ELIMINATED!

It was fitting that on a night when the Rangers actually played one of their better games of the season, it was their goaltending that let them down. Well, at least they had more than 10 shots on goal.

How the mighty have fallen. To think that only two years ago the Blueshirts won the Presidents' Trophy and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the second time in three seasons. In spite of what the analytics community was saying, they were legitimate Cup contenders, even if their window was one of the shortest in franchise history. 

And now, for the second straight season, there will be no playoff games at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers were officially eliminated from postseason contention last night in Toronto. They are currently second from the bottom in the NHL standings. So much for "No Quit in New York." I hope J.T. Miller kept the receipts for those T-shirts. Maybe he can get a Happy Meal for them.

As you probably noticed, I haven't been writing much about the Rangers this season for two reasons: One, the Knicks have been a far better story; and two, there's only so much bile I can spit up. Watching this team brings new meaning to the term self abuse.

There are many culprits in this tragedy, but none more egregious than J.T. Miller. Captain Clunker is now sadly part of two of the worst trades in Rangers history: the first was when he was dealt to the Lightning in 2018 for a package that included Brett Howden; the second was when he was reacquired last year from the Canucks for Filip Chytil and a first round pick. Jesus, talk about double dipping. 

With a few rare exceptions, Miller has been brutal this season. How brutal? Without him in the lineup, the Rangers are 7-5-2; with him in the lineup, they're 21-30-7. Since his return from I.R., he has no goals and only 4 assists in seven games. During that span, New York is 1-5-1. Prior to that, they had won their last three games.

This wasn't what the Rangers envisioned when they brought him back to Broadway. Clearly, something is wrong. If he's injured, he shouldn't be playing; and if he isn't injured, there's no excuse for his performance. Either way, there's no justification for keeping a player making $8 million AAV through 2030 beyond this season. Chris Drury may not like retaining dead cap space on the books, but in this instance, he really has no other choice. He must buy out Miller's contract over the summer and rid the organization of an albatross that will cripple his efforts at rebuilding the roster.

Here's what a potential buy out for Miller would look like:

2026-27: $2.92m

2027-28: $5.42m

2028-29: $5.42m

2029-30: $2.92m

2030-31: $1.92m

2031-32: $1.92m

2032-33: $1.92m

2033-34: $1.92m

At first glance, this may seem like a lot of money to eat, but with the salary cap scheduled to go from $95.5 million to $104 million next season and $113.5 million the following year, it's not as bad as it looks. By year five the cap hit would be less than what a bottom six forward would cost. The alternative is keeping a subpar player on an aging contract who will only take valuable minutes away from a younger, more promising prospect. Better for Drury to cut his losses than to continue throwing good money after bad. This would be the no brainer of the decade.

Speaking of no brainers, it is imperative that the Rangers find out what they have in their pipeline. Continuing to dress players like Taylor Raddysh and Conor Sheary when you have players in Hartford that could be called up and looked at is absurd. With ten games to go in the season, Drury and Mike Sullivan need to give as much ice time as possible to these players.

To some extent, they've already begun to do that. Tye Kartye (who was claimed off waivers from the Kraken) has been a pleasant surprise, scoring 3 goals and 6 assists in 14 games with New York, and averaging 14 minutes per game playing on the third line. Jaroslav Chmelar is another young player who has 2 goals in 18 games. And last night, Adam Sykora made his NHL debut.

But the biggest, most pleasant surprise has come courtesy of the top six. Gabe Perrault has 4 goals and 9 assists this month; Mika Zibanejad, with 32 goals and 37 assists this season, is playing his best hockey since 2022-23; and Alexis Lafreniere has 11 goals and 10 assists since Artemi Panarin was traded to the Kings in January. Five of those goals have come on the power play. Over the last 13 games, the trio has 20 goals and 26 assists. In an otherwise lost season, they've been one of the few bright spots on this team.

Vincent Trocheck - who was almost traded - has 3 goals and 6 assists since the deadline. If Drury doesn't get a good enough offer for him over the summer, he should keep him. A 2C making $5.6 million is very manageable in this league, especially one who averages 60 points per season and wins 57 percent of his face offs.

Look, there's no way to sugar coat this. The Rangers are a bad team, and they will likely be a bad team for the foreseeable future. The best thing Drury can do is not make the same mistakes his predecessor made by taking short cuts. He needs to build through the draft, develop his young prospects, and when appropriate, make smart trades. That's the way most successful teams have done it. 

It's the way the Rangers did it under Emile Francis and Craig Patrick. 

Don't Blame Sullivan for Mika Benching

The big story at Madison Square Garden last night wasn't that the New York Rangers lost to the much-improved Anaheim Ducks 4-1; their 12th loss in 16 home games and the ninth time this season they've been held to one goal or less on their own ice.

