In sports, there is no worse place than to find a team than stagnation. At best, the New York Rangers are mediocre at the moment. Sure, mediocre teams compete and aren’t at the very bottom of the league standings – but retaining the status quo is tougher to fix than a bad roster.
Related: Prediction: Rangers Will Fire Chris Drury Before Trade Deadline
When a team is bad, there is no plausibility for deniability about it. When this happens, organizations must build and stockpile as much draft capital and prospects as possible, while keeping payrolls low. At the very least, it gives fans hope of building a championship contender one day in the future. Mediocre teams, on the other hand, are typically stuck with elevated payrolls and long-term commitments, while lacking quality prospects and draft picks.
Rebuild Not Possible
The Rangers certainly carry many of the traits that fit the mediocrity profile. The group currently isn’t completely starved of talent, from Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox to Igor Shesterkin.
But there is no question that the Rangers badly need an infusion of young talent, and particularly someone who can score. According to NHL.com stats, they rank 29th in the league in goals for per game and 26th in shots on goal per game.
The only way to reverse course is to trade for a young player who becomes available on the trade market. Due to the big extension handed last season to Shesterkin, who carries a full no movement clause, and other veterans signed long-term with no move protection like Mika Zibenajad and J.T. Miller, a rebuild is not feasible.
Playoffs Are Out of Sight
If it wasn’t obvious before, the Rangers are extremely unlikely to make the playoffs for a second straight season. That screamed even louder after the 10-2 beat down they received on Saturday at the hands of the Boston Bruins. Currently, the odds are just over 10 percent that the Rangers will make the playoffs, according to MoneyPuck.
Plus, even if the Rangers were able to miraculously go on a run in the coming weeks and make the postseason, they wouldn’t have much of a chance to beat a contender like the Carolina Hurricanes or the Tampa Bay Lightning in a seven-game series.
The Direction Needed to Be Taken
Given that a rebuild and the playoffs are unrealistic, this puts the Rangers in a tough spot. The most obvious moves the organization should make are to sell off pending unrestricted free agents to contenders. Carson Soucy is a no-brainer to trade by the March 6 trade deadline, with Conor Sheary and Jonny Brodzinski being two others they should strongly consider moving.
However, it gets complicated with Panarin. Yes, the Rangers can approach the 34-year-old and ask him to waive his no-movement clause and accept a trade to a contender. Assuming Panarin agrees to this, the Rangers would likely get a haul in return, who would most certainly be the top rental available on the market.
However, there is likely no short-term trade that would help the Rangers replace their leading scorer. Assuming Panarin signs elsewhere in the offseason, the Rangers, who already struggle to score, would be in an even worse position. So this one is a tough call, but I’d certainly lean toward keeping him.
Also, the Rangers could entertain trades on Vincent Trocheck (3.5 seasons left at a $5.63 average annual value) and Braden Schneider (a pending restricted free agent with a $2.2 million AAV). Those players will be much easier to replace than an elite goal scorer.
Flip Assets for the Right Player
Plus, another thing to consider: sell-off trades will give the Rangers more assets, which can be used to flip in separate deals to acquire a much-needed scorer. Currently, the organization holds three first-round picks over the next two years.
When the moment arises, the Rangers need to be prepared to pounce on the opportunity to acquire a young star – preferably a scoring winger. If they can do that, while keeping Panarin past this season in a red, white and blue sweater, then there’s some hope to improve.
However, right now that’s hard to imagine. The Rangers look like a team that’s stuck in mediocrity, with this set to be the second straight season of no playoffs on Broadway.
Getting the team back into contention won’t be easy, but the Rangers have no other choice but to try. They should make efforts to find common ground with Panarin on an extension rather than trade him and strike when the opportunity presents itself to acquire a game-changing forward.
Again, the Rangers likely aren’t bad enough to have a serious shot at winning the draft lottery and aren’t good enough to make a big playoff run. Right now, it’s a dark place to be in, and tough decisions will need to be made.
