Does the New York Rangers rebuild stack up in the cap era?
The New York Rangers rebuild is officially over. This was the season the organization had the team penciled in to making the playoffs. To simply gain a berth in the tournament as a stepping stone to greater achievements. This New York Rangers team has had bigger and brighter ideas.
The 2021-22 New York Rangers team has done nothing but exceed all of the expectations laid before them. They were to make the playoffs as a bubble team, check. But instead did so as the second seed in the division having challenged for first place into the final few games of the season. They were to be competitive in their first playoff action, check. They’ve been beyond competitive, winning not one, but two rounds to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2014-15.
The New York Rangers, not who you thought they were
It’s been said that the Rangers were pretenders, not contenders. That they were too young and inexperienced to withstand the pressures of playoff hockey. That their dependence on the power play and Igor Shesterkin would come back to bite them. That they lucked their way to two playoff round wins.
The Rangers have just skated passed this commentary as they have skated passed the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes. They have taken everything in stride, learned, adapted and overcome. The teams stars are shining and the young guns are beginning to blaze their own trail. Most impressive, and lost in the current excitement of current events is the quick turnaround of the Rangers fortunes.
The new kids on the rebuild block
After seeing the 2017-18 season slip away, then General Manager Jeff Gorton, along with then President Glen Sather, announced a rebuild. The team traded away its established players for young talent, prospects and draft picks. The Rangers would miss the playoffs for four straight years, including two pandemic shortened seasons before sprinting back into the playoffs. But how does this Rangers turnaround compare to the other notable rebuilds of the cap era?
In truth, the New York Rangers are newcomers to the rebuild game. No less than eleven teams have rebuilt during the cap era. The Washington Capitals and St. Louis Blues went through rebuilds in the 2000’s but found success many years later, winning the Stanley cup in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Conversely, the Buffalo Sabres are a team in perpetual rebuild. They have missed the playoffs for 11 straight seasons and this season traded Jack Eichel, extending their rebuild even further.
In that same vein, the Edmonton Oilers have been in a continual rebuild mode. Including this season the Oilers had qualified for the playoffs in just three of 16 seasons since their 2006 Stanley Cup Finals appearance. During this time they stockpiled six top four draft picks, including four first overall picks in a seven year span from 2010 to 2016. Though they are having success this season, we will soon know if they can mirror the Capitals and Blues with later years success.
The Colorado Avalanche are team that has had a relatively successful rebuild. The Avalanche missed the playoffs in six of seven years from 2010-11 through 2016-17 but have made the tournament in each of the past five seasons. Having drafted Gabriel Landeskog second overall in 2011 and Nathan MacKinnon first overall in 2013 is finally bearing fruit as they have finished first in their division the last two seasons and are currently experiencing their first deep playoff run.
Currently, the Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils are in the middle of their own rebuilds. After having made the playoffs an astounding 25 straight seasons the Red Wings are now in the middle of a six year playoff drought. And though they have not finished higher than fifth in the division in any of those season, they have only received one top five pick at the draft, selecting Lucas Raymond with the fourth overall pick in 2020. Only time will tell how successful Steve Yzerman’s rebuild will be.
The Devils have missed the playoffs in nine of the last ten seasons since losing in the 2012 Stanley Cup Final. The Devils though have been fortunate in the draft lottery. They have received two first overall picks, selecting Nico Hischier in 2017 and jack Hughes in 2020, and will select second overall in the upcoming 2022 draft. But again, only time will tell how successful they will be. Most notable though, when discussing cap era rebuild success, the discussion revolves around the Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins.
Flightless birds soar to the Cup
Following a Conference Finals appearance in 2001, the Pittsburgh Penguins traded Jaromir Jagr to the Washington Capitals. The Penguins would miss the playoffs in each of the next four seasons and collect five top five draft picks during that span. These draft picks included Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury and Jordan Staal. In their fifth year, they would finish in second place in the division with 105 points, but be dispatched from the playoffs by the Ottawa Senators in just five games .