The big story was that Mike Sullivan benched Mika Zibanejad for being late to a team meeting and that was the reason they lost. Yes, Mika Zibanejad, who we're now supposed to believe is the second coming of Guy Lafleur, was so vital to his team's chances that without his presence, they did pretty much what they've been doing all year long: they shit the bed. Had it not been for a fluke gaol by Matthew Robertson, they would've suffered their sixth shutout of the season. And it's not even Christmas yet. 

I'm sorry, but did Mika play in the season opener against the Penguins? Did he play against the Capitals or the Oilers or the Wild or the Hurricanes or the Islanders or the Red Wings or the Lightning? Let me save you the trouble of looking it up: he did. Wanna know what the Rangers record was in those games? 0-8.

That the beat writers of this team would even suggest that Zibanejad's absence had any bearing on the outcome of this game is embarrassing. For the record, the reason the Blueshirts lost last night was because they surrendered a shorthanded goal while on a 5v3 power play and Igor Shesterkin whiffed on a shot by Cutter Gauthier to put the Ducks up 2-1 in the third period that nine times out of ten he stops. If you're going to grill Sullivan over anything how about his stubbornness in sticking with five forwards on the first power play unit, which is now 0-21 and has allowed two shorthanded goals? That would be a good place to start, don't you think? If anything, I applaud Sullivan for holding his players accountable. If Brian Daboll had handled his players as well as Sullivan handles his, he might still have his job.

Face it: no team in the NHL works harder at being mediocre than the Rangers. They bring new meaning to the word underwhelming. According to Steve Valiquette, New York had eleven high-danger scoring chances to Anaheim's six, and yet they couldn't convert on one of those chances. The Robertson goal was a mid-danger chance. Unusual? No, just standard operating procedure at the world's most famous arena. I swear these players would have a hard time finishing at a whore house. 

Want to hear something crazy? This team has less talent than the one Jeff Gorton decided to tear down in 2018. Just take a look at the numbers below. These are the adjusted point totals for the top six plus Adam Fox:

As you can see, Panarin is the only player scoring at around a point per game. To quote the great Dean Wormer of Faber College, "Congratulations, Bread, you're at the top of the Delta pledge class."

This isn't a top six; hell, it's barely a middle six. And it's why the Rangers are a middling team that if the season were to end today would miss the playoffs for the second straight year.

Nothing about this roster excites you; nothing in the pipeline excites you. The most encouraging thing you can say about this franchise is that if they continue at the pace they're on, they have a half-way decent shot of getting a lottery pick in next year's draft; that's assuming Drury doesn't do something stupid and trade it away. 

Seriously, I don't know how anybody looks at this team and says, "Oh, yeah, they're good." Good for what? If the word disappointment could be trademarked, the Rangers would be the General Motors of the NHL.

Over the last 50 years, I've had a front-row seat to four rebuilds: the mid-'70s; the late '80s; the late '90s to the early '00s; and the late 2010s. I've seen players come and go. And that's why I'm imploring Chris Drury to do the right thing and start another one.

Please spare me all the "But they're only two points out of a wild card spot" drivel. So in two years we've gone from winning the Presidents' trophy to possibly being the eight seed? If that's your argument, I don't want to hear it. Look at what the Knicks are doing. Now that's a team with a real shot at winning a championship. By comparison, the Rangers look like the guy who stayed too long at the bar and now can't get a ride home.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall when Drury tells Dolan this team, as currently constructed, can't win, especially since he's the principal architect of it. He won't be a happy camper, I can assure you of that, It isn't every day that you see a franchise have two rebuilds in less than a decade. Drury will be lucky if he isn't fired. And if you think Dolan wouldn't fire his GM, guess again. The man's paying Tom Thibodeau $30 million to NOT coach the Knicks. Somehow I don't think money is going to influence him one way or the other. 

But while doing a rebuild is risky, not doing it is far riskier. Every team in the Eastern Conference not named the Buffalo Sabres is deeper and younger than the Rangers, including a certain team that plays in Elmont. The longer Drury waits, the worse this situation will get.

Neil Smith waited too long to start his rebuild, and the Rangers went seven years without qualifying for the postseason. 

Make That Definite: the Rangers Aren't That Good

About three and a half weeks ago, I wrote a piece titled: "Is It Possible That Maybe the Rangers Just Aren't That Good?" The Rangers had just lost to the Calgary Flames 5-1 to drop their record to a woeful 3-5-2. They couldn't score at home and their top six looked more like a bottom six. "It's time to admit a painful truth," I wrote, "this team may not be as talented as I and others like me thought they were."

