Does anyone remember when the argument being advanced was that the Rangers were not ready for Artemi Panarin when they signed him, they were accelerating their rebuild too quickly, and oh by the way, much like all those Freddy movies, the message was coming from inside the house?
There has been so much disillusionment and disappointment over generations that it has become easy to overlook how relatively efficiently the organization pulled this off without falling into an abyss the way the Devils did last decade, the way the Islanders did, the way the Sabres, Red Wings, Senators, Sharks, Ducks and Blackhawks have, the way the ’Canes did going nine straight years without qualifying for the playoffs before beginning to construct this iteration of the club five seasons ago.
There have been missteps, no doubt about it, and you could start with the first deadline purge of 2018 and the unanswerable question about why the Rangers got all but nothing in return for Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller?
But six years after vowing to tear it down, they are back and back again for the second time in three years, only with a more sustainable program this time around. This is the most well-coached Rangers team I have ever covered and, in concert with head guy Peter Laviolette and his eclectic staff, that is also largely because this is the most coachable Rangers team I have ever covered.
The entire operation reminds me of the Devils during their extended run of excellence through which they won the Stanley Cup three times in nine years from 1995 to 2003. It is as buttoned down as it comes.
The New Jersey room was immaculate after practices and games. Players cleaned up after themselves. I recall drawing an unflattering comparison between that and the mess I found with the Rangers during their lost years of 1997-2004. I never believed it was a coincidence. Discipline may not be an end-all but without discipline there is nothing.
Fast-forward many, many seasons. Fast-forward through many good people. Fast-forward to this season and a game the club lost at the Garden during the winter malaise.
The postgame room was nearly empty when someone tossed a piece of tape toward a waste receptacle. It hit the outside of the basket. Within five seconds, Vincent Trocheck picked up the tape and tossed it in the receptacle on his way out of the room. I mentioned that to No. 16 at the following practice.
That hadn’t been random, Trocheck explained, the importance of cleaning up after oneself had been ingrained in him after reading James Kerr’s book on leadership that focused on New Zealand’s National Rugby Team, the All Blacks. The book is named “Legacy.”
Among the 15 lessons cited is, “Sweep the Sheds.” As explained on Stevenlynch.net, “This means to be humble. Even the captain picks up a broom and helps to clean up the locker room after the big game. The All Blacks select for character over talent. The players are taught never to let their egos get too big.”
This is the mentality of Trocheck, who has emerged as a (very) early contender for the Conn Smythe after his second season in New York. This is the collective mentality of the Rangers, whose sweep of the Caps earned the group a couple of days off the ice ahead of Wednesday’s practice.
They go on the ice and produce a collaborative effort. Glory is in the details. Glory is in the result. The task of constructing this group was a collaborative effort as well, the roster having been touched by general managers Glen Sather (2000-01 through 2014-15); Jeff Gorton (2015-16 through 2020-21 almost); and Chris Drury (2021-22 through at least today).
Sather is responsible for the first-round selection of Chris Kreider in 2009 and the fourth-round selection of Igor Shesterkin in 2014. We know what Gorton did — the good and the bad — as the GM in place when The Letter was published as a treatise, amassing talent under the presidencies of both Sather and John Davidson, who took over in 2019.
But I believe the administration did slow-walk the rebuild in advance of and through the convoluted 2020-21, 56-game season while somehow underestimating the importance of supporting the skill with physicality, grit and an attendant mentality.
But J.D. did not underestimate the importance of signing Panarin when the winger became a free agent out of Columbus even if the signing did push expectations and did push the Rangers to speed it up and even if not everyone in the hockey department agreed with him.
Drury has completed the circle. He recognized the need for protection, for sandpaper, for establishing a mindset. He honored well-intentioned urgency within the executive suite. He signed Trocheck with the All Blacks mentality. He signed Jonathan Quick. And while Gorton drafted Matt Rempe in the seventh round in 2020, it was Drury who had the unmitigated gall to actually put him on an NHL roster.
He hired a coach in Gerard Gallant who gave them their space and got them so far, but not far enough, and now there is Laviolette. The Rangers cut the rebuild line. They flexed financial muscle on Panarin. They went for it almost right away with Jacob Trouba.
And they’re here, waiting for what’s next.
