, while Lafreniere mostly played on the third line and hardly ever saw power play time.

Below is a breakdown of both players stats over their careers.

You'll notice both players had the same number of goals in their first season. However, beginning in year two, Stützle's average ice time started going up, as did his goal production. Conversely, Lafreniere's ice time - and goal production - remained static. Through three seasons, Stützle had 73 goals, 10 of which were on the power play; Lafreniere had only 47 goals, 3 on the power play.

Now I'm not suggesting that if both players had switched places, their numbers would correspondingly flip. It's quite possible Stützle is better than Lafreniere. But what is apparent from this breakdown is that how a team utilizes a player can impact his development. The Rangers, unlike the Senators, did not do a complete teardown of their team. Jeff Gorton left intact the core we see now. Thus, Lafreniere was never thrown into the deep end of the pool the way Stützle was.

But the "patience" the Rangers showed ended up stunting Lafreniere's growth. It also didn't help matters any that Gerard Gallant preferred players like Dryden Hunt and Julien Gauthier over both him and Kaapo Kakko, another high draft pick that was under utilized by Gallant. With Laviolette behind the bench, Lafreniere's training wheels have been removed, so to speak. And not surprisingly, he's starting to realize his potential. He's actually on pace to score 41 goals. 

Not bad for a bust, wouldn't you say?

Just How Good Are These Rangers?

A little over a week ago, I wrote that November would test the Rangers mettle. Nine days and four games in, they appear to be passing that test with flying colors. The Blueshirts are 3-0-1 this month. 

Going 3-0-1 in and of itself is not particularly newsworthy. After all, the Rangers have gone 3-0-1 before. What's newsworthy is that they've done it without Adam Fox or Filip Chytil, and in the last three games, without Igor Shesterkin; and last night they were without Jonathan Quick.

If the mark of a good team is how well it performs when one or more of its stars are out of the lineup, the Rangers are the living embodiment of that age old axiom "next man up." Lose your Norris trophy winning defenseman? No problem. Lose your second-line center? No problem. Lose your Vezina trophy winning goalie? No problem. Lose your backup goalie? Still no problem.

The Rangers are like that Energizer bunny commercial. They keep on going and going.

Just consider the following statistics:

At 10-2-1, the Rangers sit in first place in the Metro division, tied for third in the NHL with 21 points. They have allowed the third fewest goals with 28; they are second in the league in power play percentage at 35.7; tied for seventh in penalty kill percentage at 86.4; tied for second in face off percentage at 55.1; and tied for fourth in save percentage at .924.

And they've done all this without quite mastering head coach Peter Laviolette's system and with Mika Zibanejad, Blake Wheeler and Kaapo Kakko combining for a measly four goals. Just imagine how much better this team is going to be once they have that system down and everyone is healthy and up to speed.

So the question begs just how good are these Rangers? 

The Buffalo win was a good omen; the Seattle win dominant; the OT wins in Vancouver and Winnipeg showed resilience; but the wins over Carolina and Detroit convinced me. This is a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, and the man principally responsible for that is Laviolette. 

There is a toughness to this team that has been sorely lacking for years. While they haven't been perfect, they have shown that they are willing to do whatever it takes to win, even if it means playing a style of hockey that they have heretofore resisted. Dumping the puck in, driving to the net, clogging the neutral zone, using their sticks to block passes, using their bodies to bock shots. These are attributes typically not associated with past Rangers teams. And yet, Laviolette has somehow gotten this bunch to buy in like no coach since, dare I say it, Mike Keenan.

On this team, it doesn't matter who scores. The only thing that matters is whether the team wins. Nick Bonino doesn't have a point this season and nobody gives a shit. He's winning 58 percent of his face offs, he's killing penalties and he's shutting down the opposition's top line. Compare and contrast him to the fourth-line center Chris Drury brought in last year. Ryan Carpenter couldn't tie Bonino's skates.

Last season, Artemi Panarin was a bitter disappointment in the playoffs against the Devils. This season, he's been a man possessed. He leads the team in scoring and is third in the NHL with 22 points. Alexis Lafreniere, the number one pick in the 2020 draft who many had written off as a bust at the ripe old age of 22, has 5 goals and 9 points playing on the same line with Panarin.

