The New York Rangers are in desperate need of change. Another loss shows us things are not improving, and losing to the worst team in the NHL by points percentage proves that something has to happen. People must start coming under fire, and the Rangers must find a new direction. We've discussed the idea of a retool, where pending UFAs are dealt with for value purposes, and hockey trades are explored for this core to try and help freshen the room. That's not enough.
We've passed that point; the New York Rangers need to start considering a rebuild now. A total rebuild, blowing the roster up, and starting again from scratch because maybe three to four players can say they've played up to their level this season, and only one of them is a core guy. If the core isn't working, it needs to be rebuilt. It's time for Rangers general manager Drury to make money and start looking toward the future of his Rangers roster.
When you look at this core of guys like Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, and Igor Shesterkin, the first two have drastically underperformed and need to be examined for trade destinations. If the Rangers are going to enter a rebuild, even Panarin's future with the Blueshirts needs to be considered because he's just as old as Zibanejad and Kreider.
New York has a decent prospect pool with players like Gabriel Perreault, E.J. Emery, and Brennan Othmann, and young players like Brett Berard, Alexis Lafreniere, and Kaapo Kakko; the Rangers could rebuild. They need to change something; it can't just be a shuffling of the deck chairs anymore. We're at the point where significant change is necessary for the Blueshirts. It's beyond the point of no return, the Rangers need to rebuild because this team isn't winning anything.