New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury has a clear message for his team: Nobody is untouchable.
The Rangers currently hold a 12-6-1 record, which doesn’t seem all that bad at first glance, but there are serious problems that continue to plague the Blueshirts.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman dropped a bombshell on Monday when he reported that the Rangers have made it very clear they are interested in making moves and shaking up their roster with Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba’s names being indicated as potential options in a move.
In the aftermath of their 6-2 loss in Edmonton on Saturday, the Rangers have made it very clear they are interested in making moves and shaking up their roster.
Among the names indicated are Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba, although other options will be considered.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) November 25, 2024
Friedman’s report quickly spread throughout the NHL world as all eyes are now on the Rangers and not for good reason.
This is not the first time Drury has tried to shake up the team though.
During the summer, the Rangers placed Barclay Goodrow on waivers, a player who was widely loved in the locker room while Drury attempted to trade Trouba, but ultimately failed to do so.
Barclay Goodrow on how things ended with #NYR:
“It was just a surprise. I was never given any inclination or whatever that I wouldn’t be back with the team and that happened. That was a while ago, I’ve tried to move past it. We’re here and excited to be with San Jose.”
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) November 14, 2024
Drury was attempting to clear cap space in what seemed like an attempt to make a big splash. However, the Rangers had an unmemorable offseason with the acquisition of Reilly Smith marking their biggest move.
The only notable thing to come out of the summer was all the dysfunction specifically regarding Goodrow’s sudden exit, the constant trade rumors involving Trouba and Igor Shesterkin’s contract fiasco.
Entering the 2024-25 campaign, there was a lot of off-ice drama circulating around the Rangers and that looked to be a distraction, especially during the first day of training camp when Trouba made his displeasure with the media’s reporting about his future in New York known for the whole world to know.
Once the season started, all of the noise simmered down and hockey was once again everyone’s main focus.
Despite showing some impressive flashes, New York’s game has been off to start the season.
As the Rangers’ struggles became more noticeable, questions began to surface about what was truly wrong with the Blueshirts until everything reached a boiling point on Monday.
Drury suddenly made Kreider available to all NHL general managers. That news leaked and became public.
Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today gave insight into the current behind the scenes thinking of the Rangers’ management group and the panic that’s going on.
“There is definite unrest in #NYR org right now, with concerns from the top about this core plateauing and increasing unease from players/employees,” Mercogliano wrote via X. “But sources also reminded how rare/difficult big deals are this time of year.”
Adding to Elliotte’s reporting (with more to come): There is definite unrest in #NYR org right now, with concerns from the top about this core plateauing and increasing unease from players/employees. But sources also reminded how rare/difficult big deals are this time of year. https://t.co/KcODEwU8M0
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) November 25, 2024
The assumption among many is that something is just fundamentally wrong with the Rangers both on the ice and in the locker room.
“Something must be wrong in that room,” One director of player personnel said via Peter Baugh of The Athletic.
At the beginning of the season, Trouba said matter-of-factly that this season would be the Rangers’ core “Last Crack” together.
“In all likelihood, this will probably be the last crack for this core,” Trouba said. “I don’t think that’s a secret by any means.”
At first those comments were puzzling as the Rangers were coming off a season where they won the Presidents’ Trophy and reached the Eastern Conference Final, but now Trouba’s comments track with the situation the New York finds themselves in right now.
Drury was looking to blow up the core or at least reshape it during the summer and 20 games into the season he is already ready for a complete transformation.
It shows that Drury didn’t really have faith in the way this roster is currently constructed all along and was more or less forced to run it back with the same core given that he was unable to make any significant trades or free agent signings.
After Wednesday’s optional skate a slew of questions came in about these trade rumors and how it’s impacting the team.
While the likes of Trouba and Peter Laviolette shrugged off the trade speculation, it was clear when in the Rangers’ locker room that it’s an uncomfortable situation for everyone involved.
It’s kind of this dark presence on the minds of players, coaches and members of the media that nobody wants to fully address.
All season, the Rangers have been like a ticking time bomb ready to explode, and on Monday, it finally did.