Finally after months of speculation about a Rangers overhaul, rumors, frustration, and anger, Jacob Trouba is no longer a New York Ranger. It was actually a master piece of business by Rangers General Manager Chris Drury, especially when after the summertime debacle, Drury lost seemingly all of his leverage in any kind of Trouba deal. This debacle also prevented a promised Rangers overhaul. But better late than never.

Friday afternoon word came down that the Rangers would finally move on from Trouba no matter what, by letting the embattled former Rangers captain know that if he didn’t accept a trade out of town, Drury would place him on waivers. It’s semi-refreshing to see that Drury isn’t waiting too long to try and correct mistakes he’s made–though Trouba’s contract wasn’t his, but the summer mistake was–and will act swiftly to remove someone who isn’t helping the team win.

Being able to move on from Trouba’s albatross of a contract without having to eat any money or attach a sweetener to move the money off the books is quite honestly Drury’s most impressive feat since becoming an NHL GM. It jumpstarts the Rangers overhaul that started over the summer with waiving Barclay Goodrow. Again, the Rangers overhaul is better late than never, though this drama took far longer than it should have.

It also didn’t take Drury too long to be able to finish another piece of business on Friday afternoon. After freeing up Trouba’s cap space, Drury turned around and finally inked the Rangers backbone, Igor Shesterkin, to an 8 year, $11.5 deal to ensure the Blueshirts backstop will be going nowhere. It’s pretty simple math for the Rangers and Drury, without Shesterkin, even with more moves in this Rangers overhaul likely, this team has zero chance at competing or even dreaming of a Cup.

However, there’s still much more work on this Rangers overhaul to be done. While most fans will rejoice at the fact that Trouba is finally gone, he was simply one part of the Rangers issues. Mika Zibanejad still can’t put the puck in the back of the net. Chris Kreider is a shell of himself. Ryan Lindgren’s body is breaking down at an extremely alarming rate. That K’Andre Miller is struggling mightily, and that’s putting it lightly.

There’s still a few moves on the chessboard to be made by Drury, but this was the first step in trying to help salvage this season and help give the Rangers a chance to breathe fresh air as the calendar flips to 2025.

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