The New York Rangers are not a good hockey team. Despite making it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2024, the Rangers have completely fallen off, and are simply not good. Last season, it was hard to accept. The Rangers had a somewhat decent lineup and were in the midst of running back the same team that took them two wins away from a trip to the Stanley Cup Final. This year has been spent trying to rid the horrific aura of last year’s roster.

Clearly, it hasn’t worked.

I had a moment recently after a Rangers loss in which I felt some perspective. Typically, after Rangers losses I’m quite upset. I spend some time dissecting the game, then move onto the next one. After this particular loss, I didn’t dissect. I didn’t think about it all. I was mildly upset, but far less than usual.

The truth is, I think it’s good for the Rangers to be losing right now. Sure, it wastes some of Igor Shesterkin’s prime. Adam Fox’s, too. It stinks to root for a team that loses a lot. But in the end, the Rangers desperately need a complete overhaul, and losing is the only way that will happen.

This is where the retool seems to be a wise decision. Given Shesterkin’s (30) and Fox’s (28 in February) ages, the Rangers need a quick turnaround to get the most value out of their elite talent. A retool isn’t as “sexy” as a rebuild, but if done right it gets the job done while Fox and Shesterkin are producing at elite levels. The only question is what Chris Drury considers the core, and which pieces he might look to move to retool quickly.

In particular, Drury is going to have to make difficult choices with Vincent Trocheck, Braden Schneider, and Alexis Lafreniere. All three have value–even if Rangers fans think Lafreniere is “useless” and “a bust”–and can bring back good pieces that fit what Mike Sullivan needs this team to be. But Trocheck is a value right now, putting up 60 points while playing in all situations and on a bargain contract. Second line centers don’t grow on trees, which both helps his trade value and clouds Drury’s decision making process.

The other piece is the Rangers bottoming out this year. Losing is never fun, but as the Rangers continue to lose and eventually start trading away skilled players, the losses will come in bunches. It’s easier for a retool to be successful if there’s a top-five pick that can hit the ground running (hit the ice skating?) right out of his draft year. The 2026 draft isn’t deep, but the top picks are all high end talents.

The Rangers are in a terrible place right now if you look at the season literally. They do not win games, they do not look like they are about to start winning games, and they are not a fun team to watch. But we have some Rangers silver linings to look forward too, hopefully with a top draft pick and an effective retool.

Whether or not you trust Chris Drury to pull this off, well that’s a whole other question.

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