Entering this season, the New York Rangers were expected to be one of the favorites. They won the 2023-24 Presidents’ Trophy as the best team in the regular season, made it to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final, and lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. With much of the same roster in place, another deep playoff run was expected. However, now 10 days away from the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, the Rangers are fighting for their playoff lives.
The Blueshirts are two points out of a wild-card spot. With seven teams fighting for two spots, the Rangers will need every point they can get if they want to make the playoffs.
This was supposed to be “The Last Dance” for the team’s core group of players and instead of buying in and giving it one last shot, they seemed to have given up by December. In this piece, we are going to look at their previous three playoff runs and how they ended, the moves made this season amid the losing stretch, and the potential moves still to be made.
Rangers’ Failed Playoff Runs
Following the COVID-19-shortened 2021 season, the Rangers were looking to make it back to the playoffs. In 2021-22, they achieved their goal. They faced the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, and despite falling 3-1 in the series, they rallied back and took the series in seven games thanks to Artemi Panarin’s overtime winner. They then beat the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round in seven games and held a 2-0 series lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final before being eliminated after four straight losses. Still, it was a great first step for a team coming out of a rebuild.
In 2022-23, the Rangers decided to make some big splashes at the deadline, bringing in both Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane. With a lineup filled with all-star players, they faced the New Jersey Devils in the first round. They dominated the Devils in the first two games and had a 2-0 series lead heading back to Madison Square Garden. Then, for whatever reason, it all came crashing down. They lost three straight, and although they won in Game 6 to force Game 7, they did not show up in that all-important game and made a first-round exit a season after being two games away from the Stanley Cup Final.
Following the loss to the Devils, fans wanted management to blow up the roster and trade the big-name players after many of them didn’t show up in that series. However, general manager Chris Drury decided to give the core one more chance, and with new head coach Peter Laviolette coming in to replace Gerard Gallant, the 2023-24 season became a last-ditch effort for this group of players.
They did well, finishing as the best team in the regular season but again couldn’t get it done in the playoffs. They had a 2-1 series lead over the Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final but lost the next three games, and their season was over. Despite the loss, their regular season was enough to convince Drury to give them another last chance to win together, which brings us to 2024-25.
Rangers Core Has Already Been Broken Up
The Rangers started the season well, with a 12-4-1 record. But after that, they won just five of their next 21 games to fall completely out of the playoff race by the time 2025 rolled around. Drury sent out a memo to other teams saying he was open for business and was willing to deal off his veteran players. Indeed, he started to dismantle the core; it started with captain Jacob Trouba, who was moved to the Anaheim Ducks in early December, and then 2019 second-overall pick Kaapo Kakko was traded to the Seattle Kraken a week later.
The Rangers started to play better in January and got themselves back into the playoff race. They then traded for J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a 2025 top-13 protected first-round pick. This was a massive gamble for a team that isn’t guaranteed to make the postseason, but Drury felt the team needed a player like him on the ice and in the locker room. So far, he has been great, with five goals and nine points in eight games.
This marked the start of a new era for the Rangers. It came at the cost of the old core pieces being moved and while it may hurt to lose players who were brought in during the rebuild, this was the cost of playing so poorly for most of the season.
More Moves to Come at the Deadline and in the Offseason
The reshaping of this team is not going to stop anytime soon and despite the Rangers being in the playoff race, it should not stop Drury from moving on from his pending unrestricted free agents at the deadline as he knows these players won’t be back after this season. He should even consider moving on from other players if he feels the deal is right and can help the team now and in the coming seasons.
Players like K’Andre Miller, Chris Kreider, and Mika Zibanejad could bring in great returns at the deadline, but they are more likely to be moved during the offseason when teams have more room under the cap to work with. While Kreider has a partial no-trade clause, Zibanejad has a no-movement clause, so it would be up to him if he wanted to be traded and he would be more likely to accept a trade in the offseason when he has time to talk about it with his family. If Drury wants to truly shake up the core, it means moving on from long-tenured players so a new core can take over next season.
Drury should also consider moving Artemi Panarin. With only one year left on his contract and with some big-time players that could become available in the next few seasons, now is the time for the Rangers to look in a new direction for a star player. While he has been the Rangers’ best offensive player since joining the team, he hasn’t been their best in the playoffs and the team will need playoff performers moving forward.
If Drury moves any or all of these players, it won’t be for draft picks and prospects. With Miller signed for the next five seasons and Igor Shesterkin’s contract extension kicking in next season, the Rangers aren’t rebuilding.
A season that was supposed to be a last shot for the Rangers’ core group to win it all took a major turn nobody expected. While we were expecting changes to happen in the offseason, nobody could have predicted the roster shakeup we’ve seen so far, with more changes expected heading trade deadline. This core had many chances to get the job done, and while they got close, they never hoisted the Cup. It’s time for the Rangers to move on from them before it is too late.
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