And it doesn't stop there. Under Laviolette, Vincent Trocheck is reminding everyone what it was that Drury saw in him when he signed him as a UFA last year. He's playing like he did when he was with the Hurricanes: with speed and tenacity. A solid two-way center who wins face offs and is good in his own end, he has 3 goals and 6 points in his last 3 games since taking over for Chytil as the 2C.

Then there's Will Cuylle, the 21 year old who fancies himself the next Tom Wilson. After an impressive training camp in which he willed himself onto the roster, the winger has 3 goals and 5 points playing on the third line. Not bad for a rookie. Another young player who garnered a lot of criticism last season - and deservedly so - was K'Andre Miller. This season, he's the team leader in plus / minus with a +7.

But the most pleasant surprise, by far, has been the play of Erik Gustafsson. The 31 year old defenseman, who played for Laviolette in Washington, has filled in admirably while Fox is out. He has 3 goals and 6 assists, two of them coming on the power play. Drury signed him for the staggering price of $825,000. As of this writing, Gustafsson ranks as the steal of the year. If this team goes on to win the Cup, Drury deserves as much credit as Laviolette.

Look, I want to caution everyone, it's early. It's not even Thanksgiving yet. We still don't know when Fox will return. Hopefully by December. And the Rangers haven't faced enough top tier competition to make any definitive determination. As fans of this team know all too well, dreams have a way of turning into nightmares pretty quickly.

But for now, let's enjoy the show. After all, it was eleven months ago that Jacob Trouba threw his helmet in frustration at how poorly his team was playing.

That seems like a galaxy away, doesn't it?

Rangers Off To A Good Start - So Far

Over the first six games of Alain Vigneault's tenure as head coach of the New York Rangers, they went 2-4-0. Not quite the start they were looking for. The team would struggle most of the first half of the 2013-14 season; on December 20, their record stood at 16-18-2. To say the natives were restless would be putting it mildly.

Fortunately, the Blushsirts turned it around, going 29-13-7 the rest of the way, finishing second in the Metropolitan division, and advancing all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 20 years. Despite losing to the L.A. Kings in five, the consensus was that the season was an unqualified success.

There are several parallels between that team and the current one: a mix of seasoned veterans with a sprinkle of young players, a Vezina trophy goalie capable of stealing games, and an established head coach with a new system.

In his first six games behind the Rangers bench, Peter Laviolette has managed to kill two birds with one stone. Not only has his team gotten off to a fairly impressive 4-2-0 start, in three of those wins they appear to have successfully implemented his system. Granted, the Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes and Seattle Kraken are hardly the Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils, but you have to learn to walk before you can run.

During much of the 1990s and early 2000s, the Devils employed the 1-3-1 neutral zone trap so effectively, they won three Cups. Now that Laviolette has brought that neutral zone trap to New York, the hope is that history will repeat itself on the other side of the Hudson. After watching the Rangers cede their blue line for years, it's refreshing to see them finally stand their ground and make opponents work to gain the offensive zone. 

There are two statistics that stand out. The first has been a sore spot for years. In their first five games, the Rangers have won 55.7 percent of their face offs. Last year, they won 49.1 percent of them. You have to go all the way back to that '94 Cup year to find a team that dominated at the face off circle. In a league that values puck possession, winning face offs is a must.

But it's the other statistic that's turning heads. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Rangers are currently ranked 8th in Corsi for shot percentage at 5v5. Last season, they were ranked 17th. In Gerard Gallant's first season as head coach - the year they went to the conference finals - they were ranked 25th. Combined with a power play that is currently ranked 4th in CF%, the Rangers have the potential to be one of the elite teams in the league this year.

Another encouraging sign is the way Laviolette is utilizing the "kids." Both Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko are starting to flourish in the top six, and Filip Chytil is becoming a solid two-way center with Artemi Panarin as his left wing. Chytil has five assists in his last two games, while Lafreniere scored a power play goal against the Calgary Flames the other night, the fourth of his career. He's tied with Panarin for second most goals on the team with three. Not bad for a supposed "bust."

Look, it's still early. Anything can happen. But with the Carolina Hurricanes struggling and the Devils defense and goaltending leaking like a sieve, a first place finish in the Metro isn't out of the realm of possibility for the Rangers.

Tell me you saw that coming in September. I sure as hell didn't.

