The New York Rangers are in a bad spot. A really bad spot. A spot that just a season ago was the complete opposite of what's currently happening.
New York has gone from the 2023/24 President's Trophy winners to a team that's in real danger of missing the Stanley Cup playoffs with just four months to go. Sixth of Eighth in the Metropolitan Division is not enough to even obtain a wild card spot. And even if the Rangers somehow turned it around, they'd most likely fall in the first round anyway.
The Rangers' slides this season (yes, there have been multiple losing streaks) can be somewhat attributed to their GM, Chris Drury, whose seat has seemingly been getting considerably hotter in the last couple of weeks.
Drury has slightly mishandled two of the Rangers' big free agency moves, that being the dealing of veteran RW Barclay Goodrow to the San Jose Sharks when they were actually specifically on Goodrow's no-trade list, and the recent trade of captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a IR-lobbied defenseman and a fourth round pick in next year's draft.
The Goodrow drama is more tedious here, since it was revealed Drury was doing a bit of a favor for a friend in San Jose and helped a team that was aimlessly throwing money at free agents left and right to help boost the rookie career of first overall selection Macklin Celebrini.
Goodrow himself was also not informed of him being sent to San Jose until just 15 minutes before the deal was done. That has to be some sort of record for the NHL's worst management job, because the GM and HC should tell their players if they're being sent somewhere else way ahead of any paperwork being finalized. Only infamous Leafs GM Punch Imlach can be said to have done a worse job.
“It was just a big surprise,” Goodrow said at the time. “I was never given any inclination or whatever that I wouldn’t be back with the team and that happened. That was a while ago. I’ve tried to move past it. We’re here and excited to be with San Jose.”
Chris Kreider, one of the Rangers' greatest players in recent decades, was also on a potential trade list, to the anger of the entire Rangers team. The Blueshirts were already mad about Goodrow and Trouba being dealt without some kind of prior knowledge, but Drury was about to really blow everything sky high. Making that many poor trades in quick succession is called something. It's called tanking — losing as many games as possible on purpose to gain a better draft position — and it's a great way to lose confidence from your own players and your fans. Generally, the art of tanking is reserved for the worst NFL teams, not one of the original NHL teams. And certainly not one that had its best season in franchise history points wise just last season.
Time will only tell if Drury sees his job get axed in the coming weeks or if head coach Peter Laviolette goes as well with his treatment of young Kaapo Kakko recently.
And even if it does, it may still not be enough to end the season long saga of drama the New York Rangers are currently engrossed in. It's more than a soap opera; it's a soap opera on ice, and very thin ice at that.