It's Friday, folks, and time for the "Ask The Maven Frenzy." Today's question comes from Moe Manvogle of Manhattan. Take it away, Moe:
MAVEN, WHAT'S YOUR APPRAISAL OF THE RANGERS WORK SO FAR IN THE TEAM REBUILD?
Maven's Reply: You have to start from the fact that GM Chris Drury has – and has had – a major task in reshaping his lineup after the 2024-25 disaster of a season. Then there was the added onus of not having a single first round Draft pick this year.
Under all these circumstances, Drury is off to a solid start. His second round pick ???? is a good one; in some quarters he was regarded as worthy of the first round. The GM is frank about his need to bolster the defense and has moved in that direction.
Dumping K'Andre Miller was a must and he did just that. He built on that move by obtaining Slava Gavrikov via Los Angeles, who'll add beef and savvy to the defense.
Unobtrusively and without any fuss or fanfare he added a potential rookie-of-the-year in his Miller exchange. Scott Morrow was mishandled in Carolina and looks like an addition that might even dwarf that of Gavrikov in terms of value.
Guaranteed, these moves are merely tip-of-the-iceberg stuff. Real knockout trades will be made between now and the season opener in October. Keep your eye on serious attempts to unload Artemi Panarin, although that may happen later – around the trade deadline – than sooner!