Here's the deal. Emily Kaplan, backed up everything that Steve said, the other day, and, basically, she said friction is happening. I heard from multiple people after the loss to Saint Louis on Sunday that there was a closed door meeting. By the way, I've been to very few meetings where there is an open door. And so A wide open door meeting.
So a closed door should really be called the players only, but I I digress. And I'm not talking I'm not I'm not you know, there were some people that took umbrage with, different reports and and whatever. But she said, I can tell you there are some players that are super frustrated with Chris Drewry right now. And she did say too, on the report, because I went and watched it on ESPN, and she it was clear as day. She said, some players support them.
And Yeah. And and I think there Well,
we we talked about that.
I'm like, I don't know. 1 of
them just got 92,000,000 from them. They probably like them.
Yeah. So, anyway, long story short, that all happened Sunday. And then last night, the rangers, who are now 3 and 11 in their last 14, get shut out by the NHL's new most miserable team, the Nashville Predators.
Stat of the night from Arthur Staple. Meanwhile, the Rangers have lost to the 32nd place team in the NHL twice in 8 days. It was 2 different teams.
I'll be honest. It's not as bad as Buffalo.
Oh. Isn't that
isn't that Everything that's gone on with the New York Rangers, I'm still, like, they could turn it around. Oh, they could. They they could make playoffs.
They're 3 and 11. What was the 3 and 11? And 14 They
got Igor Shesterkin. They got Artemi Panarin. I look at Buffalo, and they say, that's the thing. It's pilot, Steven Potpour.
And we are gonna get to Buffalo. And Jesse's I think Jesse has a point, because remember, at 1 point this season and this is hard to remember. I believe it was November 20th when the when the bad stuff started happening in in New York, the Rangers, New York
Uh-huh.
That the Rangers were 12 and 4. They were well on their way to winning the division, maybe not the president's trophy because it looked at that point like the Winnipeg Jets were running away with it. But this team that won the president's trophy last year Mhmm. That went to the 3rd round and still won 2 games in the 3rd round They
were up 2 1.
This team looked to be pretty good. And then things started to skid, and then Trouba, and now here we are. And here's here's what you know, since that meeting was reported, by Steve and and some other reporters and that sort of thing, the the the interesting thing that keeps going through my head, guys, is listen. Imagine you're on a great team. Your team wins the president's trophy.
And if you ask certain people, the president's trophy
Wrong people. Yeah. Go ahead. Jesse
hates their team.
Yeah. I under yeah. Yeah. No.
No. Go ahead. The Stanley Cup often goes to the hottest team. The president's trophy often goes to the
Oh, baby. I don't know.
That's best over 80 2 games.
LA Kings
LA Kings 2012.
Prove me
wrong. Prove I'm wrong. Oh. LA Kings 2012. Prove I'm wrong.
You're disrespecting hockey right now.
I'm not just listen. If we're talking about aggregate best team, 82 games, they play everybody.
It's a different sport.
The New York Rangers won.
There there's 2 sports.
Here. Got both of you. Yeah. That's so many games.
Ah, thank you. Continue.
Thank you, sir. So so Thank you for bringing balance to the universe.
And really, we're not gonna get into that take right now because it would just be distracting.
But Yeah. No. I don't know why you said that.
Because I love So
what Adam's
talking about? Upset it makes Jesse because it's right, and he's so mad about it.
Now feel he's meaningless.
Now, it's not that bullshit. Like
the Calder Cup, it is meaningless.
The president's trophy is not meaningless.
It is.
It is truly meaningless.
It how
much did it mean when the Florida Panthers won it? Poo. Yeah. It meant that
they might have good team that could win a cup in the next couple years.
Winning the president's trophy and losing was, like, the turning party of their franchise.
Hold on, though. Hold on. When the Panthers had their next season after winning the president's trophy, what happened? They sneak into the playoffs, and then they go down 31 to Boston. Yeah.
And then they beat Boston, who had a record setting year. Mhmm.
Yeah.
And then they go all the way to the Stanley Cup final. I want to I want everybody to be aware, because Jesse was bang on the money when we started this show. Florida did not have a great follow-up to their president's trophy year, except for when they hit the playoffs. All New York really needs to do is clean it up a little bit. Clean it up a little bit.
Make the playoffs
I don't think that's what I'm saying at all.
No. They need to start
openings I
don't think
that's what you were saying, but what I am what I was coming into, Sage, is there are plenty of teams that have a bad fall off after a president's trophy win and do perfectly fine.
