New York Rangers: accepting the moment of truth

The New York Rangers’ front office addressed the media today and acknowledged the elephant in the room, the team is selling

The charade is finally over at 33rd Street between seventh and eighth avenue. The Rangers are going to be sellers at the deadline for the first time in more than a decade. Thursday afternoon General Manager Jeff Gorton faced the music and accepted the bitter truth. “We expected to be a lot better than this,” Gorton said at one point.

The current group of veterans has never achieved the team’s ultimate goal of winning a Stanley Cup. For the past five years, the Rangers have added a piece at the deadline and mortgaged part of their future. This pattern is coming to a halt because the front office has accepted the group they assembled this year just does not have the goods.

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This press conference was a step in the recovery process of building a future contender. However, with that, it is the realization that this is the end of an era of Rangers hockey. Effectively, the team is punting on the remainder of this season and possibly 2018-2019 as well. The Henrik Lundqvist era may have just gasped its last breath at the world’s most famous arena. The goaltender may not be going anywhere, but his chances of winning a cup are non-existent for at least the next season and a half.

Who runs the show?

There is a way that the Rangers can contend for a Stanley Cup as soon as next year, but it would require several things to break the right way. The most obvious fix to the current group is firing coach Alain Vigneault and his assistants. The coach has run the same system throughout the entirety of his tenure with the team and he does not adapt.

The defensive system at one point worked well because of the personnel the Rangers had. However, with the current group, the overload scheme just gives the opposition odd man rushes. Picking a new coach for a rebuild will not be an easy process, nor should it be. No matter what though, it should not be Vigneault’s job past this season.

Riding out the season with the current staff does not hurt in any way. If anything it should only bolster the resolve of the front office to sell. If the team sells, and they keep playing the way they did Wednesday night against the Bruins, they’ll be in good shape for next season. Parlaying a horrendous second half into a top-five draft pick will speed up the rebuild.

The team right now

There is a certain level of expectation for a hockey team in the National Hockey League. No matter how badly a team may be playing there is a certain level of effort that needs to be there. For the better part of the past two weeks, the Rangers have shown zero effort. The matchup with the Bruins was one of the most embarrassing games in the history of the franchise.

It is not easy for a hockey team to try and play amidst the drama that currently engulfs the Rangers. Guys in the dressing room are preparing as a member of the team hour to hour, with the possibility of being traded looming over their head. These are professional hockey players that need to show a level of respect for themselves. The effort the team gave forth against the Bruins was an embarrassment and not one of an NHL team.

The rest of this season is going to be a test of will and resolve. The result for this season is not in doubt, there is zero percent chance the team makes the playoffs after the comments on Thursday. For the sake of the development of the young guys on the team, they must figure out a way to keep games competitive. Losing every single game by four or more goals is demoralizing for players and fans alike. Midway through the third period of Wednesday’s game Madison Square Garden was half empty.

Next: How the Rangers went from contenders to unwatchable

Things are definitley changing in Rangerstown but it is for the better.