from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

Say their names: McDonagh, gone; Nash, gone; J.T. Miller, gone; Michael Grabner, gone.

Learn their names: Libor Hajek, coming; Brett Howden, coming; Ryan Lindgren, coming; Yegor Rykov, coming. Vladislav Namestnikov, here.

This wasn’t the Purge of ’04 in which assorted spare parts — and Brian Leetch — were shipped away toward the end of a seventh straight season out of the playoffs. This wasn’t even the great shake-up of ’75 in which Eddie Giacomin, Jean Ratelle and Brad Park were shipped out.

This, rather, was a reckoning for the Rangers, who might have been able to camouflage all of the emerging bald spots with a comb-over but instead chose the righteous path.

There is no instant gratification here. Ownership knows it and so does management. If the scouts got this wrong and get this draft wrong, in which the club currently holds three first-rounders, two second-rounders and two third-rounders, well, then everyone will become immediately reacquainted with the proverb about good intentions and the road to hell.

more