Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. What a difference a year makes.
Just around a year ago, when the Rangers, then well on their way towards winning the Presidents’ Trophy, while also preaching “ALL-IN” to anyone who would listen – well, they didn’t exactly live up to that war cry.
Rather than pursuing the likes of Patrick Kane, Jake Guentzel, Vladimir Tarasenko, J.T. Miller, Frank Vatrano – heck – any big name and/or player with a successful playoff history; instead – and Chris Drury opted and settled for the likes of the offensively-challenged – Alex Wennberg, Chad Ruhwedel and Jack Roslovic.
Needless to say, and this trio weren’t exactly the “missing pieces” of a Stanley Cup puzzle.
By now, I must’ve said some iteration of the following sentence about 3838383484000220 billion times on this site – and a collection of words that were first uttered by yours truly ever since the 2024 Eastern Conference Final loss:
“The 2024 Eastern Conference Final loss will go down as the peak of this core. That was it.”
Fast-forward to today, March 7th, 2025, and now with the trade deadline behind us – and those words have never rang more true.
Heck, most of the core, the players from that 2024 playoff run, are gone.
Of note?
Another thing that I said during last year’s deadline – and hell – about 97867868679869 times before it too?
How the Rangers needed to move on from both “The Feckless Finn” Kaapo Kakko and “The Concussed Czech” Filip Chytil – and two players that Drury considered as “untouchable” at the time.
How’d that work out?
The Blueshirts have been in a state of peril ever since being exposed in their six-game series loss to last year’s Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers.
Following that Eastern Conference Final defeat – and the locker room had somewhat entered a state of depression too – which first began during the summer when Drury forced former alternate captain, Barclay Goodrow, onto his buddy out in San Jose, former Drury charge, Mike Grier.
As the summer turned into the off-season – and the Rangers didn’t really add much outside of Reilly Smith.
But then again, they also signed Sam Carrick, who to Drury’s credit, has more than exceeded in his role as a “poor man’s Barclay Goodrow” – and where today – he’s provided more riches beyond all means of the imagination.
However, and aside from these two hot month imports – and the Rangers didn’t really do much to address what happened during their loss to the Panthers.
Simply put?
They were going to “run it back.”
While the general manager and captain did have words with each other beyond closed doors, words that were only exacerbated by some irresponsible reporting from Larry Brooks; come the first day of training camp – and the team that was just exposed in the Eastern Conference Final was pretty much still in-tact.
As there were rumblings about discontent brewing between the players and management (and we can’t forget about “THE MEMO” that soon followed either, which only increased intensity levels) – such perceived bad feelings weren’t on public display back on October 9th – which was when the Rangers opened their season in Pittsburgh – and where they absolutely trounced their long-time rival by a 6-0 final. (Full GAME REVIEW here: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/10924/ )
A Sam Carrick goal, scored at just the 2:24 mark of the season opener, was not only the first Rangers’ score of the season – but the team’s first game-winning goal of the season too.
And with the fashion that the Blueshirts had defeated the Penguins – and perhaps the “running it back” mantra wouldn’t be so bad as originally feared by Ranger pundits such as myself and others.
So much for that.
Just to show you how much things have changed from back then, which was only five short months ago, then here was the Rangers’ line-up from Game 1 of this 2024-25 campaign:
FIRST LINE: Kreider/Zibanejad/Smith
SECOND LINE: Panarin/Trocheck/Lafreniere
THIRD LINE: Cuylle/Chytil/Kakko
FOURTH LINE: Edstrom/Carrick/Brodzinski
FIRST PAIR: Miller/Fox
SECOND PAIR: Schneider/Trouba
THIRD PAIR: Jones/Mancini
STARTING GOALIE: CZAR IGOR
BACK UP GOALIE: Quick
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: Rempe and Ruhwedel
IR: Lindgren
LTIR: Vesey
You know what’s happened since October 9th to today – and where the Rangers experienced a losing stretch towards the end of 2024 – and as they did when they lost fifteen out of nineteen games (which as a result, such a disgrace put them into the position that they are in right now) – and where it was also proven that “running it back” were three-words from both a fool – and the team’ general manager too.
The Blueshirts, who planned on being buyers at this year’s trade deadline when entering this season, ultimately fell victim to the age-old adage of “the best laid plans of mice and men often fall awry.”
(And in this adage, there’s no bigger rodent than Mousy Mika.)
We don’t have to fully examine tonight why the Rangers failed this season; as after all, you can just read every GAME REVIEW that I’ve written on this site for all of it.
