The New York Rangers are starting to string together some wins after a tough stretch. President and general manager (GM) Chris Drury told the media he wanted the “dust” to settle after trade rumors became a clear distraction in the locker room.
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Finally, that is happening. In the last four games, the Blueshirts have won three while picking up at least a point in each. To make matters more impressive, the club pulled this stretch off against teams close to the top of the NHL, including the Western Conference-leading Vegas Golden Knights.
Everyone Deals With Ups & Downs Each Season
While the winning streak deserves some attention – that doesn’t mean we can ignore where the team was about a week ago when they were losers of 16 of the last 21 games and didn’t record a winning streak since Nov. 19. It felt like one of the worst stretches for the Rangers since the NHL adopted the salary cap.
But the truth is every team goes through ups and downs during an 82-game season – and the Rangers are no exception. In fact, the rival New York Islanders, who sit just a point back of the Rangers, have won three games in a row including against the Golden Knights and the Boston Bruins – two teams the Blueshirts have taken care of over the winning streak. So does that mean fans of both New York teams will remember the January run as their respective teams make a deep run in the Stanley Cup playoffs? Highly unlikely.
More games are coming up in the next month that could confirm what we already knew in December.
Eyes on 2025-26
The Rangers need to finish up retooling, which includes acquiring assets for tradeable players on the roster, and look for other pieces that will help them in 2025-26 and beyond. That’s the direction that should be taken rather than making an all-in bet in the rental market.
As the Rangers sit ninth in the NHL overall, the odds of making the playoffs are looking slim. The recent streak shouldn’t change the organization’s need to sell off players on expiring contracts including Ryan Lindgren, Will Borgen, Jimmy Vesey, Reilly Smith, and perhaps even Jonathan Quick.
The Rangers are going to need as many assets as possible and wait for the right player to become available. Plus, they should add to their prospect pool whether that’s via trade or at the 2025 NHL Draft. Should they land a top-10 pick, that could give them another much-needed blue-chip prospect to go alongside Gabriel Perreault, who could play a major role on the revamped team in the coming months (assuming he signs an entry-level contract after his college hockey season ends). The Rangers were already wise to pick up 23-year-old Arthur Kaliyev on waivers. Maybe he could be a part of the solution for 2024-25 if the coaching staff can tap into the sniper’s potential, who was once a highly touted prospect in the 2019 NHL Draft.
With Kaliyev getting his chance, Perreault and maybe Brennan Othmann appear to be on the cusp of the NHL. There is no need for any more wingers. The Rangers should target defensemen and maybe a first-line center if Drury can find a trade partner for Mika Zibanejad, who holds a no-movement clause and is riding a six-game point streak.
But in no way should the Rangers trade prime assets for rentals ahead of the 2025 Trade Deadline. That’s a mistake the franchise has made a number of times in the past like when trading two second-round picks and a prospect in 2016 for Eric Staal, just to get eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins in five games.
If the winning ways continue into February – then maybe there is a different discussion to be had about what to do ahead of the March 7 trade deadline. If the team finds a way to squeak into the postseason, great. But as of now, the front office should stick to the plan of reloading for 2025-26 and selling themselves short this season.
