The New York Rangers are entering 2025 as one of the worst teams in the entire NHL. For a team that started 12-4-1, they have lost 15 of their last 19 games and sit dead last in the Metropolitan Division. Teams are passing them by in the wild card race and as of now, it seems that any hopes for the playoffs are dead and buried. They have continued to no show each and every game and every loss brings out more rumors that they are ready to sell off some of their players, and it seems that is the direction things are heading at the moment.
They are going to have plenty of players that will draw interest from other teams as we approach the 2025 Trade Deadline. However, some of those are going to be ones that they drafted or traded for during the rebuild and while they have had some success with this team over the years, they never got a Stanley Cup and now, they need to be moved on from as the retooling process for the Rangers begins to take shape.
Kaapo Kakko Was Already Moved, Just Like Other First Round Picks
The most recent move the Rangers made was trading 2019 second-overall pick Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken for Will Borgen and two draft picks. This move came after years of rumors that he was disgruntled in New York as he wasn’t getting the playing time a player of his caliber needed in order to succeed. He was made a healthy scratch in his second to last game with the team and made comments about it, then was traded away the next day. He has one goal and three points in five games with the Kraken and is continuing to get better as he adjusts to a new team. While trading him away was a recognition that they failed to develop this player with so much potential, he was just another first-round pick from the rebuild that they have gone and traded away as player development seems to be an issue for a team that could use young, affordable talent going forward.
From 2017-2021, the Rangers made nine first-round picks over that span. Of the nine players drafted, only five of those remain with the organization. The players that were traded away were Kakko, Lias Andersson, Vitali Kravtsov and Nils Lundkvist. These players were picked second, seventh, ninth and 28th overall respectively and none of them turned into the players the Rangers thought they would. Whether it was poor coaching or the players wanting out, they never reached their ceiling in New York and were all moved out over the past four seasons. While they did manage to get some decent assets for these players, the whole point of drafting them was to make them part of the future and that right now, if they were developed correctly, they could be helping this team. Instead, these picks were wasted on players that were never going to work in New York and the Rangers just kept adding to the fact that they can’t develop their high draft picks into good NHL players.
Ryan Lindgren & K’Andre Miller Are Likely Next to Go
Two other players that are likely on the trade block and will likely be moved are Ryan Lindgren and K’Andre Miller. Starting with Lindgren, he was the big prospect acquired in the deal that sent Rick Nash to the Boston Bruins in 2018. He was an NHL regular beginning in the 2019-20 season and alongside Adam Fox, they were one of the best defense pairings in the NHL for many seasons. He became a heart and soul player for this team and would play through almost any injury during the playoffs because that is how badly he wanted to play. However, those injuries along with regression in his game have seen him become a much worse player over the past two seasons. He was signed to a one-year deal heading into this season and it was assumed that it would be his last in New York no matter what. Now, with the team struggling, it seems as if his time will be coming to an end sooner rather than later.
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Now with Miller, he was one of the five remaining first-round picks from the rebuild that are still with the team. He is playing in his fifth season and still hasn’t taken the next step to becoming a top-pairing defenseman. Instead, he has taken a few steps back the last two seasons with this season especially being his worst. With Miller needing a new contract after this season and the Rangers unsure if they want to commit to him long-term, they could and should see what they could get for him in a trade. He is still just 24 and will be 25 by the trade deadline, so teams are going to have interest in a young defenseman who might just need a change of scenery to turn around his game. If both of these players do get moved, it would be another case of the Rangers moving on from players who were once seen as long-term pieces of this team moving forward.
Which Players Are Likely to Stick Around?
The Rangers aren’t going to be able to trade everyone as they are still going to need players for the rest of the season and down the line. So not every player acquired during the rebuild will be on the move, so which of them will be sticking around? The big name is Fox, who they got in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2019. He is still their number-one defenseman and a piece to build around going forward. Two other players who will likely be here for the long term are two picks from the 2020 Draft in Alexis Lafreniere and Braden Schneider. Lafreniere just signed a long-term deal earlier this season and while he has struggled lately, he is still a good young player they should build around. Schneider has been the second-best defenseman on the team behind Fox this season and having both of them on the right side of the defense for years to come should be a bright spot for this team.
These three names here specifically should be three key players for the Rangers going forward. If they are going to be moving these older players and bringing in pieces for the future, they are going to need these players to be here as the next core group moving forward. They are going to have to take the mantle from players like Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad as they likely won’t be on this team for much longer, so they are going to have to step up and be the new leaders. This isn’t the worst group to build around either as Fox is still an elite number one defenseman when he is on his game and Lafreniere can still take his game to another level. Schneider will be a great top-four defensive piece for the Rangers going forward. These three players are arguably the best to come out of the rebuild and now, they are going to have to lead the way once these older veterans leave.
This was never the way the season was supposed to play out for the Rangers. They were supposed to be Stanley Cup contenders and one of the top teams in the league. However, things haven’t gone their way and they find themselves with a better chance at winning the draft lottery than making the playoffs. While this means that players are going to have to go, it will be tough seeing the players acquired during the rebuild move on to other teams as they were supposed to help lead this team to a Stanley Cup. While you can never hit on every player you draft or trade for, the Rangers have made some good picks and now, they are going to have to go as the retool begins in New York.
