{"id":136543,"date":"2023-03-30T07:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=136543"},"modified":"2023-03-29T21:14:30","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T01:14:30","slug":"how-the-new-york-rangers-built-this-cup-contender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2023\/03\/30\/how-the-new-york-rangers-built-this-cup-contender\/","title":{"rendered":"How The New York Rangers Built This Cup Contender"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">It feels like a lifetime ago when Devils and Rangers fans were chanting \u201cwe both suck\u201d at a game together. In addition, the letter that Jeff Gorton wrote about a rebuild to the fans feels like ages ago. Fast forward from all of that and the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/rangers\/\" target=\"_self\">New York Rangers<\/a> are the cream of the crop in the Eastern Conference. To go from drafting early in the first round to a conference finals trip, it has been a wild ride. But how did they get to that point? Let&#8217;s take a look at the New York Rangers roster construction.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A Message from Glen Sather and Jeff Gorton. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Q56CXS8vDc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Q56CXS8vDc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; New York Rangers (@NYRangers) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NYRangers\/status\/961669453804130304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 8, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">How The Rangers Built This Contender<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Whoever you want to thank is a different conversation. Two gentlemen have a part for play in how the Rangers got to this point. Jeff Gorton whom is now with the Montreal Canadiens front office, and current General manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/d\/drurych01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Drury<\/a>. Both have had a different approach to running the show on Broadway, but both have their fingerprints on the outlook of this team. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Life Under Jeff Gorton<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">When Jeff Gorton took over in 2015, he was taking over a team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final. The results were not what anyone wanted, but this is where the ground work got done. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The New York Rangers roster construction underwent a turnover. Throughout the course of his tenure, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.capfriendly.com\/trades\/staff\/jeff-gorton\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gorton traded away<\/a> key players. Most notably <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcdonry01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan McDonagh<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/z\/zuccama01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mats Zuccarello<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/n\/nashri01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rick Nash<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/stepade01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derek Stepan<\/a>. An emotional <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lundqhe01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Henrik Lundqvist<\/a> felt the sadness, especially with the Zuccarello move. These moves seemed painful at the time, but not every move was dreadful. <\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The New Guys On The Block<\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In terms of building the next wave, the finest work was landing now superstar centre <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/z\/zibanmi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mika Zibanejad<\/a>. Ottawa is in a good position now, but giving up on him when they did was puzzling. Another big acquisition was defencemen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lindgry01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Lindgren<\/a>. He came over in the Nash deal. Lindgren had developed into a top-pair defenseman with shutdown ability. While staying in 2018, in a deal with Ottawa, Gorton acquires K\u2019Andre Miller. Miller finally broke into the league in 2020-21, and has established himself as a top-four defenceman. Miller is currently having a career year across the board production wise. He is a pending RFA this season, but has grown into a promising role with the club.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">K&#39;ANDRE MILLER TIES IT UP AND WE ARE HEADED TO OT! \ud83d\udd11<\/p>\n<p>(via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RangersMSGN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@RangersMSGN<\/a>) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Zc5cjp7lqv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Zc5cjp7lqv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rangers Videos (@SNYRangers) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SNYRangers\/status\/1613725637155364869?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 13, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In addition, his biggest move was trading for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/f\/foxad01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adam Fox<\/a>. The American is the franchise defenceman and arguably the best in the league. He&#8217;s an absolute gem. As you can see, Gorton masterfully has built the back end into what it is today. In addition, he acquired <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/troubja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jacob Trouba<\/a> from the Winnipeg Jets.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2022\/08\/09\/new-york-rangers-name-jacob-trouba-captain\/\" target=\"_self\">He is now the captain<\/a> and is signed long-term. And last but not least, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/p\/panarar01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Artemi Panarin<\/a> is a Ranger and has been sensational. Each player has a vital role and is clutch to what they are building. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Those were just trades. His biggest impact has been at the draft as well. Notably on the roster are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kakkoka01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kaapo Kakko<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lafreal01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alexis Lafreniere<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/schnebr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Braden Schneider<\/a>. Let&#8217;s also not forget the transition from Lundqvist to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/shestig01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Igor Shesterkin<\/a>. Just a masterful job by Gorton and laying down the foundation for this team. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Rangers Era Under Chris Drury<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The organization went ahead and dismissed Jeff Gorton. Entering his place was Chris Drury and the New York Rangers roster construction continued. As laid out above, Gorton laid the foundation and Drury went ahead and added to it. Simply put, Drury took an already good team and made it better. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In establishing an identity and wanting to compete further, he made a bold move. Drury <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/07\/19\/report-barclay-goodrow-signs-with-new-york-rangers\/\" target=\"_self\">traded for and signed<\/a> two-time Stanley Cup Champion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/g\/goodrba01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Barclay Goodrow<\/a>. Bringing a guy in with his pedigree and knowing what it takes to win was great for this group aiming to head in that direction. Drury did his finest work at the deadline. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/coppan01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andrew Copp<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/v\/vatrafr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Frank Vatrano<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/mottety01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler Motte<\/a> were all crucial pieces to their run. The Rangers would make it to the Eastern Conference Final. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Fast forward a season and the Rangers are at the top once again. Despite losing all their big deadline acquisitions the year before, Drury refused to back down. Drury would move on from Alexander Georgiev and bring in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/halakja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaroslav Halak<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/trochvi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vincent Trocheck<\/a> is the new second-line centre. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kreidch01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Kreider<\/a> has a new extension in place. Parting ways with young defencemen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lundkni01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nils Lundkvist<\/a> proved to be worth the haul. In addition, what Drury did with that haul was some of his most magical work. <\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Luring The Big Fish<\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Gorton may have laid the foundation, but Drury is furnishing the house. If you thought last year was via best work, this deadline should make him General Manager Of The Year. Next season causes problem with the salary cap, and Drury put all his chips in the middle. Drury went out and got top-six winger <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/tarasvl01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vladimir Tarasenko<\/a> from the St Louis Blues. Once the deal was complete, a disappointed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kanepa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-03-29_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patrick Kane<\/a> made comments about the deal. However, Drury did not rule out getting Kane. How in the world is this possible? Given the contract, there is no way the team can afford it right? Well, turns out <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2023\/02\/28\/patrick-kane-trade-happens-after-all\/\" target=\"_self\">Kane is in fact a Ranger.<\/a> It took a lot of finesse work, but Drury landed the big fish and placed him on Broadway. Give him the keys to the city at this rate. In addition, he brought back Motte whom he acquires the year before. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">You can make the argument that the team is deeper than last year. But this is a great Rangers team playing their best hockey.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Broadway Blueshirts Are Back<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">This is the New York Rangers roster construction. After their defeat in the 2014 final, this is how they got here. You can credit whomever, but in the end, both men have their hands in this team. It is truly amazing how this team went from a rebuilding letter to a cup contender in a short amount of time. The club will look to make a deep run after clinching the playoffs Monday evening.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It feels like a lifetime ago when Devils and Rangers fans were chanting \u201cwe both suck\u201d at a game together. In addition, the letter that Jeff Gorton wrote about a rebuild to the fans feels like ages ago. Fast forward from all of that and the New York Rangers are the cream of the crop [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4194,"featured_media":136544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4547,14,4548],"tags":[6107,7443],"class_list":["post-136543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hockey","category-rangers","category-nhl","tag-new-york-rangers-analysis","tag-new-york-rangers-roster"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4194"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}