SUNRISE, Fla. — The Rangers’ drought since winning a Stanley Cup reached its 30th year this month and is likely to continue for at least one more.
The Blueshirts and their rabid fans had their championship dreams dashed on Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena with a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 6, which gave the Panthers back-to-back Eastern Conference titles.
New York faltered in its efforts to extend the series, sealing its tragic fate on goals from the Panthers’ Sam Bennett and old friend Vladimir Tarasenko. Artemi Panarin pulled within one with 1:39 left, but it was too late.
A team that set a new NHL record for most comeback wins in the regular season and playoffs combined (34) had no more chances to make a comeback.
This makes it impossible to deny what has been a pretty obvious conclusion throughout this series.
The Panthers are clearly the better team.
The Rangers pulled within six games of their opponents thanks to two gutsy overtime wins and the sheer will of Igor Shesterkin, who made another 32 saves in Game 6. But aside from the goal advantage, they were inferior in nearly every other category.
The Cats came out faster, stronger and more equipped to play the game, dominating the Blueshirts for long stretches with their swarming forecheck and suffocating defense. They used that suffocating style to generate undeniable advantages in time of possession and time in the offensive zone, outplaying the Rangers in five of the six games, often winning by lopsided margins.
That sidelined many of New York’s scoring stars, with Panarin, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibaginjed and a limping Adam Fox combining for just two goals in the series.
The game also highlighted the weaknesses of relying on goaltending, special teams or magic dust to win games. When the Rangers’ power play went cold, their mediocre five-on-five play was exposed, as it was when they were just 1-for-15 against the Panthers.
Rangers’ memorable season comes to an end
All of this raises legitimate questions as we head into an uncertain summer.
The Rangers’ core has proven to be extremely talented, winning the Presidents Trophy and reaching the conference finals in two of the last three years, but are they good enough to satisfy the city’s insatiable thirst for a cup?
There was visible progress this season under head coach Peter Laviolette, who brought much-needed communication and organization while increasing the team’s overall preparation and intensity. The result was franchise records for wins (55) and points (114), as well as unforgettable memories like Panarin’s career-high 120 points, Alexis Lafreniere’s long-awaited breakout, and the phenomenon that is Matt Rempe Mania. But in the end, the Rangers just didn’t have the offensive firepower to beat a team as deep, versatile and ferocious as the Panthers in front of Shesterkin.
The onus is on the players, who, having gone through three managers in the past four years, now have no choice but to look within — and that starts with the highly paid veterans at the heart of the team.
The clock is ticking: Kreider, Panarin and Zibanejed, along with Barclay Goodrow, Vincent Trocheck and Jacob Trouba, are all over 30. They’re closer to the end of their primes than the beginning, and their chances of a championship grow slimmer every year.
Team president Chris Drury is entering the third season of a tenure that began with unexpected turmoil and rising expectations. With the exception of Trocheck, the Rangers’ best skater in these playoffs and Drury’s best addition, he has been trying to win with a roster that former general manager Jeff Gorton has helped build.
Drury has gambled that the team can do that by signing some of the players Gorton has acquired to extensions and not sacrificing the assets necessary to land a big-name player at the trade deadline — Jake Guenzel was at the top of the wish list — but how many more chances is he willing to give them?
Fourteen of the 20 players who took to the field on Saturday are under contract for next season, including Rangers’ top six scorers, but will a little tinkering be enough to pull this core over the edge, or are more drastic changes needed?
What’s next for the Rangers?
There’s no clear answer, but he might look to Florida as an example of what bold action can accomplish.
The Panthers won the Presidents Trophy in 2021-22, but were soundly swept by the powerful Tampa Bay Lightning in round two. General manager Bill Zito responded to that disappointment with a culture-changing trade, sending the team’s leading scorer, Jonathan Huberdeau, and top-pairing defenceman, MacKenzie Weeger, to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Matthew Tkachuk, one of the NHL’s most skilled and offensively gifted forwards.
That gave the team back-to-back conference titles and a chance to win the franchise’s first championship in the coming weeks.
The Tkachuk-level talent that Drury is pursuing probably doesn’t exist, and even if there was, he may not have the roster flexibility to make it happen.
Panarin, Trocheck and Zibanejad all have full no-transfer clauses, but several other options could become available this summer.
Set to become a restricted free agent, Kaapo Kakko seems like a prime candidate for a move after scoring just 19 points (13 goals, six assists) in 61 games this season and missing Game 2 of the ECF due to health reasons. Even Ryan Lindgren, who has played valiantly since his 2019 debut but whose competitive style raises long-term concerns about wear and tear, could be at risk once he enters the RFA period.
But even if they did move any of those players, there would still be limited salary cap space available, and moving Goodrow, Kreider or Trouba would provide bigger savings and open up more possibilities.
Kreider is the least likely of the three to go anywhere, especially after his heroic hat trick in a win over the Carolina Hurricanes last round, but both he and Trouba are scheduled to submit to the 15-team trade no-go list, which goes into effect July 1. This brings the number of teams to which either could technically be traded to to 16.
If that kind of cap space were to free up, one would wonder what the Rangers need most to get through this challenge: a center to take the pressure off Zibanejad and provide injury protection for Filip Chytil? A right winger to finally fill the Pavel Buchnevich-sized hole on the top line? An infusion of size and mobility on the blue line? Or perhaps more speed, hustle and grit to get better results at five-on-five?
These are all conversations that will be explored in the coming weeks, but for now the dominant emotion is one of disappointment — disappointment for a thrilling season that produced so many memories and gave so much hope, but fell short of its ultimate goal.
The New York Rangers were very good in 2023-24, but they just weren’t good enough.
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is a New York Rangers reporter for the USA Today Network. To read more of his work, visit lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter. translation:.
