Sam Navarro-Imagn ImagesAlthough the unofficial NHL Coroner – alias the standings – has listed the Rangers as dead in the water, that is not true.
The Blueshirts are barely alive at just one win under the .500 mark after a 6-3 victory under their belt.
That's the good news. But they are just breathing with a game tonight against a couple of old pals - you remember Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba, don't you? – in Anaheim.
Not that these Ducks are like the half-drowned Ducks of old. GM Pat Verbeek has constructed a half-decent team that could very well make the playoffs.
But that's not the issue; what matters is whether the Rangers actually can take a seismic run and miraculously reach a Wild Card berth; or – no matter what they do tonight – are dead in the water?
For an objective answer, I corralled Rich Isaak a veteran hockey seer based in New Hampshire. I asked him to carefully examine both sides of the question with a fair and Argus eye. Here are his conclusions and see if you agree.
HOW THE VERY-LONGSHOT RANGERS JUST MIGHT MAKE THE PLAYOFFS:
The upcoming Olympic break will afford the team’s most important injured players, Adam Fox & Igor Shesterkin time to fully recover. It will also provide the remaining roster players, who are not participating in the Olympics for their respective National Teams, to rest and recover from the rigors of the compressed NHL schedule.
Additionally, it is expected that current roster players, who are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents after the season, will be traded on or before the March 6th trade deadline. These trades will bring back players capable of playing on the NHL roster for the remainder of the season.
Since the Chris Drury letter announcing that the Rangers are entering a “retool” period, the team has begun to play more freely, as if all external pressure has been lifted.
The team can still make the playoffs by continuing to play without this self-applied pressure, and string together multiple consecutive wins, allowing them to climb the tightly packed Eastern Conference standings.
Theoretically, Rangers could copy the winning run that the Buffalo Sabres just enjoyed. With that in mind, it would be a splendid idea for the Blueshirts to win tonight in Anaheim.
WHY THE YO-YO RANGERS WON'T MAKE THE PLAYOFFS:
This past week the Rangers announced that they are entering a “retool” period. The goal is to rebuild the roster by obtaining young skilled players and draft picks, focusing on speed, plus a winning pedigree. At the same time, this will afford the team the ability to build cap space for future free agent acquisitions.
To execute this plan, current roster players who are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents after the season, will be traded on or before the March 6th trade deadline.
Those players include Artemi Panarin, whose contract will not be extended. Panarin is the Rangers leading scorer and has been the team’s leading scorer every year since joining the team as an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019.
Additionally, other current roster players who are still under contract, will be traded in order to acquire the players and draft picks required to make the team more competitive in the future.
The Rangers have dug themselves too big a hole in the standings to climb to a Wild Card level. They are in last place in the Metro Division, and last place in the Eastern Conference.
The Blueshirts would have to climb past eight teams in order to get into the final Wild Card position. The trading of players hopefully will leave the team with a roster incapable of making a playoff push this season.
Maybe!
MAVEN'S CONCLUSION: Rich Isaak is right; the Rangers' Wild Card chances are slim to none. But, this much is certain; the are not dead yet!