Well with less than a week to go before Thanksgiving, it's time to remove the word "maybe" from that title. The sad truth is that the Rangers simply aren't that good. It's not that they haven't had some good moments. They had a 2-0 win against the Canucks in Vancouver and a 3-2 OT win against the Kraken in Seattle; the latter quite possibly the most complete game they've played in over a year. And scoring six goals on only 18 shots against the Nashville Predators at the Garden constitutes front-page headlines these days. 

But apart from those games, and maybe a couple more, 2025-26 is looking remarkably similar to 2024-25, when the Rangers missed the playoffs by just six points. In fact, New York is on track to finish this season with 82 points, three less than they had all of last season. 

It's unsettling to discover that this franchise went through a four-year rebuild just so it can have a three-year window, but that appears to be the case. This core looks old and slow. Apart from Adam Fox and Will Cuylle, every player who was counted on to produce for this team is seriously underperforming. Below are the adjusted point totals for each player over an 82-game schedule.

I'll cut Vincent Trocheck some slack because he missed a month on LTIR, but there's no excuse for players like Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, JT Miller and Alexis Lafreniere. In 2023-24, the Bread man had 31 multiple point games on his way to a 120 point season. This season, he's had only four such games. 

The problem with Panarin is that if he's not scoring, he's pretty much useless. He doesn't kill penalties and he's the last player you want on the ice if you're protecting a lead. Thursday night in Colorado, two of his turnovers led directly to Avalanche goals: one by Nathan MacKinnon, the other by Cale Makar. Both times the Rangers were ahead by a goal. With him slated to become a UFA at the end of the season, it's highly unlikely that Chris Drury will re-sign him.

Miller and Zibanejad were supposed to be this dynamic duo that would give the Rangers a legit number one line. So far, they've looked more like third liners. Indeed, at times, Noah Laba's line has looked more impressive than Miller and Zibanejad's. As for Lafreniere, he's looking more and more like a bust with each passing game. When Dave Maloney starts calling you out, you know you're bad.

The special teams that were supposed to be the hallmark of this team have been anything but. Thursday night was only the second time this season that the Rangers scored more than one power play goal in a game. They scored twice with the man advantage against the Penguins in Pittsburgh on October 11.

Igor Shesterkin, the rock upon which this franchise was built, look's nothing like the former Vezina trophy winner Drury rewarded with an eight-year, $92 million contract extension a year ago. Indeed, his backup, Jonathan Quick, is having a better season than he is, and for a tenth of the price.

And to think Mike Sullivan left Pittsburgh for this. I don't know promises Drury made to him, but given that the Penguins are currently ahead of the Rangers in the standings, I hope it was worth it. Let's face it, Scotty Bowman wouldn't be able to turn this middling team into a contender. James Dolan may not want to admit it, but the guy he entrusted to run this ship has run it straight into the ground.

I have been a Drury defender from day one; I'm done defending the man. He is currently the GM of a franchise that is in danger of missing the playoffs back-to-back seasons for the first time since Jeff Gorton had that title. And with no tangible plan to fix what's wrong, the prospects for the next several seasons are bleak, to say the least.

And the worst part about what's going on is that while the Rangers spin their wheels, across the Hudson, the Devils are the only team in the New York metro area with a shot at going deep in the playoffs; to the east, the Islanders are very quietly having their best season since 2020-21, when they were one win away from advancing to their first Stanley Cup final since 1984. The Blueshirts are dangerously close to reliving the nightmare of the '80s when they were outplayed and outclassed by their suburban rivals.

It's no longer too early in the season. Twenty-two games is enough of a sample size. The alarm bells are going off. The ship is listing badly and the outlook is dire.

All that's left is for the band to play "Nearer My God to Thee."

Is It Possible That Maybe the Rangers Just Aren't That Good?

"I do think they will make the postseason; they have too much talent not to."

- Peter W. Fegan

Some days I thank my lucky stars that I don't put my money where my mouth is. I'd be living in my car right now, or under it. Look, I realize it's still early; after all, the 2013-14 Rangers got off to a 3-7-0 start under Alain Vigneault and they not only made the playoffs, they went all the way to the Stanley Cup finals. This core is only one year removed from winning the Presidents' Trophy; certainly there's plenty of time to turn this ship around.

God, I wish that were so, I really do. But if we're being honest with ourselves, the only thing that Rangers team has in common with this one is the logo on their jerseys. This team looks old and slow. With the exception of two road games against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Montreal Canadiens and two home games against the Washington Capitals and the Edmonton Oilers, they have been outplayed in all the other games. FYI, they lost both those home games. Think about it: they're 2-2 against teams they outplayed, and 1-3-2 against teams that outplayed them.