Rangers Make Good First Impression

In the end, a win is a win, right? The Rangers opened up the 2023-24 season with a solid 5-1 victory over the Sabres in Buffalo Thursday night.

Winning the first game of the season isn't exactly newsworthy for the Blueshirts. Last year, they opened the season with an equally impressive 3-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Garden, and we all know how that turned out.

But there was something different about this win. That wasn't your typical Rangers performance out there. You know the kind: jump out to an early lead and then hold off the coming onslaught from the opposition. With the exception of a few minutes in the third period when the Rangers were killing off a couple of penalties they unwisely took, New York was in total control of the game. Against a Buffalo team that finished third in the NHL in scoring last season, they gave up a total of 25 shots, only two of which were high danger chances.

For the first time, Ranges fans got to see the deployment of the 1-3-1 defense, which for all intents and purposes is a neutral zone trap; the same neutral zone trap teams like the Devils utilized so effectively in the 1990s. It proved to be the difference Thursday night. The Sabres top line of Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch was held off the scoring sheet, managed just six shots on goal and was a minus two for the evening. When was the last time the Rangers allowed only one gaol and Igor Shesterkin wasn't one of the stars of the game?

But it wasn't just the stifling defense that stuck out. The Rangers were relentless in their forecheck pretty much the entire game. It led directly to two goals, and Alexis Lafreniere figured prominently in both. After an Artemi Panarin shot was kicked out by Devon Levi, Panarin grabbed his own rebound and slid it across the goal mouth to a breaking Lafteniere who stuffed it in the net for a 1-0 lead early in the first period. Then in the second period, Lafreniere forced a turnover in the Buffalo zone that Panarin pounced on and blasted a shot passed Levi for a 3-0 lead. The only blemish on the night came off a rebound shot by JJ Peterka after Jacob Trouba blocked the initial shot. In all, the Rangers blocked 23 shot attempts.

Chris Kreider - two goals and an assist - might've been the number one star of the game, but it was Lafreniere who got the game hat from this teammates. The first overall pick of the 2020 draft is being counted on heavily this season, and after a less than stellar preseason that left many wondering whether the winger was up to the challenge, his performance Thursday night did not go unnoticed, especially his coach. He even went 4-1 on face-offs. If Lafreniere, along with fellow "kids" Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil, take the next step, this team will be a force to be reckoned with.

But for now the Rangers will take the two points. Next up on the schedule is the Columbus Blue Jackets, another team that missed the playoffs last season. Then they fly home to play the Arizona Coyotes at the Garden. Time will tell if they've fully grasped Peter Laviolette's system, or whether the Sabres were just a lucky one off.

Why I'm Bullish on the Rangers

Let's face it. The way last season ended left a bad taste in Rangers fans mouths. After jumping out to a 2-0 series lead against the Devils, the Blueshirts dropped four of the next five games. Three of those losses, including the series clincher, weren't even competitive. Once more, the franchise that has won exactly one Stanley Cup since World War II went home early.

Chris Drury did not take it well. The President and G.M. fired his head coach Gerard Gallant and replaced him with Peter Laviolette, whose resume includes three trips to the finals and one Cup. With the limited cap space he had, Drury then went out and signed three forwards to shore up the bottom six, a defenseman to play on the third pairing and a backup to Igor Shesterkin. No Vladimir Tarasenko, no Patrick Kane, no big splash.

It's easy to understand how some could look at the Rangers offseason and be skeptical about their prospects going into the 2023-24 campaign. As someone who's followed this team since 1971, I've learned the hard way not to get my hopes up. When Jon Matlack asked Jerry Grote what he could expect pitching for the Mets, Grote replied, "If you don't allow a run, I guarantee you at least a tie." Some fan bases are conditioned to be happy with what they can get.

But after giving the matter considerable thought, I think it would be a huge mistake to sleep on this team. To be honest, I'm rather bullish on their chances. And not because I'm an incurable optimist. If anything, I'm more jaded now than I was 30-40 years ago. I just have a hunch that this team, which has broken more hearts than Taylor Swift at a Jets game, might catch lightning in a bottle.

