Five years since The Letter: Are the Rangers better off? by Hank Indictor

The New York Rangers, for the most part, are in decent shape. Sure, they’ve had a series of bad losses here and there, but as of this post, they are in third place and within striking distance of the New Jersey Devils for second in the Metropolitan Division -- and very much in the Cup contender conversation! In addition, they just traded for winger Vladimir Tarasenko, and by doing so, they improved their depth and scoring.

Having said that, let's remember that at this time five years ago we were having a much different conversation, not only was the team at a crossroads, but the window of opportunity had slammed shut after a litany of playoff failures. Many assumed that management would try to keep things going (you know how it is in NY), but instead, they told fans the cold hard truth and in doing so released “The Letter." The rebuild commenced! So how did we get here?

February 8, 2018, is a date I remember very well. Heck, I even remember where I was when "The Letter" was released. Taking a homework break while at Sacred Heart’s library, many thoughts popped into my head at the letter's release. There was no anger, but more sadness in the sense that you knew some great players were going to be gone. But also because during their best years, they came so close but were ultimately unable to win that elusive Cup, and then came the bittersweet memories of their deep runs in 2012, 2014, and 2015.

I also knew, however, that this was the right thing to do as the team had gotten older and had significant salary cap constraints. This began back in June when they bought out the contract of longtime defenseman Dan Girardi and traded center Derek Stepan to the Arizona Coyotes. So “The Letter” really shouldn’t have come as a big surprise, but reality sunk in when they traded Rick Nash to the Boston Bruins.

The Nash trade was symbolic in the sense that he was a player brought in with the expectation to lift the Rangers to the top, and while he was a decent player for them, he was at the end of his prime. And during the playoffs, he had the reputation of being a player that couldn’t deliver in key moments. In other words, it was a reminder of dreams unfulfilled. However, that trade turned out to be a win because one of the draft picks became defenseman K’Andre Miller and they also got prospect Ryan Lindgren, who is also one of their best defensemen. In addition, they also got Ryan Spooner who would later be flipped to Edmonton for Ryan Strome.

The Ryan McDonagh trade, on the other hand, was not as successful. In return for Captain Mac and center J.T. Miller, the Rangers received Vladislav Namestnikov, Brett Howden, Libor Hajek, and a pick (that became Nils Lundkvist) from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Of the names mentioned, it was Lundkvist who appeared to be the big winner. But unfortunately, he never was able to earn significant playing time and was traded before the 2022-23 season began. To make matters worse, McDonagh would go on to play a key role in their Stanley Cup victories.

Yes, it sucks to lose your captain, especially given what happened later. But even though this trade didn’t work out, paying McDonagh the contract that the Bolts later gave him wouldn’t have made sense in a rebuild attempt. And the trade seemed to make sense at the time, not just because of the pick, but remember Namestnikov had 20 goals in 62 games. But as we later realized, that probably had a lot to do with the fact that he was playing on the top line with high-end talent. And so he didn’t last long with the Rangers, as they traded him early in the 2019-20 season. In other words, you can't win 'em all!

As expected, the rest of the season and the 2018-19 team that soon followed became lean years. But luck would find its way soon in the form of a ping pong ball, which put them in the position to draft Kappo Kakko at No. 2 overall. Also joining the Rangers over the summer was a star left winger they could build around in Artemi Panarin, who signed for seven years and $81.5 million, as well as physical defenseman Jacob Trouba, who came in a trade from Winnipeg.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the Adam Fox trade. Fox was originally drafted by the Calgary Flames, but because he never signed with them, he was then traded to the Hurricanes, who also didn’t sign him due to the talent they already had. And thus, he somehow forced his way into the team he grew up rooting for! Looking back, that last pre-pandemic Rangers team was pretty fun to watch, as they had the capability of scoring at least four goals on any given night, but then they also were a flawed defense that could give up a lot of goals. So most of their games were high-scoring shootouts (and I don’t always mean the round after overtime if a team is still tied).