But in short, then you know the deal:
Mika Zibanejad has sucked, Artemi Panarin is having an off-year for him, Alexis Lafreniere has regressed, CZAR IGOR has never been the same in the regular season ever since his 2022 Vezina year, ditto Adam Fox ever since his 2021 Norris winning season, an ineffective power-play and an even more inefficient head coach.
And that’s not even the half of it.
As a result, and where the Four Nations break also influenced early trading too – and there wasn’t that much to look forward to from a Rangers’ perspective come this year’s trading deadline.
Prior to the trade deadline and the Blueshirts had already made an unusual amount of trades, a staggering five deals in all.
They made two tiny ones right before the final bell – and we’ll soon get into this pair in just a bit.
The Rangers, in a state of desperation, made their first deal back on December 6th when they unceremoniously traded their high-priced captain out of town – and as they did when they forced Jacob Trouba to waive his NMC in order to send him to Anaheim in exchange for Urho Vaakanainen and a fourth-round pick – and a pure “cap dump trade” in every sense of the phrase.
No less than two weeks later, December 18th, and Drury, who said that Kakko was “untouchable” just months prior, dealt the second-overall pick of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft to Seattle, where in return, the Rangers received Will Borgen, a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick – and where as previously noted on this site – then most prospect experts are predicting that this 2025 NHL Draft class is the weakest in years.
Into the New Year and Drury made a minor AHL trade on January 25th when he dealt Ryder Korczak to Tampa for Lucas Edmonds.
However, the biggest trade of the year was saved for the end of the month, as on January 31st, and following two-years of “will they or won’t they?” – and J.T. Miller, along with Jackson Dorrington and Erik Brannstrom joining him for the 3,000 mile flight, returned to the Big Apple.
Leaving New York for Vancouver was promising rearguard Victor Mancini, a first-round pick and Filip Chytil – who again – was prioritized during the 2024 playoffs – despite everyone knowing that he wasn’t 100% healthy – and a fact that the former #72 himself even admitted to multiple times afterwards.
(Another Drury 2024 trade deadline mistake? Not putting Chytil on LTIR for extra cap dollars – but apparently he’s learned nothing from recent Cup winners such as Chicago, Tampa and Vegas.)
On March 1st, and in another sign of the changing of the guard, and Ryan Lindgren, coupled with Jimmy Vesey, was dealt to Colorado for the 210th pick of the 2019 draft, Jusso Parssinen, an Islanders’ bust, Calvin de Haan, and a pair of non-first round picks for the upcoming 2025 NHL draft.
(Full details here: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/3225/ )
For a team that once had dreams of winning the Stanley Cup after their opening win in the Steel City, then there’s been a ton of roster turnover, as Trouba, Lindgren, Kakko, Chytil, Vesey and Mancini (he was on the opening night roster if you recall) are no more.
In turn, while there are still some long-tenured holdovers, such as Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider – but a large part of a core that’s no more, a core that reached two separate ECF’s, while also getting two bench bosses fired too, is through.
And hockey gods willing – this will soon be J.T. Miller’s team too – as it’s due time to put another “C” on a #8 Rangers’ jersey.
Drury, who is basically telling his FAT CATS to earn their money, didn’t bring in any extra help for them – and where to be clear – then yes – returning Miller to the Empire State was the GM’s big splash.
And with what Colorado, Dallas, Florida and Tampa did at the deadline, coupled-in with the seasons that Winnipeg and Washington are presently enjoying – then it didn’t really make sense to mortgage the future by trading prospects away at this year’s deadline either.
(And how about Carolina, who dealt Mikko Raantanen to Dallas today? They pretty much told their fans that they aren’t interested in winning the Stanley Cup this year. Imagine worrying about future assets, from a weak draft no less, when you’re in Cup contention? Try selling season tickets after that move!)
The Rangers made two trades on March 6th, the penultimate day prior to the trade deadline – and then, and just as I predicted on this site two days ago (https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/3525/ ) – Drury made an AHL trade right before the deadline was set to expire.
The first of three insignificant trades was the one that we all knew was coming – Reilly Smith’s departure – and where as I also previously predicted (Holy Barry Horowitz Batman!) – a return to Vegas for the Original Misfit.
In return for Smith, who must’ve been elated with this deal, the Rangers received a third-round pick and Brendan Brisson – the son of NHL super-agent, Pat Brisson.
Perhaps Drury was trying to butter up the NHL’s equivalent of MLB’s Scott Boras.
Officially, here’s what the Rangers had to say for themselves, courtesy of https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/rangers-acquire-brendan-brisson-and-a-third-round-pick-in-exchange-for-reilly-smith :
The Rangers, who only traded Trouba and Lindgren because of the money they make, looked to fill the voids that these two left behind – and for as cheap as possible at that.
