Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn ImagesWhile New York Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury’s letter may send the right message, it came at the wrong time for the franchise.
Drury’s letter emphasized the team’s intentions to go through a “retool’ as he described it, with the Rangers set to focus on the future, given that they currently slot in last place in the Eastern Conference standings.
In theory, this sends the correct and obvious message. Anyone with eyes on this team is well aware that the Rangers are not a playoff-caliber team, so it only makes sense to start accumulating young players and draft picks.
However, this retooling of the roster started long ago, which is why a letter feels arbitrary.
Shortly after the Rangers won the Presidents' Trophy and advanced to the Eastern Conference Final in 2024, Drury began to grow impatient with his roster.
The first domino to fall was when Drury suddenly waived Barclay Goodrow, and he was claimed by the San Jose Sharks on Jun. 24, 2024, a team on his 15-team no-trade list.
Goodrow felt blindsided by Drury and the organization because this was a move that was not informed about.
“It was just a surprise,” Goodrow said. “I was never given any inclination or whatever that I wouldn’t be back with the team and that happened.”
This decision did not sit well with the Rangers’ players, as Goodrow served as an assistant captain and someone who was deeply respected within that locker room.
During the summer, Drury began to shop Rangers captain Jacob Trouba, which ultimately became public, and Trouba’s partial no-trade clause prevented Drury from moving him, making for an awkward situation when he returned to training camp.
Not pleased with the Rangers’ start to the 2024-25 season, Drury sent out a league-wide memo indicating his intentions to make moves to shake up the roster, while specifically mentioning Chris Kreider and Trouba’s names.
The Blueshirts responded negatively to the memo by losing 15 out of 19 games from late November through December.
Early in December, Trouba accepted a trade to the Anaheim Ducks after being strong-armed into waiving his no-trade clause with the possibility of being placed on waivers looming over his head.
“I wasn't really thrilled with how it went down. In my opinion, things could have been handled better,” Trouba said. “It's unfortunate how it all happened. But it's a rite of passage to get fired from MSG.”
The overhaul of the Rangers’ core didn’t stop at Trouba. Over the course of the season, Drury traded Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil, Ryan Lindgren, Jimmy Vesey, Reilly Smith, and eventually, Kreider, who was sent to Anaheim to reunite with Trouba during the offseason.
To come out now and release a letter stating that fans may have to say “goodbye to players that have brought us and our fans great moments over the years” feels long overdue since he has already begun overhauling the roster that many people perceived to be a Stanley Cup contender just two years ago.
While trading some of the team’s core players, Drury also didn’t fully commit to a retool, trying to put band-aids on a depleting roster by trading for J.T. Miller and Carson Soucy before the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, and signing Vladislav Gavrikov to a seven-year, $49 million contract this past summer.
In Drury’s letter, he specifically states that the Rangers plan to go through a “retool” and not a “rebuild”, which begs the question: who does Drury actually plan to trade?
For starters, Artemi Panarin was already informed that he won’t receive a contract extension from the Rangers and that the team will look to trade him to a destination of his choosing.
Outside of Panarin though, there aren’t really any prominent players of value who particularly stand out as definite trade assets.
Maybe Drury will look to shop Vincent Trocheck, who holds a reasonable $5.625 million cap hit and is under contract until 2029, but that’s certainly not a guarantee.
According to Vince Mercogliano of The Athletic, other players who holds a no-move clause in their contract have been asked about how they feel about the retool plan and whether they'd be open to sticking around for it or would rather go elsewhere, which includes Adam Fox, Gavrikov, Miller Igor Shesterkin, and Mika Zibanejad who all sound like they're on board with the retool plan and expressed that they want to stay in New York, per Mercogliano.
Alexis Lafrenière and Braden Schneider are names that have been circulating in trade rumors, but they are both young players with diminishing value at the moment, so dealing them away at a value that does not match their full potential does not make a whole lot of sense for a team looking to get younger.
If all of these core players aside from Panarin are not on the trade block and Drury only plans to embark on a slight retool of the roster, putting out a full-fledged letter is frankly, unnecessary and unwarranted.
Drury’s vision and constant flip flop between buying and selling lacks a clear direction for the franchise, and this letter doesn't necessarily change anything.