Three Lingering questions the New York Rangers face before training camp

The New York Rangers have had a quiet offseason - besides a few free agency/trade moves and re-signing two key defenders in Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider, the Blueshirts have not made tons of headlines this summer. Some would argue that's a fine thing.

New York might have gotten better by acquiring Reilly Smith to presumptively be their opening night right winger alongside Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, and New York will have a similar roster that just set franchise records during the 2023-2024 regular season.

But, the question remains: Can the New York Rangers finally win the Stanley Cup that they've been waiting for for 30+ years? That's yet to be seen.

With training camp only a few weeks away, here's some uncertainties the Rangers need to answer.

1. Will New York make a big trade?

Going into the offseason, some expected New York to make a move for a top-six right winger to pair along with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad.

To be fair, New York did, bringing in Reilly Smith from Pittsburgh to pair with Zibanejad and Kreider for now. Smith is coming off a 40-point season and should bring more consistency than Jack Roslovic, who departed to the Carolina Hurricanes this offseason. This should make the Rangers better.

Still, New York has not reeled in the big fish, whether a Trevor Zegras, Brady Tkachuk or any of the free agency names thrown out there that the Blueshirts missed out on. This leaves the door open for the Rangers to make a move during the season.

The Rangers have trade pieces - they re-signed Kaapo Kakko to a one-year contract, have a prospect pool full of pieces they didn't trade last deadline and have other plug-ins for their bottom six if they have to give up depth. If a superstar is there and the Rangers are in contention, don't be surprised if Chris Drury finally pulls the trigger.

2. Jacob Trouba and the captain problem

This is going to be lingering for as long as the 28th captain in New York's history is wearing a Rangers sweater: how can New York justify paying Jacob Trouba $8.5 million a season?

It's a fair ciriticism for New York, as Trouba has been downgraded to a third-pair defensemen behind Adam Fox and Braden Schneider on the right side, and the 30-year-old was a major negative in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It led to reports about the Rangers moving Trouba, but due to his wife's medical residency in New York along with other things, Trouba remains a Ranger.

This is not necessarily a bad thing - Trouba provides leadership in the locker room and when healthy (which he was not during the postseason) he provides noticeable additions on the defensive end of the ice. But, at this time, it's hard for Drury to justify giving him as much as New York is. Due to this, it might be Trouba's last year as a Ranger.

3. Is this the year?

Last is a vague question but honestly the most important one: Can this be the year the Rangers finally make a run to the Stanley Cup Final and win it all?

There's two sides to this. Starting with the positives - the Rangers were six wins away from accomplishing this feat last season and return relatively the same roster. New York has one of the top forwards in the league in Artemi Panarin, one of the top defensemen in Adam Fox and one of the top goaltenders in Igor Shesterkin. The Blueshirts have the pieces in place to win it all.

But, the negatives are apparent - New York was second-best at nearly everything in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Florida Panthers. Besides the line of Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere, the Rangers were lackluster at even strength throughout the entire season. New York hasn't gotten a big asset to help lift up two of their stars in Kreider and Zibanejad at 5v5.

Right now, there's not enough to show whether the Rangers can finally lift Lord Stanley this year. Obviously, it's a long season and the team will change. If it goes like 2023-2024, New York will be active at the trade deadline and will look to add to their roster. The Rangers should be healthier - Filip Chytil will hopefully not miss nearly the entire season and New York will hopefully not have to deal with lingering injuries throughout the season (Fox, Shesterkin, Chytil, for example) and postseason (Jimmy Vesey, Trouba, etc.)

One thing is clear: the pressure is on for the Rangers.