No. The president's trophy thing has nothing to do with what we're talking about.
Yeah. The the ratings last year. The the I think it has a little bit to do with it.
Oh, yeah. No. I mean, the argument about its meaning to the game of hockey has nothing to do with it. Okay. Yeah.
Yeah. No. No. I think it's I think it's an important point to illustrate how good they were last year, and they went to the Eastern Conference finals and all that. But the the point about I don't think how much it should mean anything to the sport of hockey is a completely different discussion that can take minutes if we wanna have that some other day.
So the Rangers. Yes. They're quite bothered right now and, that is the players. Obviously, they had their closed door meeting.
Mhmm.
It's, obviously, Peter Labiolette is frustrated. And, like, I know for a fact, for a fact, it is permeating through the offices there. Everything going on is an enormous distraction. They're jittery about what people are saying out there and they're trying to control the message. And the only way to properly control the message, the narrative around your team is to not be on 1 of your worst skids in years and then get shut out by the team in last place.
And things are going from bad to worse there. I think they're at a real breaking point here. And if I'm not mistaken, hasn't CJ said multiple times on the CJ show that the the the the holiday moratorium on trading making trades and all that is December 20th I doubt they rush into some things Could be a spicy 24 hours or so in New York, but my guess is they wait on it. They stuff themselves full of a little bit of turkey, and then in the new year, we could see a brand new Rangers team 1 way or another.
Well, I think too, if you're a Rangers player, and you've gone and you've won the president's trophy, you got 2 wins away from the Stanley Cup final, and then 2 of your most popular teammates because here's the deal with, hockey players they don't care what the cap is. They don't care what next year is. They care about right now. And you've gone and gone to the 3rd round, and you sacrificed your body, and you've earned these no trade clauses.
3rd round twice in twice in 3 years.
Yep, and you've put it all on the line for this franchise, and their response is, hey. You didn't make the final, so let's start dismantling it. That's how they're gonna see it. Now from the other perspective, it could just be like, hey. Chris Drury wants to get squeeze those other 2 wins out, and and he doesn't believe they're gonna be able to get it done with this group.
Which then makes this group feel like, what is there not to believe in here? We were in the final 4. We were 2 games away. It's so easy for an athlete's, confidence to be shaken by somebody internally. They shot themselves in the foot because the general manager telegraphed a week and a half ago and last summer that this team, even though they've seen some success, is not good enough in my eyes.
And the players, I think if you were to ask them, most of them would have wanted to keep it the way it was.
Here's here's what I would say. Well, yeah. But I I think I think athletes backs
that though.
I think athletes default to the room Sure. Generally, and that's, like, across sports. I I try to think back to the the Raptors. 2018, Lebronto, and all that. And they make it to the conference final again.
They had done it at least twice.
Mhmm.
And that, you know, that's close, but it's not close. They weren't close.
Yeah.
They they were so close and so far, and they had to do something. I think the difference besides it being basketball is someone came in. They got rid of Barclay Goodrow and replaced him with okay. And they got rid of Jacob Trouba, and he's been replaced with, they haven't done anything but subtract.
No. They added they added Riley Smith. No. But you're you're acting like they didn't that like they needed winger help and he went out and got a winger help and he free the the true of a deal is freeing up the cap space because all of the young kids got good and they need new contracts. Every That's true.
That's why on the same day you trade trouba, you sign Igor Shesterkin. Yes. Yes. Yes. Like, it's very Don't act like they didn't get anything for trouba.
No. But also, like, okay, you're a cap team. Riley Smith is available every year. Mhmm. Him or someone like him.
You know? So if I'm a Rangers fan, I'm not getting out of bed because, well, they got Riley Smith. Like, he's done well there. That's great. But, like, man, you shiv guys the way they've shiv them.
Like, you better be adding some real value here. Like, okay, Shesterkin's, salary is going up next year. What about this year? Trouba is off the books this year. Goudreau is off the books this year.
What's next? What's next? Who am I getting? Who am I excited about? Who am I they're they're just fending for themselves and they're dying.
Like, these guys are either playing hurt or they're playing, without confidence or whatever it is because it's virtually the same group, and they're just drowning out there. It's every year, not even every year. Every year or 2, there's a team that has no business being this bad, and they're this bad. And this year's, it's the rangers.
Mhmm.
And I I think Adam's right. Like, they're a hot week away from alright. Shake that off and go through the rest of the season, and they'll be fine.
And the joy of the cycle.
