FIRE DRURY?
We’ll never know if the “Fire Drury” chants at MSG during Wednesday night’s loss to the Ottawa Senators hastened the delivery of “The Letter v2.0” — but we know it didn’t hurt.
There’s no doubt that the wrath of Rangers fans is felt and heard by ownership, but there’s also little chance of James Dolan heeding their advice. For better or worse, Chris Drury will remain the team’s President & General Manager and be given an opportunity to retool this team with the help of his hand-picked coach Mike Sullivan.
Drury is still respected around the NHL, and he was endorsed by Dolan’s long-time BFF Glen Sather to be his successor. While I don’t anticipate his leash being as long as Sather’s, I do think he’ll be given ample time to turn things around.
Now, the question is, what does Drury do next? His letter made it very clear that they are NOT rebuilding — “this will be a retool built around our core players and prospects”.
He also gave us a clue of who he is looking to keep, and what types of players he is looking to acquire when he said — “we will target players that bring tenacity, skill, speed, and a winning pedigree”.
Based on the clues in the letter, and my two blueish-green eyes, I’ve come up with a list of 12 players to build around. Now, let me be clear, I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of these players are traded. But only if the Rangers receive a very attractive package in return.
What Drury can’t do, is deal any of these players for the same middling returns that he received a year ago for veterans Barclay Goodrow, Chris Kreider, Ryan Lindgren, Jacob Trouba, and Jimmy Vesey.
For those five players, they acquired D Calvin de Haan (now playing in Europe), C Juuso Parssinen (given a 2-year, $2.5m contract, now playing in the minors with the Hartford Wolf Pack), C Casey Terrance (3 goals in 34 games with the Hartford), D Urho Vaakanainen (has dressed for only 20 games with the Rangers) plus four 2025 draft picks (a second, third, and two fourths).
WHO TO BUILD AROUND
The Veterans
Adam Fox, D (27)
Vladislav Gavrikov, D (30)
JT Miller, C/RW (32)
Igor Shesterkin, G (30)
Vincent Trocheck, C (32)
Mika Zibanejad, C (32)
The Kids
Will Cuylle, LW/RW (23)
Noah Laba, C (22)
Gabe Perreault, LW (20)
Matt Rempe, RW (23)
The Prospects
EJ Emery, D (19)
Malcom Spence, LW (19)
Drury will definitely get calls regarding Trocheck, who has a reasonable ($5.63m) cap hit. Plus, he plays the type of pesky, in-your-face game that contenders are looking for. As I said above, Drury should listen on everyone, but if he’s not blown away, I’m not letting #16 out the door.
The only name I expect SRNY readers to pushback on is Rempe — who has either been hurt or suspended for much of his two years in the NHL. But those who say he “is just a fighter” are not watching the games. For one thing, he’s not a good fighter. More importantly, when he is healthy, he makes an impact and plays with the “tenacity” that Drury is looking for.
Finally, Sam Carrick is a 33-year-old journeyman, and therefore he doesn’t make this list. However, when you look back at the last 130 games since the start of last season, he’s been the single most consistent player.
If he remains with the team, and I hope he does, he should be the favorite to win this season’s Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award.
WHO TO TRADE
Pending UFAs
Johnny Brodzinski, F (32)
Artemi Panarin, LW (34)
Jonathan Quick, G (39)
Conor Sheary, LW/RW (33)
Carson Soucy, D (31)
The Athletic is reporting that Drury told Panarin earlier today that he is not a part of the team’s future plans. The Rangers hope he will work with them on a mutually beneficial trade. For Panarin, it is an opportunity to play meaningful games headed into free agency.
Soucy is having a decent season and should be able to recoup the third-round pick they gave up for him a season ago. The Rangers will ask for a late-round picks for Brodzinski and Sheary but would probably accept a flier on an AHL player.
One would expect the Rangers to leave Quick’s future up to Quick. If he wants a trade, perhaps the Los Angeles Kings would be interested in a reunion. That would certainly be a fitting way for the future Hall of Famer to end his career.
Beyond the UFAs
Will Borgen, D (29)
Alexis Lafreniere, RW/LW (24)
Brennan Othmann, LW (23)
Taylor Raddysh, RW/LW (27)
Braden Schneider, D (24)
Borgen continues to remind me of Anton Stralman. A player that would excel on a good team, but doesn’t stand out on a poor team. I’m sure the Rangers will listen to offers for him, but I fully expect him to survive the impending purge.
Moving Lafreniere would seemingly be a no-brainer, but for what? It’s painfully obvious to those who have watched him perform over the last 5+ seasons that there is a mind-body disconnect somewhere. In 2023-24 he had a brilliant second half and playoffs, but we’ve only seen glimpses of that potential since.
If there’s a team that still believes in him, and the Rangers receive a fair return, he will get a fresh start. Otherwise, as stated above, the Rangers can’t continue to trade depressed assets for pennies on the dollar.
Othmann has not been overly impressive in his first couple of stints with the big club. However, now that the letter has been sent, it makes sense to make him a fixture in the lineup for the balance of the season.
Raddysh is a proven defensive forward on a reasonable contract that should create some interest. Perhaps a return to Tampa to play with his brother?
Schneider is due a big raise. Assuming the Rangers keep Fox and Borgen on the right-side, it does not make sense to pay your third-best RHD a minimum of $4.5m AAV. I would expect him to be traded at the deadline, as defenseman tend to garner higher returns at that time of the year.
For instance, at the 2020 deadline, despite the fact he was having a down season, the Rangers were able to secure a first-round pick from the Carolina Hurricanes for Brady Skjei.
PARTING SHOT
Despite the ups and downs associated with winning only one Stanley Cup in 86 years, the New York Rangers organization has generally been one of the standard bearers for the NHL. Former players, coaches, and executives have called them a class organization, and often raved about the way they were treated in New York.
That’s why I found Ryan Lindgren’s return to Madison Square Garden this past Monday so disturbing.
Last month, the team, deservedly, honored both Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba with video tributes on Garden Vision. On Monday, there was no video for Lindgren or Kaapo Kakko. Just their name and likeness on the screen.
Lindgren, especially, deserved better.
He earned “The Warrior” nickname for the fearless way that he threw his undersized body around. Plus, he was typically bloodied from putting his face in front of pucks and punches. His reckless, team-first style won the Rangers a lot of games, and the hearts of fans and teammates. It also probably cost him millions of dollars due to fears that his 27-year-old body was older than his age.
The video slight may seem small, but added to last year’s leaked memo and the ugly way the Rangers handled the Goodrow and Trouba exits, it’s a trend that I urge Drury to reverse.