Rangers Phone It In

"They wanted it more." - Vincent Trocheck

I'll say this for Trocheck, he's honest.

With a chance to close out their series with the Carolina Hurricanes in front of their loyal fans, the New York Rangers had one of their worst performances of the season. How bad was this game? According to CSA Hockey, which is owned and operated by Stephen Valiquette, they had only one high danger scoring chance to the Hurricanes 10 the entire game.* And that one HD scoring chance was Jacob Trouba's shorthanded goal in the second period, which gave the Blueshirts a 1-0 lead that they took into the third period. Think about it: as bad as they played, they were still 20 minutes away from advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.

It is incomprehensible and indefensible that this team was not prepared to play a Carolina team that was facing elimination. Even during their swoon in January, the Rangers mustered better offensive efforts. Frankly, I'm at a loss to explain it. And now this team, which had a commanding 3-0 series lead, heads back to Raleigh, clinging to 3-2 lead, but facing a Hurricanes team that has all the momentum on its side.

It is an axiom in sports that when you have your opponent pinned, you don't let him off the mat. Perhaps it was unrealistic to believe that the Rangers were going to sweep a Hurricanes team that finished only three points behind them during the regular season. And given how tight this series had been through the first three games, two of which went to OT, the law of averages dictated that the Canes were due for a win.

But what happened at the Garden Monday night had nothing to do with the law of averages. This loss was not inevitable; in fact, it was completely preventable. Considering how the Rangers imploded last season against the New Jersey Devils, you'd think every player in that locker room would be cognizant of that fact before the game. You'd think that, but you'd be wrong.

Alarm bells should be going off all over this team. From their slow starts, to their suddenly ice-cold power play, which is now 0 for its last 8 after starting the series 4 for 9, the sense of urgency is simply not there. About the only thing they're excelling at is their penalty kill, which is 19-20 with two short-handed goals in this series. Overall in the playoffs, the Rangers penalty kill is a league-best 91.9 percent.

The Rangers will have to step up their intensity if they expect to put away Carolina. What worked in games one, two and three did not work in games four and five, and it won't work in game six either. Of all the teams in the playoffs, the Rangers should know that most of all. Two years ago, they were faced with no less than six elimination games and they went 5-1 in those games. So far this postseason, the Hurricanes are 2-0 facing elimination; it is imperative that they not get to 3-0 after Thursday night.

If the Rangers need a little inspiration, they need look no further than the other tenant that resides at MSG. After getting embarrassed by the Indiana Pacers Sunday afternoon, the New York Knicks took to the court Tuesday night and, in front of their adoring fans, returned the favor. They outscored the Pacers in every quarter and out rebounded them 53-29, en-route to a 121-91 rout. Now that's what I call resiliency; that's how you take care of business. If the Rangers were smart, they were watching that game and hopefully took some notes.

Fourteen years ago yesterday, the Philadelphia Flyers, down 0-3 to the Boston Bruins, successfully completed a four-game series comeback. They're one of only four teams in NHL history to achieve such a feat. The coach of that Flyers team was Peter Laviolette. If the Rangers don't wake up, Laviolette will have the distinction of being the only head coach to be on both sides of an 0-3 comeback.

And that's a piece of history neither this coach nor this team should want any part of.

* According to Valiquette, this was just the 9th time since 2016 that the Rangers had been limited to one or fewer HD scoring chances in a game.

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?

Horvat Deal Doesn't Impact Drury or the Rangers

To be honest, I was surprised that Lou Lamoriello pulled the trigger on the Bo Horvat deal. Frankly, I didn't think he had it in him. From everything we know about the man, he's strictly a role player type GM. Just take a gander at the Devils teams he put together in the '90s. He has a history of avoiding big names with equally big contracts. And make no mistake about it: it will take a lot of money to re-sign Horvat. Think at least $9.5 million x 8 years. If Mathew Barzal's AAV is $9.15 million x 8 years, you can bet the ranch the starting price for Horvat will be north of that. And that's assuming Lamoriello locks him up before the summer, which if he doesn't makes this "rental" a bust.

But while Horvat instantly becomes the Isles best player, his presence alone doesn't automatically catapult them into the postseason. That's because apart from Anders Lee there isn't a single winger on this roster that puts the fear of God into an opposing team. So unless Lou has another trade up his sleeve, I would hold off reserving those playoff tickets, if I were you. That might explain why Lamoriello protected the first round pick he sent to Vancouver. In the event they don't make into the tournament, he doesn't want to blow his chance at drafting Connor Bedard. Lou may be stubborn but he's not stupid.

