What's happened to the New York Rangers, in such a short period of time, is an absolute failure that should result in President and General Manager Chris Drury losing his job. This is a thought that is pretty popular among the fanbase right now, as chants of Fire Drury have gotten louder and louder at Madison Square Garden. It is entirely possible that these chants, and the Rangers' increasingly disappointing play was the genesis of Drury releasing a message to fans, aka the "Letter 2.0".
A Message from Chris Drury to Our Fans pic.twitter.com/JVimBJ59B7
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 16, 2026
How did the Rangers get here?
The original letter came out in February of 2018, and it was an acknowledgment that the Rangers needed to overhaul a team that had become a shell of the group that went to a Stanley Cup Final and several Eastern Conference Finals. It was an admission that popular players would be traded, and the team would be taking an approach that would require some patience. That process led to the Rangers landing a No. 2 overall pick in 2019, and the No. 1 overall pick in 2020, as well as the acquisition of Adam Fox from the Carolina Hurricanes, and the signing of Artemi Panarin in free agency. That those moves transpired, the Rangers went to the Eastern Conference Final in 2022, again in 2024 while winning a Presidents' Trophy, and are this point so soon suggest something is rotten.
What the Rangers have done between Letter 1.0 and 2.0
The Rangers have already hired and fired several coaches, they've moved on from key players, and while this year's performance isn't helped by the fact that Fox and Igor Shesterkin suffered significant injuries, the Rangers are where they are in 2025-26 because Chris Drury put together a bad team. It is very clear that he thought the Rangers were closer to being the team they were in 2023-24 than 2024-25, and that's proven to not be the case whatsoever. The bets he made on getting the team back on top failed, and now he's going to be in a position to once again remake the team in his image.
Drury was an Assistant General Manager for the Rangers who was promoted into his current position after owner James Dolan fired John Davidson and Jeff Gorton after they tried to distance themselves from a statement put out in the aftermath of Tom Wilson's antics during a game against the Rangers. Drury was in his position for a few seasons, and there's nothing tangible that can be looked at as a reason for him getting promoted, but he just happened to be the most senior executive around after the firings.
Even if you ignore the very beginning of Drury's tenure highlighted by a shortsighted trade of Pavel Buchnevich, he has done very little to improve a roster that was fundamentally built by former Gorton, and to a lesser extent, Davidson.
Let's just stick to moves from the last two seasons, because this moves essentially speak to the situation the team is in.
Drury's initial response to a Rangers squad in decline
Drury made the decision to trade team captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks, he waived Barclay Goodrow, and this past summer he traded Chris Kreider for pennies on the dollar also to Anaheim. Kreider had 22 goals and 30 points in 68 games last season, and through 42 games he has 15 goals and 25 points which suggests that he still has more to give. You can make a case that the Rangers needed to move on from Kreider, but the problem is Drury subtracted him from the roster and didn't make any external additions to make up for the production lost by trading him. Drury made bets that the young talent on the roster would step up, something he also did when he traded Buchnevich, and it blew up in his face once again.
Moving on from Goodrow made sense, as he was an overpaid fourth liner who wasn't generating positive on-ice value to the Rangers. I say on-ice value because it sounds like he was a glue guy who meant a lot to the team off the ice. But Drury shouldn't get credit for freeing up that money since he signed Goodrow to begin with. While it would be unfair to ignore that Goodrow did have some playoff success in New York, the overall value they garnered from him didn't live up to the contract he was given.
Trouba was acquired by Jeff Gorton, and was a player who had his fair share of highs and lows for the Rangers. It was clear that a change needed to be made, and it was good work by Drury to free up the cap space that he did, but he spent it almost immediately on a two-year extension for Juuso Parssinen, a deal for Urho Vaakanainen, cap space on Carson Soucy (trade acquisition), a five-year deal for Will Borgen almost immediately after being acquired in a deal for former top prospect Kaapo Kakko, and two years of Taylor Raddysh (11 points in 45 games). One move that has worked is the signing of Vladislav Gavrikov, and that space was created after K'Andre Miller was dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes for Scott Morrow, a top 10-protected draft pick, and a second round draft pick.
Drury's biggest swing was his riskiest deal to date, and that was the reacqusition of J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks. The price paid for Miller was very fair, as it only cost Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a 2025 first round draft pick. Chytil is a talented center who has been unable to stay in the lineup, Mancini was a prospect who show some spark out of nowhere, and the first round pick was a reasonable cost of doing business.
The problem was taking on the remainder of Miller's contract, and betting on him being able to remain productive for a few years before he went into the decline that players with his playstyle generally experience. Miller's play for the Rangers last season went better than expected as he finished with 13 goals, 22 assists, and 35 points in just 32 games. Miller's appeared in 39 games this season and has 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points. He turns 33 in March, and after having a stretch of years in which he had elite production in Vancouver, it is fair to question whether or not he will ever be able to reach those highs every again. Miller carries a cap hit of $8 million along with a NMC which also includes some trade protection for the next four years.
Why the Rangers are taking a risk keeping Drury around to "retool" the team
The biggest reason why the Rangers should move on from Drury is that they already have so many of their main building blocks in place, and that you could argue that the most important thing they need is someone with a different perspective that is going to operate from a position of trying to genuinely improve the team as opposed to doing things from a place of job preservation. James Dolan looks at Drury as his hockey guy that he trusts in the same way he previously trusted Glen Sather, so I don't expect him to make a change there. But if the Rangers wanted to make sure they aren't penning a Letter 3.0 in a few years, Drury should be shown the door.
The Rangers have Mike Sullivan behind the bench, and he's someone who has won multiple Stanley Cups. Igor Shesterkin is a Vezina winner who was also a Hart Trophy Finalist. Adam Fox is a Norris Trophy winning defender who really should be a two-time winner but he still is one of the top five overall defenders in the league. You could also make the case that the team has a resurgent Mika Zibanejad in the top six, and Alexis Lafrenière, and that he's a former top prospect that has the potential to become something more than he currently is. If you throw in Gavrikov as another top defender, Gabe Perreault, Will Cuylle, and Noah Laba as some interesting youngsters, there's enough things there to try and build upon.
Make no mistake, Drury certainly is going to feel some heat, and he's going to be tasked with trying to make some trades that allow the Rangers to contend sooner rather than later. The hope is that he doesn't get desperate and make quick shortsighted trades that do more to take attention off him than it does help the overall health of the franchise.
We know that Artemi Panarin's days are numbered, We don't know what will happen with Vincent Trocheck (another player who was a good initial add by Drury) or Lafrenière, but I would imagine that players like Soucy, Raddysh, Sam Carrick, Jonny Brodzinski and other players of that ilk will be traded. It is clear that one of the reasons the Rangers ended up in this position is because they didn't letter the process outlined in Letter 1.0 go on long enough. The Rangers sold high on players, lucked into two top-end draft picks, signed a top free agent, and decided that was good enough for them.
With Letter 2.0 out in the world, the Rangers can't afford to take any more half measures. They will never go full scorched earth, but they can endure a little bit of pain to come out on the other side with a group poised to contend. Fans will soon get a sense of how things are going to be once they see what type of return they get for Panarin. If they decide to entertain talks on Trocheck, that's another player who could yield a significant return.
Time will tell if keeping Drury around proves to not negatively impact the retool, but it's another risk that the organization can't afford, and given the level of accountability that players and coaches have been held to, it would only be fair for the team's head hockey honcho to be held to that same standard.