The losses are mounting for the New York Rangers. They’ve now lost 10 of their last 12 games and are freefalling to the bottom of the NHL. The Rangers are 27th in total points and 29th in points percentage, which bodes well for a successful Rangers retool, as it looks like the Blueshirts are primed for a top five pick in a top heavy 2026 NHL Draft. That’s just one small piece to a big puzzle. The bigger piece is whether or not Chris Drury and team can pull off a successful Rangers retool.
Lessons from 1980 are no longer relevant
One of the odder trends from Team USA, which is mostly comprised of the Rangers brain trust, is trying to learn lessons from the 1980 Miracle On Ice. The problem is those lessons are wildly outdated–that was 46 years ago! The game has changed, and international hockey is not the same as the NHL.
Unfortunately we saw this play out with how Team USA was selected. Adam Fox’s omission aside, Jason Robertson was also left off the team. Yet JT Miller and Vincent Trocheck, far inferior to Robertson, are both on the team. Team USA actively shot themselves in the foot by choosing grit over skill, and it’s going to bite them once the Olympics start. The concern is that the Rangers brain trust was heavily involved in these decisions, Fox notwithstanding.
A successful Rangers retool hinges on learning the right lessons. The Rangers are easy to play against not because they lack grit, but because they lack skill. They lack a true goal scorer. They lack puck movers on the blue line outside of Fox. They lack guys that can generate offense and score in multiple ways, like off the cycle, off the rush, etc.
Today’s game is not the same as it was in 1980. But beyond that, what the 1980 team had was a blend of skill and grit. They could still score. That’s the worry. Is the Rangers brain trust taking the wrong lessons from almost half a century ago?
Following the Caps model
The Rangers are essentially going to be following the Washington Capitals model for their retool, something I mentioned on Blue Seats After Dark. The Caps were brutal in the 2022-2023 season, eventually landing the #8 pick in the 2023 draft (Ryan Leonard). In addition to selling expiring contracts for draft picks, the Caps were aggressive in acquiring young players that had become available.
First they acquired defenseman Rasmus Sandin, at the time 22 years old, in exchange for a first round pick and veteran Erik Gustafsson. That first round pick was acquired 5 days before the Sandin trade, when they sent Garnet Hathaway and Dmitry Orlov to Boston.
The Caps improved the following year, but got swept by the Rangers in the playoffs. Despite being a playoff team, the Caps still sold at the 2024 deadline, acquiring as much draft capital as they could. These picks were then flipped to address more team needs.
The 2024 offseason is where the Caps really turned things into high gear. They sent a 2025 2nd round pick–previously acquired at the 2023 deadline for Lars Eller–to Calgary for forward Andrew Mangiapane. They seized the opportunity to trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois, sending Darcy Kuemper to LA. Goalie Logan Thompson was brought in for a 2024 3rd rounder–acquired from Toronto for Joel Edmundson at the 2024 deadline–and their own 2025 3rd rounder.
The big move came when Ottawa made Jakob Chychrun available, costing Washington defenseman Nick Jensen and a 2026 3rd round pick. They signed defenseman Matt Roy with cap space they freed up. In addition to moves for complementary pieces, like reacquiring Lars Eller, the Caps also acquired Justin Sourdif from Florida for a pair of future picks and made space for Sourdif, Leonard, Conor McMichael, and other youngsters as they transitioned out of their retool.
This is what a successful Rangers retool could look like.
A successful Rangers retool requires time and patience
The key takeaway from the Caps model isn’t just how they did it, it’s how long it took. Reading the room, it seems many believe a successful Rangers retool can and will be done in one deadline/offseason. That’s just not the case. The Rangers have some great pieces to move now: Artemi Panarin, Braden Schneider, and Vincent Trocheck top the list. But next season they could move Alexis Lafreniere and Will Borgen to continue the retool.
Another lesson that can be applied to a successful Rangers retool is that not all trades bring back pieces that help immediately. They used picks acquired to land other pieces they needed, like Mangiapane and Thompson. It’s not about getting what you want right away, it’s about moves to acquire assets, then flipping those assets for pieces you feel move the team in their preferred direction.
Focusing on Artemi Panarin for a second, there’s a strong possibility the Rangers “only” acquire futures, especially from teams that are on the older side like Colorado and Minnesota. But those futures, those first round picks, can be used to entice other teams to part with bigger pieces.
There’s a strong argument that the Caps lucked into their situation because Dubois and Chychrun, two top of the lineup players, became available for pennies on the dollar. That’s very true, but the Caps put themselves in a position to succeed because they had the assets to acquire both players. They had the cap space to take on Dubois’ full contract, and they had the pieces to land Chychrun and Thompson from other trades.
For a successful Rangers retool, Drury and Mike Sullivan will need to be on the same page about not just the direction of the team, but the patience required to eventually land the pieces they need. Sometimes, acquiring picks is the right move in the short term.
Is this the front office to pull it off?
The $64,000 question is whether this front office is the one that can pull off a successful Rangers retool. Nothing in Chris Drury’s body of work, starting in 2015 when he was Director of Player Development, to now shows he understands the new NHL. He’s torched relationships with prospects, made trades that seem fine in a vacuum but lack an overarching plan, and has singlehandedly put the Rangers in this position.
Shayna Goldman did not mince her words on Sportsnet when talking about what a successful Rangers retool could look like, openly questioning whether Drury is the right guy to pull it off. This is an open question and no one has confidence that Drury can pull off a successful Rangers retool.
The main concern with Drury right now is his tunnel vision and lack of an overarching plan planting the seeds of doubt in a successful Rangers retool. The good news is Mike Sullivan should be a big part of the decision making process, but it’s fair to doubt his inclusion as a good thing since he’s also part of the Team USA brain trust.
Can Drury pull off a successful Rangers retool? Or will he try to rush it over one offseason? We won’t know until we see a few trades, which is perhaps the most maddening part of all. Uncertainty and chaos will reign supreme until then.
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