The New York Rangers are in the midst of a rebuild, and took steps late in the regular season and into the offseason to add assets.
While the Rangers had previously established a good mix of young and veteran players, they now have created a solid core of veterans who are in their mid-20s.
In addition to this, with their goal to rebuild, they have managed to acquire a group of young players who they will look to as they finish laying the groundwork and take steps into a new era.
While this is true on both ends of the ice, the Rangers decision to trade franchise defenseman Ryan McDonagh in favor of gaining young talent left them with holes to fill on the defensive end.
Rangers’ General Manager, Jeff Gorton, could have looked to fill these holes with some players in the NHL’s unrestricted free agent pool, but up to this point, he has remained relatively quiet.
Based on this decision, it seems that Gorton would rather try to work with the resources the team has. This approach to building will obviously take time, but it means that we have talent in the pool that Gorton thinks is worth waiting for.
Here are some of the defensemen we think could have a big impact on the Rangers’ future.