Vaakanainen came first, Borgen came later, and where after the recent acquisition of Calvin “You Won’t Be Here Long” de Haan – Carson Soucy now becomes the latest defenseman to patrol the Rangers’ blue line.
In what was pretty much a safe trade, and one with term too (more about this below), and here’s what the Rangers had to say about this deal – and their second trade with Vancouver this season, courtesy of https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/rangers-acquire-carson-soucy-in-exchange-for-a-third-round-pick :
New York Rangers President and General Manager Chris Drury announced today that the team has acquired defenseman Carson Soucy from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft (originally San Jose’s by way of Vegas).
Soucy, 30, has collected three goals and seven assists for 10 points in 59 games with the Canucks this season. Among Vancouver skaters, he ranks second in blocked shots (92) and fifth in hits (86). He is one of 18 skaters in the NHL to have 90 or more blocked shots and 85 or more hits. Among Canucks blueliners, Soucy has the third most shots (62).
The Viking, Alberta native has played in 349 career NHL games between Vancouver, Seattle and Minnesota, registering 26 goals and 58 assists for 84 points and a plus-58 rating. From 2019-20 – 2023-24, Soucy posted five consecutive seasons with a positive plus-minus ratings and in that span ranked 19th among NHL defensemen with a combined plus-73 rating. In 2021-22, Soucy registered career-high totals with Seattle in goals (10) and points (21). Soucy has also tallied seven points (2G-5A) in in 38 playoff games.
Prior to turning pro, the 6-5, 208-pound defenseman attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he had 47 points (12G-35A) in 174 games and helped UMD reach the NCAA Championship in 2017.
Soucy was originally selected by Minnesota in the fifth round, 137th overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
In a trade made minutes before the deadline was set to expire and Drury made his customary AHLer-for-AHLer deal.
Here’s what the club had to say about Erik “We Hardly Knew Ye” Brannstrom’s departure to Buffalo in exchange for the veteran Nicolas Aube-Kubel, courtesy of https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/rangers-acquire-nicolas-aube-kubel-in-exchange-for-erik-brannstrom :
Before examining all of the trades that the Rangers made (and the ones that they didn’t make too); at this time, then let’s do some quick house-keeping and catch up on the rest of the news that I’ve yet to cover from Friday.
Following the events of the deadline and the Blueshirts announced that they have re-signed Vaakanainen to a two-year deal worth $1.55M per-season.
I don’t think that you can hate on that contract at all – but I’d also be surprised if U.V. is still here by the end of it.
Elsewhere, and Matthew Robertson, who the Rangers just torture-and-tease with all of his never-ending recalls, was returned to Hartford, and where in a corresponding move, Chad Ruhwedel was brought back from the ‘Pack.
(Ruhwedel was later returned to Hartford following the Soucy trade.)
In paper transactions, both Brennan Othmann and Brett Berard were sent to Hartford – but only with the intent of using them for the AHL Calder Cup Playoff if necessary.
(March 7th marked the date where players had to be on an AHL roster in order to participate, hence why this was done. I guess it should also be noted that Matt Rempe WASN’T part of this – as he has previously played some games for the Wolf Pack this season.)
Othmann and Berard, who have spent the bulk of this 2024-25 campaign in Connecticut, were with the Rangers in Ottawa on Friday – and where both men are expected to be officially recalled come Saturday’s 12:30 puck drop in Canada’s capital.
Speaking of Friday’s practice in Ottawa – and with Soucy not there yet – and then here’s what the Rangers’ line-up may look like come Saturday afternoon – and perhaps beyond too:
FIRST LINE: Panarin/Trocheck/Lafreniere
SECOND LINE: Cuylle/Miller/Mika
THIRD LINE: Othmann/Parssinen/Brodzinski
FOURTH LINE: Berard/Carrick/Rempe
FIRST PAIR: Miller/Borgen
SECOND PAIR: Schneider/Vaakanainen
THIRD PAIR: Soucy/Jones
STARTING GOALIE: CZAR IGOR
BACK UP GOALIE: Jonathan Quick
LTIR: Adam Edstrom
IR: Adam Fox and Chris Kreider
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: Calvin de Haan and Arthur Kaliyev
As far as the moves that Drury made at this year’s deadline, then my only criticism was the fact that he left over $13M in cap space on the table.
If you don’t know, then teams are allowed to have three cap retention spots, where more times than not, they are retaining 50% of a player’s contract.
The Rangers had one spot available, as in their Lindgren and Smith trades, they retained half of the remaining money left on those deals.
The Blueshirts, and as we’ve seen so many times throughout this salary cap era, could’ve been a third-party broker in order to help a true contender.
