New York Rangers: Buckle up for a crazy few weeks

Judgement Day is looming ever closer for the New York Rangers who will once again send a clear signal out as to both their short-term and long-term intentions.

We’re rapidly approaching the Trade Deadline on Feb. 24, and, once again, the New York Rangers will be at front and center of everything as the front office continue to navigate this rebuild.

It is an uneasy time for Blueshirts fans who will no doubt be anxiously awaiting a Tweet from one of the many NHL Insiders that really earn their keep this time of year.

We all think we have some idea as to what General Manager Jeff Gorton wants to achieve over the next few weeks but, in reality, we really have no clue and there will be plenty of twists and turns to digest.

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Because, at the end of the day, I feel this is President John Davidson‘s show now and the moves this organization makes between now and Feb. 24, will give us some idea as to how far away from being contenders they think the Rangers are.

Gorton has really dug himself into a hole in terms of the salary cap and this could be his last real opportunity to impress Davidson before maybe this franchise pulls the trigger on another major move in the off-season.

Of course, the biggest storyline to keep an eye on will be that of Chris Kreider and, personally, I feel that his future is still undecided.

Hear me out.

John Davidson has been here before having helped to rebuild both the St. Louis Blues and the Columbus Blue Jackets, and it is clear that he values leadership and experience.

Kreider offers both in abundance coupled with high-end talent that you won’t get back from a prospect.

The only thing really missing from Kreider’s game is that rather important ingredient consistency, although the power forward has been on a tear over the last month or so.

But something tells me, and this is just guesswork on my behalf, that there is an internal struggle going on within the front office over Kreider’s future.

I have a gut feeling that Davidson would like to keep hold of Kreider and sign him to a new deal, leading me to think that he could well be the last domino to fall.

After all, there are whispers that the front office are scrambling to get Henrik Lundqvist to waive his no movement clause in his contract so that they can deal him at the Trade Deadline, thus committing to a future of Alexandar Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin between the pipes.

Those rumors will now only intensify given that, while the Rangers were battering Toronto Maple Leafs backup goalie Michael Hutchinson on Wednesday, Leafs General Manager Kyle Dubas pulled the trigger on a trade that saw forward Trevor Moore and a pair of third round draft picks sent over to the LA Kings in exchange for goalie Jack Campbell and gritty forward Kyle Clifford.

And this is where the fun really begins.

Speculation over Lundqvist’s future with this franchise will now intensity and will continue to rage on until a solution either way is met, with a Lundqvist trade arguably paving the way for Kreider to stay.

Those are just two pieces at play, of course.

Ryan Strome, Jesper Fast and Tony DeAngelo will all hit free agency in the summer and Strome and DeAngelo in particular will both command big paydays for their exploits this year.

Then there is Pavel Buchnevich who I get the sense has crossed Head Coach David Quinn one too many times, so it wouldn’t surprise me if his name finds its way on the trading block.

All in all, the next few weeks will be the most important of the year and perhaps the last few years for the New York Rangers, who are currently sat at the Blackjack table with their cards close to their chest.

They face a plethora of decisions that will shape both the short-term and long-term future of this storied franchise, while dictating how long a return to the top table of NHL powerhouses will take.

The decisions made over the coming weeks could also spark a reshuffling in the front office over the summer as John Davidson continues to put his stamp on this organization.

Whatever happens, strap in and buckle up because the next few weeks promises to be fascinating, shocking, full of wild twists and turns and, potentially heartbreaking, should a certain goalie get dealt.

The rollercoaster that is the New York Rangers is about to get even crazier.