The New York Rangers are the first team in the East to be eliminated from playoff contention. What went wrong, and what can the team do next to retool successfully?
The New York Rangers are officially out of Stanley Cup playoff contention.
They were eliminated following a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
The Rangers are the first team to be eliminated in the Eastern Conference, with the Vancouver Canucks being the first team in the NHL to be ruled out of playoff contention on Sunday.
Though this campaign will end on a sour note for the Blueshirts, they had expectations of being a competitive team going into this season.
In 2024-25, the Rangers finished six points out of the playoffs and fired coach Peter Laviolette in hopes of a different fate the following year.
New York then hired two-time Stanley Cup-winning head coach Mike Sullivan, a move a franchise makes to be in the playoff mix and compete for a championship, not to rebuild. They also landed a big UFA in defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov in the off-season.
Everything pointed to improvement on the ice for a squad that won the Presidents' Trophy in 2023-24.
What Went Wrong For The Rangers?
However, it wasn't long after the start of this season before it was clear that it would be another tough campaign for the Rangers.
In the season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins - Sullivan's old team - at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers lost 3-0. In their next two games at home, they were shut out again by the Washington Capitals and Edmonton Oilers.
The ugliness at home didn't end there. The Rangers only won in their eighth contest at the Garden against the Nashville Predators. Along the way, they were shut out on home ice another two times.
It also doesn't help that the Rangers opened the campaign with a 3-5-2 record in their first 10 outings.
They were never able to regroup from their disastrous start to the year.
Eventually, in January, Rangers GM Chris Drury sent out a letter to the team's fans, declaring the organization's status as a retooling team.
"This will not be a rebuild," the letter said.
Drury then traded away defenseman Carson Soucy and superstar left winger Artemi Panarin. The GM also moved center Sam Carrick and left winger Brennan Othmann at the trade deadline.
What Comes Next For The Rangers?
Given how transparent Drury was in his January letter, it's clear what his intentions are for the future of the franchise.
While they'll be hoping for a high pick in this year's NHL draft lottery on May 5, the organization is not interested in continuing down that path for the next few years.
However, the Rangers should still be looking to refresh their roster and get younger going into next season.
There are still a handful of pieces that Drury could look to move if he can find a suitable partner.
Veteran center Vincent Trocheck was rumored to be moved by this year's trade deadline, but nothing came to fruition. That doesn't mean it can't be further discussed in the off-season.
Other candidates could be Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere if the team decides to be more aggressive in its retool.
But the next important aspect to speeding up the rebuilding process is to develop the young NHLers.
Right winger Gabe Perreault is at the top of the list in terms of promising youngsters on the Rangers' roster.
They'll be hoping for the likes of left winger Liam Greentree, left winger Nathan Aspinall and center Jacob Battaglia, as well as defenseman Artem Gonchar, to transition from junior hockey this year to the NHL as quickly as they can.
It's an ambitious call from Drury to go down the retool path with the assets that are currently in his system. Nonetheless, he'll have his work cut out for him if he wants to go down that road successfully.
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