BY MIKE RIFKIN
Last season the New York Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy and were six wins away from securing their first Stanley Cup since 1994. This year has been an entirely different story, after an 8-5 loss to the Flyers, the Rangers find themselves on the brink of elimination, and let’s be honest, it’d take a miracle for them to make the playoffs regardless. So what’s changed over the past year?
One thing that can be taken away from this team is that last year’s run to the Eastern Conference Final was the last dance with this core group of players. What this team has shown over the past few weeks, with their season in the balance, is that this team is not as close as we think they are, they haven’t won three games in a row since November. The team’s response after the Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba trades have not been good at all. But after this disappointment of a season there has to be some sort of change.
I’ll start with the coach Peter Laviolette has been successful everywhere he has been. And while this is a down year for the Rangers, I cannot blame all of this on him. The other problem I have is that as an organization you cannot keep recycling coaches every two years. The other thing about dumping Laviolette would be who is coming in to replace him. The dream for GM Chris Drury would be to hire Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, but with him still under contract, it’s a tough move. And I don’t see John Tortorella or Bruce Boudreau as upgrades over Laviolette.
The roster is where some changes will be seen. With the contract extensions of Alexis Lafreniere and Igor Shesterkin kicking in, they will still be around. One of the names that won’t be around most likely is Chris Kreider. Kreider, the Rangers first round pick in 2009 is top 10 in franchise history in games played, goals, points, (All three goal categories : power play, short handed and even strength). Kreider will have two years at 6.5 million dollars per season left on the deal following the season. The other core guy I think is playing his last few games as a Ranger is Mika Zibanejad. Zibanejad is signed through 2030 at 8.5 million dollars per year. Like Kreider, Zibanejad is top 10 in goals, power play goals, short handed goals, points, and hat tricks. Unless the Rangers find it easier to move Vincent Trocheck, who I think they’d prefer to keep for defensive purposes, I think Zibanejad could be on his way out.
Whether it’s Chris Drury or someone else, the most interesting decision the Rangers have to make centers around K’Andre Miller. Miller, a first round pick from 2018 has 23 points in 70 games this season. Miller has struggled at times throughout the season, now part of that could be his rotating partners, but do the Rangers want to give up on a 25 year old defenseman, who is still learning the position. The upside is you’d get a lot for Miller, the downside is how do you replace him. I’d be in favor of keeping Miller, unless there is too good of an offer out there.
This has been a massive failure for the Rangers and I do expect changes to come after the season, but for now these are my thoughts. Who knows, maybe the last few games could change my mind.
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