There are three reasons for my optimism:

The core: After getting off to a sluggish 11-10-5 start last season, the Rangers went 36-12-8 the rest of the way. That's a .642 winning percentage. Only the Boston Bruins - at .793 - were better. They accomplished this mostly without the assistance of Tarasenko or Kane, who despite their impressive bonafides, wound up disrupting the chemistry on this team. That no doubt was a contributing factor in their early exit.

With Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba, Ryan Lindgren and Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers have one of the more impressive cores in the NHL. If the kids take the next step and fulfill their promise, this will be a very tough team to play against this season.

Blake Wheeler, Nick Bonino, Tyler Pitlick and Erik Gustafsson are the sort of complimentary players Tarasnko and Kane never were. While other G.M.s overpaid for their free agents, Drury didn't panic and got good value. Given what he had to work with, he had himself a helluva good summer.

The coach: Four times over the last 30 years, the Rangers have brought in a more experienced coach to turn around a roster that had underperformed the previous year: Mike Keenan in 1993; John Tortorella in 2009; Alain Vigneault in 2013; and Gallant in 2021. With the exception of Tortorella, every hire paid immediate dividends. The '94 Rangers won their first Stanley Cup since 1940; the '14 Rangers went to the Cup finals; and the '22 Rangers went to the Eastern Conference finals.

While it's no slam dunk that Laviolette will replicate his predecessors success, it's worth noting that in his first full season behind the bench in Carolina, the Hurricanes won the Cup; four years later in his first year as head coach in Philadelphia, he took the Flyers to the finals. Everywhere he goes, his teams win. If that isn't a good omen, I don't know what is.

Laviolette's two greatest challengers will be 1) to convince a team that is used to playing an east-west style of hockey to play a more north-south style; and 2) to get Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko to play like the top six forwards scouts predicted they'd be when they were drafted number one and two respectively. David Quinn and Gallant each failed at both. The hope is that Laviolette will be the proverbial third time charm.

The Eastern Conference: The hockey gods have a strange sense of humor. Last season, the Atlantic division was stacked with the Boston Bruins winning the President's Trophy going away and the Tampa Bay Lightning vying for their fourth consecutive trip to the finals. In the Metro division, both the Devils and Hurricanes had outstanding seasons.

This season, the Metro will still be tough, but in the Atlantic, both the Bruins and Lightning have had roster turnovers that will weaken them considerably. Tampa will be without goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy until mid December. Nobody knows what to make of the Florida Panthers. Are they the team that came within three wins of capturing the Cup? Or are they the team that got swept in the second round in '22. And let's face it, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the Cleveland Browns of Canada. Any team that gets out of the Metro should be the odds-on favorite to advance to the finals.

I'm not saying the Rangers will have an easy path; far from it. But they have had success against the Canes. And if they can find a way to contain the Devils speed, there might be another banner hanging in Madison Square Garden.

Prognosis: Like that 2013-14 team, which went 16-18-2 in their first 36 games, I fully expect the Rangers to struggle out of the gate. They were 1 for 18 on the power play during the preseason. Not a good sign. Going all the way back to game three of the Devils series last season, they're 2 for their last 39. That has got to change. For this team to be a contender, they must have a productive power play.

Assuming they hit their stride by early December, the Rangers should once again finish third in the Metro; the Kids will blossom under Laviolette; and Shesterkin will lead them to their first Stanley Cup in 30 years.

Drury Has His Coach. Now Comes the Hard Part

Five weeks after he fired Gerard Gallant, Chris Drury finally hired his replacement. Let's be clear: Peter Laviolette is no Scotty Bowman; nor is he Al Arbour, or, for that matter, Toe fucking Blake. But based on his resume alone, he was the best option available.

Key word "available." Because if we assume Mike Sullivan wasn't going anywhere - and based on the information coming out of Pittsburgh, ownership didn't think the problem with the Penguins was behind the bench but rather in the front office - and Rod Brind'Amour and Jon Cooper are secure in Carolina and Tampa respectively, the list of candidates from which to choose was considerably small.

There was no way that Drury was going to hire someone with no head coaching experience, so that eliminated Chris Knoblauch and Seattle assistant Jay Leach. And the Patrick Roy rumors were just that: rumors. Drury never even bothered to interview him. As for John Hynes, friendship is a beautiful thing, but it doesn't overcome an otherwise less than stellar coaching career. And even if Joel Quenneville got reinstated by Gary Bettman tomorrow, the baggage he'd bring with him to the Garden would probably be too much, even for James Dolan. Mark Messier? If Glen Sather didn't hire him ten years ago, what makes anyone think Drury was going to do it now? Face it: he'll always be a legend. But not every legend gets to drive the car.

