Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
The statement issued to fans from New York Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury on Friday will have major ramifications on the future of the franchise.
Drury wrote about his plan to “retool” the team in a letter awfully similar to the one former Rangers president Glen Sather and general manager Jeff Gorton released in 2018 when the Rangers planned to embark on a plan they described as a “reshaping” of the team.
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There’s a lot to dissect regarding Drury’s message, so let’s dive into it.
The first notable thing of substance is Drury’s words to describe where the Rangers are right now in the standings (last place in the Eastern Conference) and how the team will not accept the status quo.
“With our position in the standings and injuries to key players this season, we must be honest and realistic about our situation,” Drury emphasized. “We are not going to stand pat – a shift will give us the ability to be smart and opportunistic as we retool the team.”
To state the obvious, Drury, along with owner James Dolan have accepted the reality that the Rangers will, in all likelihood not make the playoffs this season, let alone compete for a Stanley Cup, so they are essentially punting on this season with their sights set on the future.
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That leads to the next order of business: who will Drury look to trade, and how will he approach this retool as he phrases it?
“This will not be a rebuild,” Drury wrote. “This will be a retool built around our core players and prospects. We will target players that bring tenacity, skill, speed, and a winning pedigree with a focus on obtaining young players, draft picks, and cap space to allow us flexibility moving forward. That may mean saying goodbye to players that have brought us and our fans great moments over the years. These players represented the Rangers with pride and class and will always be a part of our family.”
Which players is Drury hinting at trading when he says that fans may have to say “goodbye to players that have brought us and our fans great moments over the years”?
For starters, Drury reportedly had an individual meeting with Artemi Panarin, who is expected to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, and informed him that he will not be offered a contract extension, while the team is prepared to work with him and agent Paul Theofanous to trade him anywhere he wishes to go.
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Panarin will almost certainly be dealt before the March 6 NHL Trade Deadline.
According to Vince Mercogliano of The Athletic, other players who holds a no-move clause in their contract have been asked about how they feel about the retool plan and whether they’d be open to sticking around for it or would rather go elsewhere, which includes Adam Fox, Vladislav Gavrikov, J.T. Miller, and Igor Shesterkin, who all sound like they’re on board with the retool plan and expressed that they want to stay in New York, per Mercogliano.
Meanwhile, Vincent Trocheck has a partial no-trade clause and is under contract until 2029 at a manageable cap hit of $5.6 million per year, making him a more desirable player to trade for the Rangers, as he could garner a high return from contending teams looking to make a Stanley Cup push.
There are also other veteran players set to become unrestricted free agents this upcoming offseason, headlined by Carson Soucy, Jonny Brodzinski, Conor Sheary, and Jonathan Quick. All of these players could be viewed as easy trade assets given Drury’s selling approach, but how much value could they really fetch on the open market?
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There’s a grey area when it comes to Alexis Lafrenière and Braden Schneider’s trade availability because while both of these players are young and fit the team’s current window, they have failed to live up to original expectations placed upon them as prospects, and their value is quickly diminishing.
Chris Drury Issues Message To Fans Announcing The Rangers’ Intentions To Retool
It’s unclear who Drury considers to be the Rangers’ “core players and prospects” he wants to build around, which is why it is difficult to predict which players are actually on the trade block outside of Panarin.
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On top of draft picks, Drury mentions the team’s desire to clear up cap space to allow flexibility moving forward.
The Rangers are looking to get younger and accumulate more draft picks, but Drury was very specific in mentioning that this process is a “retool” and not a “rebuild”, meaning if they are able to build enough assets and clear up a sufficient amount of cap space, a trade or signing of a superstar caliber player in the near future is not entirely out of the picture.
Remember, the Rangers took this same approach in 2019 when, despite still going through a rebuilding process, the Blueshirts went out and signed Panarin to a 7-year, $81.5 million contract.
Drury ends the letter by letting fans know that his plan will begin to take shape within the “coming weeks and months” and with the trade deadline just a few weeks ago, Drury will likely spend the remaining time until the trade deadline fielding offers for some of his most prominent veteran players.
This is what is in the pipeline for the Rangers in what will be a franchise-altering few months.
