The New York Rangers have yet to hit rock bottom

The New York Rangers managed to sneak away with another overtime loss point on Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers. Even though the team’s record doesn’t look great, there are more bumps still to come.

In the arch of a rebuild, there are always hitches in the path. It’s uncommon for an organization to have a linear course to re-establishing itself to playoff status. Aside from the occasional home run draft pick or marquee free agent signing, it’s usually a multi-year process in which homegrown talent develops. The New York Rangers are fairing better than the team’s talent should have it.

For all intents and purposes, the fact that New York is a handful of points away from a playoff spot is absolutely remarkable. The team’s defense is a bottom five unit in the league and the forwards aside from the old guard are unproven. Throw in the fact that the team has a rookie head coach who’s learning the ropes himself and it’s a minor miracle.

This brings us to a simple fact: things are going to get worse before they get better. Every single team that goes through a rebuild has its nose rubbed in it over the course of a certain portion of the season and really struggles. It took the Rangers playing an abysmal January last season to kickstart the rebuilding process.

Yet, the team has room to fall further based on where its limited success is coming from. Relying on players to continue to play at their career best over the course of an 82 game season is a fool’s errand and likely to be unsustainable. Yet, New York’s success is directly tied to Kevin Hayes, Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider playing out of their respective minds.

Why it’s going to get worse

In addition to over-relying on just a handful of players for offensive production, the elephant in the room is the trade still to be made. In all likelihood, the Rangers have at least one if not two trades to make before the trade deadline this February. Since New York is a rebuilding team, trade deadline moves mean sending away veteran talent for future assets.

Those future assets are how the Rangers will eventually return to the postseason, but not a recipe for immediate success. Those future trades will force younger and more unproven players higher up the lineup and trigger the call-up of players from the AHL to fill out the roster. Think last year’s Rangers down the backstretch that featured Rob O’Gara on a nightly basis.

The drop off in talent will be a driving factor in New York’s likely tailspin. Coach Quinn can preach effort all he wants in practice, but eventually, a disparity in talent is simply too much to overcome, no matter how hard the players are willing to work.

In addition to the likely drop off in talent, the Rangers will need to handle the psychological drain of struggling. For certain teams, rebuilds never end because of the attitude and culture within the organization. The front office and coaching staff continue kicking the can down the road and staving off actual progress in the name of job security.

Although the Rangers’ front office is making logical moves, the wear and tear of constantly losing can begin to take a toll. Right now, the team sneaking away with overtime losses and stealing overtime wins is enough to keep everything hunky dory.

However, when New York’s luck runs out in these situations, the struggle will intensify. Rebuilds are not for the faint of heart and will only continue to frustrate. It’s important to keep the greater context of the situation in mind.

The organization is approaching the rebuild in the right way, taking its lumps is, unfortunately, part of the process.