RALEIGH, N.C. - How did the 2024-25 season go so terribly wrong for the New York Rangers?
Well, how much time do you have?
The fatal blow came Saturday, with a lifeless 7-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center officially eliminating the bumbling Blueshirts from playoff contention.
It served as the final insult to an exasperated fan base, but the origins of this lost season can be traced back much further than any recent results. A damning list of missteps over several months − years, even − culminated with this bitter moment.
This outcome would have seemed improbable at this time last year, when the Rangers were marching toward the franchise’s fourth Presidents’ Trophy and their second Eastern Conference final appearance in three seasons. Now they’ve become the fourth team in NHL history to miss the postseason the year after achieving the league’s best record, joining the 1992-93 Blueshirts in that unremarkable club.
Those Rangers rallied the very next season to capture a Stanley Cup that stands as their only championship in 85 years and counting. Perhaps that will inspire hope for a similar response, but it would require some serious optimism given the tattered state of the organization.
How we got here
On the surface, the overall body of work in team president Chris Drury’s four seasons at the helm is strong.
Three playoff appearances, two trips to the conference finals, one Presidents’ Trophy and a 191-105-30 record have made this a mostly successful era in the franchise’s underwhelming history. But it should be noted that those teams were largely built by his predecessor, Jeff Gorton, who put the core pieces of Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and several others in place before being suddenly – and surprisingly – dismissed in 2021.
Drury’s mission statement from the beginning was to fortify the skill Gorton assembled with gritty role players who would make the Rangers “harder to play against.” There have been several swings and misses in that regard, which at least partially explains why they've hit the wall with such a loud thud.
The former Blueshirts’ captain hired two old-school, experienced (and recycled) coaches – first Gerard Gallant, then Peter Laviolette – who were charged with molding the talented roster into the type of north-south, tight-checking, never-back-down outfit that could excel in the playoffs. But the proper pieces were never put in place to implement that assertive play style.
Instead, they won behind a two-part formula: Goaltending and special teams. Igor Shesterkin developed into one of the best goalies in the world, including a brilliant Vezina Trophy-winning campaign in 2021-22, and New York’s high-end playmakers combined to form one of the NHL’s most efficient power plays. But the reality of their middling-to-subpar play at five-on-five always lurked under the hood.
Drury recognized those deficiencies and tried to make moves to address them, but very little materialized outside of a few aggressive trade deadlines in which he dealt future assets for band-aid rentals. You can count the additions who made a lasting impact on one hand – and you won’t even need all five fingers.
After being manhandled by the eventual champion Florida Panthers in last year's conference final, Drury decided to offload a couple team leaders to clear salary cap space for bigger moves. ...