So how does the Horvat deal impact Chris Drury's potential moves at the trade deadline? In a word, it doesn't. That's because Horvat is a center and the Rangers are set at that position. We can debate how effective Vincent Trocheck's offense has been since his arrival on Broadway last summer, but he is an improvement over Ryan Strome. If you can't see that, then maybe you should stop reading this blog. And after four years of promissory notes, Filip Chytil appears to finally be delivering on his potential. The third-line center has been one of the better forwards on this team the last few weeks, especially since Gerard Gallant reunited the Kid line. Drury's only problem will be re-signing him during the offseason.

As I wrote in my last piece, the Rangers number one need will be adding a scoring winger. And if they can find one cheap enough, maybe a shutdown center, as well. The problem for Drury won't be what his fellow GMs do, but available cap space. Even with Sammy Blais' contract off the books - and I assume Drury is actively working to make that a reality - the Rangers will only have about $7.5 million in deadline cap space to work with. That doesn't come come close to what they had last season when Drury was able to add four valuable pieces to help the Rangers on their playoff run.

Add to that the fact that, unlike last season when we knew who the top eight teams were in the Eastern conference, this season, there are eleven teams vying for eight playoff spots. In the Western conference, that number is ten. Meaning Drury will have a lot more chefs in the kitchen to contend with, all of them looking to make a soufflé from scratch. For an organization that values its youth and doesn't want to repeat the mistakes of the past, Drury will have to thread the needle here.

So, yes, the Horvat deal helps the Islanders, but it doesn't impact the Rangers in the slightest. Drury's job isn't any harder now than it was a day or two ago. This is still a playoff team that could use some filling out. How much will depend on what the seller is asking for and what the buyer is willing to pay.

Rangers are Running Out of Time to Right Ship

This is getting serious now. This is no mere slump. Twenty-three games into the season and if the playoffs were to start tomorrow, the Rangers would be on the outside looking in. Incredible, isn't it? Last year a conference finalist; this year eliminated from the postseason.

So what's wrong? I believe it comes to three things.

Igor Shesterkin: Let's face it, last year's Vezina trophy winner just hasn't lived up to his billing. While he's been good, and at times very good, he has yet to steal a game this season. Even in the one shutout he posted against the Flyers, it was Carter Hart who wound up stealing a point, keeping the Blueshirts off the scoreboard until Chris Kreider beat him on a breakaway in OT. 

Pucks that were once routinely turned aside, are now finding their way in the back of the net. Shesterkin has allowed a questionable goal in each his last two starts: the game-tying goal against the Oilers and the go-ahead goal against the Devils. Had last year's Igor been in net, the Rangers likely would've won both games instead of losing them.

Inconsistent play: Too often this season, the Rangers have made middling goalies look like all stars. Including the Flyers game, on five separate occasions, the Rangers have been stymied by the opposing goalie. Despite outshooting the Devils 17-4 in the third period of Monday night's loss, all they could muster was one goal - a power play tally by Vincent Trocheck off a rebound with six minutes to go.

It has been perplexing to say the least to see a team with so much elite-level talent, a team that has been averaging 30 plus shots per game, unable to get its offense untracked. Indeed, if you take away the 8-2 romp they had over the Red Wings in Detroit, only twice this month have the Rangers scored more than three goals in a game, and that was against the lowly Coyotes (4) and the Kings (5). Either they get off to a good start and take their foot off the accelerator, or they fall behind early and can't catch up.

A large part of the inconsistency has been the power play. In a word, it's become predictable as dirt. Fox passes to Panarin on right wing, Panarin finds Zibanejad with a cross-ice pass, and Zibanejad buries a one timer past the goalie. Perfect, right? Except every team in the league with a scouting department worth a damn knows that cross-ice pass to Zibanejad is coming and they're breaking it up. As a result, the Rangers have gone 4 for 28 (14.2 percent) on the power play over their last eight games.

But the bulk of the inconsistency is owed directly to a lack of effort. By my count, the Rangers have had a total of three games in which they've played a solid sixty minutes: the 3-1 season opener win against the Lightning, the 3-2 OT loss to the Avalanche and the 1-0 OT shutout against the Flyers. That's it. Three games out of twenty-three. That's not good enough to even qualify for the playoffs, much less win the Stanley Cup.

Lack of toughness: Did you see it? I'm sure you did. Seconds after Leon Draisaitl put the Oilers ahead 4-3 late in the third period, he skated by Jacob Trouba and knocked the defenseman's stick out of his hands. If that had happened last season, Draisaitl would've been challenged immediately, if not by Trouba, then certainly by someone else. No way that shit would've gone unanswered. Excuses like they didn't want to take a penalty and ruin any chance of tying the game just aren't cutting it.

