Executing the Rangers plan matters more than a single playoff appearance

The New York Rangers want to win. After two straight horrendous years, Chris Drury has this clear by acquiring the likes of Pavel Dorofeyev, Marcus Pettersson, and Sean Durzi as the Rangers plan came to light. The Rangers plan was also clear when they drafted a win-now player in Alberts Smits. As every team does, the Rangers will spend the beginning portion of the season feeling themselves out. The preseason is brief, and the players need some time to gel. After that, it’s typically time for teams to figure out who they really are.

While I would love for the Rangers to be crushing it through the first half the season, it’s also something I fear to some degree. Why? Because Chris Drury remains in charge of the Rangers and the Rangers plan could change with an unsustainable start to the season. This becomes worse if the wins are “empty calorie” wins, which for the Rangers means Igor Shesterkin posting Vezina numbers while the skaters lag far behind.

Historically, the Rangers plan under Drury has had a very “who cares about the future” vibe to his tenure. If there’s a shiny toy available that may help the Rangers win an extra round or push into the playoffs altogether, Drury goes after it. This season the Rangers plan needs to be far more practical, which is not something I would ever trust Drury to execute.

Now of course there’s something to be said for understanding the context of each decision. If somehow, miraculously, Connor McDavid is available at the trade deadline and wants to be a Ranger, then the Rangers should do everything possible to acquire him. Otherwise, it does not behoove the Rangers to be major buyers. Sacrificing all the futures they have for a rental is exactly how they got into this mess.

New York should absolutely consider themselves big winners for even being in the hunt at the trade deadline. You may argue that with the likes of Shesterkin and Adam Fox still in the prime, the Rangers should go for it every chance they get, but that’s how the Rangers keep getting into these situations where they have a good 3-4 year run then completely fall apart. The Rangers plan needs to be the priority, not an arbitrary number of wins or playoff wins. Unless there’s a legitimate shot at winning 16 playoff games, of course.

Chris Drury took some genuine steps this offseason to build a team that can compete for years to come, not just for a two or three year span. A lot has to go right for that to happen, but the Rangers are younger and have a much brighter looking future than this time last year.

Unless the Rangers are somehow Stanley Cup contenders (unlikely), they need to resist the urge to spend future assets on current help. It’s a tall tale for someone like Chris Drury, but New York needs to continue on their getting younger trajectory and holding onto their prospects that can help them in the future, especially on affordable contracts.

But hey, if any of this becomes relevant, it means a lot has gone right for the Rangers. That’s what we all want, right?