The top six has looked more like a bottom six. Artemi Panarin is tied with Adam Fox for the team lead in scoring with seven points, and four of those points came against the Canadiens; Mika Zibanjead has three goals, and is on track to finish the season with 50 points; the "Captain" J.T. Miller has two goals and six points; and Alexis Lafreniere hasn't scored since October 9. There are kids on milk container cartons that are more conspicuous. At times this season, the bottom six has performed better than their top six counter parts. Exhibit A: perennial fourth liner Taylor Raddysh leads the team with four goals. 

The Rangers are the second worst scoring team in the NHL this season. Last night, they gave up five goals to a Calgary Flames team that had scored even fewer. And that was two nights after they lost 6-5 in overtime to the previously winless San Jose Sharks. Think about it: against two of the worst teams in the league, the best the Blueshirts could muster was one point. Just imagine what's going to happen when they start playing the elite teams. If the season ended today, not only would the Rangers not qualify for the playoffs, they'd be in excellent position to win the draft lottery. 

It's time to admit a painful truth: this team may not be as talented as I and others like me thought they were. Even with a healthy Vincent Trocheck - who, by-the-way, still hasn't resumed skating and is likely out until late November - this roster doesn't exactly scare the pants off you. From the 2021-22 season through the 2023-24 season, the Rangers power play was fourth in the NHL at 25.3 percent. Not coincidentally, they posted records of 52-24-6, 47-22-13 and 55-23-4. But last season, that vaunted power play plummeted to a paltry 17.6 percent, (21st) and as a result, the Rangers finished 39-36-7 and missed the playoffs.

This season, the power play has gotten off to an even worse start. After last night's game in Calgary, it's 19th in the league at 16 percent. For a team that struggles as much as the Rangers do at even strength, that simply isn't going to cut it. Let's face it: for three straight seasons, under two different coaches, the formula was pretty simple: score on the power play and let Igor Shesterkin do the rest. If either one didn't come through, the result was typically a loss. And that is precisely what we've been seeing the last two seasons: a flawed team that relied way too much on its power play and its goaltending to win, and is now sowing what it reaped.

So what happened? How did a team that went through a four-year rebuild end up with a three-year window? It's complicated. 

Let's go all the way back to that memo then G.M. Jeff Gorton sent out in the winter of 2018 informing the fanbase that he was going to break up the core and start a rebuild. Over the next twelve months, the Rangers traded Rick Nash, Michael Grabner, Ryan McDonagh, Miller and fan favorite Mats Zuccarello. As a result, they missed the playoffs two straight seasons. 

But while Gorton may have cleaned house, he did not strip it down to the studs, so to speak. He left enough talent in place for the team to be competitive. That spring, the Rangers wound up with the second overall pick in the Amateur Draft and selected Kaapo Kakko. The New Jersey Devils, with the first overall pick, chose Jack Hughes. The consensus at the time was that Kakko was a can't miss prospect who had the potential to be an elite winger in the NHL.

Then in the summer of 2019, Gorton short-circuited his own rebuild by trading for Jacob Trouba and signing Panarin to a seven-year contract worth $11.6 million per. While the Rangers record improved enough to qualify for the play-in round against the Carolina Hurricanes, they were none-the-less swept in three games. It wasn't a total loss, though; the Rangers wound up with the number one pick in the 2020 Amateur Draft, which they then used to select Lafreniere.

I'll say it again: both Kakko and Lafteniere were considered legitimate picks at the time they were taken, especially Lafreniere, who all the scouts agreed was the best player on the board. That neither has blossomed into the elite forwards they were projected to become, does not change anything. When you have the number one pick, you take the number one prospect. 

But even with two promising young wingers and Panarin, the Rangers still missed the playoffs. Owner James Dolan was growing impatient with the rebuild and after the Tom Wilson incident at the Garden, he lost it. In what can only be described as the most bizarre moment in Rangers history, he fired Gorton and Team President John Davidson.

Enter Chris Drury. Dolan gave the new President and GM two marching orders: 1. Make the playoffs; 2. Make sure the Wilson incident was never repeated. Drury fired David Quinn and replaced him with Gerard Gallant. He then traded Pavel Buchnevich for Sammy Blais and used the remaining cap savings to sign Ryan Reaves and Barclay Goodrow. Under Gallant, New York had its best season since 2015. With Reaves and Goodrow, the Rangers were no longer easy pushovers. They not only made the playoffs, they advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference finals before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six. 

Despite the loss, the season was considered a glowing success. Zibanjad, Panarin, Fox and Chris Kreider all had career years. Shesterkin established himself as an elite goalie. The Kid Line of Kakko, Lafreniere and Filip Chytil, whom Gorton had drafted in 2018, was growing up in front of our eyes. The future certainly looked bright for the Blueshirts.

