It wasn't long ago that plan was to rebuild to get younger, faster and more skilled. The Rangers announced that desire less than 17 months ago in a letter to their fans and followed it up by selling at the NHL Trade Deadline for two straight seasons to stay true to those words.
Now, after not making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in those two seasons, a handful of familiar players shipped out, a number of draft picks and prospects brought in, a coaching change from Alain Vigneault to David Quinn, and a change in president from Glen Sather to Davidson, the Rangers look ready to contend for a spot in the postseason because of this offseason.
"It's all falling into place," Davidson said.
Except there is still some trepidation from Gorton and Davidson about wading into the territory of raised expectations. Even though it's not up to them, they'd prefer the brakes get tapped on the sentiment that the Rangers should be a contender right away.
"Everybody keep in mind that this is a process and we're going through it," Davidson said.
The Rangers have to sign their restricted free agents, a list that includes Trouba, defenseman Tony DeAngelo and forwards Pavel Buchnevich and Brendan Lemieux.
They also have to figure out the future of left wing Chris Kreider, who after this season can become an unrestricted free agent. Kreider will likely be re-signed or traded before the season begins.
"Today is obviously a big day for us getting Panarin, and that's what we're thinking about right now, but we'll move forward here in the next few days and start to figure out what's next and where we go from here," Gorton said. "Chris in particular is a really good player, a player we like a lot, and we'll continue to talk to agent**
