The New York Rangers have had a fairly quiet offseason so far and from the looks of things, that’s likely to continue as we head into the start of the 2024-25 season. The only moves they’ve made that could impact the NHL roster next season are trading for Reilly Smith from the Pittsburgh Penguins and signing Sam Carrick as a free agent. With all the rumors that general manager Chris Drury wanted to shake up the team this offseason, nothing materialized and it looks like the Rangers team that won the Presidents’ Trophy last season and was eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals will be back at it with the same core of players intact.
The Rangers are still not over the hump with key players like Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider. While it looked like they could trade Trouba and his $8 million contract, it now seems more likely that he will stay with the team through next season. There wasn’t a huge trade and keeping this same group of key players for one more run is a mistake – they still need to prove they have what it takes to lead the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup since 1994.
Three straight years of playoff failures
These key players have been present in three consecutive playoffs and have failed to get the job done each time. In the 2021-22 season, it was a surprise that the Rangers reached the Eastern Conference finals and held a 2-0 series lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning and a 2-0 lead in Game 3. They lost that game and the next three games to be eliminated in six. Many thought they would learn from this experience and come back the following season as a better team, but this was not the case.
In the 2022-23 season, the Rangers strengthened at the trade deadline, bringing in Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane; after that, they looked like a “superteam” with all the talent they had throughout the lineup. They held a 2-0 series lead over the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the playoffs and then collapsed again. They lost that series in seven games, getting shut out in the final game by a goalie the Devils had just traded to the Vegas Golden Knights. They lost that series because Panarin and Zibanejad became ghosts, combining for just one goal between them in the seven games; that’s when the questions really began about whether these core players could lead this team to a Stanley Cup, as they weren’t showing up when it was needed most.
In the 2023-24 season, the Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy and had the best regular season in franchise history. Panarin scored 49 goals and 120 points and looked like they were poised to make a deep playoff run. This didn’t happen as they lost to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games after holding a 2-1 series lead. Panarin and Zibanejad were once again non-factors in that series as Zibanejad failed to score a goal and Panarin’s goal came too late in Game 6, causing them to lose that game 2-1. Three straight seasons of blowing series leads and two straight seasons where their best offensive players didn’t show up and now, we’re about to enter another season where the Rangers will be led by these same players, even though they haven’t shown they have what it takes to adjust their games when things get tougher in the playoffs.
Panarin and Zibanejad will be closely watched next season
The Rangers’ highest-paid and best-offense players have not appeared in two consecutive playoff runs. Starting with Panarin, he had a horrible series against the Devils, scoring just two points in the seven games and no goals. He then had the best regular season of his career and many thought he could carry it into the playoffs, but he was once again mediocre. He scored five goals and 15 points in 16 games and while those numbers may look good, he only had one goal in the series against the Panthers and was invisible for most of those games. Zibanejad had just one goal and four points in the series against the Devils and then just three goals and 16 points in 16 games in these last playoffs. He didn’t score against the Panthers and his last two goals came in Game 1 of the second round against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Related: Trouba’s mess with the Rangers could have a big impact on the upcoming season
It won’t matter what Panarin and Zibanejad do in the 2024-25 regular season. They could both have the best seasons of their careers and fans won’t care because all that matters is how they perform in the playoffs. For two straight playoff runs, they haven’t provided enough offense and were invisible far too often. If they once again fail to make a postseason appearance, fans will be (figuratively) calling for their heads and the Rangers will likely have to make a tough decision on whether to consider trading them. They need to prove fans wrong and have a strong playoff showing next season and help be the ones to lead the Rangers to a Stanley Cup.
The Rangers should try to sign Jacob Trouba
The Rangers have been exploring the possibility of parting ways with Trouba for the past few weeks, and around the NHL Draft, it looked like he could be headed to his hometown Detroit Red Wings. No move ever came about, however, and as of this writing, he remains the Rangers’ captain. His no-movement clause was reduced to a 15-team no-trade list, so they can still move him to at least half of the other teams in the league and should be looking to do so. Trouba performed abysmal in these past few playoffs and was demoted to the third pair for most games. He was constantly getting outplayed due to his lack of speed and was always out of position because he was focused on hitting a player instead of playing defense.
The Rangers can’t afford to have $8 million on their third defensive pairing, and frankly, they’re going to need all the cap space they can get next offseason as they’re going to have to re-sign Igor Shesterkin, Alexis Lafreniere, and K’Andre Miller. No matter how much Trouba wants to stay, the team should still consider moving his contract because it’s what’s best for the team going forward. If they can get rid of most of that salary, it will allow them to have the cap space to make bigger moves next season. This is Shesterkin’s last year on a team-friendly contract and who knows what the future holds for this team.
The Rangers’ core players are talented, and there’s no denying that they’ve all had successful NHL careers. They’ve been the team’s best players for a long time and are good enough to carry the team to the playoffs, but they haven’t proven that they can get over the hump and make it to the Stanley Cup Final. The Rangers should have tried to make a major move this offseason to shake up (and hopefully wake up) the team heading into next season, but it looks like all of these core players will be back. Time will tell if they’ve learned from their past mistakes or if it’ll be yet another season without a Stanley Cup returning to New York.
