How GM’s trades past 18 months helped sink Rangers in NHL standings
It’s hard to believe what’s happened to the New York Rangers under general manager Chris Drury’s watch the past 18 months.
The Blueshirts went from a team that won the Presidents’ Trophy and came within two victories of reaching the Stanley Cup Final in the spring of 2024 to one that collapsed and missed the playoffs altogether in 2024-25 and then threw in the towel on this season in mid-January. So bad are things that Drury conceded in a message to fans that this will be the second straight season that ends without a trip to the playoffs – and that more changes are on the way.
The Rangers traded veteran defenseman Carson Soucy to the archrival New York Islanders on Jan. 26 for a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Then the Rangers traded their top scorer, Artemi Panarin, to the Los Angeles Kings last week for forward Liam Greentree, L.A.’s top pick in the 2024 draft, and conditional draft picks.
As the Rangers cratered the past two seasons, Drury manned the phones and moved bodies in and out – only to see things get significantly worse. They are better positioned under the salary cap, but it’s hard to see how that’s much consolation to the Blueshirts Faithful. They’ve seen their team win just six times in 25 home games this season, shut out seven times on home ice.
Drury began his makeover in May 2024 when he ran forward Barclay Goodrow out of town; the San Jose Sharks, one of his former teams, claimed him on waivers in a pre-arranged agreement. The trade parade started early in the 2024-25 season and rolled on unabated since then. Of the 20 top scorers on the 2023-24 Rangers, just seven are still on the roster – and they’re headed for a bottom-five finish in the overall standings.
Here’s a look at Drury’s deals since the start of last season and the impact they’ve had on the Rangers.
December 6, 2024
Rangers trade defenseman Jacob Trouba to Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and fourth-round pick in 2025 draft
Few teams trade their captain midseason, but the Rangers did when they moved Trouba to the Ducks in a deal that came a few weeks after Drury sent a letter to the other 31 GMs saying that Trouba and forward Chris Kreider, the longest-tenured Ranger, were available.
Drury tried to trade Trouba in the summer of 2024 but couldn’t work out a deal with the veteran defenseman, who went from a full no-trade clause to a 15-team version on July 1, 2024. His contract, carrying an average annual value of $8 million through 2025-26, was more than the Rangers — who were up against the salary cap — wanted to pay. Anaheim took on the entire contract and sent Vaakanainen to New York.
Trouba wasted little time laying into the Rangers for the way they handled his departure, and stepped into the Ducks lineup as a valued top-four defenseman on a young team trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2017-18. He leads Anaheim this season with 109 blocked shots and is third with 100 hits, all while averaging 22:35 of ice time. He’s also scored nine goals, two shy of his career high, and his 25 points are second among Anaheim defensemen.
Vaakanainen is, at best, a bottom-pair defenseman (four assists in 27 games) who is more often than not a healthy scratch. The Rangers gave him a two-year, $3.1 million extension that runs through next season.
Verdict: Trouba filled a number of needs on a young team. The Rangers saved money, but Vaakanainen isn’t nearly as good a player.
December 18, 2024
Rangers trade forward Kaapo Kakko to Seattle Kraken for defenseman Will Borgen and third- and sixth-round picks in the 2025 draft
Kakko never lived up to high expectations as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft. His 18 goals and 40 points in 82 games during the 2022-23 season were career highs, and he never averaged as much as a half a point per game in any season. His underlying stats weren’t bad and he was an OK third-line forward, but that’s a lot less than the Rangers expected.
The native of Finland became the third straight top-10 pick by the Rangers to find himself elsewhere before turning 25 when they traded him to the Kraken a week before Christmas for Borgen and a couple of draft picks. Kakko is largely the same player in Seattle that he was in New York, although injuries hampered him this season.
Borgen’s play impressed Drury enough to sign him to a five-year, $20.5 million contract ($4.1 million AAV) roughly a month after he arrived on Broadway. He’s a decent middle-pair, shutdown defenseman who kills penalties and chips in a goal or an assist on occasion. The 29-year-old settled into a regular role with the Rangers; on a better team he’d probably play on the third pair.
Verdict: Call it even for now. Kakko likely has more upside, but Borgen fills a current need for the Rangers.
