With the Rangers set to play the final game of the season on Thursday night, this game will mark an end of an era at Madison Square Garden (7PM on MSG).
Consider this article more of an opinion/rant along with some facts and beliefs
With the Rangers having one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history – the organization will likely undergo some major changes.
The first major change has been known to be coming since before the season began. The beloved Sam Rosen will call his final game on Thursday evening and ride off into the sunset in what we all hope is a happy retirement. Rosen first started calling the Rangers in the fall of the 1984-1985 season, and he captured the hearts of Ranger fans as the voice of the Rangers for 40 years. He will be dearly missed, but it truly will be a big change to get used to among fans of the organization. For me, at just 28-years-old, Rosen has been the only commentator I have ever heard. The end of an era.
For Blueshirt fans, Kenny Albert has been named the replacement as voice of the Rangers. Albert was often the backup for Rosen on Rangers broadcasts, as well as doing national broadcasts for TNT and in other sports. The 57-year-old also did play-by-play for the radio broadcast throughout the years. Albert is a familiar name to New York fans and was the logical choice to succeed Rosen. It should be a smooth transition for Rangers fans and for Albert who has experience with color commentator Joe Michelletti.
Alex Faust who one day will land a play-by-play role will serve as Albert’s backup when he is unavailable. As of writing this article, Albert is expected to continue to do national broadcasts with TNT throughout the season. At just 36-years-old, Faust, a Brooklyn native, has a wealth of experience that will lead to him having a long and successful future. Currently, Faust is most known for his play-by-play in the MLB, and college basketball and college football for Fox. Faust was named the new play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Kings in 2017, but his contract was not renewed due to Bally Sports bankruptcy. Don’t be surprised to see Faust in some major calls in the future whether it is with the Rangers, in the MLB, NFL, or wherever his journey takes him. He is one of the bright young play-by-play guys in sports.
On the ice, expect the Rangers to continue to make major personnel changes that started before the season began. Barclay Goodrow was put on waivers in a move that appeared to ruffle some feathers in the locker room. Changes continued when captain Jacob Trouba was traded to Anaheim to dump his contract. It was rumored that General Manager Chris Drury tried to move Trouba at free agency, but ultimately it did not happen due to personal reasons and telling teams he would not report to training camp.
Youngsters Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil were also moved out of New York. Kakko was getting disgruntled on his now third coach and he has shown he can be a good player in Seattle. Kakko recorded 30 points in 49 games as a member of the Kraken – a pace that would have put him well over his career high of 40 points in 2022-2023 as a member of the Rangers. Chytil was moved to Vancouver in the J.T. Miller trade, and he unfortunately suffered another concussion. Chytil is an exciting and promising player when healthy – but it is just sad to see him not able to see him on the ice. More on the young forwards later on.
Ryan Lindgren was traded to Colorado. Lindgren was traded from Boston to New York in the Rick Nash trade and he became a crucial member of the Rangers since solidifying his spot in the lineup. He was one of the first pieces to come over that started the rebuild back in February 2018 – just a couple weeks after the infamous letter to the fans.
Veteran forward Reilly Smith was also moved after acquiring him at the start of the season.
Another name rumored to be available is Mika Zibanejad who has another five seasons with an 8.5 million dollar cap hit. Zibanejad would have to approve of any trade as he has a full no-trade clause. The salary cap will grow majorly over the next three seasons so teams can afford him if they want to go after the 31-year-old center.
The name most people expect to leave the Rangers is Chris Kreider. The 33-year-old made his NHL debut 13-years-ago to the day yesterday in game three of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Kreider provided immediate impact and he would be a valuable member of the team for the next 13 years. Some of Kreider’s more legendary moments includes his hat trick in game six against the Hurricanes in the second round just last season in a series clinching come from behind win, and a fifty goal season on Broadway. Kreider’s office became right in front of the blue crease and he became arguably the best player in the league at redirections and screening the goaltenders. Unfortunately, it seems it is time for both sides to part ways with Kreider’s production slowing down and his role slowly diminishing. Despite having his seventh straight 20-goal season, Kreider has lost his concrete role on the top power play unit. The American winger has just seven assists on the season. Instead of harping on Kreider having a poor season, fans should applaud the work he put in as a member of the Rangers for 13 seasons and give him the standing ovation he deserves as he most likely steps off the ice for the final time in a Rangers sweater. The end of an era.