That playoff defeat taught the Penguins what was necessary to win as the next season they would finish first in the division and make a Stanley Cup Finals appearance. The following year, in 2009 they would hoist the cup. They would make one more ECF appearance in 2013 before winning back to back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.
Crowned royalty in LA
After losing in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993, the Los Angeles Kings would miss the playoffs in 11 of the next 15 seasons. During that time the would notably trade Wayne Gretzky (1996) and Rob Blake (2001). From 2000-2010 the Kings picked a top five draft pick only three times, most notably Drew Doughty at number two. They did well in finding diamonds a little later in the draft, selecting Anze Kopitar at 11th overall, Dustin Brown 13th overall and Jonathan Quick in the third round at 72nd overall.
The Kings would make the playoffs in 2009-10 and 2010-11, but exit in the first round both times. Though, in 2011-12 the Kings would enter the playoffs as the eight seed in the western conference and storm their way to winning the Stanley Cup, losing just four games that playoff season. They would win it all again in 2013-14 against the Rangers and add another Western Conference Finals appearance in 2013 to their rebuild resume.
Chicago’s own dynamic duo
The Chicago Blackhawks would miss the playoffs in nine out ten years from 1996-97 to 2007-08. This after an impressive 28 straight years in the tournament dating back to 1969-70. They would trade off Jeremy Roenick and Ed Belfour in consecutive years in 1996 and 1997 respectively, but would not find success until the 2006 NHL entry draft. That year they selected Jonathan Toews with the third overall pick and followed that up with the first overall selection in 2007, Patrick Kane, creating their dynamic duo.
The Blackhawks would miss the playoffs in the duo’s first year together, but they made up for it in a big way by advancing to the Western Conference Finals in their first playoff experience in 2008-09. They learned how to win by doing winning. They fell short of winning the cup that season, but set themselves up for a mini Chicago dynasty. With Cup wins in 2009-10, 2012-13 and 2014-15. The Blackhawks held the Cup three times over a six year span.
The big and the bad do it their way
The Boston Bruins rebuild is certainly different the those already mentioned. in 2005-06 they traded away Joe Thornton and later in the year Sergei Samsonov. They would miss the playoffs that year and the next. But, Gorton, then the Bruins interim General Manger was not willing to simply stand down and draft his way out of a rebuild. Instead, he signed Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard. He traded Andrew Raycroft, 2004 rookie of the year winner, for Tuukka Rask. Most impressive may be the drafting of Brad Marchand at 71st overall. His work over the summer of 2006 forged the core of an elite Boston team.
The Bruins would reenter the playoffs in 2007-08 and spend three seasons without advancing passed the second round. Then in 2010-11, they would win it all ending the team’s 38 year drought. Since that time they would make two other Stanley Cup Final appearances, falling to the Blackhawks in 2013 and the St. Louis Blues in 2019.
A familiar path
The New York Rangers began their rebuild following the Boston Bruins model. This made sense, as Jeff Gorton was at the helm at the start of both teams rebuilds. Almost as soon as the Rangers began trading away their aging core the began bringing in parts of a new one, signing Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba. If not for the pandemic this team may had already seen playoff action before this season, much as the Bruins had after just a two year absence. But now, with what this Rangers team has accomplished, that’s where the similarities end.
The new path
Having made the ECF in their first taste of playoff action, this team more closely resembles the path taken by the Chicago Blackhawks. Current General Manager Chris Drury has helped his team by adding players like Ryan Reaves and Barclay Goodrow in the off season and by reinforcing the lineup with players like Andrew Copp, Tyler Motte and Frank Vatrano at the deadline. Players that have helped build a team character that has let the learn to win by winning.
The “finals” path
Like the Blackhawks, the Rangers have their own drafted dynamic duo in Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko. Players that will be the center of a core that plays, grows and succeeds together for many years to come. Win or lose in this Eastern Conference Finals, the New York Rangers are setting themselves up for future success. But, the true success of a rebuild is judged in Stanley Cup wins.
That said, the jury’s judgement is still out on these New York Rangers. But they’re leaning towards smiles on Broadway.
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