A couple weeks removed from the NHL trade deadline, and the New York Rangers haven’t seen great results.
The Rangers were perhaps the most active team this season, trading away the likes of Jacob Trouba and Kaapo Kakko, before acquiring J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks. In the week leading up to the trade deadline, they were then similarly active, completing four trades.
New York dealt Ryan Lindgren to the Colorado Avalanche and traded Reilly Smith back to the Vegas Golden Knights. They also added Carson Soucy from the Vancouver Canucks, and then sent Erik Brannstrom to the Buffalo Sabres. But while the team made their moves, they also didn’t necessarily position themselves in a clear direction, aside from ‘shaking things up’.
Now with just 11 games to go in their regular-season, the Rangers have some reasons for concern post-deadline.
Rangers’ ability to contend in near future is in question
While the Rangers certainly made changes, their deals also didn’t follow a clear plan. While some teams were clear sellers, and others were buyers, the Rangers were somewhere in between.
The team cleared cap space with the Trouba trade earlier in the year, and got back a solid defender in William Borgen from the Kaapo Kakko deal with the Seattle Kraken. But the trade for a 32-year-old J.T. Miller cost them a younger piece in Filip Chytil, along with a first-round pick. They were also willing to flip a third-round pick for Soucy.
At the same time, they also opted to acquire some future assets in the Lindgren trade, as well as the Reilly Smith trade. So while the Rangers were willing to spend assets at times to remain competitive now, they also didn’t fully commit, shipping off others.
At this point, the Rangers don’t have an overly young team, with an aging forward group in particular. Artemi Panarin, Miller, Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck and Chris Kreider are all into their 30s. Most of those players also have quite a bit of term left on their respective contracts.
Looking ahead, the team also isn’t going to have a ton of extra cap space this offseason compared to other teams around the league, even with the rising cap. So if the squad isn’t able to get into the postseason as is, it raises questions as to whether the team can really get close to contending with the current group in the near future.
Slumping players and power play are issues
Of the core players who have remained with the team, some haven’t necessarily been able to contribute a ton over the recent stretch.
Zibanejad has run very hot and cold all season, and has just a single assist over his last six games. Meanwhile, Kreider, who’s on track for his lowest production since becoming a full-time NHLer over a decade ago, has managed one point in his last seven games. Alexis Lafreniere still really hasn’t found his groove this season either, while Will Cuylle cooled off a bit, with one goal in his last 10 games.
Adding to this, a huge issue for the Rangers has been their power play. New York ranks 25th in the NHL on the man advantage, operating at just an 18.3 percent clip. Contrast that to last season, when the Blueshirts had the third-best power play in the NHL, and it’s clear the team hasn’t been able to count on a lot of their top forwards.
Playoffs seem like an outside chance
The Rangers have been able to get back to the playoff bubble after a terrible stretch. At the same time, missing the postseason still seems like the most likely bet.
As of now, New York is only a point outside of a playoff spot. At the same time, they’ve also played more games than most of the teams they’re competing against for a playoff berth. Their .521 points percentage has them tied for 10th in the Eastern Conference. Looking at the final wildcard spot, the Montreal Canadiens sit with a .543 points percentage – with one more point and two games in hand.
Every other team ahead of Montreal is also above a .560 points percentage, and looks to be out of reach. But even factoring in teams around the Rangers, the New York Islanders have been surging, and the Columbus Blue Jackets remain in the mix.
While it’s still possible to salvage the season with a good end to the year, it’s still a really worrisome spot to be in. Even after all the changes this season and a pretty wide-open playoff race, it still hasn’t really resulted in a huge turnaround. The team has just three wins over their last 10 games.
For a group who looked to be in ‘win-now’ mode coming into the year, it would be a huge disappointment for the Rangers to miss the postseason in 2024-25.
-ep.jpg "Rangers Showing Interest in Sabres’ J.J. Peterka")
