As the Rangers try to climb the Metropolitan Division, there’s a lesson book sitting right in front of them. The trick is sorting through which division rivals are worth copying and which ones are best left alone.
Carolina is the cleanest example of how a team can build with purpose. The Hurricanes know exactly who they are, and they make sure the roster matches the identity.
Some players fit the culture, some don’t. Some fit the system, some don’t.
That’s the kind of discipline New York could use more of as it works with Mike Sullivan’s preferred style of play. Carolina also offers another lesson: be willing to trust analytics and rising front-office talent.
The Hurricanes eventually broke through with Eric Tulsky, while the Rangers are run by Chris Drury. That matters.
New Jersey is a different kind of case study, because the Devils have benefited from other teams making bad decisions. They got Luke Evangelista for dirt cheap because Nashville wanted to make a move.
They got Connor Hellebuyck for nothing because he wanted out of Winnipeg, so much so that he refused to play when he returned (what a baby). They also moved on from Jakob Markstrom’s contract and added Evan Rodrigues because the Panthers needed a goalie.
They can’t keep getting away with this. The Devils also have an analytical mind in the front office, which only adds to the edge.
For the Rangers, the takeaway is obvious: keep checking on teams with clear needs and see if there’s a way to pry value loose. Still, Drury going up against Tulsky or Sunny Mehta is not exactly a fair fight.
Washington offers a more straightforward blueprint. Chris Patrick has done a wonderful job because he keeps tinkering and keeps trying to solve weak spots in the lineup.
If the Capitals need a player, Patrick finds the fit and gets him. That kind of constant adjustment has worked.
New York could stand to be more proactive in that department, especially since the Rangers haven’t had the same luck finding the right fits.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, is a reminder that a step back does not have to turn into a mess. The Penguins have slipped this season, but Kyle Dubas has handled it well by balancing respect for what the team accomplished last season with a willingness to sell now that the group has dropped off.
He hasn’t overreacted. He has stayed realistic.
That’s something the Rangers will need going forward.
Then there are the teams that don’t offer much of a roadmap at all. The Islanders are one of them.
The retool/rebuild has been hard to get behind, with big contracts coming in for little return and a trade for an old Brayden Schenn that looked even worse. The one possible lesson is Noah Dobson, who was moved for a haul despite not being all that great, but New York doesn’t really have a comparable player in its system.
The whole thing leaves little to take from.
The Flyers are even worse. Danny Briere has put together what might be the lowest-upside organization I’ve ever seen, and the coaching hire only makes it duller.
It’s an absolute nightmare to watch that team play hockey. The Rangers should learn nothing from Philadelphia.
And then there’s Columbus, a team that’s easy to forget is even in the division. The Blue Jackets are mostly irrelevant these days, with Zack Werenski still likely to force his way out of Columbus.
But there is one useful note there: the organization handled Kent Johnson’s off year well last season, and Johnson has responded with a vengeance. A team that doesn’t give up on a young player can get rewarded for it.
New York could use more of that same patience.
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Adam Fox Snub Looks A Lot Different After Team USA Chaos
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Since then, the picture around that roster has gotten much messier. Several of the players who made the team, including Vincent Trocheck, Brady Tkachuk, Dylan Larkin, Connor Hellebuyck and Quinn Hughes, have been tied to trades or trade demands from their NHL clubs, with conflicting reports and plenty of fan reaction following each development. In that light, Foxs absence does not look quite as strange as it did in the moment, and it adds another layer to a situation that keeps reflecting poorly on the way that U.S. team was put together. [Read more 🡒]