3 Things Rangers GM Chris Drury Must Avoid Doing This Offseason

With how poorly this season went for the New York Rangers, this offseason is going to be a big indicator of where this team wants to go in the future. General manager Chris Drury has stated multiple times that the Rangers are not entering another rebuild and used the term “retool” instead. If Drury wants this team back contending for a playoff spot, as early as next season, he is going to have to make some moves this offseason to improve this roster. However, he needs to be smart about the moves he makes, as he can’t afford to handicap the future of this franchise. In this piece, we are going over three things Drury must avoid doing this offseason.

Overpaying In Free Agency

The 2026 free agent class was projected to be one of the top, if not the best, free agent classes in NHL history. Names like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, and Kirill Kaprizov all could have hit the open market this offseason, and the bidding wars would have been insane. Instead, all three of those names, plus many more, have already signed extensions with their current teams and have left this free agent class looking very bare. With the rising salary cap, the Rangers have nearly $30 million in cap space this offseason, and Drury is going to want to spend some of that money. However, he needs to be careful on who he spends it on, as many of the players in this free agent class are likely going to get overpaid.

One name that keeps getting linked to the Rangers is Alex Tuch of the Buffalo Sabres. He is the best forward available in free agency, and the Rangers have been rumored to be interested in this player as early as 2024. They have a hole in their top six, and Tuch could be a good fit for them, but the money and term he is going to ask for is not worth giving. He is already 30 years old, and with the Rangers already having a core of players 30 or older, adding another on a long-term, big-money deal is not something Drury should consider doing.

Can Not Undervalue His Top Trade Assets

The Rangers are going to have some players they look to trade this offseason, and two of those names are Vincent Trocheck and Braden Schneider. Trocheck was available at the deadline, but no team was willing to meet the high asking price Drury set, and that should remain the same this offseason. With a lack of centers available in free agency and more teams looking to make moves now than at the deadline, Trocheck is the most valuable trade piece the Rangers have. There is going to be more of a trade market for this player, and that means a bidding war is likely to take place. If Drury wants to help this retool move faster, he needs to maximize the trade value on Trocheck, and that means keeping the high asking price that he had at the deadline.

Schneider is another player who has been in trade rumors for months, and with him being a restricted free agent this offseason, now is the best time to move him. Plenty of other teams are going to have interest in a 24-year-old right-handed defenseman who can play top-four minutes. He has not grown into the player the Rangers hoped he would be, and if he can bring back multiple assets that can help them become better next season or in the future, that should be seen as a win. Like Trocheck, Schneider is one of the Rangers’ most valuable trade pieces, and Drury cannot afford to lose either of these trades if they happen.

Drury Can’t Think The Team Is One or Two Pieces Away

It’s clear that Drury does not want this “retool” to be a long process and wants the Rangers to become contenders as quickly as possible. However, he can’t afford to rush this process, and if he thinks one or two big moves are going to change the direction of this franchise, he is wrong. The Rangers showed many flaws this season that need to be addressed this offseason and in the future. They don’t have any top-end forward talent, they lack the depth at forward that Stanley Cup championship teams have, they don’t have a puck-moving defenseman outside of Adam Fox, and plenty of other problems.

While all of these problems can’t be solved in one offseason, Drury should look at one or two of these areas of need and see what he can do to help improve them. Trading for one top-six forward or another puck-moving defenseman isn’t going to immediately make the Rangers a playoff contender again, but it’s a start. Drury has to realize this process is going to take time, and it will take multiple moves to turn the Rangers back into a playoff-contending team. That’s why he can’t afford to make a bad free agent signing or trade this offseason. One wrong move and this retool can turn into a rebuild very quickly.

The Rangers are going to be a team to watch this offseason, and Drury is going to have all the eyes on him to see what he will do to try to improve this team. The majority of the fanbase already wants him gone, but he isn’t going anywhere, and he will be the one leading the Rangers into the future. If Drury wants to get some of the fans’ trust back, he must avoid doing these three things this offseason.