Here's why the Rangers find themselves in an uncomfortable situation.
Winning an 82-game marathon and the Presidents' Trophy that goes with it was no small accomplishment for the 2023-24 Rangers.
It signalled that they were the BEST; better than 31 teams beneath them.
Nowadays, they are so mediocre, the club is barely above the .500 mark. Here are the causes of this remarkable demise:
1. COACHING: The players have heard Peter Laviolette's song before. History has shown that Pistol Pete usually never succeeds in his second year with a team.
2. GM MISTAKE 1: Barclay Goodrow was a popular Ranger. Unceremoniously dumping Goody – as Drury did – damaged team morale.
3. GM MISTAKE 2: Captain Jacob Trouba was not a Norris Trophy-winner but he was the team's best hitter and leader. Drury dropped the ball by publicly revealing that he wanted to deal with his captain. That infuriated the entire clubhouse in which Captain T was well liked.
4. L'AFFAIRE SHESTERKIN: There's nothing wrong with a player wanting X amount of $ in a new contract. But why shout it across the Hudson and all the way to the Pacific. Igor should have kept his "highest Salary" talk to himself. It caused major distractions and – conceivably – forced Drury to rush a mistaken Alexis Lafreneiere deal into being far too soon.
5. GM MISTAKES 3 AND 4: Lafrenière’s pact was completed 'way, 'way before Big Al proved he had the talent to make it work. In this case Drury's haste made waste. Alexis has failed since then. Next up was the Boss rushing out a Shesterkin contract before Igor proved he was worth the very top dollar, Drury got them done, all right but – in the process – he got done-in!
6. GM MISTAKE 5: The firing of Trouba left the team without a captain, an experienced battler and an overall feeling of "What The Heck Is Going On?"
7. CHANGES: The value of trading Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil remains to be seen. But this much is certain; when two popular teammates are moved it reverberates through the room that's already had enough reverberations,
8. WHAT TO DO WITH REMPE: The Skating Giraffe could be a useful player. What's more, since his suspension, Matt has been an admirable fourth-liner. The problem here is that Laviolette spent most of the first-half of the campaign limiting Rempe's minutes to a point where the player never could get traction.
9. THE SPOILING OF MIKA: For first-half of the season, Zibanejad was bad; bad as an attacker, bad on defense and not exactly a whiz-bang on the power play. Despite Z's inadequacies. Lavvy turned his top center into a spoiled brat. Ergo; he could do wrong but not be denied ice time.
10. THE RUINING OF JONES: Given the opportunity, Zac Jones could be a Top Six Dman. He needs six games in succession. He may get it – on another team.