January 31, 2025
Rangers trade center Filip Chytil, defenseman Victor Mancini and their first-round pick in 2025 or 2026 to Vancouver Canucks for center J.T. Miller, defenseman Erik Brännström and forward Jackson Dorrington
Drury swung for the fences shortly before last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, bringing back Miller, their first-round pick in the 2011 draft who went on to success after being dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning in February 2018 and then to the Canucks in the summer of 2019.
Miller averaged more than a point per game in his five-plus seasons in Vancouver and entered 2024-25 off a 37-goal, 103-point season that helped the Canucks win the Pacific Division. But he and fellow center Elias Pettersson were at odds for most of ’24-25, and Miller took some time away from the team before returning in January and being traded back to the Rangers.
He piled up 13 goals and 35 points in 32 games with the Blueshirts and was named captain at the start of training camp in September. The 32-year-old is up and down this season, with largely disappointing stats: 14 goals and 36 points in 48 games. His $8 million AAV contract, which includes a no-movement clause, runs through 2029-30.
Brannstrom never played for the Rangers, who sent him to the Buffalo Sabres on March 7. Dorrington is at AHL Hartford.
Chytil’s injury problems (mostly head injuries) followed him to Vancouver, where he finished last season on LTIR and missed most of this season so far. He hasn’t looked like himself when he does play, either. Mancini, who surprised everyone by making the Rangers out of training camp last season, bounced between the Canucks and AHL Abbotsford. The Canucks sent the first-rounder to the Pittsburgh Penguins for veteran defenseman Marcus Pettersson.
Verdict: The Rangers and Canucks are each below .500 since the trade, currently two of the worst teams in the NHL. The Blueshirts pay Miller top-level money but are getting less than top-level results. The real winner might be the Penguins, who wheeled what turned out to be the No. 12 pick last June into a couple of solid prospects.
March 1, 2025
Rangers trade defenseman Ryan Lindgren and forwards Jimmy Vesey and Hank Kempf to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Calvin de Haan, forward Juuso Parssinen and second- and fourth-round picks in the 2025 draft
The Rangers weren’t planning to sign Lindgren, Adam Fox’s regular top-pair partner for several seasons and a pending free agent who battled injuries during 2024-25, so they bundled him with Vesey and Kempf, a college defenseman. The deal with the Avalanche brought back de Haan, a veteran defenseman who was also a pending free agent, and Parssinen, a promising forward who had yet to earn a regular NHL role.
Lindgren stepped into a regular middle-tier role with Colorado, but the Avalanche opted not to re-sign him. The Kraken stepped up and inked him to a four-year, $18 million contract ($4.5 million AAV). He’s pretty much the same player in Seattle that he was in New York – a physical, defensively sound defenseman who contributes a little offense. He leads the Kraken at plus-16. Vesey is playing in Europe; Kempf is with the AHL Colorado Eagles.
Parssinen is at AHL Hartford, where he battled injuries and tries to work his way back to the NHL. De Haan played just three games for the Rangers and wasn’t happy with being a healthy scratch; he’s now playing in Sweden.
Verdict: The Avalanche got six weeks from Lindgren, which is more than the Rangers got from either player they acquired. Seattle could end up being the biggest winner.
March 6, 2025
Rangers trade forward Reilly Smith to Vegas Golden Knights for forward Brendan Brisson and third-round pick in 2025 draft
Rangers trade third-round pick in 2025 draft to Vancouver Canucks for defenseman Carson Soucy
The Rangers got Smith in a trade with Pittsburgh on July 1, 2024, but after a disappointing showing they sent him back to the Golden Knights – the team he helped win the Stanley Cup in 2023. The third-round pick compensated for the one they sent to the Canucks for Soucy, a big defensive defenseman who had another season left on his contract, and Brisson, Vegas’ first-round pick in the 2020 draft, who had two goals and eight points in 24 NHL games during two stints with the Golden Knights.
Soucy wasn’t much help down the stretch last season but settled into a regular middle-pair role this season before Drury traded him to the Islanders for — that’s right – a third-round pick, this one in the 2026 draft. Brisson recently boosted his chances of being called up by the Rangers by notching four goals and 11 points in a 13-game stretch and being selected to play in the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic.
Smith, now 34, is a bottom-six forward who averages less than 14 minutes a game.
Verdict: Bodies in, bodies out. Brisson could make this a win if he gets a callup and shows he can play.
