The New York Rangers are, unfortunately, in a deep hole, with no light in sight. Some major changes are looming, and it could change the trajectory of not only the rest of the 2024-25 season but also the seasons to come.
At 13-10-1, for 27 points, the Rangers sit in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division. They are six points back of the Carolina Hurricanes, and nine points back of both the New Jersey Devils and the Washington Capitals.
These past seven games have been pretty much as horrible as it can be. With a record of 1-6, they were outscored 29-15 and outshot 255-204. It hasn’t even been close in any of those losses.
If this losing trend continues, they will be soon out of time and contention for a playoff position, and then the questions start to become more real. Is this team heading back to a rebuild, with the salary cap having little to no wiggle room? Does this team try and sell at the March 7 trade deadline, or even before to brace for a rough financial offseason?
Has the championship window started to close? And if not, what can they do to fix it?
Sell at the Deadline?
At this point, standings-wise, the Rangers are still very much in contention to make the playoffs. With this roster and brilliant minds running this team, the last seven games' shortcomings will probably be fixed sooner rather than later. But it begs me to wonder if the Rangers are out, I mean out, should they sell at the deadline.
And if they do choose to sell off some expiring contracts or bad apples that are continuing to hinder the team at that point, who should go? Ryan Lindgren and Jacob Trouba are the first to come to mind, Trouba will be a lot harder to offload. That is a growing trend with alot of contracts that should find their way to a new team. Like for instance, with the underperformance of Mika Zibanejad, his deal has a no-movement clause on it. So he will remain a Ranger for the full duration of his deal, set to expire in 2029.
One blueshirt that may be a sneaky move to make, depending on their standing in the playoff race, is Will Cuylle. He has been outstanding this season, but is it a one-hit wonder? With no deal in place for the 2025-26 season, it may be best for the Rangers to get the most they possibly can out of him.
Also, let us not forget how much salary cap space this team will need if they want to bring back goaltender Igor Shesterkin. Emphasis on the if.
Should the Rangers be sellers at the trade deadline, if they are in a position to be?