In the end, Drury went with Laviolette because he was the most qualified. Period. Among active head coaches, only Lindy Ruff (834) and Paul Maurice (817) have more wins than Laviolette's 752. He's only the second coach in NHL history to pilot three different teams to the Stanley Cup finals; the other was Bowman. Anyone who has a problem with this hire doesn't know jack shit about hockey.

Yes, he's a retread who's been fired multiple times. Know who else is a retread who's been fired multiple times? Bruce Cassidy (twice) and the aforementioned Maurice (four times). All both men did was guide their respective teams to the Stanley Cup finals this year. Cassidy's former employer - the Boston Bruins - were eliminated in the first round by Maurice's Florida Panthers; while Maurice's former employer - the Winnipeg Jets - lost in the first round to Cassidy's Vegas Golden Knights. How's that for Karma?

For me, the only pertinent question is whether Laviolette can turn this talented group of players into a team capable of competing for the Cup. From what we can gleam from his past, there are two things that distinguish him from Gallant.

One, while technically a players' coach, Laviolette's leash is considerably shorter than Gallant's. If the Rangers struggle out of the gate like they did this season, he isn't likely to be as patient. It's worth noting that even before Jacob Trouba's helmet-throwing incident against the Blackhawks, Drury was starting to have doubts about the nonchalant way that Gallant was handling the team's inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies plagued the Rangers all season long, and things came to a head between both men after the game-four loss in the Devils series.

Two, Laviolette is quite adept at making both in-game and in-series adjustments and is an advocate of matching lines, something Gallant was either too stubborn to do or incapable of doing. Against the Devils this year and the Lightning last year, Gallant was badly out-coached by Ruff and Cooper, both of whom made adjustments that allowed their respective teams to overcome 0-2 deficits and eventually win the series. The Devils series was particularly frustrating because the Rangers, after going 4-10 on the power play in the first two games, went 0-5 in game three. Had they converted on just one of their man-power advantages, they would've gone up 3-0 in the series and likely advanced to the second round.

But short leashes and adjustments notwithstanding, can Laviolette get Artemi Panarin to stop making those risky cross-ice passes in the offensive zone that lead to odd-man rushes the other way? Can he convince Chris Kreider to park his 230 pound carcass in front of the net? Can he persuade Adam Fox to shoot more from the point instead of deferring to others? Can he transform a predictable, if lethal, power play into one that has multiple looks and can survive any adjustment an opposing coach might make? Because if the answer to those questions is no, then we're right back where we started.

And that's where Drury comes in. Now that the coach is in place, the GM has to give him the horses he needs to succeed. That won't be easy. The Rangers have just over $11.7 million in available cap space going into next season with only 14 players under contract. Assuming Drury elects to go with a roster of 22, that comes out to an average of $1.5 million per player. With both Alexis Lafreniere and K'Andre Miller RFAs, Drury will have to decide whether to bridge both or sign one to a long-term deal and bridge the other.

If he chooses to go the latter route, the most likely player to lock up would be Miller. While the third-year defenseman took a step backwards this season, he still has the potential to be a star in this league. A similar deal to what Filip Chytil got ($4.4m x 4) sounds reasonable. Lafreniere would then get the same bridge deal Kaapo Kakko got last year ($2.1m x 2). That leaves $5.2 million to sign a backup goalie, another defenseman and four more forwards. Clearly, Drury will have to shed some salary in order to fill out the roster.

The most likely sacrificial lamb is Barclay Goodrow. The Swiss-army knife, as Gallant once referred to him, is making $3.64 million per season. Given his skill set, that isn't too outlandish, especially when you consider the Calgary Flames are paying Blake Coleman - Goodrow's linemate from his days with the Lightning - $4.9 million per season. But in the flat-cap era, his contract is an albatross around the neck of the organization. With that money Drury could sign someone like Nick Bjugstad for about $1 million. Then he could call up his counterpart in Carolina and inquire about the availability of his nephew Jack. With a cap hit of only $925k, the 23 year old winger would be the ideal fourth liner. That would leave Drury with $1.7 million to add to the $5.2 million in the kitty.

