New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury has a clear message for his team: No one is untouchable.
The Rangers currently hold a 12-6-1 record, which doesn’t look too bad at first glance, but there are serious issues that continue to plague the Blueshirts.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman dropped a bombshell on Monday when he reported that the Rangers have made it very clear that they are interested in making moves and shaking up the roster, with the names of Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba being floated as potential options for a move.
After their 6-2 loss in Edmonton on Saturday, the Rangers made it very clear that they are interested in making moves and shaking up their roster.
Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba are among the names listed, although other options will be considered.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) November 25, 2024
Friedman’s news spread quickly throughout the NHL as all eyes are now on the Rangers, and for good reason.
But this isn’t the first time Drury has tried to shake up the team.
During the summer, the Rangers placed Barclay Goodrow, a player well-liked in the locker room, on waivers while Drury tried to trade Trouba but ultimately failed.
Barclay Goodrow on how things ended #NYR:
“It was just a surprise. I never had any inclination or anything to not be back with the team and that happened. That was a while ago, I was trying to get over it. We’re here and we’re excited to be with San Jose .”
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) November 14, 2024
Drury was trying to clear the space on the cap in what looked like an attempt to make a big splash. However, Rangers had a memorable offseason with the acquisition of Reilly Smith marking their biggest move.
The only notable thing that came up this summer was all the dysfunction surrounding Goodrow’s sudden departure, the constant rumors surrounding the Trouba contract fiasco and Igor Shesterkin.
Entering the 2024-25 campaign, there was plenty of off-ice drama surrounding the Rangers, which seemed like a distraction, especially on the first day of training camp when Trouba bristled at media reports about his future in New. York, which knows the whole world.
When the season started, all the noise died down and everyone focused on hockey again.
Despite showing some impressive flashes, New York’s game kicked off the season.
As the Rangers’ struggles became more apparent, questions began to emerge about what was really wrong with the Blueshirts, until things reached a boiling point on Monday.
Drury suddenly made Kreider available to all NHL general managers. This message was leaked and became public.
USA Today’s Vince Z. Mercogliano gave some insight into the current behind-the-scenes thinking of Rangers management and the panic that’s going on.
“There’s clear unrest in the #NYR org right now, with concerns from the top that this core is stagnating and growing player/staff unrest,” Mercogliano wrote via X. “But sources also reminded how rare/difficult big trades are this time of year .”
Addendum to Elliotte’s news (with more to come): There is clear unrest here #NYR org right now, with concerns from the top that this core is stagnating and player/staff unrest is increasing. But the sources also reminded us how rare/difficult big deals are this time of year. tpn
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) November 25, 2024
Many believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with the Rangers both on the ice and in the locker room.
“There’s got to be something wrong in that room,” one director of player personnel said, via Peter Baugh of The Athletic.
At the beginning of the season, Trouba matter-of-factly said that this season will be the core of the Rangers together “The Last Crack”.
“This will most likely be the last crack for this core,” Trouba said. “I don’t think it’s a secret by any means.”
At first, the comments were confusing as the Rangers were coming off a season in which they won the Presidents Trophy and reached the Eastern Conference Finals, but now Troub’s comments follow the situation New York finds itself in right now.
Drury has spent the summer and 20 games into the season trying to blow up the core, or at least rebuild it, and is ready for a complete transformation.
It shows that Drury didn’t really believe in the way this roster was currently constructed and was more or less forced to start it with the same core because he wasn’t able to make any significant trades or free agent signings.
After Wednesday’s optional skate, there were plenty of questions about these trade rumors and how it affects the team.
While the likes of Trouba and Peter Laviolette shrugged off trade speculation, it was clear in the Rangers locker room that it was an uncomfortable situation for everyone involved.
It’s kind of this dark presence in the minds of players, coaches and members of the media that nobody wants to fully address.
Throughout the season, the Rangers have been like a time bomb ready to explode, and on Monday they finally did.