Are the Rangers Going Into a Rebuild?
After the Rangers lost in Game 7 to the New Jersey Devils and firing Head Coach Gerald Gallant after a first-round exit, they could be looking at a possible rebuild. The main reason New York is in this spot is because they rushed the initial rebuild. They got Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko but rushed them to the NHL and stopped their full development.
Not only that, but New York also has an old team. Chris Kreider is 32, Mikka Zibanejad is 30, Barclay Goodrow is 30, and Artemi Panarin is 31. They only have three players on their forward core who is younger than 25 years old (Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko, and Alexis Lafreniere). Their defensive core is fairly young, with the oldest being Captain Jacob Trouba at the age of 29.
Also, their three main trade deadline acquisitions: Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Tyler Motte could all possibly be leaving. Kane didn't do much in his time in New York, but Tarasenko really made his mark there. Motte was brought in to be a bottom six forward and nothing else.
Add on to all of that, they have little to no draft capital this year. Drury went all in and lost in round one, and now he's going to pay the price.
