Wednesday was another busy day in the NHL, and another day in which the New York Rangers remained on the sidelines as teams around them continued to get better. The player in question this time was one that was unlikely to end up with the Rangers, but their new home in the Metropolitan Division should ultimately force an immediate shift in the team's offseason strategy.
Alex Tuch heads to Washington Capitals in sign and trade with Buffalo Sabres
The Capitals made headlines on Tuesday by landing Jordan Kyrou from the St. Louis Blues, and they followed that up by trading for Alex Tuch after he signed an eight-year, $84 million extension with the Buffalo Sabres.
Tuch is coming off a season in which he scored 33 goals and added 33 assists for 66 points in 79 games. He's appeared in 615 games thus far, and in that span he's scored 200 goals and added 248 assists for 448 points.
Rangers missed out on two potential targets, and a rival got better
Following these two moves, the Capitals now have a top six that includes Aliaksei Protas, Dylan Strome, Jordan Kyrou, Alex Tuch, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Tom Wilson. If Alex Ovechkin decides to come back for one more year, he will be in the mix along with top youngster Ryan Leonard.
The Capitals are coming off a year in which they went 43-30-9 and just missed the playoffs. By adding Tuch and Kyrou they are in a position to score more goals this season, and their odds of making the playoffs should improve.
How the Rangers should pivot
The Rangers don't have a ton of great options, and while they might have looked at the free agency pool and decided to sit things out, they are now in a spot where they can't simply run everything back. If there aren't players out there that the team feels comfortable signing, at the very least they need to look over their roster and identify additional players who can be moved for something.
Vincent Trocheck and Braden Schneider should both be traded at a minimum. Moving Brett Berard, similar to Brennan Othmann at the deadline, is something also worth considering. There's even merits to freeing up an extra spot for youngsters to fight for a spot, and once such opening could be created by moving on from Taylor Raddysh.
Things need to be different, and the Rangers need to have opportunities to get unexpected contributions. It isn't likely, but there's a chance Liam Greentree makes the opening night roster, and the Rangers' 6'3" and 216 pounder acquired in the Artemi Panarin trade is ready to make contributions at the NHL level.
For all we know Aidan Thompson, a forward who put up 55 points during his final NCAA at Denver in 2024-25, has a Noah Laba like impact on next year's roster after having a decent rookie season in the AHL. Again, this isn't something you want to bank on, but the opportuntities need to be available so a player can force the issue with a strong training camp.
In any case, the Rangers have been quiet thus far, but that can't continue for that much longer. Chris Drury needs to make his presence felt one way or another, and with Round 1 of the 2026 NHL Draft a day away, he needs to work the phones if his ultimate goal is to add picks to the Rangers' war chest.
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