Rangers' Core Is Rotting Away and Trading Veterans Might Be the Only Solution

The Big Apple's core appears to be rotting.

In certain ways, this Rangers season is business as usual. They're comfortably in playoff position and on pace for 102.5 points. Generally lackluster performances are bailed out by elite goaltending, special teams play, and individuals carrying the rest of the group. The prescription in previous seasons was to grin and bear it until the trade deadline.

This time around feels different. The Rangers' 12 wins represent almost exclusively the beating up of terrible teams. Against more formidable opponents—Winnipeg, Florida, Washington—they were formidably outclassed.

Most alarming is that veteran players, who are supposed to lead the team both in their play and attitudes are, at best, struggling to find their games and, at worst, looking indifferent to the cause at hand. This is not a flawed but committed team looking to work out the kinks. This is a group that seems content to sleepwalk to the playoffs.

The team's management and coaching staff, in contrast, seem to see an urgent need for change. The team called up Brett Berard and Matt Rempe, two energetic players, from the AHL for Monday's game against St. Louis. The bigger news was a not-so-subtle leak indicating that the Rangers are looking to change the mix.

Chris Kreider's inclusion is stunning. The 33-year-old has been a tether to stability in New York throughout multiple eras of turnover. Never before has his performance been questioned so far as to evoke trade speculation.

He scored 39 goals last season but struggled at five-on-five; a trend that has escalated this season. Kreider has two points in 19 games at even strength.

Mika Zibanejad, who centers Kreider's line, has been worse. He too is barely generating offense at five-on-five and his 200-foot game is MIA. Zibanejad does not appear engaged in the details, losing puck battles without much fight and making soft turnovers. He's clearly battling the mental side of the game. One has to worry if he's also losing his legs. Zibanejad, who historically creates offense off the rush, has seen a sharp decline in both his peak speed and his 20+ MPH skating bursts over the last two seasons. If the Rangers could even find a taker for his $8.5 million cap hit through 2029, he could block it with his full no-move clause. This could be a problem for the summer.

Which brings the discussion back to Kreider. He showed more signs of life last season and his $6.5M cap hit through 2027 is far more manageable. Teams yearn for players with his size, speed, and experience. He can only block trades to 15 of the 31 other NHL teams. Perhaps Kreider is name-dropped only to make the locker room less comfortable, but if the Rangers are truly intent on shaking it up, they have to work with the players other teams might actually want.

Jacob Trouba is a less surprising addition to the discourse. The Rangers attempted to move him during the summer before he blocked it. His play has not matched his $8M cap hit at any point during his Rangers career, but he's taken a dramatic step back the last few seasons. The team bleeds chances when he's on the ice, and he has no goals and six points through 20 games. If this newest trade rumor was supposed to ignite a fire under him, it did not work. He was the team's worst defenseman against St. Louis on Monday.

Ryan Lindgren also continues a trend of players who do not look the same for a second straight season. One has to wonder if his propensity for putting his body on the line every game has taken its toll even at age 26.

He also does not look like a fit for the team's systems. Under the previous coaching staff, which kept things very simple, conceded possession, and emphasized keeping play to the perimeter in the defensive zone, Lindgren was better off. Head coach Pete Laviolette demands his defensemen be more engaged in all three zones and stand up at the blue line. It's not working with Lindgren.

Lindgren signed a one-year deal for $4.5 million last summer and seems increasingly likely to leave as a free agent next July. Maybe the Rangers decide to expedite the process with a winter trade.

For better or worse, Drury has left the Rangers' roster surprisingly untouched from when he first inherited it in 2021. In recent years, the only real extractions have been nibbles around the edges. Ryan Strome was swapped out for Vincent Trocheck in 2022 and depth forward Barclay Goodrow was waived to San Jose last summer.

Over the last few seasons, Drury has patiently let this core group of players try to make it work. To the extent he has ever changed anything, it was almost always to add to the group and try to fill the weak spots.

Source: PuckPedia

One can debate certain trades or roster decisions, but the core group of players in New York cannot claim that Rangers management has not exhausted available avenues to try to make it work for them. For four offseasons, the group was left mostly untouched and usually reinforced with heavy investment for playoff runs. The only heads to ever roll were those of the coaches.

Has that built a culture of complacency? A core of players who take for granted that their place in New York is safe? A group of veteran leaders who are content to shuffle the responsibility of answering for these struggles to younger players? It's hard to know from the outside.

It sure seems that, inside, Rangers brass feels that the team's mainstays need to feel more insecure about their futures in New York. Maybe loud announcement of trade explorations first serves as a scare tactic.

The surest way the players can nip these discussions is by playing capable hockey in the next few weeks. But it would be a mistake to think Drury is making empty threats. This roster is long overdue for seismic turnover, and they won't have the chance to coast into the summer before it occurs.