However, what also should be noted is that this was the final season of “The King'' Henrik Lundqvist, and by this point, it was apparent that his best days were behind him and his career was nearing the end. Not to mention, Alexandar Georgiev was a solid backup during this time, as he performed better in the net while helping the Rangers tread water. Fortunately, there was a young heir to the throne awaiting to make his NHL debut, or in this case, you could say a Czar. Igor Shesterkin had been dominating in the KHL for years before the Rangers finally signed him to an NHL contract before the season. By January, Igor got the call, and he proceeded to win 10 of his first 12 starts, and in the process, Lundqvist's playing time had decreased to the point where he became their third-stringer (He would start a few games in the playoffs, but after the season, his contract was bought out and eventually he retired due to open heart surgery).

Although Igor missed some time in late February after being hurt in a car accident he would ultimately return shortly before…well I’ll get to that soon enough.

But as for the team itself, they had done significantly better as the calendar turned, as they went 18-10-1 (Including going 11-4 in February) since Igor’s debut. Notable standouts include Mika Zibanejad, who was having the year of his life with 41 goals (five of which came in a crazy 6-5 overtime victory over the Washington Capitals on March 5th, one of the best games yours truly has ever attended!) and Artemi Panarin was proving to be worth every penny with 32 goals, 95 points, and already a case for best free-agent signing in franchise history.

Longtime left winger Chris Kreider also signed a 7-year, $6.5 million extension shortly before the break. And although Kappo Kakko had shown flashes of talent, but not consistently, Fox was showing early signs of being a great offensive defenseman with 42 points and was in the conversation for the Calder Trophy. The playoffs were very much in the conversation as they were fighting for a Wild Card spot.

However, all of that became an afterthought when COVID-19 hit and everything was put on hold. Though the NHL expanded its playoff format when play resumed, the Rangers ended up qualifying and were quickly bounced by the Carolina Hurricanes.

But a funny thing happened afterward when the Rangers were inexplicably in a position to get the No. 1 pick, as they didn’t make it out of the play-in round. Once again the ping pong balls landed in their favor, and thus, Alexis Lafreniere was a Ranger. However, as for the pandemic-shortened 2021 season? Well, let’s just say whatever could go wrong did go wrong.

Defenseman Tony DeAngelo was a point-per-game player in 2019-20, but after being unable to keep away from unruly fans on social media, an outburst where he slammed the penalty box door, and an altercation with Georgiev, General Manager Jeff Gorton had enough, put him on waivers, and eventually bought him out. Shesterkin and Panarin both missed significant time -- the former because of injuries and the latter because of a false accusation sparked by Russian politics. And then, of course, there was the Tom Wilson incident at the end of the season.

Although the Rangers would end up missing that year's playoffs it wasn’t all that bad. The DeAngelo incident enabled Fox to get significantly more playing time, ultimately winning the Norris Trophy. Another significant move was that the Rangers cleaned house, firing Gorton, President John Davidson, and Head Coach David Quinn. Though Davidson’s firing felt bad because he hadn’t been president for very long, Gorton and Quinn’s exits proved to be the right moves, even though the former helped to set the wheels in motion for some of the things that followed. Replacing them were Chris Drury and Gerard Gallant, respectively, and the former made some moves to address the Rangers toughness by adding leaders like Ryan Reaves and Barclay Goodrow to complement a team that already had high-end talent.

In a year when expectations weren’t very high, things ultimately started to come together quicker than expected. The Rangers would go on to have one of their best regular seasons in franchise history, finishing 52-24-6 for 110 points. In the playoffs, they would win 2 hard-fought series against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Hurricanes before losing a heartbreaking Eastern Conference Final to the Lightning. This year also featured the breakout of Shesterkin, as he won 36 games (many of which were close), and had an unbelievable .935 save percentage with 2.07 GAA, in addition to a 52-goal season by Chris Kreider!

Fun Fact: this Rangers squad also featured more players with 70+ points (Fox, Kreider, Zibanejad, and Panarin) than the three Rangers teams that had previously made the ECF combined (the lone Ranger to exceed that total was Marian Gaborik with 76 in 2011-12).