By now, every team in the NHL has gotten a hold of that video and I guarantee you they're taking notes. The team that last season stood up for each other now looks more like the team David Quinn coached in 2020-21. And we all know how that ended: A .500 team that got run out of every rink in the league. Of all the problems besetting this team, this is the one that, if not corrected, will sink the season. The offense will finally break through; Igor will rediscover his game; but a spine is something a team either has or it doesn't have. There's no in-between.

Bottom line, time is running out on the Rangers. This isn't last season when we knew who the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference were and the only question was the seating. This season there are approximately ten teams - eleven if you count the Capitals - that will be jockeying for eight playoff spots. At the rate they're going, the Rangers are going to run out of runway soon.

If this team is going to turn the season around, it had better start before it's too late.

2022-23 NHL Predictions

Seeing as how I was so "great" with my predictions last year - I actually had the Islanders over the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup finals and neither team qualified for the postseason - I thought I'd give it another whirl. As always, take them with a rather large grain of salt.

Eastern Conference:

Atlantic Division:

Florida Panthers: They gave up their leading scorer and second best defenseman to land Matthew Tkachuk. That should tell you how desperate they were to get rid of the stench of last year's sweep at the hands of the Lightning. Time will tell if it was worth it.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Both Ryan McDonagh and Ondrej Palat were cap casualties and will be sorely missed. But there's still more than enough talent on this roster, and so long as they have Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, they have to be taken seriously as a Cup contender.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Everyone has jumped on their bandwagon this season, which is odd given that they didn't address their lack of depth during the offseason and they're relying on a goaltender whose best years are half a decade behind him. Auston Matthews will once again keep them relevant. 

Metropolitan Division:

New York Rangers: Vincent Trocheck is a step above Ryan Strome; the "kids" seem poised to have a break out year; and last season's Vezina trophy winner Igor Shesterkin is the best in the league. Chris Drury has done a masterful job as GM.

Carolina Hurricanes: Yes, Brent Burns is better than Tony DeAngelo, and they got Max Pacioretty from the Golden Knights ostensibly for free, but losing Trocheck to the Rangers and Nino Niederreiter to the Predators will cost them.

Pittsburgh Penguins: They kept "the band" together. So what? The last time this "band" won a playoff series was 2018. The core of this team is old and getting older. Ron Hextall keeps punting the ball hoping for a muff. It won't work.

Wild Cards: 

Boson Bruins: God only knows how Don Sweeney managed to entice Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to return on such team-friendly contracts - $2.5m and $1m respectively. Good for him. Sans them, this team would have a hard time staying above .500. But even with both on the roster, it's hard imagining them going far in the playoffs.

Columbus Blue Jackets: They made the biggest splash during the offseason, signing Johnny Gaudreau and then re-signed Patrik Laine. They'll score a ton of goals but struggle on D. 

Western Conference:

Central Division: 

Colorado Avalanche: They steamrolled their way to a Stanley Cup championship last season, going 16-4 in the tournament. And while losing Nazem Kadri to the Flames will test the depth of this team, the core is about as elite as it gets.

Nashville Predarors: McDonagh and Niederreiter were solid additions during the offseason and will make this team a formidable opponent during both the regular and postseason. Their goaltending is elite and their defense is among the best in the league.

St. Louis Blues: Balanced scoring throughout the lineup makes them a genuine threat, and Jordan Binnington is still one of the better goalies in the league.

Pacific Division:

Calgary Flames: Talk about turning lemons into lemonade. Their two best players departed over the summer: one via free agency, the other via a trade, and they managed to actually get better. Jonathan Huberdeau is one of the best forwards in the league and Kadri was the second best center on last year's Colorado Cup team. Despite last season's poor showing against the Oilers in the second round, Jacob Markstrom is an outstanding goaltender.

Edmonton Oilers: I'm going out on a limb here by picking them again for second place. They have the scoring up front with Connor McDavid; the issue is the defense. Jack Campbell may not be an elite goalie, but he's head over heels better than Mike Smith.

L.A. Kings: They lucked out when the Wild had to shed Kevin Fiala's contract in an obvious salary dump. Now they will at least be able to put some pucks in the net. Jonathan Quick should still have enough left in the tank to give them first-rate goaltending.

Wild Cards:

Minnesota Wild: Fiala was a salary cap casualty. And that's unfortunate for a team that challenged for second place in the division last season. They re-signed Marc-Andre Fleury so that will help.

Vancouver Canucks: Now that they've extended J.T. Miller and they have their coach in place, I expect they will do what they should've done last year: make the playoffs.

