The trade deadline has come and gone with a whimper. The Rangers made just one NHL trade, Sam Carrick, while holding onto Vincent Trocheck. That was one problem that’s been discussed and will continue to be discussed. The other problem now is lineup and ice time decisions, as the Rangers need to play the kids now that the deadline has passed. We are at a point where the season doesn’t matter and seeing what you have in some of the kids is the priority. The Rangers need to play the kids, but it feels like Chris Drury and Mike Sullivan don’t recognize the need…yet.
The Rangers need to play the kids that are dressing for games
It’s only one game post deadline, but it was rather alarming that Jaro Chmelar played 6:30 and Adam Edstrom played 7:34, while Conor Sheary (11:24) and Tye Kartye (11:34) received significantly more ice time. Edstrom was returning from injury and Kartye–just 24 years old–is still new, so perhaps that’s stretching it. However given how Chmelar has looked, there’s no reason why he should be playing less than Sheary at this point.
To be abundantly clear, this has nothing to do with Sheary the player, who has been incorrectly assigned as the one player receiving all the blame for this disastrous season. It’s about Sheary the veteran versus how the Rangers need to play the kids. Chmelar has looked far better than Brett Berard this season and has earned more ice time. I don’t think this is nepotism, as many are quick to jump to nowadays. I think it’s just Sullivan trying to win games with players he trusts when winning games shouldn’t necessarily be the priority at the moment.
Don’t misunderstand, winning games is important for the kids to understand how to win and what is needed to win. But when it comes to playing guys like Sheary, Kartye, and even Taylor Raddysh (13:27), there’s no reason why they should get significantly more minutes over a Chmelar.
To be fair, Noah Laba and Gabe Perreault are receiving more minutes and more trust from the coach, which is critical as cheap complementary players. Alexis Lafreniere, who is still young by the way, has has a solid and borderline great 2026 calendar year and making a case to stick around.
It’s also about getting time for prospects in the AHL
It’s not just the NHL kids either. The Rangers need to play the kids in the AHL too, or at least make NHL space for Berard and Scott Morrow. It’s funny, because Morrow was the centerpiece of the K’Andre Miller trade and now he can’t even get NHL ice time over Vincent Iorio. For the record, Iorio is objectively bad. He’s this rebuild’s version of Rob O’Gara, taking ice time from a more promising prospect in Morrow.
If the Rangers do wind up trading Adam Fox, which seems to be a coin flip at this point, then they will need a player like Morrow who excels at puck moving. In fact, the Rangers need more than just Fox back there moving the puck. When Fox is off the ice, the Rangers are a sub-45% xG team and have trouble sustaining consistent offensive pressure. If anything, the Rangers need to play the kids so they have an idea who to target if and/or when they trade some of their bigger names this offseason.
Morrow and Berard should be up to see what they can do. There’s less of a need to call up Dylan Roobroeck right now, as he’s taken a step back in offensive production this season. Sometimes you just need to give a kid a chance in a consistent role and allow him to make mistakes. Look at Matthew Robertson, who was allowed to make mistakes and has grown into a stable bottom pairing defenseman.
The Rangers need to play the kids. This is no longer up for debate. There is no more showcasing veterans. If this is going to be a successful rebuild/retool, then the Rangers need to play the kids so they know what they need to target in these bigger trades coming this summer.
