The Rangers face a difficult reality as Mike Sullivan praises trade candidate Artemi Panarin

The New York Rangers were without Artemi Panarin for Wednesday's 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders, and naturally Head Coach Mike Sullivan was asked about the star winger after the game. The Blueshirts' bench boss admitted a hard truth about the situation, and it is something that President and General Manager Chris Drury will need to keep in mind going forward.

Panarin "not an easy guy to replace"

Sullivan stated, "Bread's a terrific player and a great teammate. He's good friends with a lot of guys that are in that dressing room. That has an impact on guys. He's one of the best Rangers of his generation. He's not an easy guy to replace"

Losing friends is nothing new to this team, as popular players like Chris Kreider, Jacob Trouba, and Barclay Goodrow have departed the organization in recent years. The crux is the bit about Panarin being one of the best Rangers of this generation, and statistically he will not be an easy guy to replace.

Since joining the Rangers in 2019, Panarin ranked sixth in the NHL with 607 points in 482 games (1.26 points per game), Ahead of him was Nikita Kucherov with 612 points in 398 games, and David Pastrnak with 616 points in 482 games. The last two years have seen Panarin have his offense decline a bit, and some of that has to do with age and the overall makeup of the roster.

Panarin has averaged 1.38, 1.38, 1.28, 1.12, 1.46, 1.11, and 1.10 points per game during his time as a Blueshirt. His best year saw him finish with 120 points in 82 games, last year he had 89 points in 80 games, and this year he has 57 points in 52 games. That said, he's led the team in scoring each and every season he's been a Ranger, and there's no clear candidate on the roster or within the system to replace him.

Chris Drury has his work cut out for him

Once Panarin is moved, the Rangers will need to identify a player they feel is attainable this summer or next. The Rangers can't operate aimlessly, and they can't simply bank on a J.T. Miller bounce back or an Alexis Lafrenière breakout. Those are two things that would be nice for the roster, but neither situation would effectively makeup for what is being lost.

The Rangers traded Chris Kreider in the summer, and Drury's failure to acquire a player who could be a meaningful contributor is one of the reason the team is in the situation it is now. It's not the only reason, but something important that needs to be recognized as to avoid repeating the mistake again.

There's bound to be a number of names that will inevitably be linked to the Rangers. Jason Robertson is an obvious one as an RFA who is close to UFA status. Brady Tkachuk is someone the Rangers have had interest in, Auston Matthews could be someone to look out for if the Toronto Maple Leafs make sweeping changes, and then there's the potential of Connor McDavid hitting free agency in July of 2029. Waiting on McDavid might be too long, but the Rangers will certainly keep their options open.

In any case, as the Blueshirts make their moves post Letter 2.0, it will be very important for Drury to have a plan for what his contending team is going to look like, and failure to do so will result in a retool turning into a full fledged rebuild.