The Rangers had finally earned back some goodwill with the fans. After a brutal start, it looked like things had finally started clicking. They won three in a row, including one over Carolina, in the last week of November before that absolute trainwreck against Tampa at MSG. Then they went 2-0-2 in the first week of December, only to bring us right back down to Earth with last night’s disaster in Chicago. On paper, they are 5-2-2 in their last nine games, but the Rangers sent the wrong message last night, one that shows they aren’t ready for prime time.

The Rangers struggled mightily with the speed of Chicago’s young forwards, both unable to stop them from getting quality chances and unable to generate anything solid of their own. Defending speed is definitely a problem for the Rangers, but it goes beyond this gap in the roster construction. Something else is off, otherwise we wouldn’t have seen them no-show against Tampa two weeks ago.

This is a very complex issue with the Rangers. They should be better than they are, but they also aren’t as bad as people think. Unfortunately, that leaves them right in the middle, a place no professional sports team wants to be. There is no direction. There is no real hope coming in the form of a top draft pick, an elite prospect, or an injury to be healed. Gabe Perreault is no savior, even if he projects to be a top six forward who might outscore Alexis Lafreniere. The Rangers miss Adam Fox dearly, but the issues go far beyond just Fox’s injury.

The Rangers are stuck with their core five forwards in the top six sporting an average cap hit of $8,243,571 (total cap amount is $41,217,857 including Artemi Panarin’s expiring contract) with contracts lasting as long as six years from now. The average age of this quintet, which includes Lafreniere, is 30.8 years old and jumps to 31.2 years old in April.

The Rangers do not have any prospects that can match Panarin’s production. In fact, outside of Lafreniere and Perreault, the only prospects that may be able to produce consistently in the top six are Noah Laba and possibly Malcolm Spence, and none of them are guarantees. Spence was just drafted, Perreault hasn’t seen consistent NHL time yet, Laba is still a rookie 3C, and Lafreniere is Lafreniere.

By being unable to even compete with the lowly Chicago Blackhawks, the Rangers sent the wrong message to the fans. It wasn’t a message that they are turning the corner and are going to be able to do what playoff teams need to do. It was they are either too old and slow to compete with these teams, or they don’t have the will to compete with these teams, or worse, both.

The second checkpoint for the Rangers this year–Game 41 against Carolina later this month–is fast approaching. The macro view over the last three weeks is promising, as they are 5-2-2 in their last nine games including strong showings against Carolina, Dallas, Colorado, and Vegas. But the Rangers sent the wrong message about hope and turning a corner with their two regulation losses to Tampa and Chicago, arguably their two worst games of the season.

Are the Rangers simply just mediocre? Or are we seeing a team that is still trying to turn the corner, but also defaulting back to old, bad habits when hit with adversity? Unfortunately we simply don’t know, and won’t know until it’s far too late.

If there’s one thing we do know, it’s that the Rangers can’t continue to play like this and expect to be actual playoff contenders, let alone Cup contenders. If this is the best they can do, falling way short against beatable teams, then something major needs to happen.

And here’s the rub: Is Chris Drury truly the man that can correct all this? After all, most of these issues are his doing.

More About: