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New York Rangers: When will the rebuild end?

By Daniel Blanda

BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 15: Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers looks on from the bench during a game against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on January 15, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 15: Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers looks on from the bench during a game against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on January 15, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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WINNIPEG, MB – FEBRUARY 11: Jesper Fast #17, Ryan Strome #16, Adam Fox #23, Ryan Lindgren #55 and Artemi Panarin #10 of the New York Rangers celebrate a third period goal against the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell MTS Place on February 11, 2020 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images)
WINNIPEG, MB – FEBRUARY 11: Jesper Fast #17, Ryan Strome #16, Adam Fox #23, Ryan Lindgren #55 and Artemi Panarin #10 of the New York Rangers celebrate a third period goal against the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell MTS Place on February 11, 2020 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Looking to 2020-2021

So, what will the 2020-21 New York Rangers look like?  The rebuild is far from over and there are many decisions to be made in the next six months.   If Lundqvist is no longer with the team and if they can re-sign all of their restricted free agents, this is what the roster looks like:

LEFT WING                    CENTER                  RIGHT WING

Artemi Panarin         Ryan Strome            Kaapo Kakko
Open                           Mika Zibanejad        Pavel Buchnevich
Brendan Lemieux     Filip Chytil                Vitali Kravtsov
Open                            Brett Howden         Brendan Smith

LEFT DEFENSE        RIGHT DEFENSE

Brady Skjei                  Jacob Trouba
Marc Staal                  Tony DeAngelo
Ryan Lindgren           Adam Fox

GOALIES

Igor Shesterkin
Alexander Georgiev

BENCH

Yegor Rykov
Libor Hajek

There are still two gaping holes at forward and the key questions are whether the Rangers have capable replacements in Hartford to offset the scoring of Chris Kreider.

Except for one more year of experience for their young players, the team is virtually the same minus a couple key parts in Kreider and Fast.  If Lundqvist returns there will be many more question marks going into the season.

That leaves us with the 2021-22 season when the Rangers should have the cap space to make some hay despite the expansion draft.

new york rangers
NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 05: Fans watch as the New York Rangers take the ice for pregame warmups before the home opener against the Colorado Avalanche at Madison Square Garden on October 5, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The breakdown

All signs point to the rebuild ending in 2021-22. It’s been predicted and practically proven that this is the case.

In terms of current prospects, the team seems secure in net and on defense. If anything, there might be a logjam on the backend and Jeff Gorton could use a prospect in a trade for some needed depth up front.

It’s also possible that a player in need of a change of scenery, like a Ryan Strome, emerges and a quality trade reappears like Punxsutawney Phil.

Looking at our offensive prospects, there aren’t too many that can hold a candle to our defensive prospects. Perhaps Lias Andersson has change of… heart and maybe Boo Nieves finally solidifies himself as a fourth line center.

And it’s even  possible in all the expansion hoopla that a player falls through waivers into Gorton’s lap. And if none of that works, the Rangers can always turn to the 2021 free agency class. 

Worst case scenario

If worse comes worse  and the New York Rangers fail to find a way to handle Lundqvist’s contract now and they lose Chris Kreider, Tony DeAngelo, Ryan Strome, Brendan Lemieux, Jesper Fast and Alexander Georgiev, then the team be entering 2021-22 even further behind and the New York Rangers could have to wait a whole other season to contend.

New York Rangers: Top ten free agency targets of 2021. dark. Next

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