Freaking Pittsburgh turned the ship around a bit A bit. A bit. A bit. It's been 3 years. Sens turned the ship around.
Okay. Fine. Fine.
A bit.
Pittsburgh. The Avalanche? The Avalanche weathered a storm.
They weathered a storm. And while and well, the storm was everyone's hurt. Yeah. But the other storm, it's the movie The Perfect Storm where 2 storms collide
Mhmm.
Was no goalies. And they went out and they did something I haven't seen in a very long time, and that is before Christmas, they changed both their goals.
It's never happened before. Yeah. Never happened. Okay. Well, then The Sabers did
it That's a
very long time. The Sabers did it, over a full season, but no one's ever done it before Christmas.
Before Christmas. Yeah. Both goals you started the season with.
Jesse. Mhmm.
How likely is it? How likely is it that they can clean this up? I'm not saying we all know they can't. How likely is it? When I see Lingering's interview yesterday, he seems so frustrated.
It's almost like he doesn't know what to do, and a lot of people are pointing at him like he's the problem.
Yeah. No. Lingering had a bad game on on Sunday. Like, I don't think Lingering was especially good on at any moment on Sunday against Saint Louis. And if if they don't have a chance at all if the guys on the ice can't turn it around, because it's not like I understand your point about, like, hey.
You wish jury did more with the roster, but it's also the guys on the ice aren't playing well. Yes. So it's, like, you're not you're not rewarding these players because they gave up on on this season. And the so far they have right now, especially with the efforts from the star players. It's not it's not the kids who are who are not trying.
Like, Kacko, after getting scratched, was pissed. He looks you look good. Again, nobody really looks spectacular. I shouldn't say that. But he looked decent against the Preds.
He looked unscratchable. He looked like he should be a player who's in the lineup every day, and it's ridiculous that he's the person who's who gets the scratching on Sunday. But if we wanna talk about the on ice performance, the opening goal, it's it's Chad rude Ruwedel, it's, Vakanainen, it's Zibinajjad getting a a 3, 3 on 2 taken away the going the other way for the preds, and they the the Forsberg, Stamkos, Marsha so line trio that was out there looked like what Barry Trotz wanted and what he thought he was buying in the off season. They look like an all star team on that first goal because
That is an a very literally, you could see that at the all star game in recent years.
A 100%. They look spectacular on this 3 and 2, just eating these 2 defensemen alive and Zbinajad trying to get get up in the rush because everybody looks out of place and Mika looks so slow and the defensemen are making every error you can possible. And I look at the on ice product of the New York Rangers and I say it's not good enough. It's not good enough from the people you know should be better. You look at the head coaching, the head coach can't motivate anybody and that's a large part of your job as the head coach.
And then you look at the general manager who is just just playing shenanigans with his team and doing whatever he wants with no regard for anybody's feelings and that's not inspiring confidence. So I don't know where you go forward here.
He's on the wrong app on his phone. I can tell you that. They have 7 and a half $1,000,000 of cap space which is the good news. Mhmm. But like you said about rewarding the the players and not wanting to do that, okay, you usually gotta to to get a player of value of 7 and a half $1,000,000 value, you gotta pay something to get something.
Exactly.
They have all their 1st round picks for the next 3 years. That's good. They don't have a second or third this year. In fact, they don't have a second until it looks like 2028.
Mhmm.
So I don't know exactly what you do to fill that void. You'd have to at this point, you basically have to trade off your roster.
Mhmm. But and and with the with the effort given by by the Rangers right now, And we love to use Vegas as an example of how ruthless they are and everything, that they do with their players and just they just care about winning and it's like when Marc Andre Fleury was traded away, I know Mark Stone just stopped playing hockey. You know? Like, he didn't bat you. Well, he didn't he didn't play a 200 foot game.
Pete de Boer got fired because that team quit on him. That team quit on him. Yeah. Now you could talk about the goaltending issues that they had that year, but there that team stopped playing for Pete de Boer.
Mhmm.
That was a bad year for me.
I I think that's a it's a different circumstance when they quit on the head coach versus quitting on a general manager
Yes.
Because they traded away 1 of their favorite players. Like, I feel like this is what's happening in New York where they're upset with the entire front office and the regime from ownership down as as you've reported, and I I think that's very true. And in that, you can't do that as a player. You can't have your on ice product be hurting this much because you're unhappy with the front office.
Getting fired by MSG is a rite of passage. Those guys are pissed.
Steve Dangle, Adam Wylde and Jesse Blake discuss the current struggles by the New York Rangers, the turmoil in their front ...