Off the ice, Drury is expected to be safe by owner James Dolan, but expect Drury to fire his second coach with Peter Laviolette expected to last just two seasons like his predecessor Gerard Gallant. Prior to his hire, I was on record for saying I did not love the hire as it was extremely short term and he has a history of regression.
Laviolette’s first two FULL seasons with each team including now the Rangers (not counting shorten seasons whether for a lockout or covid)
NYI 01-02 – 96 points
NYI 02-03 – 83 points
Car 05-06 – 112 points (First and only Stanley Cup champion) (NOTE: Laviolette coached the Canes in the second half of the 03-04 season and then the lockout happened in 04-05)
Car 06-07 – 88 points (missed playoffs)
PHI 10-11 – 106 points
PHI 11-12 – 103 points (can’t fault him here)
NSH 14-15 – 104 points
NSH 15-16 – 96 points
WSH 21-22 – 100 points
WASH 22-23 – 80 points
NYR 23-24 – 114 points
NYR 24-25 – 83 points (with one game to play)
Something seemed to happen between his first and second full season no matter where he went and the Rangers proved to be no exception. Now some teams like with Nashville he did bounce back and have better seasons than his second, but other teams like the Canes he did not improve significantly.
Associate head coach Phil Housley was in charge of the defense and that has been the weakest part of the Rangers this season. Way way way too many high danger scoring chances allowed this season. Assistant coaches Dan Muse and Michael Peca will likely also fall victim to the changes though they are at less of fault then the rest of the coaching staff.
So who do I think will be the next head coach of the Rangers if they do part ways with Laviolette? I believe the dream hire for Drury is Mike Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Penguins. I think if Sullivan became available that Drury would try to have him hired ASAP. The Penguins will now have missed the playoffs for the past three seasons and he was not hired by current General Manager Kyle Dubas. They might be looking for a new voice to lead their locker room.
If Sullivan was not available, I suspect that if anyone was going to hire Joel Quenneville despite his baggage – it would be Dolan. Quenneville won three Stanley Cups for the Blackhawks and he got off to a hot start in Florida before the allegations and evidence showed what he did. I won’t get into what he did, but he has since been reinstated by the NHL and is allowed to coach again in the NHL. He is a proven winner and he gets a lot out of his players.
I do think David Carle from Denver University would be an interesting hire. It is unknown if he wants to leave Denver and if he would want to join the Rangers. Carle is seen as one of the brightest coaches in college hockey. The Blueshirts went the college route with David Quinn from Boston University for his player development skills, but was let go just before the hiring of Drury. The Rangers may not want to go that route given what happened with Quinn and not exactly looking to rebuild.
One sneaky name who I think deserves a look is Tampa Bay Lightning assistant head coach Jeff Halpern. Halpern has been an assistant for Jon Cooper since 2018. The 48-year-old coach loves analytics which is seen as a more modern day approach. He is responsible for one of the best power plays in the league since he has been hired. He would be a risky hire given he has no head coaching experience, but he also would be something different to the retread head coaches that Drury has gone with both hires and he would be different from going to the collegiate ranks.
Things seem to have gotten to the point beyond repair and current Rangers defenseman Calvin De Haan has seemed to have been treated extremely poorly since joining New York. De Haan played in just two games, but the veteran defenseman actually played two solid games and to not see the ice again was just odd. I for one am looking forward to what he has to say to the media after the season as he will depart New York. I am curious to see if there is something deeper going on beyond what the fans see. De Haan owes the Rangers nothing and perhaps his voice can help spark change for the better.
