from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,
Jeff Gorton is not seeking a rebuild for the Rangers, but rather what multiple individuals within the industry have categorized as a “reset” following the 2015-16 Last Ride that ended bloody with that five-game, first-round, face wash by Pittsburgh.
But the counterintuitive reality confronting Gorton is that in order to give the Rangers a face lift on the fly that will afford the team a chance to contend for a Stanley Cup in Henrik Lundqvist’s age 34/35 season, the general manager is going to have to be willing to trade two or three of his best players — we’re talking Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider and Kevin Klein — in order to get it done.
The Rangers are not waving the white flag. They are not engaged in a traditional rebuild, which would be a relatively easy process to kick-start by dumping everyone onto the market in order to restock the organizational cupboard that was raided throughout a four-year, all-in philosophy during which Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, a couple of months of Ryan Callahan, Anthony Duclair, Aleksi Saarela, four first-round draft picks and two seconds were traded for Rick Nash, 15 months of Marty St. Louis, 15 months of Keith Yandle, a couple of months of Eric Staal and a third-rounder used to select Pavel Buchnevich.
Create an Account
In order to leave a comment, please create an account.