New York Rangers
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16 hours agoRangers Recap: The final curtain - Blue Seat Blogs
Rangers lost Jonathan Quick's final game, but rookies showed promise for next season.
The JT Miller injury is annoying because of everything else that happened this season. We watched the "captain" toil around and barely care, giving the worst postgame quotes and coming dangerously close to blaming fans for booing the Rangers during the Columbus game. To be fair, I don't think he actually blamed fans, but it came off that way and-when coupled with everything else he's done this season-it's hard to give him the benefit of the doubt.
The Rangers retool is official. Chris Drury and the Rangers announced- essentially copying and pasting the 2017 letter from Jeff Gorton -that they will be retooling this roster around the current core players and prospects. This comes just five games after the Rangers appeared to be turning a corner with a big win in the Winter Classic. But in those five games, the Rangers have been outscored 30-12 including four straight embarrassing showings.
The New York Rangers were able to unload superstar winger Artemi Panarin just before the NHL's 3 p.m. ET roster freeze on Wednesday, sending him to the Los Angeles Kings for a conditional third-round draft pick this year, a conditional fourth-round pick in 2028, and prospect Liam Greentree. With it, Panarin is signing a two-year, $22 million extension, per reports. The Rangers are also retaining 50% of his 2026 salary.
At 5v5, the new Rangers top line has scored four times and allowed two in the four games they've been together. When you add powerplay numbers, they've scored 9 goals and still just allowed two. Individually, Zibanejad leads the trio with 3 goals and 5 assists in that span. Lafreniere is keeping pace with 5 goals (including a hat trick) and 3 assists.
Live From the Blue Seats is back as Rob and Producer JL how Chris Drury failed with the Panarin trade, his first trade and test for this retool. No matter how you try to explain it away, the Panarin trade was a failure. His no-move clause, the late news that came conveniently after the trade reaction that Panarin only wanted LA and only told the Rangers that morning.