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This postseason ended poorly for the Rangers, and it’s generally understood that the team is due for some major changes. This itself isn’t a problem, given the ways in which the Rangers’ on-ice process struggled throughout the season, with slight improvements here and there but nothing major. Still, recent news about whom the Rangers are shopping might be cause for some concern.

Let’s start with Larry Brooks’ article, which stated that the Rangers are standing pat on Dan Girardi but listening to offers on Nash, Stepan, Brassard, and Ryan McDonagh. This caused quite a stir both here on Blue Seat Blogs and elsewhere on the internet, as it should. Dan Girardi, simply put, had an abysmal season and should be first on the Rangers’ priority list of players to trade, not last. It’s not terribly far out to say that what the Rangers need is addition by subtraction, with any potential Girardi/Staal/Glass deal likely to improve the team no matter what.

Next comes further news from Bob McKenzie and Elliotte Friedman, which taken together might also be room for concern. McKenzie reported that the Rangers are wide open for business and that everyone but Lundqvist and maybe Ryan McDonagh is on the market. Friedman, in his 30 thoughts column, said that there’s a lot of smoke around the Rangers and specifically entertained the thought of trading Rick Nash, remarking at the end of the thought that the Rangers also have centers, and that they’re going to be an interesting team to watch.

There’s a lot to unpack here but the big thing for me is what this potentially says about the organization’s philosophy. Right now we have little idea of Jeff Gorton’s mindset heading into this summer because he’s new, so there’s reason to be a bit nervous. What we do know is that the Rangers’ problems last season were fairly obvious, and that the priority for the organization should be addition by subtraction, as mentioned earlier. Looking back at the Eric Staal trade we can see that despite a stacked forward corps, a lackluster defensive group stymied the team and drained them of talent (although the case could also be made that some of the forwards were underperforming as well).

Now, if the Ranger’s intend to trade Rick Nash of Derek Stepan for someone like Kevin Shattenkirk that’s one thing, as the return would certainly be worth it. Still though, if Dan Girardi and Marc Staal remain on this blueline the Rangers are going to have a hard time competing against teams that don’t carry anchors around on their backend.

The other concern is that the Rangers might be using this as an opportunity to load up on futures, which in of itself isn’t bad, but casts doubt on the Rangers’ organizational philosophy towards contention in the near future. I’m a firm believer that this team, with a retooled blue line and a focus on a different core of players can still contend while Henrik Lundqvist is still an elite goaltender. Trading for futures wouldn’t be a bad idea given that the cupboard is bare, but it would be a step more towards rebuilding instead of retooling.

All of this isn’t to sound alarmist, but the fact remains that the Rangers are likely to make some trades in the near future, and we have no way of knowing whether they’ll benefit the team or not. There’s a distinct possibility that management thinks the team needs to get meaner and tougher, which in my opinion would be a step backwards (just look at the two teams that made it to the Stanley Cup Finals). Still, there is a silver lining to all of this. The Rangers don’t have to trade anybody, which means management holds all the leverage in trade negotiations. Even if Gorton is trying to move, for example Rick Nash, and the return offer isn’t high enough, the Rangers do nothing and keep one of the best two-way players in the league. Personally I think the Rangers are likely to make some good and some bad moves and move the team more or less sideways, but in the end we’ll just have to trust Gorton’s judgement and see.

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