Close but no cigar:

Eastern Conference:

New York Islanders: For the second straight offseason, Lou Lamoriello failed to add an elite scorer to this otherwise pedestrian forward group. Pity Mathew Barzall, who deserves better than what he's been given.

Washington Capitals: They needed to get younger and didn't. The good news is that at least their fans will be able to see Alex Ovechkin break Wayne Gretzky's goal record.

New Jersey Devils: They needed a sniper on the wing; they got Ondrej Palat. They needed a solid goaltender; they got Vitek Vanecek. They'll score a lot of goals; they'll give up more.

Western Conference:

Vegas Golden Knights: Their successful pursuit of Jack Eichel has cost them Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, and Max Pacioretty. It will now cost them a second-consecutive postseason berth.

Dallas Stars: They extended the Flames a full seven games in the opening round of the playoffs last season. This year they won't get that chance.

Playoffs:

Eastern Conference Finals: Rangers over the Lightning 4-2

Western Conference Finals: Avalanche over the Flames 4-3

Stanley Cup Finals: Avalanche over the Rangers 4-2

Year End Awards:

Presidents' Trophy: Colorado Avalanche

Art Ross Trophy: Connor McDavid, Oilers

Hart Trophy: Jonathan Huberdeau, Flames

Norris Trophy: Roman Josi, Predators

Vezina Trophy: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning

Jack Adams Award: Gerard Gallant, Rangers

Conn Smythe Trophy: Cale Makar, Avalanche

Analyzing the 2022-23 Rangers

Last season was one of the most exciting and unexpected for the New York Rangers in more than a generation. After missing the playoffs four straight years, the Blueshirts not only qualified for the postseason, they made it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals. And if they hadn't run out of gas against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they would've made it all the way to finals.

This team is now a bonafide contender, and that is due in no small part to the job Chris Drury has done as GM. While his predecessor Jeff Gorton laid the foundation, Drury added the missing pieces, including the head coach, Gerard Gallant, who was the polar opposite of David Quinn. The rebuild was a resounding success.

So let's breakdown where this team stands and the key players who will determine how successful it will be this season.

Vincent Trocheck. The former Carolina Hurricane is an upgrade over Ryan Strome, who signed with the Anaheim Ducks over the summer. Trocheck checks all the boxes. He's a good skater, good passer, good checker and good in his own zone. He's not afraid to go into the corners and, oh yeah, he's good on face-offs. Last season, he won 54.6 percent of his draws. He's a solid 2C who will benefit from having Artemi Panarin on his line.

Vitali Kravtsov: After last year's clusterfuck, it's obvious Drury had no intention of letting lightning strike twice. The talented winger has been practicing exclusively with Panarin during the preseason and the two have developed a chemistry that, if it clicks in the regular season, will give the Rangers one of the better second lines in the league. If it doesn't, Drury will have trade bait at the deadline.

The Kid Line: It's no secret that the Rangers relied a great deal on Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko in the postseason. Without this line, it's doubtful they would've beaten the Penguins in the first round, much less the Hurricanes in the second. It seems Gallant has decided, for now, to keep the kids together to start the season. How long they stay together will depend on how well both they and the right wings on lines one and two perform.

Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Adam Fox and Panarin: There's no getting around it. The Rangers will go as far as the Fab Four takes them. Kreider's 52 regular season goals led the team last season, and while he doesn't necessarily need a repeat performance, the team can't afford to have him revert to his old ways of scoring 28. Zibanejad was second on the team in power play goals with 15 and led the team in postseason scoring with 24; Fox finished right behind with 23. While Panarin struggled in the playoffs, he is the one of the most talented forwards in the NHL. His 96 points led the team.

Braden Schneider: Mini Trouba, as he is called in the locker room, had an impressive rookie season. The Rangers are counting on him to develop into a solid, stay at home defenseman. With Zac Jones on his left, the two should be a considerable upgrade over the tandem of Patrik Nemeth and Nils Lundkvist, both of whom Drury unloaded during the offseason. 

K'Andre Miller: With the exception of Lafreniere, no other player on this team is poised to have the kind of breakout year than Miller. He was third on the team in plus / minus with 23. He has the size, speed and skating ability to be an elite defenseman in the NHL. The sky's the limit with this kid. Like Lafreniere, he will be an RFA after the season, meaning Drury will have his hands full getting him re-signed.

Igor Shesterkin: Last season's Vezina's trophy winner was also unquestionably the team's MVP. He led the league in save percentage (.935) and goals against average (2.07). The Rangers will need him to be just as brilliant this season.

