The New York Rangers restart their 2025-26 season on February 26 against the Philadelphia Flyers. It will be the first of 25 games left for their season, which is likely going to succumb to an early vacation to the Florida Keys or the Bahamas instead of a first-round Stanley Cup Playoff.
As the Blueshirts enter another rendition of a rebuild, or retool, with their recent announcement, that is "The Letter 2.0". It stated that some fan-favorite players will have to be moved away from this franchise in order to bring back a successful hockey team in the future, and it got started right away with the trade of Artemi Panarin to Los Angeles.
The Trade Deadline is on March 6, and there is a very good chance that President and General Manager Chris Drury is not done with making moves. At this point, it is safe to say that only Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox are the only players who are untouchable, and everyone else is basically on the trade block.
Who else is as good as gone, and will not be with the Rangers past March 6. Let's talk about it.
Alexis Lafrenière
It is finally time to call it what it is. There is no more reason to give Alexis Lafrenière any more chances with the Rangers, and his first-overall selection should now be deemed a bust. Following the master class put on by all of the other first-overall picks at the Olympic games, including New Jersey Devils star forward Jack Hughes and his golden goal, No. 13's shortcomings have been amplified.
The Rangers must try to find a suitable buyer for Lafrenière and give themselves the best chance of trying again with the first-overall pick in this upcoming draft. Could they redeem themselves with Gavin McKenna of Ivar Stenberg?
Braden Schneider
We all seen what Braden Schneider could do when the best defenseman on this roster goes out with an injury. When Fox went to the injured reserve, he stepped up in a huge way minutes wise. But the rest of the NHL noticed that too and he might be a valuable trade chip for a bigger, more established fish in the sea.
With a new contract needed, Schneider has leverage in terms of what his next deal might be. Drury might want to give him a bridge deal to continue to monitor his growth into a top-four defenseman. But Schneider might get an offer from someone else, and should the Rangers not match it, as he is an RFA this offseason, they lose him for free.
Jonny Brodzinski
It seems like Jonny Brodzinski has been a Ranger forever. He has seemingly been a part of this team for much longer than his six seasons in New York. The 32-year-old is going to be without a contract at the end of this season, in which he has played some of his best bits of hockey since coming here from San Jose.
Can he be used to gain a little more draft capital, especially for the middle rounds in which the Rangers are very rich?