How The Rangers Pulled Off Their Extraordinary Rebuild & When Can We Expect Them To Win A Cup?

The New York Rangers have one of the best young cores in the NHL. They’ve got all the pieces to become a force in the very stacked Metropolitan Division in the next few seasons. The Panarin signing was one of the best moves that the Rangers made. The addition of having the 1st overall pick only adds to the rich amount of draft capital that they have. Let’s take a look at how the New York Rangers pulled off their rebuild and how soon we can expect a Cup in New York.

Amazing Drafts: 

In order to be a contender for the Stanley Cup every year, you’ve gotta excel in the NHL Draft. It’s no question that the Rangers have had amazing drafts and luck in the lottery. They’ve gotten absolute steals like Igor Sheshterkin, Nils Lundkvist, K’Andre Miller, Matthew Robertson and Tyler Wall. Sheshterkin is one of the best young goalies in the NHL at 24 and could win a Vezina in his career. Nils Lundkvist is going to be at least a top 4 defender in the NHL. He just put up 31 points in 45 games as a 19 year old in the SHL. We typically don’t see that from forwards at that age, nevermind defenders. That’s when you know you’ve gotten a steal. K’Andre Miller is a big 6’4 two-way defenceman who may be able to step into the NHL as soon as next year and produce. He’s been playing in the NCAA for the last two seasons with the University of Wisconsin. The Rangers picked up Matthew Robertson in the 2019 NHL Draft at 49th overall. Matthew, like K’Andre, is a big left handed defender. Matthew’s been playing for the stacked Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL and registered 47 points in 60 games. If you thought the Rangers already had enough good goalies with Sheshterkin and Georgiev, they picked G Tyler Wall 174th overall in the 2016 NHL Draft. Tyler’s been playing for the University of Massachusetts over these past four seasons. Tyler signed his ELC and should be in the AHL for the 2020-21 season. Even though they’ve gotten steals throughout the years, they’ve also had success at the top. In the 2018 NHL Draft, they picked F Vitali Kravtsov. Although he hasn’t had the success that you’ve wanted from a 9th overall pick at the NHL level yet, he’s still only 20 years old and will hopefully have a big season in 2020-21 wherever he plays. In the 2019 Draft, the Rangers jumped up to 2nd overall to select Finnish forward Kaapo Kakko. He did have a poor rookie season with the Rangers this season, but looked better in the Play-ins vs the Hurricanes. Ranger fans and myself are waiting for a big breakthrough from Kakko in 2020-21 and we all know he’s got the skill to do so. Although the Rangers lost vs Carolina, they were able to win the 1st overall pick from the weird lottery this season. They are likely going to select Alexis Lafreniere, and he’ll be able to make an immediate impact when the NHL begins its regular season on Dec. 1st 2020. The Rangers have plenty of picks over these next few years and that’ll only increase their chances of getting steals and ultimately winning a Cup. 

Being Successful In Trades: 

The Rangers have been sometimes fleecing teams when they make trades. One of their best trades is when they got Mika Zibanejad from the Senators. The Rangers got Mika and a 2018 second round pick in exchange for Derick Brassard and a 2018 seventh round pick. The Rangers absolutely robbed the Senators and Mika will probably be named captain for the Rangers in the coming months. Another example is when they traded Ryan Spooner to Edmonton in exchange for Ryan Strome. Ryan Spooner wasn’t a fit in New York and instead they got a second line center in Ryan Strome who put up 59 points this year. Another trade they did good in was the Rick Nash trade. This was the trade that sent Nash to Boston in exchange for Ryan Spooner (who they used to get Ryan Strome), Matt Belesky, Ryan Lindgren, a 2018 first round pick (K’Andre Miller), and a 2019 seventh round pick (Eric Ciccolini). I think that trade worked out well for the Rangers, eh? A third trade that the Rangers won was the trade where they got defender Anthony DeAngelo and a 2017 first rounder (Lias Andersson) from the Coyotes in exchange for Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta. DeAngelo was a force for the Rangers this season on the blueline where he put up 47 points in 68 games. The final trade that’ll mention that they won was the trade that got them defenceman Adam Fox from the Hurricanes in exchange for a 2019 second round pick & a 2020 conditional third round pick. Fox, like DeAngelo, was amazing for New York this season where he registered 42 points in 70 games. Overall, the Rangers have been very successful in the trade market, which has led to a lot of success on the ice. Jeff Gorton knows how to make trades and is one of the best GM’s in the NHL. 

Signing Key Players and Free Agents:

It’s easier for the Rangers to sign players due to being in New York City and playing inside Madison Square Garden. And they’ve used that to their advantage. They signed young goalie Alexander Georgiev who's been a good goalie for them so far and Calder winner, Hart Trophy nominee and Ted Lindsay nominee, Artemi Panarin to a 7 year $81,499,999 contract last summer. That contract was suspect at the time, but Panarin has definitely lived up to it. They traded for and signed right handed defenceman Jacob Trouba. Although Trouba hasn’t had the best season, he can still be an effective blueliner in the future. They also re-signed Chris Kreider to a 7 year deal this spring so he can be an effective leader for the Rangers in the future.

There Not Cap Strapped Like Some People Think 

People think that the Rangers are not in the greatest cap situation, but I highly disagree. They have to re-sign Ryan Strome and Tony DeAngelo this offseason, but they’re contracts should be a one or two year deal to show Rangers management that this season wasn’t a fluke. At the end of the 2020-21 season, all of Lundqvist’s, Staal’s, and Smith’s giant cap hits are going to expire. They all combine to make $18,550,000. All that money will be able to sign Sheshterkin, Strome and DeAngelo. Like I mentioned, Strome and DeAngelo should sign 1 year deals and then cash in because New York will have more money to sign them, rather then right now. 

The Leaders Will Mentor The Young Kids

There will be the older veteran guys that will help mentor these young kids on how to be pros and how to be ready for the big stage. Lundqvist has been to a Stanley Cup Final, Smith has played nearly 500 NHL games (not including playoffs), Staal has played nearly 900 NHL games (not including playoffs), Kreider has played 523 NHL games (not including playoffs), Panarin has played 391 NHL games (not including playoffs), and Zibanejad has played 548 NHL games (not including playoffs). These Rangers have some very good leaders who will help out guys like Kakko, Sheshterkin, Lafreniere, DeAngelo, Miller, Lundkvist mature. 

When Do I think They Will Win a Cup?

I honestly think that a Stanley Cup is coming to NYC in less than 4 years. Now in order to do it, they’ll need to have a big regular season next year in a loaded Metro division. I believe that the Rangers can make it to at least the second round of the playoffs next year. That’ll help them gain some valuable experience to know what it takes to win. Then, they should hopefully be a top the Metro in 2021-22 and maybe if everything goes right, reach the Stanley Cup Finals. In the 2022-23 season, they may experience a setback in how far they go in the playoffs, but ultimately win it in either 2022-23, or 2023-24 and establish themselves as the best team in the NHL. All in all, the New York Rangers have all the right pieces to succeed and Rangers fans should be very excited that they have a very exciting team to watch over these next few years and into the future!

By: Luka Tkalcevic (Instagram: luka_tkalcevic, futurehockeystars)