One thing I think Dolan and Drury need to look at closely is player development. The head of player development is Jed Ortmeyer and his assistant is Tanner Glass. Ortmeyer has served in his role since 2017. The Blueshirts have had an abundance of high end talent just simply not live up to their potential as a member of the Rangers. It is also possible that the scouting has been poor and they have poorly judged players’ abilities to translate their game to the NHL. The director of amateur scouting is John Lilley with many assistants under him.
Since the 2017 draft – the first draft of Ortmeyer being in charged the Rangers have drafted the following players in the first two rounds:
Lias Andersson – bust and out of the league
Filip Chytil – meeting expectations when healthy, but major health concerns – on Vancouver
Vitaly Kravtsov – bust and out of the league
K’Andre Miller – second pair defenseman
Nils Lundkvist – playing below expectations but a third pair defenseman – on Dallas
Olof Lindbom – Never made it to the NHL – playing in Finland
Kaapo Kakko – Didn’t meet expectations as a Ranger – improvement post trade – on Seattle Matthew Robertson – fringe NHLer but 24 years old
Karl Henriksson – Never made it to the NHL – playing in Sweden
Alexis Lafreniere – playing below expectations – 57 points was his career high as number 1 pick
Braden Schneider – playing as a 2nd or 3rd pair defenseman
Will Cuylle – Playing above expectations – good middle-six forward
Brennan Othmann – playing below expectations – 24 games with just 2 assists. 22 years old so the jury is still out.
Adam Sykora – just 20 – too early to tell
Gabe Perreault – just 19 – too early to tell
EJ Emery – just 19 – too early to tell
This list doesn’t include players who were traded for such as Lindgren and Fox who were picks by other teams
Later draft pick hits – Morgan Barron (depth for Winnipeg), Adam Edstrom (4th liner), Zac Jones (3rd pair defenseman), Brett Berard (4th liner trying to establish himself), Matt Rempe (4th liner trying to establish himself), Victor Mancini (depth for Vancouver). There are also a handful of guys who could maybe become something in the NHL, but these are the players who have started to make a name of themselves
Out of 17 players, just one is playing above expectations when playing for the Rangers. Most of them have simply played below expectations and their career has trended downward. Is this possibly just bad scouting such as players like Lias Andersson, and Vitaly Kravtsov? Or is this bad development such as Alexis Lafreniere, and Nils Lundkvist? Not every first-round pick has to be a superstar and picks like Schneider and Miller are hits. But at what point especially looking at the forwards are we going to look and say something is off? Once upon a time all of these high end picks had all of this potential and now all of them have since trended the wrong way or have either been traded or out of the league. Something is wrong for the list to be this big. When was the last time the Rangers drafted a major impact elite forward? The closest thing to that has probably been J.T. Miller in 2011 and his prime was spent on other teams.
And if the season went about as poor as it could, on Thursday morning, an article from The Athletic revealed that Madison Square Garden Sports (MSGs) and Artemi Panarin agreed to a settlement with a former team employee after she alleged that Panarin sexually assaulted her during a road game in December of 2023. Laviolette would not comment on the article and deferred to the statement released by MSGs. He also would not comment on Panarin’s availability for the final game of the season.
Igor Shesterkin will be in goal for the final game of the regular season. Jonas Johansson will be in goal for Tampa Bay for their final game. Tampa Bay clinched the two seed and will have home ice advantage against the Florida Panthers in round one. Despite not having anything to play for, they are opting not to rest any of their superstars prior to game one besides Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The only thing for certain is that things won’t be the same next year. It simply can’t be and should not be. Not for the players, not for the coaches, not for the front office, and not for the fans. Each and every little thing does not have to change, but a culture change is needed as well as quite a bit of personnel change in all areas. The era ends tonight for many different reasons and hopefully for fans, the start of the new era begins the following Friday morning.
