From start to finish, this New York Rangers season was a disaster. I think longtime New York Post writer Larry Brooks summed it up perfectly in the Post’s Rangers podcast: “It was the least enjoyable team that I’ve ever covered … it was a miserable experience covering this team. I’ve covered worse teams, but at least there were some redeeming features on those teams because they stood up for themselves.”
The Rangers, a team that was two wins away from the Stanley Cup Finals last year, could not put aside what went wrong with that team and the ensuing moves that were made, and ultimately, in pathetic fashion, missed the 2024-2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, finishing with a 39-36-7 record.
To answer the question “What went wrong?” you could probably point your fingers in a million directions, but to me, the most glaring is the attitude divide in the locker room, and it starts with the guys at the top.
The different answers we got to the same questions being asked from various players told us everything we needed to know. You have the young guys who talk about the disappointing season and how the team needs to be better, but it starts with them. Then you have the older guys talking about how it’s the organization’s fault for getting rid of players that should have stayed.
Will Cuylle mentioned in his exit interview how “watching the playoffs last night on TV was disappointing knowing that our seasons were over so early. It doesn’t quite feel right.” I think Cuylle summarized that feeling perfectly. One of the few bright spots on the team, having a career year in every category (goals, assists, points, hits etc.), he should not be the one having to answer for what the stars couldn’t.
Another young guy, Alexis Lafrenière, talked about how “We couldn’t really find consistency in our game. We couldn’t get a winning streak going and it is on us.” The talk of the season once the calendar turned to 2025 was: could the Rangers go on a winning streak? No, they could not. Since mid-November, they have never won more than two games consecutively. The good news is that if they win their first game next season, then they will have a three-game win streak going! But truly, with the starpower on their roster, not being able to win more than a couple of games in a row here and there was disappointing, especially after a 10-game win streak last season following a rough stretch of games in January 2024.
Here, however, is where the exit interviews started to get good. Mika Zibanejad, a staple of the Rangers’ core and an alternate captain, when asked what went wrong, decided to talk less about the colossal failures of him and his teammates and honed in on management’s decisions. Zibanejad mentioned how there was “a lot of noise around our team this year … There is frustration when you don’t know what is going on.” He also talked about the departures of rentals who clearly had no future with this team, Jack Roslovic and Alexander Wennberg, but really put emphasis on the losses of Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba. Zibanejad was essentially complaining that the team and players were blindsided by management and that they were not happy that the organization dumped these players.
Goodrow’s playoff run last season was nothing short of amazing. I really enjoyed watching him excel when players like Zibanejad did not. I was in the building when he scored the overtime winner against the Florida Panthers. But he was making $3.6 million. Why are we still complaining about him when they replaced Goodrow with a player of similar caliber and cheaper in Sam Carrick? And what is that telling Carrick, that he is not good enough? Also, Goodrow had 12 points last season, Carrick had 20 this season for $2.6 million less. You absolutely cannot fault general manager Chris Drury for doing what he did in a league with a hard cap.
Furthermore, the writing was on the wall for Jacob Trouba to soon leave the Rangers over the summer. I will fault Drury for not getting the deal done in the summer, but you have to have two to tango. Trouba was a great captain of the Rangers, and his teammates loved him, but he was also making $8 million to play third pairing minutes. At some point, it becomes a business decision. So once again, why are we faulting Drury? Because he traded a friend to try and make the team better? That is not the point of being a professional hockey player. Brian Boyle, former Rangers forward, also on that same podcast with Brooks, talked about how he never cared what the front office of the Rangers was doing. His job was to win a faceoff for his teammates, and if he didn’t, he took responsibility. So to say he was not a fan of Zibenejad’s “Us players, we have to take ownership of what we do but it has to be cohesive with everyone” comments, would be an understatement — and he’s right.
The good news for the Rangers is that they still have elite personnel. Vincent Trocheck mentioned despite the season, “I really believe in this locker room.” And I think there is still some truth to that. Trocheck, J.T. Miller, Artemi Panarin, Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox, along with young guys like Lafreniere, Cuylle, Braden Schneider and Gabe Perreault still have the opportunity to be something special. I do expect the Rangers to look quite different next season, however.
The first domino to fall was head coach Peter Laviolette, who, to no surprise, was canned by Drury after going 94-59-11 in two seasons. Despite the impressive record, the Rangers need Stanley Cups, not wins here and there. I do think he did not do himself any favors when the season first started to spiral. He never seemed to make the necessary in-game adjustments and his treatment of the Rangers’ youth was questionable – scratching players like Perreault, Zac Jones, Brennan Othmann and Brett Berard when you are eliminated from playoff contention is certainly a choice.
What we do know won’t change for next year is Drury, who was just signed to an extension, showing that James Dolan, owner of the Rangers and Knicks, puts his full trust in Drury. Drury will need to find his fourth coach as the GM of the Rangers. Mike Sullivan was just fired from the Pittsburgh Penguins early this morning, so I would expect him to be someone Drury goes after, but only time will tell.
As for the 2024-2025 New York Rangers season, goodnight. And thank goodness.