The problem is that Goodrow has a no-trade clause which includes 15 teams, meaning Drury will have a hard time finding a suitable trade partner. If there are no takers, he could always buy him out. The way Goodrow's contract is written, the Rangers would net $200k and $100k in cap space the first two years respectively. But then after that, the cap hit goes up as follows: $1.15m in year three; $3.65m in year four, followed by $1.258m for the next four years. That's a ton of cabbage to doll out for a player that no longer plays for you. With this upcoming season being the first in the last four that the Rangers won't be carrying any dead-cap space, I doubt Drury wants to repeat the mistakes of his predecessor, Jeff Gorton. Then again, with the cap expected to go up considerably over the next few seasons, maybe Drury takes the upfront savings and kicks the can down the road.

So let's say Drury buys out Goodrow. With $7.1 million in available cap space, he can re-sign Tyler Motte and Jaroslav Halak for $1m each; re-sign Niko Mikkola for $1.3m; and give Will Cuylle and Brennan Othmann - $828k and $863k respectively - a shot at making the team. That leaves $2.1 million in reserve for Drury to sign a certain someone who might not be available to play until, say, late winter or early spring, assuming he'd be willing to play for that amount. Drury could place him on LTIR and activate him later.

That would give the Ranges the following roster:

Forwards to start the season:

Kreider, Zibaejad, Lafreniere

Panarin, Trocheck, Vesey

Othmann, Chytil, Kakko

Motte, Bjugstad, Drury

Cuylle 

Forwards going into the postseason:

Kreider, Zibaejad, Mystery player

Panarin, Trocheck, Vesey

Lafreniere, Chytil, Kakko

Motte, Bjugstad, Drury

Othmann, Cuylle

Defensemen:

Lindgren, Fox

Miller, Trouba

Mikkola, Schneider

Harper

Goalies:

Shesterkin, Halak

It's not a bad roster, assuming Laviolette can get it to play up to its potential.

Rangers Have Their Fil

You wanna know how serious Chris Drury is about building a core that will endure? Since he became President and GM of the Rangers in the summer of 2021, he's managed to lock up his top three centers without paying a single one more than $8.5 million AAV. 

Read it and weep. Mika Zibanaejad: $8.5m x 8; Vincent Trocheck: $5.625m x 7; and now Filip Chytil: $4.4375m x 4. All three key contributors on a team that is considered by many to be the deepest in the NHL heading into the playoffs. In a league where top heavy contracts are the rule, the Rangers have only one player - Artemi Panarin - who's making more than $10 million per season. And that is a tribute to Drury who has managed to navigate the treacherous waters of the flat cap era without being devoured.

It's no secret the Rangers were facing a daunting task trying to retain all three of their RFAs this summer. Last July, yours truly wrote that they needed to "lock up Alexis Lafreniere ASAP." The concern was that once he hit the free agent market, a rival GM - Jeff Gorton, for instance - would sign him to an offer sheet that Drury couldn't match. Goodbye number one draft pick, hello humiliation.

Well, scratch one RFA from the list. With Chytil having a breakout season, the question wasn't whether Drury would re-sign him - it was obvious he couldn't afford to let him walk - but whether he could get him to accept a team-friendly deal that would afford him the opportunity of also keeping both Lafreniere and K'Andre Miller. Mission accomplished. $4.4375m is approximately a million under market value for a player with Chytil's stats and ceiling. Making the deal even sweeter for the Rangers, Drury was able to buy out two years of arbitration rights on Chytil, as well as two years of free agency.

Contrary to popular belief, centers who can score 20 or more goals do not grow on trees. With Zibanejad, Trocheck and Chytil, the Rangers have three of them. Wanna know how rare that is? The Rangers are the only team in the NHL that can say that. I'd say that's pretty rare, wouldn't you? 

Last summer, there were those who thought that when Ryan Strome bolted for the Anaheim Ducks, the Rangers should've just given the 2C job to Chytil and used the cap savings to lock up all three RFAs to long-term deals, like the Tampa Bay Lightning did with Anthony Cirelli and Mikhail Sergachev. Drury wasn't comfortable giving Chytil that much responsibility so he signed Trocheck to fill Strome's spot.

