Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
The New York Rangers are on the verge of a crisis.
This has been an underachieving group of late, not at all far removed from being the Presidents’ Trophy winners in 2023-24.
But anyone who’s paid attention to the Blueshirts this season knows there’s a distinct difference between that team and this current Rangers team. Numerous issues with the Rangers this year are costing them the regular-season success they used to have.
Leave aside the Rangers’ 15-14-1 record. Leave aside their 3-7-0 record in their last 10 games. When you watch the Rangers, you’re watching a team that doesn’t buy into each other on the ice.
Their offense is the 17th-best in the league, and their defense? Also 17th-best. Meanwhile, their shots-allowed average of 31.6 is fourth-worst in the NHL. It all looks extremely worrisome for Rangers fans and players.
“It’s been the same story, right?” Rangers defenseman Adam Fox told reporters after Sunday’s 3-2 loss to St. Louis. “Just kind of one and done in the O-zone. haven’t sustained many cycles, many shifts with sustained pressure to make them defend. Just kind of comes right back at us and bites us in the ass.”
Fox wasn’t wrong. There’s often been no elite level of focus from the Rangers this season. It’s been listless stuff, to be frank.
But answer this question – do you think there’s an acquirable talent that can turn the Rangers’ season around in short order? (We’re saying “acquirable,” so don’t pass along any Connor McDavid scenarios, thanks.)
So, anyone? No? No, it doesn’t seem like there’s an achievable trade that will stop the Rangers’ slide. For better or worse, this group is stuck with one another. And while they do have $6.66 million in salary cap space that will grow toward the trade deadline, according to PuckPedia, the Rangers’ problems run much too deep to restart their season with roster help from any other team.
The solution has to be internal, and that’s the problem – it’s hard to envision the Rangers suddenly flipping a switch and becoming a legitimate Stanley Cup front-runner. We’re approaching the season’s halfway point, and this is who the Rangers are.
The Rangers are locked into being a playoff-focused team with their contracts for Mika Zibanejad, Fox, Alexis Lafreniere and Igor Shesterkin. There are other veterans the Rangers likely will have contract extensions for when they become free agents. There’s no tearing this house down to the studs. It’s going to be retool-or-bust for the current incarnation of the Rangers – and there’s a very real possibility this season they’re headed towards bust.
I’m not kidding; I just read somewhere that @NYRangers management “has no stomach to fire #PeterLaviolette.”
What nonsense? If the players clearly are listless,
embarrassing and clearly aren’t playing for this negative
2d year coach, then for crying out loud, GET THE STOMACH!— Stan Fischler (@StanFischler) December 15, 2024
In the Modern Era, it’s rare that the Rangers ever finish worse than fourth in their division. The Rangers spend their money, and they often spend it wisely. But somehow, they’ve got a lemon of a product this year.
The Rangers are a tricky fix, and if they don’t show signs of life in a hurry, their season will evaporate long before they expected it would.
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