But when the 2022-23 season didn't get off to a good start, doubts about the core began to creep in. Trouba, who had been named captain before the start of the season, threw his helmet and screamed at his teammates. Drury grew frustrated at the inconsistencies he saw on the ice, and went whole hog at the trade deadline, acquiring both Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane. The Rangers went into the playoffs with arguably their most talented roster since the 1991-92 team. It didn't matter. After going up 2-0 against the Devils, New Jersey won four of the next five games to eliminate New York.

Drury pinned the blame for the collapse on Gallant and replaced him with Peter Laviolette. And just like they had done in Gallant's first year behind the bench, the Rangers not only had a great season under Laviolette, they won the Presidents' trophy for the first time since 2015. Once more, they advanced to the conference finals where they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. It was a bitter end to an otherwise excellent season, but this time around, Drury saw something that didn't quite sit well with him.

Despite their record, the Rangers were still a middling team at even strength. Too many of their wins were owed to their special teams and goaltending. The Panthers didn't just beat them, they schooled them. To his credit, Drury took notes. That summer, needing cap space, he waived Goodrow and attempted to trade Trouba. The former complained; the latter balked. The offseason maneuvering did not sit well with the players. Despite getting off to a 12-4-1 start, Drury still didn't like what he was seeing. He sent a letter to every GM in the league indicating he was open for business. Both Trouba and Kreider were mentioned in the letter. Trouba eventually cried uncle and accepted a trade, while Kreider, who was already having an off year, sulked along with his BFF Zibanejad. Kreider would eventually be traded this summer while Zibanejad reiterated he had no intention of going anywhere. The only good thing to come out of that hellish nightmare of a season was Drury reacquiring Miller for Chytil, who despite his enormous potential, could never stay healthy.

Once more Drury changed coaches. Mike Sullivan replaced Laviolette behind the bench. The hope was that Sully would be able to motivate this team, but that hasn't happened. The same issues continue to plague them: an inability to generate offense at 5v5; over-passing in the offensive zone, poor puck management in the defensive zone; an ineffective and predictable power play. When Igor isn't standing on his head, this team looks absolutely pathetic. 

So here we stand: a Rangers team that, on paper at least, should be better than its record indicates. Despite an average age of 28, most of the core is over 30, with Panarin leading the way at 34. And while Panarin will be a UFA next summer, Zibanejad, Trocheck and Fox are signed for the next several years to contracts that have either no movement or no trade clauses. That means Drury is as stuck with them as we are.

I honestly don't know where we go from here. What I can tell you is this: the Devils are a good, young team with a much more promising future than the Rangers, and at UBS Arena, the Islanders, thanks to winning the draft lottery, have the best young defenseman to lace up a pair of skates since Cale Makar. 

I'm old enough to remember the mid-1970s when the Rangers couldn't get out of their own way and a GM by the name of Bill Torrey assembled a team on Long Island that would go on to win four consecutive Cups.

I would not be in the slightest bit shocked if history ended up repeating itself. 

Record Setting

First, the good news: So far this season, Igor Shesterkin has stopped 103 of 106 shots on goal. His backup, Jonathan Quick, has stopped 20 of 21 shots on goal. Together, the pair have a combined save percentage of .969, by far the best in the league. More good news, over their last three games, the New York Rangers have thoroughly outplayed their opponents, out-chancing them 95-56; and 29-12 in high danger chances.

Now for the bad news: Despite all that, the Rangers are 2-3-0 under Mike Sullivan. As if that weren't bad enough, they are the first team in the 107 year history of the NHL to be shut out in their first three home games. Now that's what I call record setting.

In the five and half decades I've been following this team, I thought I'd seen it all. Injuries to key players, fluke goals, bad giveaways, bad luck, no luck at all. But I never saw this coming. Then again I never saw the Mets collapse either. And to add insult to injury, Chris Kreider, who Chris Drury traded over the summer, has scored four goals in three games for the Anaheim Ducks. The Monday morning quarterbacks are already in mid-season form.

There are two ways of looking at this. 1. The Rangers have been victimized by some pretty damn good goaltending, which for them is a switch since usually it's the other way around; 2. They lack the firepower to finish in the offensive zone.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's a little bit of both. Let's be honest, after being the beneficiaries of Igor's heists over the last few years, it was inevitable that the pendulum might swing back, if only for a while. The hockey gods do have a sense of humor, you know. But with Vincent Trocheck on LTIR and Artemi Panarin clearly not himself after sustaining a pre-season injury, that's hardly the 1985 Edmonton Oilers out there.

It's telling that the Rangers leading goal scorer is Adam Fox with three. No one else has more than one. Last night against the Oilers, the best line on the ice for the Blueshirts was Sam Carrick centering Adam Edstrom and Matt Rempe. They combined for three of New York's ten high-danger scoring chances. 