As it turns out, Drury made the right call. After a slow start, Trocheck has become a solid 2C, and Chytil, centering the "kid" line, has come into his own. As a result, the Rangers are now set down the middle for the foreseeable future. If he can bridge Lafreniere and Miller, the Rangers, regardless of what happens in the postseason, should be in good shape cap wise going into next season.

Boyz II Men

If the key to winning a championship is depth up and down the lineup, then the New York Rangers are blessed to have what many consider to be the deepest roster in the NHL. Because on a night when Mika Zibanaejad, Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider and Adam Fox were held without a point, the Kid Line of Filip Chytil, Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko took charge. Each scored a goal and added an assist Saturday to propel the Blueshirts to a 4-3 win over the Putty Tats in South Florida.

It's time to state the obvious: these are no longer "kids." They're much more than that. Throughout much of the season, whenever head coach Gerard Gallant has put them together, this threesome has been, by far, the most consistent and cohesive unit on the team. That doesn't mean they've been the most dominant on the score sheet - that distinction belongs to the above mentioned fab four. But on numerous nights, when the core didn't have quite enough in the tank, the "kids" picked up the slack.

There was the game against the Maple Leafs at Toronto where Chytil scored both goals for the Rangers in a 3-2 OT loss; the game against the Calgary Flames at the Garden where Lafreniere scored the OT winner; another thriller at the Garden against the New Jersey Devils where Chytil helped set up the game-tying goal by Kakko and then scored the winner in OT. And in what has to be considered the best come from behind win of the season, Kakko and Lafreniere each scored in the shootout against the Oilers at Edmonton.

It is now abundantly clear that last year's playoffs were no anomaly. The talent is there; as is the work ethic. Almost without exception, every time they take the ice, something good happens. Even when they don't score, they keep the opposing team hemmed in their own zone. Yes, it's taken a while for the rose to finally bloom - Chytil is in his fifth full season, Kakko his fourth and Lafreniere his third - but success, regardless of what the Twitterverse may think, isn't measured on an assembly line basis. 

Face it, not everyone is Sydney Crosby or Connor McDavid. Since their arrival in New York, Kakko and Lafreniere have been under a constant microscope. Kakko is often compared to Jack Hughes, the number one pick in the 2019 draft; while Lafreniere, the number one pick in the 2020 draft, gets compared to Tim Stutzle, the player taken two picks later. Neither is a fair comparison, in my opinion.

For starters, in 2019 no one doubted that Hughes was the better player; the only concern was whether, at 175 pounds, he was durable enough to play in the NHL. And while a low-grade MCL injury ended his season last year, for the most part Hughes has been a regular in the Devils lineup. Regarding the 2020 draft, Lafreniere was the consensus number one pick. It wasn't even close. To say otherwise is the rankest form of revisionist history.

But secondly, and perhaps most importantly, both Hughes and Stutzle have from day one played in the top six for their respective teams, with both spending considerable time on the power play. By comparison, Kakko and Lafreniere have been mostly relegated to the third line, and until recently, gotten virtually no time on the power play. Did you know that going into this season, Lafreniere had more even-strength goals (31) than Stutzle (22)? Just imagine how many more goals Lafreniere could've scored if he were on the power play. Then factor in the built-in advantage top six players traditionally have on most teams and it's reasonable to assume both Kakko and Lafreniere would have better stats than they currently do.

As for Chytil, he had the curse of being the third center on a team that already had two pretty good ones. Contrary to popular opinion, Jeff Gorton didn't really tear down the Rangers. What he did more closely resembled a retool than a formal rebuild. He kept some of his key players like Zibanaejad, Kreider, Ryan Strome and Henrik Lundqvist, and then he signed Panarin. This meant that Chytil, along with Kakko and Lafreniere, had little chance of getting substantial ice time. Consequently, the growth of all three players was stunted almost from the very first shift they took as Rangers.

All that is water over the dam. Chytil, Kakko and Lafreniere have become key cogs on this team. As deep as the Rangers are, any hope they have of capturing their first Stanley Cup since 1994 will depend in no small part upon the contributions these three former kids, now men, make.

Gary Bettman's Potential Early Christmas Present

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's announcement, following a board of governors meeting in New York, that the salary cap might go up to $86.5 million instead of the expected $83.5 million came as welcomed news to every general manager and player agent in the sport.