While it’s too late now to come up with potential trade ideas; but for an example, perhaps the Rangers could’ve got involved in either the Brad Marchand deal to Florida or the Mikko Raantanen trade to Dallas, and where in both hypotheticals, in the role of a third-party broker, then they’d assume 50% of the contract in exchange for picks and prospects.
But for a general manager who later said (more below) that he believes in his team – then with over $13M in cap space available – he could’ve landed a rental too.
(For those wondering, while de Haan is a rental, Soucy is not, as the newest Ranger has one-year remaining on a deal that annually pays him $3,250,000.)
Furthermore, while Vesey wanted to be traded, then Drury could’ve hung onto Lindgren too – as his own rental.
While at the end of the day, I think that what Drury did was prudent, but not explosive, nor the best that he could’ve done either; but what piqued my interest the most was the non-news.
After Wince Mercogliano, a “reporter” with no sources (his biggest source is the same as mine – Elliotte Friedman’s Twitter/X timeline), was trying to sell a Chris Kreider trade (it’s all about the clicks and advertisers!); CK20 remained in New York.
Ditto Jonathan Quick – who for whatever reason – still doesn’t have a contract for next season yet – and where we have no inkling on what he’s thinking about in regards to the 2025-26 campaign.
While personally, I would have loved to have seen Mika Zibanejad deported or traded; but that was always an event more probable for the summertime.
After all, who would want him?
Then again, if Drury had applied the “Trouba Treatment” to a player who deserved it – then Drury could’ve assumed 50% of Mika’s terrible $8.5M annual cap-hit too.
Zac Jones, who made it publicly known that he wanted a trade – and where his own agent was actively seeking one too, also remains with the Rangers – or at least he will for the rest of this season.
Of course, the Adam Fox injury is the reason for that – and where Jones’ performance ever since his return to the line-up has been extremely positive too.
There were three other players that I wondered about at the deadline – K’Andre Miller, Sam Carrick and Brennan Othmann.
Miller, a pending free agent, has been up-and-down this season. However, with Lindgren now out of town, Miller’s long-term future with the Rangers feels more secure – as they don’t have a true number one left defenseman.
Carrick, a trade deadline rental last year, as he went from Anaheim to the eventual Western Conference Champions, the Edmonton Oilers, would have been a great depth piece for a contender.
Carrick is proven – and also knows what playoff hockey is all about.
While I wasn’t hoping for such a scenario; but either way, Carrick, and at his cheap salary, would have been a steal for all of these emerging super-teams with their eyes on the prize.
I believe that Othmann’s future is a bit murky.
While still young, he hasn’t really done much during any of his limited NHL matches – and where the Hartford scorer is still looking for his first goal in The Show.
And with many YOUTS already signed and drafted (hello Gabe Perreault!) – and with many veteran players signed to long-term deals too – then you wonder where he exactly fits in – and even more so with Berard superseding him in the line-up.
As I look at the Rangers’ roster today – then unless there are multiple team plane crashes in the NHL – then I don’t see them winning the Stanley Cup this year.
Heck, I don’t even see them reaching the playoffs.
As I’ve said so many times over that you should be able to repeat it with me – but the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs was the time to get it done.
It’s all downhill from here – until the next time this team gets our hopes up – only to let them down again-and-again-and-again – and as it’s always been the case, sans four-years, during one-hundred years’ worth of franchise history.
After all of the news made at the deadline, then Drury did what he always does – he held a ZOOM meeting with the people who pretend to be real reporters – while ignoring every member of the fan base.
Here are some of the quotes that the gaggle of beat reporters put out there from this interview – and where my responses to them follow in bold print:
“We’re just looking for the best players we could. We knew we wanted to make some changes as this season got underway. Just the best pieces we could possibly find. There’s certainly some size back there now, which is always nice. But you’ve got to be able to move, you’ve got to be able to move a puck, you’ve got to be able to play in a lot of different scenarios over the course of an NHL season. We think we have a lot of D back there that can do that.”
Calvin de Haan is one of the best pieces that he could find?
“We think there’s a lot of possibilities with Carson, whether it’s (pairing) with Schneids or Foxy or Will (Borgen), or even having him on the right side at some point. We’ll see how it plays out. I’m glad we were able to get him. I was excited about the term, excited about the number. He’s not a rental. He’s someone we could have in for the rest of the year and next year. I just like the overall game – the size, the skating, the sense, how he defends. We were able to do some homework on him the last couple weeks and we’re excited to get him with a piece we got in the Reilly Smith trade.”
Prediction: Soucy isn’t here at this time next year.
