The New York Rangers’ retool is officially in full swing.
Weeks after issuing a letter indicating their intention to retool, the Rangers dealt Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday for prospect Liam Greentree and conditional third- and fourth-round draft picks.
It’s a modest haul for a superstar who led the Rangers in scoring in each of his six full seasons with the club. But with the way the season has unfolded and Panarin’s contract situation — he was in the final year of his deal and had a no-movement clause — the Rangers’ hands were tied.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday for the first time since the start of training camp in September, Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury detailed how the Panarin saga came to a head and the direction of the franchise moving forward.
“With that no-move, he’s [Panarin] got a lot of control over the situation,” Drury told reporters present, before adding that the Rangers were informed late Wednesday morning that Panarin was only willing to go to Los Angeles.
Retool, not rebuild
The Panarin trade was the second move the Rangers have made since issuing “the letter.” The Rangers dealt veteran defenseman Carson Soucy to the New York Islanders last week.
When Mollie Walker of the New York Post asked about the Rangers’ direction moving forward, Drury doubled down on the club’s intention to retool, not rebuild. He would not put a timeline on how long that process would take, only that the Rangers wanted to get back to contending “as quickly as we can.”
“We have identified and continue to identify players that we want here and want to stay here and go forward and build around and move forward with,” Drury said.
If there’s any indication of Drury’s philosophy behind a retool, his thoughts on Greentree — the prospect headed to New York got in the Panarin deal — are telling.
“We valued him, a prospect like him, higher than a ’26 or ’27 first-round pick,” Drury said, also praising the 6-foot-2, 207-pound forward’s size, hockey IQ and skill.
Retools generally work when a franchise has multiple cornerstone pieces to build around. For the Rangers, that core seems to consist of Adam Fox, Igor Shesterkin, J.T. Miller, and Mika Zibanejad — one that’s helped produce 2.66 goals per game this season, 26th in the NHL.
The franchise’s direction moving forward
The Rangers’ core is not getting younger. Zibanejad, Miller, and Shesterkin are all 30 or older. Fox is 27. The club’s success in the near future hinges on whether its younger players — perhaps Alexis Lafrenière and Braden Schneider — can step up.
Drury was asked for his honest opinion on Lafrenière and Schneider. He doubled down on his belief in both players.
“I’m not singling them out,” Drury said. “I think there’s been a number of areas and different spots where we’ve underachieved this year. I know they’re continually working on their individual games, those two individual players, and trying to find ways to be more impactful.”
Drury added that the Rangers believe both players have bright futures in the NHL, and that the coaching staff is excited to keep working with them to reach their potential.
“I think we have a lot of really good players at key positions,” Drury said. “It has not worked out the way we had hoped. We’re going to continue to look back at decisions we made and choices we make and try and make better ones. But I can tell you, I still believe in a lot of players in that room. We’re going to try to build around some of them and try to keep pushing this thing forward.”
