1994 Rangers on board with plan to rebuild team

NEW YORK --The New York Rangers have designs of returning to the glory achieved in 1994, when a collection of battle-tested veterans combined with young core players Brian Leetch, Mike Richter, Sergei Zubov and Alexei Kovalev to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1940.

To do that, they need to stick to the rebuilding plan they laid out to fans in a letter last season, said the man who helped build the 1993-94 Stanley Cup champions.
"The only way you can assure yourself of no success is to change your plan midstream," said Neil Smith, former Rangers general manager. "They have to stick with the plan, and if that means not letting Mats] Zuccarello and [Kevin] Hayes leave for nothing, then they better swallow hard and do what they have to do."
***[RELATED: [Rangers honor 25th anniversary of 1994 Stanley Cup Champions]*
On the night the Rangers honored the 25th anniversary of the team that ended a 54-year championship drought, management is dealing with the reality that tough decisions must be made ahead the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline on Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. If you ask some members from 1993-94 who were in New York for a reunion Friday, that means trading forwards Hayes and Zuccarello, who each could become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
Unlike the win-at-all-costs mandate 25 years ago, these Rangers are different. One year ago this week they released a letter to fans stating their intentions to rebuild for the future. Today, they're nine points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with 28 games to play. And with the deadline approaching, they're again in a position where they must do what they have to do.
Except the tone is much different. The mission statement is to redesign and eventually reclaim what's eluded them since the Summer of '94. That starts with getting assets in return for those who might leave as free agents.

Zuccarello is playing some of his best hockey, thriving on the first line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, but he's 31 years old. Though Hayes is on track for his best NHL season, he's 26 and could command a lengthy new contract.
That likely won't fit into the Rangers vision for the future.
"I would be very surprised if they're still around after the deadline," Smith said. "Not because they don't deserve to be, but because of the business of hockey and the fact that they're 31 and 26 and the kind of contract they're going to get somewhere else and the Rangers are going to get nothing back in return. If they miss the playoffs, it's a disaster. If you're going to miss the playoffs, at least start collecting a lot of stuff for the future. They have to stay with the plan."
Hayes told
NHL.com Jan. 30 he wants to stay in New York
but the Rangers haven't made him a contract offer. So unlike 1994, when coach Mike Keenan pushed to trade promising 23-year-old forward Tony Amonte to the Chicago Blackhawks for veterans Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan, these Rangers need to evaluate their priorities for this rebuild.
"If they're looking to the future they should probably acquire something for their services if indeed it looks like they may walk out the door and get nothing for them," Keenan said. "How instrumental are they in the locker room in terms of leadership and development and their ability to play, could it be part of the future? That's going to be something the management group has to evaluate."
The Rangers took the first step in their latest makeover when they traded forward Cody McLeod to the Nashville Predators for a seventh-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft on Wednesday. Coach David Quinn explained the move made sense for purposes of bringing up and developing another young player, 24-year-old forward Vinni Lettieri from Hartford of the American Hockey League. More moves could come before the deadline, like when veterans Glenn Anderson and Craig MacTavish were traded to the Rangers on deadline day in 1994.
"This is a business," Anderson said. "If they can pick them up again and they can get draft choices for players like that … unless you're taking a run at the Cup, it's a business decision and a salary-cap decision at this point in time. If I were steering the ship, I would seriously be looking to see what I can get."
"I love [Zuccarello]. He's wearing my number (36) and he's a fan favorite. You never want to see someone leave, but at the end of the day you have to do what's best for the hockey club."