The New York Rangers entered the 2024-25 season with Stanley Cup aspirations. They were coming off a Presidents’ Trophy campaign after putting together the best regular season in franchise history and were two wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final. With mostly the same roster in place to start the season, they got off to a 12-4-1 start and seemed poised to make another deep playoff run. However, by late November, loss after loss led to a series of major changes.
Out were Jacob Trouba, Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. To replace them, General Manager Chris Drury brought in Urho Vaakanainen, Will Borgen, and, most notably, J.T. Miller. However, none of these changes put the team back together, and now, they sit eight points out of the final wild-card spot with five games left to play.
If the Rangers miss the playoffs, Drury will have more major decisions to make this offseason, from finding a new coach to making some big-name trades to improve the roster.
Third Rangers Coach in Five Seasons
After leading the team to its best regular season in franchise history, there’s a good chance that Peter Laviolette will not be behind the bench next season. While the struggles are not entirely his fault, he made some odd coaching decisions, like sticking with the same struggling power-play unit or not giving the young players enough ice time, and it looks like the top players on the team have tuned him out. If the Rangers are just coasting to end the season, it would be better if Laviolette did not return for 2025-26, even if some players won’t be returning either.
If Laviolette is let go, Drury will be looking for his third head coach in his five seasons as general manager, with Laviolette being another coach who only lasted two seasons with the team. Drury’s first hire was Gerard Gallant, and he led the team to the Eastern Conference Final in his first season. However, that was followed by an embarrassing first-round exit the following season, and he was let go. If Laviolette suffers the same fate, who will replace him?
It’s rumored that the Rangers have shown interest in Mike Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but there is no indication that he will be fired anytime soon. Then there’s John Tortorella. His coaching style would fit with the current roster, but if most of the players aren’t back next season, he might not be the right choice moving forward. This will likely be the last coach Drury gets to hire, and if he makes the wrong choice, his time in New York will come to an end.
Rangers’ Core Needs to be Traded
The Rangers’ roster is extremely flawed and needs to be overhauled before next season. While management should be looking to move players like Carson Soucy, who just hasn’t fit in and looks terrible on the ice, they need to make bigger changes than that. The two big names that come to mind are veteran leaders on the team, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. Both players have seen their production drop off drastically this season, and they seem to have tuned out their coach.
Kreider’s name has been part of trade speculation since he was mentioned in the memo sent out by Drury that also included Trouba. He has been dealing with a back injury this season, which has significantly impacted his play, but with 20 goals and five assists, he has 50 points less than last season. He has two years left on his contract with a $6.5 million cap hit, and with the salary cap rising over the next few seasons, now is the time to move him, as teams looking for a proven playoff performer will have the cap space to add him. He will be remembered as one of the greatest Rangers of all time, but this relationship must come to an end this offseason.
Related: Rangers Need More From Alexis Lafreniere Moving Forward
Zibanejad will be harder to move because he has five more years on his deal worth $8.5 million per season, while his decline has been steady over the past two seasons. He has gone from being a 30-40-goal scorer to barely reaching 20. However, management must try and get his contract off the books, and there might be a team out there that is willing to take a chance on him. The problem is he has a full no-trade clause in his contract until the final year of the deal, so it’ll ultimately be his decision if he is traded. If the Rangers can move Kreider and convenience Zibanejad to accept a trade, this massive change to the roster would open up a ton of cap space that the team could use going forward.
There will also be a discussion about Artemi Panarin’s future this offseason. While he isn’t the same player he was last season, he is still the best offensive player on the team and has not been the main problem this season. His name will be brought up because he is entering the final year of his deal and will be 34 years old when next season is over. Will Drury want to re-sign him, or will he want to move in a younger direction and maybe move Panarin for a haul of assets that can help the team in the future? This will be worth keeping an eye on this summer.
Which Players will Rangers Build Around?
With a few core players likely getting moved during the offseason, who will management build around? Three players will be in New York for the long haul: Igor Shesterkin, Adam Fox, and Miller. They will be the core for the next few seasons and will continue to be stars.
After those three, it’s less clear who will be part of the core group. A player like Alexis Lafreniere, who had a breakout year last season and just signed a seven-year extension, should be a part of the future, but he has fallen off hard this season, and many fans would like to see him traded for a big-name player. Finding the right deal will be difficult, and he will likely still be in New York to start next season. That said, he will need a major bounce-back if he wants to be part of the team’s future.
Will Cuylle has had a terrific second season, with 18 goals and 39 points. He is everything that the Rangers could want in a player in today’s NHL. He can skate, he can hit, and he can score. He will be a restricted free agent this summer, and Drury will have to decide whether to sign him to a bridge deal or a long-term option.
On defense, there is no player outside of Fox who should be considered part of the team’s long-term future. K’Andre Miller has had a down year and could be traded. Braden Schneider, who’s been fine this season, looks to be nothing more than a bottom-pairing blueliner, especially with Fox and Borgen signed long-term. What Drury does with the defense this summer will be critical because it’s clear it’s been the team’s biggest issue over the past few seasons.
The Rangers were supposed to be a Stanley Cup contender this season. Instead, the campaign was a disaster, and with the playoffs fading away, their attention will turn to the offseason. Drury has major decisions to make ahead of next season. From coaching to what players will be traded out and brought in, this will be a busy offseason for Drury to make sure the team is a contender again by 2025-26.
