After losing to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final and basically being dominated throughout the entire series, there were rumors that major changes could be coming to the core of the New York Rangers. It started with Barclay Goodrow and him being put on waivers and getting claimed by the San Jose Sharks. Then, there were big rumors that captain, Jacob Trouba could be moved to the Detroit Red Wings. However, this didn’t end up happening and it has been a quiet offseason for the Rangers ever since.
Now, with the 2024-25 season getting closer, it seems as if the Rangers will be running it back once again with the same core players that have fallen short in the past three Stanley Cup Playoff runs. If these players once again fall short of bringing the Stanley Cup back to New York, it’s safe to say that it will be the last time they will have the chance to play together and major changes will be coming next offseason.
Continued Playoff Failures
Since the Rangers came out of the rebuilding phase, they have been one of the top teams in the NHL and have made the playoffs for three consecutive seasons and will look to extend that streak to four this season. It started in 2021-22, when they made it to the Eastern Conference Final, but lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. They had a 2-0 series lead and a 2-0 lead in Game 3, but ended up losing four straight games. The following season, they lost in the first round in seven games to the New Jersey Devils. Once again, they had a 2-0 series lead and looked dominant, but completely collapsed and were an early exit. Last season, they once again made it to the conference final and had a 2-1 series lead over the Panthers, but went on to lose three straight games.
This team has shown a pattern of not being able to close out a series when they have the lead. Two players who have struggled in the playoffs recently are Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin. For Zibanejad, he had a great 2022 Playoffs, scoring 10 goals and 24 points in 20 games. Since then, he has had just four goals and 20 points in 23 combined playoff games over the past two seasons. Those numbers might not seem too bad, but when he is relied on to score goals, it becomes a massive problem.
For Panarin, he hasn’t been effective enough in these three playoff runs. He has 11 goals and 33 points in 43 playoff games. He has just not been good enough and his style of play does not translate well when the playoffs come around. The two best offensive players have been ineffective at the most important times of the season and it has become a reoccurring problem.
Jacob Trouba’s Likely Final Season
No matter what happens this season, whether the Rangers win it all or not, it’s safe to assume that the writing is on the wall for Trouba’s time with the Rangers. It became very clear that they wanted to move off of him this summer, but when he got word of the rumors, he did everything in his power to remain with the team and so far, he has. They wanted to move him and the final two years of his $8 million contract because now he is the team’s third-best right-handed defenseman behind Adam Fox and Braden Schneider. He is simply a luxury the Rangers cannot afford, but they will have to keep him for at least one more season.
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His poor performance at the end of last season and going into the playoffs pushed him down to the third defensive pair. That is where he is likely to start this season and maybe he can bounce back playing in a limited role, but even so, the Rangers are going to have other players that they need to pay and having $8 million on your third defensive pair just isn’t a good allocation of the money. So, whether or not he plays well enough, the Rangers are going to have to move on from him after this season and will be looking for a new captain for the 2025-26 season.
Rangers Are Entering a Cap Crunch Next Offseason
After this season is over, the Rangers will have lots of business to attend to in regards to re-signing players. This is another reason why it’s the last chance for this core to get the job done. This will be the last season that Igor Shesterkin, K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere are on “team-friendly” deals. They are going to have to get paid and depending on how good of a season both Kaapo Kakko and Ryan Lindgren have, they too will have to get paid and the Rangers will simply not be able to afford them all. Moving Trouba will help, but it still might not be enough to keep this group together depending on the ask of these players and what they want on their next contracts.
This season is all or nothing for the Rangers. If they don’t win a Stanley Cup, it will just add more to the fact that these players can’t get the job done together and will prove that changes need to be made regardless of salary cap concerns. This Rangers team is very good on paper and has proven that they can make it far, but they need to get over the hump this season because this is the last shot they will have as a group to win a Stanley Cup and end this franchise’s 31-year drought.
