With the Stanley Cup Finals coming to a close, the Rangers are already splitting up for the summer, leaving plenty of questions for the offseason.
The Blueshirts’ drought since winning a Stanley Cup will enter its 31st year next season, but over the past five or so teams have been unable to get past the hurdles of the conference finals.
President and general manager Chris Drury and the rest of the Rangers’ front office will now have the next three months to evaluate how to remedy this situation and position the team for maximum success next season.
If your organization wants to do so, here are the top five questions to ask yourself:
Can this core achieve that?
The track record says no, but the team says yes.
You can’t put a price on the core members who have walked together, grown together, and succeeded together.
But when that measure of success falls short of expectations, its value diminishes.
Under the direction of first-year head coach Peter Laviolette, this core group and team have thrived.
The next test will be to see how receptive they are to his approach in year two.
It’s not so much a question of what the Rangers are facing, but rather how they can compete on an equal footing with other teams that are in the running for the championship.
There are many parallels to the team’s recent postseason run that have people questioning whether the team can keep winning down the stretch.
It’s a personnel issue and something the Rangers will have to consider going forward.
Is a big move necessary?
Completely dismantling the core of a team that has not only reached the conference finals in two of the last three years but also just won the Presidents Trophy seems too drastic.
Still, there could be some big changes as to how the club clears that final hurdle to reach the cup final.
Whether it’s taking someone out and replacing them with another or altering a line or defensive combination that’s been staples for years, there are ways to change the look and feel of a lineup with one or two big changes.
These are possibilities the Rangers will have to consider if they believe they need to adjust the look of their team to take the next step.
Players like Chris Kreider, Mika Zibandjed, Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba have all contributed greatly to the Rangers’ success in recent years, but it hasn’t been enough to win a Stanley Cup.
What is too much for Shesty?
A contract extension with Igor Shesterkin is undoubtedly close to the top of Drury’s agenda for obvious reasons, including the Russian star goalkeeper being the team’s best player, but the outlook must be on the bigger picture and Cup-winning ambitions.
The Henrik Lundqvist era should serve as a lesson for the Rangers. Though the team never made it to hockey’s highest peak, the Hall of Fame goaltender accounted for between 12.3% and 10.4% of the team’s salary cap from 2014-15 to 2019-20.
That being said, Shesterkin is the Rangers’ cornerstone and he has earned his spot.
The negotiating floor appears to be $10.5 million, but the starting point appears to be $12 million.
It will be a tightrope walk to keep the 28-year-old happy while also ensuring the franchise doesn’t put itself in a financial bind to bolster its depth around him.
What does the future hold for Kakko?
The Rangers signed forward Kaapo Kakko to a one-year contract with a qualifying offer price of $2.4 million on Thursday, giving Drury some cost certainty going into the offseason.
Signing Kako on a cost-effective contract would either help him remain at the club or provide a reasonable contract to attract a trade partner if Drury decides to part ways with the Finn.
Of course, it would have to be the right signing to bring back a regular, impactful skater to fill the void left by Kako.
Maybe the Rangers will try to do just that with the No. 2 overall pick in 2019?
Alexis Lafreniere is coming off a breakout season, who’s to say Kako won’t have another one?
Kako, meanwhile, might be open to a fresh start, especially if his role continues to include limited power-play time and bottom-six minutes.
What will the defense be like?
Two key members of the blue line, Braden Schneider and Ryan Lindgren, will soon be restricted free agents, with only the latter having arbitration rights.
Both defensemen are expected to be priority contract targets this offseason after being key players on the Rangers’ defense for three and five seasons, respectively.
Of course, Adam Fox still has five years remaining on his seven-year contract, while K’Andre Miller is in the final season of his two-year deal, and Jacob Trouba is coming off an up-and-down season that ended with a disappointing postseason.
And with a modified no-trade clause set to trigger in the penultimate season of his seven-year contract, the captain owes an $8 million cap charge that he might be eager to unwind.
Erik Gustafsson was good but not great on the one-year, $825,000 contract he signed with the Rangers last July.
There’s also Zach Jones, who is still a reserve and about to start the second half of his two-year, $812,500 contract.
