The New York Knicks just won the NBA Finals, setting off a series of huge celebrations throughout New York. That’s what the New York Rangers have wanted to do every season during their current Stanley Cup drought. Unfortunately, the Rangers aren’t close to winning a Stanley Cup any time soon. That’s a big reason to be pessimistic, but it’s also a realist take on the Blueshirts. The Rangers aren’t close to winning, or even being in the conversation for a Cup. They could rebound as a bubble playoff team, but that’s not the ultimate goal.
The Rangers aren’t close to winning, and it’s pretty clear why
1. Chris Drury: Simply put, Chris Drury is the biggest reason the Rangers aren’t close to winning any time soon. Drury is obsessed with grit and sandpaper and all the fancy words you give players who focus more on throwing their bodies around than, you know, actually producing in the NHL.
Drury also has shown a complete inability to win a transaction, to build a roster, and to maximize the talents of the players on said roster. As long as Drury is in charge of the Rangers, their odds of winning the draft lottery are probably higher than to win the Stanley Cup.
2. James Dolan: This may surprise you considering Dolan’s Knicks just won it all, but that very well could accelerate the Rangers timeline in Dolan’s eyes. Dolan has been known to meddle, and every time he meddles, things fall into disarray. The good possibility is Dolan firing Drury, but the negative possibilities are Dolan cutting bait on top prospects, shelling out big bucks to undeserving players, or saying something controversial to the media.
On the bright side, Dolan is willing to spend for his teams to win. Unfortunately Dolan has been fed snake oil by many in the Rangers organization. He needs a Knicks like approach and some fresh minds.
3. The Rangers just aren’t very good: Let’s be real, a team that finished with the third worst record in the NHL cannot be that close to winning the Stanley Cup. The Rangers have some elite pieces in Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin, but that’s really it? Mika Zibanejad is great, but he’s aging. Alexis Lafreniere is an uncertainty. Gabe Perreault has a high ceiling, but there’s no certainty he will reach it. The Rangers aren’t close to winning, are a below average hockey team, and the Rangers need a major overhaul before they are considered true contenders.
4. Player development: Player development has been a massive problem for the Rangers for seemingly decades, so Chris Drury did the only reasonable thing and fired the man in charge of player development. Sounds like a big win, right? Well, following the no-brainer decision, Drury proved he has no brain, promoting Tanner Glass to the head of player development.
The new head of player development is the guy who learned everything he knows from the previous head of player development, who was just fired for lackluster results. The Rangers aren’t close to winning and maybe never will be because they are in this endless loop of ineptitude in key areas.
5. Winning is difficult: Even if all goes right for the Rangers, winning a title is very hard! So even with the most optimism, it can feel difficult to truly picture everything going as it must for the Rangers to bring the Stanley Cup to the Big Apple.
Only one team wins a Stanley Cup each year, and even the best teams don’t win. Just look at the Colorado Avalanche. The Rangers aren’t close to winning because of roster construction and other factors, but even when they are ready, winning is incredibly difficult.
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