June 12, 2025
Rangers trade forward Chris Kreider and a fourth-round pick in the 2025 draft to Anaheim Ducks for forward Carey Terrance and a third-round pick in the 2025 draft
Kreider’s nightmarish 2024-25 season ended when the Rangers sent him to the Ducks, where he joined Trouba and fellow ex-Rangers Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano.
The deal did show that Drury learned something about trading veteran players; unlike the barbs Trouba unleashed after the deal, Kreider praised the Rangers for keeping him involved in the trade process (he had a 15-team no-trade clause in a contract that runs through 2026-27).
Kreider left New York with 326 goals, the third-highest total in franchise history. His 52-goal season in 2022-23 made him just the fourth Rangers player to hit the 50-goal mark. But after scoring 36 and 39 goals in the next two seasons, he dropped to 22 (and 30 points) in 2024-25, struggling with injuries and illnesses.
The move appeared to light a spark under the 34-year-old, who had 19 goals and 30 points in 50 games before the Olympic break.
Terrance is 20 and has three goals and six points in 45 games with Hartford.
Verdict: The Rangers saved $12 million over two seasons. The Ducks got a veteran presence and a 25-30-goal scorer.
July 1, 2025
Rangers trade defenseman K’Andre Miller to Carolina Hurricanes for defenseman Scott Morrow, second-round pick in 2026 draft and conditional first-round pick in 2026 or 2027 draft
No one disputes Miller’s physical tools – he’s big, fast and can handle the puck. But his offensive numbers deteriorated after he had career bests of nine goals and 43 points in 2022-23, and his decision-making – especially in his own zone – often left much to be desired.
With Miller approaching restricted free agency and due a significant raise last summer, Drury was faced with a choice: Give him a big contract or trade him.
He chose option B, sending Miller to Carolina for rookie defenseman Morrow and two draft picks. The Hurricanes wasted little time signing Miller to an eight-year, $60 million contract ($7.5 million AAV).
Miller plays a top-four (often first-pair) role with Carolina, which is solidly in first place in the Metropolitan Division. He’s averaging a career-high 22:29 TOI and is on pace to finish with 35 points despite missing eight games with injuries.
The Rangers have high hopes for Morrow, who got his first NHL exposure with Carolina late last season. But the 23-year-old has been underwhelming in 28 games on Broadway, putting up just six assists in 28 games.
Verdict: Miller is a solid defenseman on one of the League’s top teams; whether he’ll ever be more than that is still an open question. The Rangers need Morrow to be a lot more than he’s shown so far. They also need to hit on the extra first-rounder they’ll get this year or next, although it’s likely to be in the bottom third of the round.
February 4, 2026
Rangers trade forward Artemi Panarin to Los Angeles Kings for forward Liam Greentree, a conditional third-round pick in the 2026 draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2028 draft
Panarin was in the process of leading the Rangers in scoring for the seventh time in as many seasons since signing with them on July 1, 2019. But he was a 34-year-old pending unrestricted free agent who wasn’t willing to give the Rangers a hometown discount and had a full no-move clause.
With the Rangers season already down the chute, Drury didn’t want to risk losing Panarin for nothing in free agency — so minutes before the NHL Olympic roster freeze, he sent him to the Kings. Los Angeles quickly signed him to a two-year, $22 million contract ($11 million AAV).
The return was Greentree, LA’s first-round pick in 2024. The 20-year-old is playing for Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League and figures to turn pro after this season ends. He projects as a middle-six forward, one who recently passed 300 career points in the OHL.
Verdict: As with many of Drury’s other trades, the Rangers saved money for the future at the price of current production. They’ll find out what Greentree can do in the next couple of years.
Summary
Drury reallocated much of the money he saved last season to re-sign goalie Igor Shesterkin ($92 million for eight years) and forward Alexis Lafreniere ($52.15 million for seven years). He likely hoped to be able to sign a big-name free agent this summer, but with the exception of Panarin, they’ve all re-signed with their current teams.
Puckpedia projects the Rangers to have nearly $30 million in cap space for next season. The question is what Drury will be able to do with it now that there are no elite players to sign.
The more pressing question is: what’s next on his retool list after trading Panarin? Could veteran center Vincent Trocheck be the next to go? What of Lafreniere and Braden Schneider? Are they members of the core moving forward or more valuable as trade chips?
If the latter, can Drury finally get a big win in at least one trade? He hasn’t done that yet over the past 18 months.