For this team to have any chance of making the playoffs, let alone advancing, they are going to need their top six to produce. And by produce, I mean more than four goals. Mika Zibanjead leads the league in shots on goal with 22, which is nice to see, but he has found the back of the net only once. That isn't going to cut it. Until Trocheck returns, he has to take up the slack.

And while Panarin gets back to his old self, the spotlight is on Alexis Lafreniere. This is his sixth year in the NHL and the former overall number one draft pick still has yet to deliver on his promise. Aside from the game against the Sabres in Buffalo, he has been virtually invisible so far this season. It's time for him to shit or get off the pot.

Look, I'm not going to panic. J.T. Miller has a point when he told reporters after the game, "Let’s not make this bigger than it is. It’s game five. A lot to like about our game. It’s a unique situation, but let’s not blow this out of proportion here." However, if they're still having trouble scoring after twenty games, I'd start worrying.

For now, as an old manager of mine used to say, "It is what it is." The Rangers have played five games this season; they've lost three of them. Not the start they wanted, but it's still early.

2025-26 Rangers and NHL Preview

Back in May, I wrote that there were some "interesting parallels" between Chris Drury hiring Mike Sullivan and Neil Smith hiring Mike Keenan.

In the 1991-92 season, the Rangers won the Presidents' trophy but did not win the Cup. They struggled mightily the following season, missing the playoffs. Under Keenan, the Blueshirts went on to win their first Cup in 54 years. 

In the 2023-24 season, the Rangers won the Presidents' trophy but failed to win the Cup. They struggled mightily the following season, missing the playoffs. No doubt Drury is banking on lightning striking twice.

Of course for a franchise that has won exactly one Stanley Cup championship since World War II, Drury is going to need more than lightning striking twice. He might need a category five hurricane.

That being said, I thought Sullivan was the right choice at the right time for this team. While he hasn't made the playoffs since the 2021-22 season, he is well respected and appears to have the right demeanor for a veteran roster whose window is still open, if barely.

However, there's a difference between being the right choice and being a miracle worker. Two seasons ago, the Blueshirts overachieved under Peter Laviolette. The following season, they crashed and burned and Laviolette was fired. For Sullivan to succeed, three things will have to happen.

The power play has to improve. Under assistant coach David Quinn, the Penguins power play went from 15.3 percent (24th) in 2023-24 to 25.8 percent (4th) in 2024-25. Last season, the Rangers power play finished 17.6 percent (21st). The hope is that Quinn can replicate what he did in Pittsburgh for a team that missed the playoffs by six points. 

The bottom six has to produce. The prevailing sentiment is that the top six will pull their weight. Mika Zibanejad should benefit from playing a full season with J.T. Miller, and Artemi Panarin will once again lead the team in scoring. It's the bottom six that is the concern. If Noah Laba, who made the roster after a solid preseason, is the real deal, the Rangers may finally have a legit 3C.

Cut down on the goals against. In 2023-24, the Rangers allowed a 5th best 226 goals against; in 2024-25, they allowed an 11th worst 255. Among teams that made the playoffs last season, only the Montreal Canadiens gave up more goals (265). Signing Vladislav Gavrikov to play alongside Adam Fox should give New York its best defensive pairing since Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi a decade ago. Carson Soucy, though, remains a question mark.

Prognosis: Despite a so-so preseason, I remain optimistic about this team's ability to bounce back. No, I do not think they will win the Metro, much less the Presidents' Trophy, but I do think they will make the postseason; they have too much talent not to. Based on where they finished last season, if they manage to avoid another November swoon, they could win an additional five to seven games, which should be good enough for third place.

Prediction: 45-30-7, 97 points.

Below are my predictions for the rest of the league. As per usual, I will pick the top three teams in each division, both wild cards for each conference, and the close, but no cigar contingent. 

Eastern Conference:

Metropolitan Division:

Carolina Hurricanes: Year after year, the hockey "experts" underestimate this team; and year after year, they are proven wrong. 

New Jersey Devils: Losing Jack Hughes down the stretch killed them last season. If he stays healthy, they should challenge for the division lead.

New York Rangers: Mike Sullivan and his coaching staff will fix what went wrong last season. 

Atlantic Division:

Toronto Maple Leafs: As strange as it may seem, losing Mitch Marner will help them, especially in the postseason. 

Tampa Bay Lightning: They may have been eliminated by the Panthers in the first round, but this is still very much an elite team with a Hall of Fame coach behind the bench.

Florida Panthers: Losing Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov to injuries - the latter for the season - is a helluva gut punch. But thanks to Bill Zito, this is the deepest roster in the NHL.

Wild Cards:

Washington Capitals: They overachieved last season; I doubt that happens again this season.

