The New York Rangers have had a pretty quiet offseason so far and from the looks of it, it will likely remain that way as we get closer to the start of the 2024-25 season. The only moves they have made that could impact the NHL roster next season is trading for Reilly Smith from the Pittsburgh Penguins and signing Sam Carrick as a free agent. With all the rumors that general manager Chris Drury wanted to shake up the team this offseason, nothing materialized and it seems the Rangers team that won the Presidents’ Trophy last season and got eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals will be running it back with the same core player intact.
The Rangers have yet to get over the hump with core players like Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider. While it looked like they could trade Trouba and his $8 million contract, it seems more likely now that he will be staying with the team going into next season. There was no major shakeup and keeping this same core group of players around for one more run is a mistake — they have yet to prove they have what it takes to lead the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup since 1994.
Three Straight Years of Playoff Failures
These core players have been around for three-consecutive playoff runs and they have failed every time to get the job done. In the 2021-22 season, it was a surprise that the Rangers made it to the Eastern Conference Final and they had a 2-0 series lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning and a 2-0 lead in Game 3. They went on to lose that game and the next three games to be eliminated in six. Many thought they would learn from this experience and come back the following season a better team, but this wasn’t the case.
The 2022-23 season saw the Rangers bulk up at the trade deadline, bringing in Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane; after thata, they looked like a “super team” with all talent they had across the lineup. They had a 2-0 series lead over the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the playoffs and then collapsed again. They lost that series in seven games, getting shut out in the final game by a goalie the Devils just traded to the Vegas Golden Knights. They lost that series because Panarin and Zibanejad became ghosts, combining for only one goal between them in the seven games; that was when the questions really started about whether these core players could lead this team to a Stanley Cup as they were not showing up when it was needed most.
Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
The 2023-24 season saw the Rangers win the Presidents’ Trophy and have the best regular season in franchise history. Panarin had 49 goals and 120 points and it looked like they were poised to go all the way in the playoffs. This didn’t happen as they lost to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final in six games after having a 2-1 series lead. Panarin and Zibanejad were once again non factors in that series, with Zibanejad failing to score a goal and Panarin’s goal coming too late in Game 6 as they lost that contest 2-1. Three-straight seasons of blowing series leads and two-straight seasons of their top offensive players failing to show up and now, we are about to enter another season where the Rangers are going to be led by these same players, even though they haven’t shown they have what it takes to adjust their games when things get tighter in the playoffs.
Panarin & Zibanejad Will Be Watched Closely Next Season
The highest-paid and best offensive players the Rangers have failed to show up in two-consecutive playoff runs. Starting with Panarin, he had a horrible series against the Devils, recording just two points in the seven games and having zero goals. He followed it up with the best regular season go his career and many thought he could carry it into the playoffs, but he was once again lacklustre. He scored five goals and 15 points in 16 games and while those numbers might look good, he had only one goal in the series against the Panthers and was invisible for most of those games. Zibanejad had only one goal and four points in the series against the Devils and followed it up with only three goals and 16 points in 16 games in these past playoffs. He didn’t score against the Panthers and his last two goals came in Game 1 of the second round against the Carolina Hurricanes.
It is not going to matter what Panarin and Zibanejad do in the 2024-25 regular season. They could both have the best seasons of their career and fans won’t care because all that matters is how they perform in the playoffs. For two-straight playoffs runs, they have not provided enough offense and were invisible far too often. If they once again fail to show up in the postseason, fans will be (figuratively) calling for their heads and the Rangers will more than likely have to make a tough choice as to whether they should consider moving them. They need to prove fans wrong and have a strong showing in the playoffs next season and help be the ones to lead the Rangers to a Stanley Cup.
Rangers Should Still Try and Move Jacob Trouba
The Rangers have been exploring the potential of moving on from Trouba for the past few weeks and around the NHL Draft, it seemed as if he could be on the move to his hometown Detroit Red Wings. However, no move ever took place and he is still the captain of the Rangers as of this writing. His no-movement clause got dropped to a 15-team no-trade list so they can still move him to at least half of the other teams in the league and they should be looking to do so. Trouba was abysmal in these past playoffs and was demoted to the third pair for the majority of the games. He was constantly getting beat due to his lack of speed and was always out of position because he was focusing on hitting a player rather than playing defense.
The Ranger can’t afford to have $8 million on their third defensive pair and quite frankly, they are going to need as much cap space as they can get for next offseason as they are going to have to extend Igor Shesterkin, Alexis Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller. No matter how much Trouba wants to stay, the team should still be looking at moving his deal because it is what’s best for the team going forward. If they can get out of most of that salary, it will allow them to have the cap space to make bigger moves next seaso. This is Shesterkin’s last year on a team-friendly deal and who knows what the future will hold for this team.
The Rangers’ core players are talented and there is no denying that have all had successful NHL careers. They have been the team’s top players for a long time and they are good enough to get the team to the playoffs, but haven’t shown they can get over the hump and to the Stanley Cup Final. The Rangers should have tried to make a major move this offseason to shake up — and hopefully wake up — the team going into next season, but it seems all these core players will be back. Time will tell whether they have learned from their past mistakes or if it will itbe yet another season without a Stanley Cup coming back to New York.