[On having $13M in extra cap space available]: “We looked at a lot of different things. Some of those opportunities came up. Obviously, the trades we made made sense. Some of the other stuff that we looked at didn’t make sense. We’re always just trying to make the best decisions we can with the information we have. This is what we ended up doing.”
He ended up doing shit.
[If he thinks this is a playoff team]: “I do. I believe in the group. Certainly they have to take the bull by the horns and win some hockey games.”
This came off as “f-it,” it’s all on them now – as the general manager didn’t address the two biggest weaknesses on the team – Mika Zibanejad and his contract.
[On Wince’s made-up story about Kreider being dealt]: “I’m really excited Chris is here. He’s been a terrific Ranger for a long time. Having him back in the line-up at some point will be like a trade deadline addition.”
FYI? Drury pretty much said the exact same thing about Jacob Trouba just before this season began.
The birdbrain beat, who no one would ever accuse of being real reporters, missed an opportunity to ask real questions – aka – the usual.
Here are ten questions (and follow-ups too) that I would’ve asked of the Rangers’ GM:
— How do you feel about Mika Zibanejad this season? Did you receive any trade calls on him?
— How do you feel about Peter Laviolette this season? Does he have to make the playoffs in order to retain his job?
— How does James Dolan feel about the team?
— What’s the status of Zac Jones’ future?
— Do you think that CZAR IGOR and Alexis Lafreniere have regressed ever since signing their new deals? Furthermore, do you think that Adam Fox has been battling injuries this season?
— How come you haven’t given Jonathan Quick a contract extension yet?
— If you are eliminated from playoff contention, then will you try to sign Gabe Perreault? Will you give other young players a shot at the end of the season?
— Do you regret what you did at last year’s deadline?
— Do you plan on re-signing K’Andre Miller?
— Why is Sieve Vagistat still employed by M$GN?
Sure, while Drury probably would’ve given me a “no comment” to some of these inquiries; but at the very least, then I would’ve put him on the spot and make him go on record – you know – like real reporters do.
Instead, it’s nothing but a North Korean state media in the country’s biggest market.
Ugh.
Up Next For The Rangers: As mentioned last time around (https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/3525/ ), a pair of pertinent weekend matches against the two teams that the Blueshirts are currently chasing for a wild card berth, Ottawa (Saturday) and Columbus (Sunday).
Up Next For Me: Day drinking at my local watering hole’s watch party – which also impacts my Friday night imbibing! What a life I lead!
Up Next For You: Your favorite segment, which brings us to…
PLUGS TIME! (Buy a book and support my Rangers’ induced therapy bills. After all, I don’t run ads on this site!)
My fourth title and tenth book is now available!
“The Top 100 Villains of New York Rangers History,” is now available for sale!
For complete information, please visit: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/rangerkillers/
My second plug of tonight’s blog – the mandatory plug for my book, “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden.”
As mentioned previously, the book is now available in hardcover, in paperback and in Kindle formats. To purchase a copy of the book, visit this link:
https://www.amazon.com/Rangers-Rafters-Madison-Square-Garden-ebook/dp/B09CM5N2WD
For those still looking for signed paperback versions of the book, I have re-ordered more copies. I now have a few signed copies for sale at $25 a pop (includes shipping price) through me directly. Here is all the information on that:
Order “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden” Book Today
My four-volume set of books, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is a game-by-game recount of the Rangers 2021-22 campaign.
My second title as an author, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is now available in eBook, paperback and hardcover formats.
To obtain signed copies, visit: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/onegamebook/
To purchase all four volumes on Amazon, visit: Amazon.com – “One Game at a Time.”
The greatest volume-set of books on Rangers’ history today!
“Tricks of the Trade – A Century-Long Journey Through Every Trade Made In New York Rangers’ History,” a four-volume set of books that meticulously covers every trade made in franchise history, is now on sale.
All four volumes of the title can be purchased on Amazon.com and are presented in three different formats – eBook, paperback and hardcover.
To purchase Volume I: Conn Smythe (1926) – Craig Patrick (1986), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume II: Phil Esposito (1986) – Neil Smith (2000), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume III: Glen Sather (2000-2015), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume IV: Jeff Gorton (2015) – Chris Drury (2022), visit Amazon.com
To purchase signed copies of all four volumes, visit https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/
If you haven’t already, subscribe to this blog for the next update:
Don’t forget to order my four-volume set of books, “Tricks of the Trade!”
If you don’t order through me, all four volumes are now available on Amazon.com
For more details, check out: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/
Thanks for reading.
LET’S GO RANGERS!
Sean McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com
@NYCTHEMIC on the Tweeter machine
Thanks Sean ,
Precise, concise and relevant!