"We believe that there is a good probability that the escrow will be paid off this season. It may not be, but it’s going to be close we think, which means the flat cap will be replaced by a bigger increase. Revenue is pretty vibrant. We probably did $5.4 billion in [hockey-related revenues] this past season, which is actually about a half a billion more than we projected a year ago when we were starting things up. Things are good."

For those who haven't been paying attention - and from what I've seen on Twitter, that appears to be a rather large contingent of fans - the league has been operating under a flat cap since the 2019-20 season was paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, the salary cap was $81.5 million, and to make sure the cap wasn't reduced, the NHLPA agreed to have part of their players salaries placed into an escrow account. The understanding being that once that balance was paid off, the cap would resume its pre-pandemic trajectory. Initially, that was supposed to be at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season. That timeline has now been accelerated by one season.

It cannot be overstated just how significant this development is. Notwithstanding the financial losses the league suffered, many teams are literally staring at cap hell, both this season and next. A look at some of the moves GMs were forced to make over the past two summers underscores just how difficult it's been to build and retain a core of players. Many teams were unable to field a full roster of 23 players this season because they simply don't have the cap space. The Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche couldn't re-sign their number two center Nazem Kadri over the summer because they would've been over the cap. He subsequently signed with the Calgary Flames. Imagine if the Avs had an extra $3 million in the kitty.

Closer to home, Chris Drury is facing something of a quandary himself. At the conclusion of this season, Alexis Lafreniere, K'Andre Miller and Filip Chytil are all RFAs. At present, the Rangers, after waiving Dryden Hunt - or as Ranger Twitter has referred to him, the second coming of Rick Middleton - have just over $900k in cap space. That translates to about $4 million in deadline cap space for Drury to shop around for reinforcements at the trade deadline.

Assuming there are no additional buyouts this offseason, the Rangers will get $3.4 million in dead cap space off the books. Every cent of that money, and then some, will go to re-signing either Lafreniere or Miller, leaving Drury with some tough choices about which players to trade or let go. Even with the expected additional $1 million in salary cap and the expiration of Ryan Reaves' $1.75 million contract, there just isn't enough room at the inn to keep the band together. Imagine going through the pains of a rebuild and not being able to see it all the way through.

Now if all goes according to plan, Drury might be able to have his cake and eat it too. With a salary cap at $86.5 million, the Rangers would be able to keep Lafreniere, Miller and Chytil, provided they can get at least one of them - preferably Chytil - into a bridge deal. Below is what a potential 2023-24 roster could look like:

2023-24 Salary Cap

$86,500,000.00

Forwards
Panarin	$11,642,857.00
Zibanejad	$8,500,000.00
Kreider	$6,500,000.00
Trocheck	$5,625,000.00
Lafreniere	$5,000,000.00
Chytil	$3,750,000.00
Goodrow	$3,641,667.00
Kakko	$2,100,000.00
Blais	$1,525,000.00
Othmann	$894,167.00
Korczak	$859,167.00
Cuylle	$828,333.00
Rydahl	$800,000.00

Total  $51,666,191.00

Defensemen
Fox	$9,500,000.00
Trouba	$8,000,000.00
Miller	$4,000,000.00
Lindgren	$3,000,000.00
Jones	$1,200,000.00
Schneider	$925,000.00

Total

$26,625,000.00

Goalies
Gerand	$828,333.00
Shesterkin	$5,666,667.00

Total

$6,495,000.00

Total Cap Hit	$84,786,191.00
CAP SPACE	$1,713,809.00

As you'll note, I have Blais returning next year for the same salary he's making now and both Othmann and Cuylle making the team. Also, I have Gerand as the backup to Igor. I assume Drury will include Vitali Kravtsov in a deadline deal for either Patrick Kane or someone with a similar skill set. The bottom line is that under the higher cap, the Rangers would be able to retain not only their core but their young studs as well for the foreseeable future.

Of course, none of this is etched in stone. Knowing the NHL's penchant for disappointing their fans, it's entirely possible that the escrow might not be fully paid off by the end of the season. In that event, Bettman has made it clear that the cap will only go up $1 million to $83.5. And if that's the case, GM's like Drury will have to, once more, make lemonade out of lemons.