Ottawa Senators: This is a good, young core that has a bright future, led by Brady Tkachuk, Matthew's younger brother. 

Close, but no cigar: 

Montreal Canadiens: Someone needs to explain to me how this organization gave up two first round picks for Noah Dobson. Me thinks Jeff Gorton strikes again. 

New York Islanders: Their future looks bright with Matthew Schaefer; it's their present that is the problem.

Western Conference: 

Central Division:

Dallas Stars: They have one of the deepest forward groups in the NHL. Had it not been for Pete DeBoer, they likely would've gone to the finals last season.

Colorado Avalanche: Their top four players are arguably the best in the league; it's their depth that could prove problematic come the playoffs.

St. Louis Blues: Everyone is sleeping on this team, which makes no sense given their roster and the fact that they have one of the best goalies in the league.

Pacific Division:

Vegas Golden Knights: Kelly McCrimmon went all out during the offseason to sign Mitch Marner. This could be the most talented roster he has ever assembled.

Edmonton Oilers: Connor McDavid has basically given his GM two years to assemble a team around him capable of winning the Cup. Good luck with that. 

Los Angeles Kings: A good mix of youth and experience will get this team across the threshold. 

Wild Cards:

Minnesota Wild: Bill Guerin was smart to lock up Kirill Kaprizov. Now he has the cap space to build around him.

Utah Mammoth: Something special is brewing in Salt Lake City. 

Close, but no cigar:

Winnipeg Jets: On the bright side, we won't have to watch them choke in the postseason. 

Anaheim Ducks: Chris Kreider will re-discover his scoring touch. It won't be enough for his new team.

Playoffs:

Eastern Conference Finals: Lightning over Hurricanes 4-2

Western Conference Finals: Stars over Golden Knights 4-3

Stanley Cup Finals: Stars over Lightning 4-3

Year End Awards:

Presidents' Trophy: Vegas Golden Knights

Art Ross Trophy: Connor McDavid, Oilers

Hart Trophy: Nikita Kucherov, Lightning

Norris Trophy: Quinn Hughes, Canucks

Vezina Trophy: Igor Shestrkin, Rangers

Jack Adams Award: Glen Gulutzan, Stars

Conn Smythe Trophy: Mikko Rantanen, Stars

Drury Silences the Critics, for Now

Let's face it: the last twelve months have not been particularly good for New York Rangers fans. Barclay Goodrow waived, the infamous memo, Jacob Trouba traded, the team imploding, Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil and Ryan Lindgren sent packing, Peter Laviolette fired, Mike Sullivan hired, Chris Kreider shipped out. Jesus, a circus has less excitement. One could certainly be forgiven for being jaded about this team's prospects going into free agency. To tell you the truth, my expectations were pretty low.

But you know the old saying, when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade out of them. Well, Chris Drury did better than that; he took those lemons and he made a lemon soufflé out of them.

At 12:49, the first domino fell. Vladislav Gavrikov: $7 million x 7. Those of us who were following the news on Twitter thought it was a misprint. No way Drury signed the number one UFA defenseman on the open market for that much. Only the previous day, the Columbus Blue Jackets re-signed Ivan Provorov to a 7 year, $8.5m AAV extension. Based on that, you had to figure Gavrikov would come in at $9m easy. But, sure enough, it wasn't a misprint. Drury got his man for below market value. So far, so good.

Over the next several hours, the majority of us kept refreshing our time lines, widely speculating on what Drury's next move would be. Re-sign Will Cuylle, dump K'Andre Miller, add a scorer.  At 5:24, Larry Brooks broke the news. Cuylle was re-signed to a two year bridge deal with a $3.9m AAV. A sigh of relief went up in Rangersland. With Matthew Knies getting $7.75m x 6 from the Toronto Maple Leafs, the prevailing sentiment was that Cuylle would certainly get an offer sheet somewhere around $5m. But as the hours wore on, it was looking more and more like the Rangers were going to dodge a bullet.

The next domino fell right before 6:00. Miller to Carolina in a sign and trade for a conditional first round pick, a second round pick and defenseman Scott Morrow. Murrow was considered the top prospect in the Hurricanes organization. Eric Tulsky actually agreed to an 8 year, $7.5m AAV contract for a player with more turnovers than a bakery on Christmas morning. Maybe Rod Brind'Amour can turn him around, but, frankly, I have my doubts. Good luck, Canniacs, you're gonna need it.

Wow! What can I say? In less than six hours, Drury signed his number one free agent target for less than what most thought he would have to pay, re-signed one of his best two-way forwards to a very team-friendly deal, and rid himself of a defenseman responsible for more gray hairs than Methuselah. 

