Rangers fans seem ready to tear it all down

Anthony Scultore Updated: Feb 2, 2018

The votes are in and Rangers fans have spoken loudly. By an overwhelming majority, fans are ready to dismantle and rebuild this very flawed team.

Poll Results

Yesterday, I asked fans to weigh in on 8 veteran players to either keep or trade. No less than 800 fans voted in each poll. The results show, only 2 of those veterans were worthy to keep. Let’s review:

Nash – 83% of 890 voters said TRADE

Grabner – 55% of 948 voters said TRADE

McDonagh – 68% of 912 voters said TRADE

Zuccarello – 72% of 899 voters said KEEP

Smith – 66% of 862 voters said TRADE

Holden – 87% of 856 voters said TRADE

Desharnais – 83% of 830 voters said TRADE

Lundqvist – 65% of 841 voters said KEEP

I think the 2 most stunning takeaways are that 68% of fans are ready to trade their Captain, Ryan McDonagh and that only 65% of fans want to keep one of the greatest Rangers ever, Henrik Lundqvist.

Some are not surprising like Nash, Holden, and Desharnais, but 66% are ready to dump Brendan Smith after 1 year too. That is a heavy indictment on this defense for sure.

When you look at these results, it is obvious that fans are ready for a rebuild and I even asked some experts to weigh in and here’s what they said:

the McDonagh vote is the most telling. Says fans are open to the idea of a rebuild eh.

— Matt Larkin (@THNMattLarkin) February 1, 2018

They are until they are actually in the middle of a rebuild! lol

Thing is, Jeff Gorton has shown for past few years that on the fly he is retooling, trying to get younger/faster, create more cap space. Not a complete tear down or rebuild. https://t.co/2EftIBT0a0

— Jim Cerny (@JimCerny) February 1, 2018

Clean House

I also asked about 2 others who can’t be traded. Marc Staal has a no move clause and a horrible contract so he can only be bought out. The head coach, Alain Vigneault was brought up as well and the results were overwhelming for both.

Staal – 73% out of 801 voters want a buyout

AV – 81% of 807 voters want him fired, with 37% choosing preferably out of a cannon.

The AV result made its way to MSG last night, during the 3rd period of their awful 4-0 no show to Toronto.

Fire AV chants are rising in the lower bowl.

— Sadie (@xSincerelySadie) February 2, 2018

Tear it Down

So the results are in and the Rangers fans have rightfully had it. The question now is this, has management finally stopped lying to itself? If the shades are raised in Jeff Gorton’s office, it would be hard for him not to see the light.

Start the Fire Sale.