This brings us to the current team and the 5th year since the letter. Expectations for this current Rangers squad at the start of the season were the highest since my senior year of high school in 2014-15. Although they were unable to keep any of the key trade deadline acquisitions in Frank Vatrano, Andrew Copp, and Tyler Motte, the Rangers still had a good offseason in signing center Vincent Trocheck away from the rival Hurricanes. And with a deep playoff run under their belt, it was expected that the kids (Lafreniere and Kakko) would emerge and fully break out.

However, early on, it appeared as if the Rangers had regressed. In 2021-22, they were winning a lot of games in the regular season despite being outshot and not having the puck. Early on in this season, that trend had reversed, as they were getting shots on the net but found themselves on the wrong end of bad losses. It also didn't help that Panarin was having a tough time scoring goals, the kids were continuing to struggle, defenseman and newly appointed captain and high-priced Jacob Trouba was often on the ice for some terrible goals, and Shesterkin wasn’t able to make a lot of the saves that he had previously made a year ago. Not to mention the Rangers had a rough stretch where they routinely blew multi-goal leads in games against the Red Wings, Islanders, and Oilers.

However, it was a 5-2 home loss at the hands of a lousy Chicago Blackhawks team on December 3 that ultimately appeared to put the Rangers in danger, leaving their record at 11-10-5. To say that Rangerstown U.S.A. was filled with widespread panic would be the understatement of the year, and many of the hot takes included but were not limited to “blow up the team,” “the kids are busts,” and “Fire Gerard Gallant!”

But then a funny thing happened. Two nights later, the Rangers had a third-period comeback and would beat the St. Louis Blues which would be the catalyst for a seven-game winning streak! Since then, the Rangers have continued to improve, and even with some of those bad moments early on, they are still very much in the discussion for being a Cup contender in a loaded Eastern Conference. Shesterkin reminded us why he is one of the best goalies in the league, Fox is having another point per game Norris Trophy-worthy season, Kreider probably won't reach 50 goals again -- but there's still an outside shot at 40 if he catches fire, and, of course, the Kid Line (Lafreniere, Kakko and Filip Chytil) was reunited and they’ve been able to flourish together just as they did during the playoffs.

That said, a change still needed to be made, and the Rangers needed a top-six right winger to complement Panarin and Zibanejad on the top line and a third left-handed defenseman was needed to improve the depth. Exactly five years and one day after the letter, Drury not only filled one need with the acquisition of Vladimir Tarasenko, he filled another by getting defenseman Niko Mikkola as well from the St. Louis Blues. And what did it cost him? Only Sammy Blais, Hunter Skinner, and two picks. In other words, Drury gave up a bag of chips to acquire high-end talent. And remember there are still guys in the minor leagues such as Will Cuylle and Brennan Othmann.

Does this mean Drury is done? Probably not. I’m sure there will be smaller moves made to strengthen their depth but there's no question that just a little over five years after “The Letter,” the Rangers are not only better off, but they have chosen to go all in for a Cup run. And it showed when Tarasenko scored a goal 2:50 minutes into his Rangers debut to spark a 6-3 victory over the Seattle Kraken. And hopefully, as of this writing, this is only the beginning!

Looking back to the start of the rebuild to where the Rangers are now, it has been quite a journey. And like any, it had its fair share of setbacks along the way. It’s safe to say that the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the Rangers based on The Butterfly Effect. But based on the patterns that have happened, the Rangers easily were able to correct some fixable problems along the way, and that’s why they had been headed in a better direction than in years past. Was luck on their side in this process? Sure, but every good team needs luck to happen along the way. And now the Rangers have reached the point where, in year one of their window to bring a championship back home, they are going all in. And no matter what happens, I can't help but applaud my beloved hockey for striking while the iron is hot!

And to end this blog I think I oughta quote a lyric from the song that played after every victory. “We built it better than we did before, we are the people we’ve been waiting for.” Hopefully, this is the year, as I proceed to cross my fingers and knock on wood. Let’s Go Rangers!!