But Drury wasn't done. Later that evening he signed forward Taylor Raddysh to a two year, $1.5m AAV contract. Raddysh had 7 goals and 27 points for the Washington Capitals last season, and in 2022-23, registered a career-high 20 goals for the Chicago Blackhawks. At 6-3, 198 lbs, he should make an ideal bottom six forward. Even the Drury haters were forced to admit he was on a roll.

Now by no means is this team a Cup contender. They still have Carson Soucy on their roster, and if you thought Miller was bad, Soucy makes him look like a cross between Scott Stevens and Brian Leetch. And Mika Zibanejad, who had his worst season since 2017-18, is still a huge question mark going into this season. Pending any additional moves, the Rangers are a Wild Card, borderline third-place team at best. Sullivan may wish he'd stayed in Pittsburgh.

However, that shouldn't detract from what Drury has done here. Think about it: in just over a year, he has turned over more than a third of the roster and made this team younger and tougher. Gavrokov is the best left-handed defenseman the organization has had since Ryan McDonagh; Will Cuylle has a chance to become one of the best two-way forwards in the NHL; and in just the last three months, the Rangers went from having practically no draft capital to having two first rounders in 2026, one in '27 and one in '28. They also have second round picks in '26 and '28, as well as a third, fifth and sixth-round pick in all three years. In other words, they're loaded.

Sam Pollock he ain't, but he sure as shit ain't Phil Esposito.

Will the Third Time Be the Charm for Drury?

Gerard Gallant was an accomplished head coach who guided the Vegas Golden Knights in their inaugural season to the Stanley Cup finals. Peter Laviolette was an accomplished head coach who took three different teams to the finals and actually won a Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes. Mike Sullivan is an accomplished head coach who was behind the bench when the Pittsburgh Penguins won back to back Cups. 

What do all three men have in common? They were all hired by Chris Drury to coach the New York Rangers. The first two lasted two seasons before being relieved of their duties. The third was just hired yesterday. Suffice to say, Drury is hoping - praying - that the third time will be the charm. 

As Yogi Berra would say, "It's déjà vu all over again."

It's easy to sit here and say that Sullivan is just another retread, like his predecessors. That Drury should've gone for someone younger; someone like David Carle, the current head coach of the Denver Pioneers - the 2024 NCAA Frozen Four champs. Now that would've been bold; that would've been newsworthy. 

That also would've been quite impossible. Let's forget for a moment that Carle has repeatedly said he isn't interested in leaving the University of Denver. Let's also forget for a moment that Carle's name has been mentioned as a possible future replacement for Jared Bednar should he decide to step down as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche. The last time the Rangers hired a coach from the college ranks it was David Quinn from Boston University in 2018. We all know how that turned out. If you think for a moment that James Dolan would ever sign off on hiring another college coach you've taken one too many pucks to the head.

But here's the thing. If Gallant, Laviolette and Sullivan are all retreads then so is Paul Maurice, the current head coach of the Florida Panthers. His 916 career wins are the most among active NHL coaches, and last year he guided the Puddy Tats to their first Stanley Cup championship. One man's retread is another man's savior. It's worth noting that when Mike Keenan was hired by Neil Smith in 1993, the prevailing sentiment among many was that he too was a retread who was brought in because of his celebrity status.

There are some interesting parallels between the Keenan and Sullivan hirings. In the 1991-92 season, the Rangers won the Presidents' trophy but did not win the Cup. They struggled mightily the following season, missing the playoffs. Under Keenan, the Blueshirts went on to win their first Cup in 54 years. 

In the 2023-24 season, the Rangers won the Presidents' trophy but failed to win the Cup. They struggled mightily the following season, missing the playoffs. No doubt Drury is banking on lightning striking twice.

There's another parallel between the two men. In 1987, Keenan coached Team Canada to a win against the Soviet Union in the Canada Cup. That team was put together in less than two weeks over the summer, and yet Keenan was credited with bringing them together. Earlier this year, Sullivan coached Team USA to a finals appearance in the Four Nations Face-off tournament. Like Keenan in '87, Sullivan had two weeks to assemble his roster and get everyone on the same page. Though Team USA lost to Team Canada in the final game, the prevailing sentiment was that Sullivan was the reason they go as far as they did.

Of course, there's one big difference between that '94 team and this one. The former had Mark Messier and Brian Leetch; the latter doesn't. As I wrote back in April, the real problem with this team isn't behind the bench - it never was - it's in the locker room. Drury can coax Scotty Bowman out of retirement and the result would probably be the same.

Mike Sullivan's biggest challenge with this team won't be drawing up the X's and O's, determining the line combinations and defense pairings, or how much ice time each player gets; it'll be dealing with a core that for most of last season behaved as if it needed a therapist more than it needed a head coach. 

Perhaps Drury should've hired Dr. Phil instead. 

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