New York Rangers: What advantages does the team have in a rebuild?

The New York Rangers have a unique advantage when it comes to rebuilding. The Allure of the city, arena and history are enticing for players young and old alike.

Any time a team in New York City embarks on a rebuild, it is always controversial. The conventional wisdom has always been “You can’t rebuild in New York,” because people will just stop going to games. Take the mighty New York Yankees for example, until the team’s young players blossomed last year, Yankee stadium was awfully empty from 2015 until 2017.

There is so much going on in the city and there are so many teams that if one is bad, people just move on. However, the one exception to this rule has always been the New York Rangers. No matter what, two things always sell out in New York: The Radio City Christmas Spectacular and the Rangers.

The team is a New York institution and has developed a highly effective business model. In targeting companies and the rich with premium seating, there is always a baseline for attendance. While the game is always a ticketed sell out, there are usually some empty seats scattered throughout the arena.

In addition to the business model, the team has the added bonus of having a hands off owner that is willing to invest in the team. There are a handful of organizations that have been perpetually mired in a rebuild because of bad ownership. The disaster up in Ottawa can be traced directly up to the team’s owner.

So, if nothing else, James Dolan puts his hockey team in a position to succeed. Don’t ask about the Rangers’ co-tenants at Madison Square Garden though.

Recruiting

The Rangers have had great success in acquiring college free agents. The team landing both Kevin Hayes and Jimmy Vesey in consecutive Summers is a major windfall. At that point in time, New York’s prospect pool was barren and did not have NHL talent to replace veterans that left in free agency.

Instead of having to overpay in a trade or in free agency, the team was able to sign two quality NHL players to entry level deals. New York has received exceptional value out of Hayes and okay return on Vesey.

There are few other organizations that can offer the allure that New York does when it comes to professional athletes in their early 20s. This was a means of the Rangers getting around the draft to still get useful pieces.

There are always going to be college and un drafted free agents out on the market. New York simply can offer them a better situation than most other organizations.

The rebuilding process will take a while, but New York has advantages that teams like the Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators and Carolina Hurricanes cannot offer. Living in New York and playing in front of a sell out crowd every single night at the world’s most famous arena is quite enticing to guys in their early 20s.

The Rangers have gone about rebuilding the team the right way. It is just a matter of waiting on prospects and the circumstances to work out.