The time is now for the rebuilt Rangers
For the last several years, the New York Rangers’ focus has been the future.
That “future” has often felt unattainable, as if it were a speck in the distance that the Blueshirts would forever be building toward.
But the future quickly crept on the Rangers, arriving abruptly in the spring of 2022, and now, it is soon to pass them by.
The talk of the future began when the Rangers announced they were tearing it down back in 2018 with the hopes of building a more sustainable Stanley Cup contender.
They had their sights set on another golden age of hockey on Broadway, similar to the one that they were kissing goodbye, but this time with a Stanley Cup to show for it.
Ever since, the Blueshirts have done an excellent job of executing their plan, assembling a strong core made up of veterans and youngsters that will lead the way for the foreseeable future.
However, even the most well-built teams in today’s salary-cap-driven NHL enjoy a prime championship window that truly lasts for just two years.
And for the Rangers, this is year two.
In no way is this meant to suggest that the Blueshirts’ future is bleak, or that there is no path toward becoming a perennial Eastern Conference powerhouse much like the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals have been over the last decade.
But, at least on paper, the Rangers will have no better chance to win it all than they do now.
This year’s team is loaded to a level that is seldom seen in the modern NHL.
Few teams have the luxury of constructing a third line that consists of three former first-round draft picks, including previous first and second-overall selections, all below the age of 24.
Few teams have the luxury of constructing a second power-play unit that features either the league’s third-leading active point-scorer in Patrick Kane; or a player that has eclipsed 30 goals in every season of his career in which he has played at least 70 games in Vladimir Tarasenko.
For the current Rangers, these luxuries are the reality, but going forward that will not be the case.
Starting this offseason, Chris Drury will face the unenviable puzzle of having to find a way to keep this team together and contending over the next several years. The 46-year-old general manager will be strapped with only about $11.5 million with which he will need to address several holes.
More than half of that pot will surely be allocated toward re-signing K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere, likely leaving somewhere between four and five million dollars to fill at least five other roster spots.
As a result of this, Drury may even be forced to dump Barclay Goodrow and his $3.5 million cap charge to create some breathing room.
Regardless, as of now, there does not seem to be any practical avenue for retaining Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko and the deep, potent offensive attack that the Blueshirts currently boast.
Due to the lack of financial flexibility, the holes that Kane and Tarasenko will leave behind on the right side of each of the top two lines will need to be filled from within.
To start the 2023-2024 campaign, Kaapo Kakko will likely be elevated to the top-line right-wing role, and Alexis Lafreniere will probably be tasked with making the move to the right side to slot into the second-line vacancy.
While the Rangers’ existing core is largely locked up and should remain in place, the only way in which future renditions of this team will look anywhere near as dangerous as the current group is if Lafreniere and Kakko both take major leaps, and top prospects, like Brennan Othmann, burst onto the scene.
In the end, although the Blueshirts look primed to be a playoff team for years to come, it is unlikely the roster again approaches the current talent level, and thus even with an intimidating Boston Bruins squad looming, it is hard to believe the Rangers will have a better opportunity to win it all than they do now.
Make no mistake, the organization is well aware of this. Chris Drury would not have engaged in weeks of salary-cap gymnastics if this were just any other year.
Management is “all in” on 2023 just as it should be.
But now, Drury can only hope that the level of dominance he envisioned when he pulled the trigger on his blockbuster trade-deadline acquisitions finally comes to life on Tuesday.
Because the time is now and everyone knows it.