The Power Play: The Rangers had the fourth best power play in the league last season at 25.2 percent. And on a team that struggled to score at 5v5, that was the key to their success; that and Shesterkin's acrobatics in net. For the Blueshirts to contend this season, they will need the power play to be as potent.

The prognosis: Unlike last season, when Gallant was trying to figure out who went where, most of the positions on this team are set. Indeed, the only questions remaining to be answered are who will play RW on the Zibanejad line, and who will the team keep as its 13th forward and 7th defenseman. The Rangers are one of those rare teams that has a veteran core but also some of the youngest players in the league. That combination might just be the special sauce that propels them over the top.

The fact is if you look objectively at the Eastern Conference, a case can be made that the Rangers are the best of the bunch. While an in-depth analysis of the league is forthcoming, in short, each of the top teams in the conference was forced to shed talent to get under the salary cap. The Lightning lost Ondrej Palat to the Devils in free agency and Ryan McDonagh to the Predators in a trade; the Hurricanes were unable to re-sign either Trocheck or Nino Niederreiter; the Panthers surrendered Jonathan Huberdeau, their top scoring forward last season, to acquire Matthew Tkachuk; the Penguins couldn't afford to keep Ivan Rodrigues, who signed with the Avalanche; and the Maple Leafs opted to go with a goalie that hasn't had a good season since his cup years in Pittsburgh half a decade ago.

By contrast, the Rangers have depth at virtually every position and the elite goaltending to go on another extended playoff run. Last October, I said they were a year or two away from the Holy Grail. I've seen nothing over the last twelve months that would change that assessment. 

Drury Knocks It Out of the Park

Going into Wednesday afternoon, Chris Drury knew two things: 1. Andrew Copp was likely going to sign a multi-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings; and 2. Evgeni Malkin had agreed to a four year extension to remain with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The latter was significant because it meant that Drury's number one target in this year's free agent draft, Vincent Trocheck, was his for the taking, provided he could come to the table with an acceptable offer.

With only about $10 million in available cap space and knowing he still had to re-sign Kaapo Kakko and find a backup goaltender and a fourth-line center, the Rangers President and GM rolled up his sleeves and went to work. In the end, the two sides reached an agreement: $5.625 million x 7 years. While the term was longer than Drury would've preferred to go, it was necessary to keep the dollar amount manageable. Anything above $6 million and Drury would likely have walked away and gone with Filip Chytil as his 2C next season.

Does Trocheck make the Rangers a better team? In a word, yes. Unlike Ryan Strome and Copp, Trocheck is one of the better two-way centers in the league. He's good in all three zones, is quick on the puck, isn't afraid to park himself in front of the net and - this is crucial - wins face-offs; 52.1 percent over his career. The one knock on him is that he's not a particularly gifted scorer, but then he's never played with someone as talented as Artemi Panarin before.

It cannot be overstated the impact Panarin can have on a player's stats. For instance, before his arrival in New York, Ryan Strome averaged 35 points per season. Since he was paired with Panarin three years ago, his season average has gone up to 54 points, and one of those seasons (2020-21) was shortened by the pandemic. During his brief stint with the Blueshirts, Andrew Copp scored 18 points in 16 regular season games. Before that, he was a half a point per game player at best. Having a world-class playmaker on your line has its advantages. Now those advantages will be Trocheck's to enjoy.

But while the Trocheck signing was significant, Drury wasn't done, not by a long shot. He found someone to take Patrik Nemeth's contract off his hands. When the Rangers failed to exercise their option to buy out the defenseman the day before, the feeling was that maybe he could be sent to Hartford, thus giving the team a modicum of cap relief. Instead, Drury pawned Nemeth off on the Arizona Coyotes. The price? A 2025 second-rounder and a future conditional pick. He even managed to swindle the Yotes out of a prospect to complete the deal: Ty Emberson, K'Andre Miller's defense partner from his Wisconsin days.

Just like that, $2.5 million in cap space was freed up; cap space that Drury then used to sign backup goalie Jaroslav Halak ($1.5m x 1) and center Ryan Carpenter ($750k x 1). For shits and giggles he even signed Pens third-string goalie Louie Domingue - yeah, that Louis Domingue - to fill out the Hartford roster. Assuming Kakko re-ups for $2.3 million, and assuming the Rangers elect to go with only 21 players on their roster, they would have about $1.5 million in cap space when all is said and done. And that will be important should Drury wish to add a player at the trade deadline.

I will be compiling a list of winners and losers in this year's free agency class. Suffice to say, the Rangers, thanks to Chris Drury, will be among the winners.